Yesterday You Said Tomorrow has one of the more intriguing anthology themes I've come across this year. The authors where presented the challenge to write a story with the paradigm of fixed timeline time travel. The results were somewhat mixed.
Yesterday You Said Tomorrow contains a baker's dozen of fresh stories that are all faithful to the anthology's theme, from a diverse group of writers, some of whom I've read before and others I got to read for the first time.
Editor and contributor, Scott Lefevre, sets the stage with "Introduction: Time Machine," a treatise on what the time machine is and how it was discovered by accident when trying to invent a transporter device.
One of my favorite up-and-coming writers, Kit Power, has a nice piece about how confusing time travel can get, called, "Time Out of Mind."
I also enjoyed, "Collectables," by Jay Wilburn, a clever tale of one man's way of protecting his collection.
Ben Pienaar is a new author for me and I found, "A Stitch In Time," to be one of the better stories in the anthology. using time travel to attempt to stop a man from writing a paper that would lead to the creation of a super-weapon.
Patrick Freivald is a new voice in dark fiction I've read a lot of in the last couple of years. Check out his teen zombie novels Twice Shy and Special Dead or his new Matt Rowley series which started earlier this year with Jade Sky. All three worth a look. In this collection he's got a cool little story called "Foam Ride."
Another great tale comes from Tim Jeffreys. "The Colour of Roses," is about a company that, at the end of your life, can send you back in time and put you in your life at anytime you choose. Be careful what you wish for.
Marta Salek's ,"Time Traveler's Symphony," is an interesting concept of using time travel as a option for convicted criminals to get a do-over.
"What Would You Do?" by Chris Philbrook is among the best. A story of a time traveler trying to save his wife from a terrible fate.
And the editor has saved the best for last with Angelo Michaels' "The Portal Project." A very involved story of an attempt to save the planet.
Not every story struct a chord with me, but as you can see from the length of this review, a number of them were very enjoyable.
Yesterday You Said Tomorrow is available from Burnt Offerings Books in both paperback and for the Kindle at Amazon.com. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you can read this one at no additional charge.
Recommended.
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