The Peddler and the Cloud is a 140 page collection of short stories edited by Scott Badger. The authors are David Gerrold, John Miller, David B. Silva, Francine Mezo, S.C. Virtes, Scott Badger, William Hyres, and Bo Kallish-Hill.

Several weeks ago I received an inquiry asking if I'd like to have a look at a short story collection, and didn't pay that much attention to the e-mail address of the sender. I like reading real-world books, so I scooted back my home address and waited. This was all akin to hoping for a nice six-pack of lager and receiving a 100 year-old bottle of priceless wine.

All David Gerrold did was invent Tribbles, and garner nominations for the Huge and Nebula awards six times in four years. Oh yes, and since 1967 he's published more than forty books. Did I mention he's written for over a dozen TV shows?

David B. Silva, let's see. His work has seen ink in The Year's Best Horror, The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and The Best American Mystery Stories. And before I forget, he won a Bram Stoke Award in 1991 for his short story, The Calling.

Stephen E. Fabian does the artwork, and to list his credentials would take another few pages or so. Names such as Doubleday, Ace, and Pyramid ring some bells, I'm sure, as well as writing names like Barker, Zelazny, Silverberg, Vance, Howard, and Lumley. Hugo nominee? Yep.

John J. Miller . . . and I read his tale before I looked at the bios . . . wrote perhaps my favorite story in the collection, and that's no wonder as he had a fella named Roger as a friend and it obviously wore off.

Enough with the name-dropping. This is why the good Lord gave us eyes. From the first page of the first story, Ouroboros by Mr. Miller, I was hooked. His style is reminiscent of Roger Zelazny's, not as an apish, me-too rendering, but as the contrast of one dawn to another. Similar, but how to truly compare the awakening of one wonder to the next. I was deja-vu'd as I sank into the character, and yes, some of Roger is still around, so thank you, John.

S.C. Virtes followed with Soul of Su-Malja, and why haven't I heard of this writer before? A physician comes face to face with an honest to goodness Goddess and it's as real as if you were there with them.

Next in the box is The Green Man, by David Gerrold. A man meets faerie and finds himself. Mr. Gerrold pulls you effortlessly into a suspension of disbelief that never waivers until you realize the tale is said and done. Then you want more.

At a Cove on a Distant Planet is from the fertile imagination of Ms. Francine Mezo. An alien marooned in a strange sea . . . on earth . . . and just how do we greet the First Contact visitor?

David B. Silva is so skillful in creating the persona in The Mask He Wears, one can only wonder where the longer, short story, or even full-length novel version of this piece is hiding. We're all different things to different people, but . . .

The Peddler and the Cloud by Scott Badger takes us on a journey to find what cannot be found, for it is everywhere but unattainable. A delightful grass-is-always-greener tale that leads me to believe more of Mr. Badger's work must have seen ink somewhere.

Heir to the Nameless Goddess by William Hyres gives us Swords, Sorcery, and Giants . . . woven so well it could be mistaken for a translation of an ancient epic.

Bo Kallish-Hill creates the short by oh so sweet Karina . . . poetic and almost haiku-like in its flow.

And then, it's over. Eight gems in a row and I want more. Like a child facing the bottom of an empty ice cream cup, it was gone. If any of the above authors would like to practice a yarn or two for ShadowKeep, then let me be the first to ask that they get off their lazy duffs and write something for us before I lose whatever semblance of dignity remains and flat out beg.

Book Description:

This book is signed by the editor and is a limited edition with only 300 copies in existence. It contains dark fantasy short stories by such authors as David Gerrold, John J. Miller, Francine Mezo, David B. Silva, S.C. Virtes, William Hyres, Scott Badger, and Bo Kallish-Hill. Here are eight tales of the wonderful horrors and terrible beauties in life. A man learns that time doesn't heal all wounds, a man encounters the faerie--and himself, an alien finds himself afloat in a strange sea, a warrior meets a goddess--as does a physician, a traveler searches the world to find what he's looking for, and more . . . Cover art by Stephen Fabian, interior art by Justin Cooper.

About the Authors: