Edited by Jessy Marie Roberts
Pill Hill Press
ISBN: 978-0984261031
Review done by Rob Walter
Review Posted: 5/12/2010
The Four Horsemen An Anthology of Conquest, War, Death & Famine is the newest anthology from Pill Hill Press edited by Jessy Marie Roberts. It is a collection of 25 short stories that is not your average anthology in that it is broken into sections that represent the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse; War, Famine, Conquest and Death. Even the introduction, by Camille Alexa, is different in that it is a short story vice a narrative.
I first began reading the anthology thinking this was going to be a horror collection, but was pleasantly surprised when I found there were other genres in the mix. The themes of the stories cover all time periods and situations that relate to each horseman’s’ “theme” section. They range from future invaders from space to near term end of the world to World War II to the long-past Viking lore. One of the best stories is Savage Planet by Alethea Kontis which is science fiction / horror about a couple in a rocket that are drawn to a planet by an emergency beacon and the results of their investigation. Many of these short stories while complete leave you wanting more.
Overall I was impressed with this collection and I heartily recommend it.
The following is a list of the short story authors included in the anthology: Marie Croke, Matthew S. Dent, John H. Dromey, Megan R. Engelhardt, Laura Eno, L.E. Erickson, Jamie Eyberg, Nye Joell Hardy, Christopher Heath, Kat Heckenbach, Carla Joinson, Alethea Kontis, Will Morton, AR Norris, Jacob Henry Orloff, Marshall Payne, Alva J. Roberts, Jessy Marie Roberts, Scott M. Sandridge, Jonathan Shipley, Scott Taylor, Jason Toupence, Bill Ward and Kelli A. Wilkins.
