Past, Present, Future - Kyle A. Massa

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Author: Kyle A. Massa

Genre: Short Story Anthology, Fantasy
Rating: 4.25 stars.

An extremely short collection of intelligent stories that left me wanting more!

I have read this author’s ‘Monsters at Dusk’ and had become a fan of his imagination and his sense of humour. This collection maintains the same standard, though it must be about one-fourth the length. (I completed this in fifteen minutes flat!)

There are just three stories in this anthology.

1. ‘Hundredfingers’ (Past) – About a guitarist named Johnny Hundredfingers. Everyone is in awe of his guitar playing but no one knows the reason behind his skills.
While I have seen this kind of story many times (it’s a fairly common trope in the classics), I loved how Massa added his own twist to the proceedings. The characters are wonderfully developed for such a short tale.
🌟🌟🌟🌟

2. ‘Mad Scientist Seeking Intern for Spring Semester’ (Present) – Exactly as the title suggests. The entire "story" contains job specifications for the potential intern. Needless to say, the specifications are hilarious. I just wish the story were longer. It was fun but over before it even began.
🌟🌟🌟💫

3. ‘Keyword’ (Future) - The narrator has fallen in love with a girl who is getting married to someone else. That's it. The beauty of the story isn't in this plotline, which resembles that of almost half of the world's romcoms. If you know who the narrator is, you'll be stunned at the complex simplicity (oxymoron intentional) of the story.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

As is evident, I am a very happy reader right now. The book provided everything I look for in a short story anthology – pace, great writing, great story development, a precise ending (it’s surprising to see how many short stories fall flat simply because of their endings) and a medley of emotions and humour.

Heartily recommended. One more superhit collection such as this and I will become a lifelong Kyle A. Massa fan!

4.25 stars, based on the average of my ratings for the three stories.

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