Midwinter Anthology: 2016

Phil Bettinson · John Dodd · Christian Klose · Michael Greenwell · Katherine Burton · Kim Hosking · Lumde Nopem · John Scholes

Jan 2017 · Midwinter Anthology Book 3 · Jara23 Publishing

About this ebook

Jara23 Publishing's Midwinter Anthology 2016.

Welcome the 2016 Midwinter Anthology. This anthology is perhaps a little different from those that have gone before. It is bigger, better, and some stories may not be suitable for younger readers. Some of you who have been following the work of Jara23 Publishing may have noticed that we missed our anthology in 2015. This was because one of our authors, and a close personal friend, passed away that year. Jon Scholes, known as Big Bad Jon to pretty much everyone has been a regular contributor to this anthology since it began. It is with some sorrow that this anthology carries his last ever story 'Unforgivable Sin'. As ever, this anthology is full of a broad variety of stories, ranging from thrillers, to horror, to sci-fi, and back again.

Phil Bettinson offers us a creeping thriller in the science-fiction Beep and explores a dystopian future without stories in 'Hello Citizen'.

John Dodd thrills us with his Brave New World then takes us on a different take of what it would be like with super-powered humans in The Bottom Drawer.

Christian Klose offers us an exploration on love in Comtessa and another in their poem Love Never Dies, or so they say.

Michael Greenwell shows us how a company offering a new start may not be all they appear in Demonshcrift.

Kim Hosking tells us tales of a river in Pennies for the Dead, and tales of struggle in The Cave.

Lumde Nopem explores the difficult question of who truly is a monster in Monster. Not for the faint-hearted.

Katherine Burton wonders what hell truly looks like in Hell on Earth

Jon Scholes takes us on a tale of death, asks if there is such a thing as forgiveness in Unforgivable Sin

We here at Jara23 Publishing hope that you enjoy our offerings for this midwinter. Now it's time to find yourselves a nice warm fire to curl up infront of, and enjoy.

Ratings and reviews

The writing is terrible. Broken grammar all over the place. In one story, "hoarse" is spelled "horse". More examples from that story abound. The stories are generally at the high school level of writing, with predictable lines and endings. I picked it up to see what a midwinter 2016 anthology might look like. "Free" is all this book is worth. I like to read new authors, but poor writing and poor story lines make this a tough read.

This year, Jara23 have surpassed themselves. The stories take us from the superhero to the supernatural, from land to space. There are a few challenging stories here, which may not be for the younger reader, and make even some of us older readers feel a little uncomfortable, but over all, a very good selection of stories!

excellent selection of short stories. all different and all interesting