Published: July 13, 2011
Words: 44,638 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780987693853

Short description

13 Short Tales by Karl El-Koura

Extended description

Why doesn't God do something to stop the evil and suffering in the world? Some people who call themselves the "Atheists Against God" think they know the answer. And they know what they’re going to do about it, too.

A hired gun—who doesn’t use a gun and won’t be hired by just anyone—realizes that his profession is killing him, but finds it hard to quit. Until he discovers that his talent has more uses than he ever dreamed possible.

A young boy learns that his best friend is an alien. But does that mean they have to stop being friends? (Read more) Why doesn't God do something to stop the evil and suffering in the world? Some people who call themselves the "Atheists Against God" think they know the answer. And they know what they’re going to do about it, too.

A hired gun—who doesn’t use a gun and won’t be hired by just anyone—realizes that his profession is killing him, but finds it hard to quit. Until he discovers that his talent has more uses than he ever dreamed possible.

A young boy learns that his best friend is an alien. But does that mean they have to stop being friends?

Meet interesting, complex characters; explore worlds both strange and all-too-familiar; and discover the answer to thought-provoking mysteries in this collection of 13 short stories by Karl El-Koura. Twelve of these short tales were previously published in magazines between 1998 and 2010, while the bonus story is exclusive to this collection. Organized in three sections—Fear, Faith, and Love—this anthology also contains an introduction by the author, as well as forewords to accompany each story (an afterword in the case of the bonus story).

Spanning a wide range of genres (including science fiction, fantasy, horror, detective fiction, military fiction, and superhero fiction) and a wide range of lengths (from the shortest story at 250 words to the longest at 7500 words), "Ooter's Place and Other Stories of Fear, Faith, and Love" is an eclectic collection. Join the author as he introduces you to stories both light and dark, fun and serious, always entertaining.

"Ooter's Place and Other Stories of Fear, Faith, And Love" is approximately 43,000 words (175 pages) and also contains a three-story excerpt from the author's short story collection "The Lost Stories: A Series of CoSmic Adventures."

Praise for stories included in this collection:

AT WAR—"A Bradbury-esque piece." (SFReader)

HOW YOU DIE—"The tension builds steadily into the wonderful climax and I could easily see this making a leap into the verbal horror tradition that spawned it." (Tangent Online)

THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIMSELF FOR A SUPERHERO—"After some very funny, sometimes poignant encounters . . . we discover why [the protagonist] is able to do what he does. And what happens to guys who think they are superheroes—but aren't. A very appealing story." (Tangent Online)

Contents

Part I: Stories of Fear

How You Die
Phantom Spouse Syndrome
Tom's Refrigerator
Corpse Of My Life

Part II: Stories of Faith

The Man Who Mistook Himself for a Superhero
Atheists Against God and the Devil of Destruction
Blink
The Talent

Part III: Stories of Love

They Came From Ooter's Place
Making Simbta
At War
The Curious Case of the Book Baron

Bonus: A Story of Faith, Fear, and Love

Chasing Carrots
(Less)

Tags

romance, love, crime, god, ghosts, anthology, fear, zombies, faith, canada, detective, aliens, ottawa, superhero, powers

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Videos

Book Trailer
Trailer for Karl El-Koura's short story collection "Ooter's Place and Other Stories of Fear, Faith, and Love"

Reviews

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Review by: killie81 on Aug. 03, 2012 :
"Ooter's Place and Other Stories of Fear, Faith, and Love" is a collection of short stories written by Karl El-Koura that were written over a 12 year period. Whilst the title itself maybe a little bit of a mouthful, the stories themselves are all well paced, entertaining and incredibly varied. The collection really does cover a large range of genres, although the majority are speculative fiction such as Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy.

I have to admit that as I had never heard of the author prior to reading this collection and due to it being self-published I was expecting to find a fair few turkeys alongside any gems in this collection. In hindsight, this was a rather blinkered view to take as what I found was an enjoyable range of well written and engaging short stories. Every single one of them had me thoroughly entertained no matter the genre or subject.

The collection itself is split into three sections under the headings of Fear, Faith and Love with four stories appearing in each. To be honest, I found the placement of the stories rather arbitrary and I think many of the stories could easily have fit into either section. However, El-Koura himself does actually realise this himself and freely admits it in his introduction. One element I really appreciated with this collection was the forewords written by El-Koura prior to every story. It gave a decent basis for the story itself and helped to ensure that the reader had some understanding about what the story was conveying.

The first section in the collection which covers stories about fear is probably the most self explanatory portion of the collection. The stories here range from an incredibly short and quirky piece entitled "Tom's Refrigerator" about a man's rather controlling computerised fridge to an engrossing story called "How You Die" that takes a look at how the imagination of two young brothers telling ghost stories can lead to a rather dangerous outcome.

The second section covering stories about faith was the one I wasn't looking forward to as I had visions of stories written around religious preaching etc. However, I was happy to see that there was no hidden intent behind these stories. In fact, whilst some of them did have elements on religion within them, some of them didn't and the stories were mainly focussed on faith as a concept and how it shapes our lives. These stories ranged from an enjoyable, poignant and slightly amusing look at a man who comes to believe he is a superhero that is entitled "The Man Who Mistook Himself for a Superhero" to a rather engaging journey of a man whose sub-conscious seems to give him one last adventure before his life ends in the story "Blink".

The final section includes stories about love and I was quite impressed to see that El-Koura didn't just take the easy route of concentrating only on romantic love. They also covered platonic love such as that between two friends as shown in the rather surreal alien invasion story "They Came From Ooter’s Place". These stories about love didn't just stop there however as the final story in the section entitled "The Curious Case of the Book Baron" follows the mysterious case of someone breaking into homes and leaving books and is based around the love of reading. I suspect, most people who read this collection will read that story with a big smile on my face as I did.

Overall, I found this to be a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable collection of stories, with some of them reaching me on an emotional level. I can't recommend this collection highly enough, especially if you are a fan of engaging speculative fiction in the short form. If you aren't sure then go and read the free sampler that includes three stories from the collection and is available on Smashwords.
(reviewed long after purchase)

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