Earth’s Final Chapter Winning Collection 2020 by Martha Everitt, Jim Horlock, Jackary Salem, Victoria Clapton

Earth’s Final Chapter Winning Collection 2020 by Martha Everitt, Jim Horlock, Jackary Salem, Victoria Clapton
Publisher: Endless Ink Publishing House
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A collection of winning stories set in the Earth’s Final Chapter series, part of Volume 1. 2020 contest winners.

Curiosity is a gift that not everyone is given.

Riss needed to go on a raid outside the safety of his city in “The Wilding” to find medicine for his ill uncle. I enjoyed the slow but steady world building in this tale. It was also interesting to meet a protagonist who was not curious about the world outside of his gated community and who was so reluctant to explore it. That isn’t a common personality trait in the science fiction genre, but it made for some fantastic plot twists as he adjusted to the many dangers waiting for him.

The thought of eternal life was all Rezag needed to convince him and his crew to risk their lives searching for the witch who knew how to grant it in “Ever-Life.” He was such a violent and unpredictable character that it took me a while to adjust to him, but I was intrigued by the glimpses of his past that explained why he was so ruthless and gave examples of times he had shown mercy to others. Complexity made reading more enjoyable, and I would have happily kept learning about the high-risk choices his crew made.

I struggled with the world building in “Lungs Full of Water.” As interesting as it was to see how Grant survived a pirate attack that killed everyone else in his crew and should have claimed his life as well, I had so many unanswered questions about how magical powers work in this world that it was difficult to remain focused on the plot. This was still a good story, but I did find myself wishing it had been explained more clearly.

In order to keep the last remnants of Irish culture alive, Muireann had to journey to a place she’d only heard about in fairy tales in “Intertwined.” The plot twists in this story were numerous and kept me guessing. I smiled as she shared the clever tricks her small village had come up with in order to survive against steep odds and with no outside assistance. She was a brave protagonist who I was pleased to get to know.

Earth’s Final Chapter Winning Collection 2020 was imaginative.