Boarding Instructions by Ray Vukcevich

NOTE: Boarding Instructions was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Fairwood Press.


One thing I really like about Fairwood Press is that they put together some top notch collections by both authors I have heard of before, and authors that I’m glad I’ve found out about through their collections. I discovered the work of James Van Pelt through them, as well as Ken Scholes, and a number of others. And now it was time to decide if I was going to be adding Ray Vukcevich to the list of authors I was proud to own collections from.

As things turned out, I am very glad I was introduced to Vukcevich. His wonderful stories take the ridiculous, and while it disarms you with the funny, it works in a deep point that hits you out of the clear blue. It was there the whole time, and you never noticed.

In the 33 stories collected in Boarding Instructions, most of them only a few pages, you get tales from all over the gamut of speculative fiction, but each one retains a style very much Vukcevich. Clear prose with a smooth deliver makes these stories easy to read, and the impact behind them keeps them rattling in your head for a while.

Particular favorites include “The Library of Pi,” “Human Subjects,” and “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Boy.” However, none of these will let you down.

Fans of good short stories need to take note of this collection. Go out there and get it.