Worlds Long Lost Paperback – December 6, 2022

I enjoyed almost every short story in this collection. I loved the theme behind the anthology, sort of Space Indiana Jones. I have a few new authors to follow now. Definitely a book I’ll reread.

some of the horror stories left me flat.

The strength of this anthology of ancient alien stories is its variety, running the range from military science fiction to Lovecraftian horror, and each story has something to love.

3/4 of the way through this book, but I have yet to read a story that has any sort of satisfactory ending (or really much of any ending at all). Abrupt endings with no real conclusion, in most cases no real endings at all, and in one absurd case, the story ends on a cliffhanger with a final message stating “To find out what happens next – buy this other novel”. Ridiculous and frankly pretty sleazy. Very unsatisfactory – do not recommend.

The settings range from earth to deep space, from the near-now to the distant future. The tone of the stories varies from mysterious to comedic to horror to pulp adventures.The stories are:THE WRONG SHAPE TO FLY Adam OyebanjiA fun little mystery story with a neat twist.MOTHER OF MONSTERS Christopher RuocchioSet in the Sun Eater universe; a legionnaire mishandles an alien artifact and meets a cruel, and strange, fateRISE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR M.A. Rothman & D.J. ButlerAn alien super-consciousness deals with the threat of alien life by devising a test to filter out unworthy species.MERE PASSERS BY Les JohnsonA deep-space expedition finds a system with three planets sharing one orbit—an impossibility. It’s clearly artificial, but the civilization that built it is long gone.NEVER ENDING, EVER-GROWING Erica CikoChristopher Ruocchio. Worlds_Long_Lost-eARC (Kindle Locations 1651-1652). Kindle Edition.A group of mercenaries undertake a rescue mission on a planet overwhelmed by something strange. A creepy story with a grim ending.THEY ONLY DIG AT NIGHT Sean Patrick HazlettAn ancient artifact buried on earth. A pharmaceutical corporation excavates it and applies the material as a drug. Another weird horror story.HOWLERS IN THE VOID Brian TrentA Lovecraftian horror story of humans and aliens marooned on a derelict world of parasites. A super-creepy tale that gave me chills.THE BUILDING WILL CONTINUE Gray RinehartCosmic horror about an expedition to a foreign planet that is taken over by parasites and forced to work on…something.re: something strange Jessica CainA horror story set on earth and told through emails, text messages, and voice mails. Tension builds through uncertainty and vagueness. We never really know what’s going on, or what ultimately happens. This was my favorite horror story in the collection.THE SLEEPERS OF TARTARUS David J. WestFun, pulpy adventure about an astronaut who is sent to the past and faces real, live Sumerian gods. Our hero might be Sargon of Akkad. This was my favorite story from the anthology, and exactly the kind of thing I was really hoping for from the book.DARK ETERNITY Jonathan EdelsteinThe story of voyagers from a fallen culture following breadcrumbs to a lost storehouse of knowledge, then preparing to return (a thousand years later) to their home. I loved this story as well—a lost city, puzzles, a treasure trove at the end of the universe. One of the best in the anthology.ROCKING THE CRADLE Patrick ChilesHumanity find a wormhole to a distant star—and discover it’s our home. Gilgamesh’s tomb is there. A fun mystery story.GIVING UP ON THE PIANO Orson Scott CardAn alien race makes contact with a teenaged house-sitter in Reno. This one feels unfinished, like it’s the first chapter of a book. It’s probably my least favorite story in the book.RETROSPECTIVE Griffin BarbeSpace warfare at the individual level—a great battle story with an odd twist. The combat is good and the ending is strange, yet satisfying.

Mainly got this to get more Suneater fun before Vol 3 of the Shorts gets released. But my motto with anthologies? A good way to find another avenue of books. From all across the wheelhouse landscape.

Despite good story starts, none are brought to a satisfactory conclusion. All leave loose ends. Even the Card story ends abruptly. The only good end is that this is the editors last collection, praise be!

Sleazy Trick! 3rd short story abruptly "ends" a cliff hanger with a "To see what happens next..." buy the novel

A fantastic new anthology from Baen and wonderful debut from editor Sean Korsgaard. Packed with the compelling, the creepy and the downright macabre, Worlds Long Lost is an exciting blend of science fiction and horror which delivers everything a lover of the genre can want! Cannot recommend this one enough to scifi/horror enthusiasts.