Welcome to Dan M. Kalin’s author website. You can see recent activities, reviews, catalog, and more here. Coming soon is an online store where you can order signed/personalized copies of his weighty tomes in print.
Blog
“Going Up: Tales from Temple & Co”, by Art Weil – Review
Another short story collection from Art Weil, Going Up centers on stories told by an old-style department store security guard. The 19 humorous stories range from horror to science fiction to fantasy and back again. Each story is brilliantly told, expertly edited, without a hint of wasted motion on the part of the author. If …
Continue reading ““Going Up: Tales from Temple & Co”, by Art Weil – Review”
“Sentinel: Demon Assassin”, by L.D. Nash – Review
Sentinel Demon Assassin has what could be a great story, but winds up being only a good one due to a number of execution deficiencies. The pace is erratic and the characters are not well defined. It seems as though their only emotional range consists of rage to not-rage. There are many relationships which could …
Continue reading ““Sentinel: Demon Assassin”, by L.D. Nash – Review”
“Grumpy Old Gods, Volume 2”, by various – Review
First and foremost, let me say I love the anthology concept. I’m also reasonably familiar with the work of some of the featured authors, enough so to spend my ill-gotten coin without a second thought. However, the story quality is wildly uneven and the book felt as though it was put together rather fast. Even …
Continue reading ““Grumpy Old Gods, Volume 2”, by various – Review”
Pandora’s Children
COMING NEXT:
Extraterrestrials have landed on Earth, proven to the world’s governments their invulnerability to all human defense technologies (in a non-offensive manner), and subsequently offer their services to all mankind. The aliens choose the name Pandorans for themselves, based on their analysis of human culture and history. However Pandorans will only serve individuals, not governments or other groups. In short, they become a person’s butler/protector/genie, able to deliver on almost any client request with their advanced technology. Pandorans also protect their human clients against all forms of coercion or threats.
As the human world digests the cataclysmic social change, governments lose their reason to exist and the power to enforce their collective wills. A key group (which includes a former US President, Nuclear Sub commander, polymath scientist, sociologist, and a full cast of furry friends) have misgivings; asking what do Pandorans get from the deal? A small crew sets off across the galaxy to find some answers and perhaps learn where the Pandorans originate.
Pandora’s Children provides one response to the thought experiment; how could an ethically-advanced culture, which eschews violence, engage in aggression or war?