Michelle Browne

Wormholes, aliens, and space pirates, need I say more?

I met the author Michelle Browne in my social media ramblings. She’s a snarky, interesting girl, which pretty much describes her writing.

I have read A LOT of sci-fi novels and short stories. I subscribe to Analog magazine and enjoy every issue of it. This novella could easily have been a miniseries in Analog. It’s top notch sci-fi. She has an easy-flowing narrative style in first person, essentially a woman’s diary of her unusual work assignment aboard a wormhole mapping space vessel.

As the plot unfolds, the vessel receives a series of threatening messages from an unnamed source. The threat: If they continue their work on wormholes in that sector, they’ll pay the price with their lives. The mapping isn’t going well, unexplainable wormhole anomalies pop up where they shouldn’t be. Something is definitely not right. Amidst this setting, our heroine is falling in love with a coworker, very much against ship regulations. Overall, it was a very interesting, creative, and entertaining read. My inner sci-fi nerd crept out from under its shell to smile.

I found it fascinating they actually map out and create or repair wormholes through space for interstellar highways. And the various different alien races that interact, sharing meals, relating to one another, bridging massive gaps of culture and language to find common ground.

My only complaint is that it should have been longer. I would really like to see a full length novel of this quality sci-fi from Michelle Browne.

… (mais)

I admit I had the opportunity to review the headliner novel of this compilation as a beta reader. It was good then, but much better now. I really enjoyed The Underlighters. It’s a dark and horrific dystopian fantasy where nightmares take physical shape in the daylight. Within this cyberpunk-horror is an intricate tale of a young girl coming of age, learning she is strong and beautiful and worthy of love.

What surprised me to no end was the short stories following The Underlighters. Each tale is very different, some sad, some creepy, and some are imaginative retellings of old fables. The thin veil separating dream and reality is torn and scattered. These short tales are often bittersweet poetry, existential, with literary explorations of the human condition.

There’s something for everyone in this package, it crosses most genres of fiction. There’s a dangerously sensual tale of the party to end all parties, a woeful but inspirational tale of rape and forgiveness, and other strange musings of a very talented and diverse wordsmith.

Like a box of assorted gourmet chocolates, at least one flavor of Michelle Browne’s fiction sampler is guaranteed to suit your tastes.… (mais)

I admit I had the opportunity to review this as a beta reader. It was good then, but much better now. I thoroughly enjoyed The Underlighters.

It’s a dark and horrific dystopian fantasy where nightmares take physical shape in the daylight. Within this cyberpunk-horror is an intricate tale of a young girl coming of age, learning she is strong and beautiful and worthy of love.

The thin veil separating dream and reality is torn and scattered for poor Janelle. This lovely young lady faces the daily trials of an underground society scraping by on scavengings from the surface, and what little they can produce in their farms.

This is a dark place made darker by strange, inexplicable happenings. Nightmarish creatures that have no right to exist are roaming the tunnels, stealing away the children. Janelle and her friends face hellish monsters born of their darkest fears.

She can hardly tell whether its real or if she's just losing her mind.

Read the Underlighters for an H.P. Lovecraft styled subterranean world of fantasy and horrors. You'll soon find yourself reading all of Michelle Browne's novels.… (mais)