Ben A. Bell

Ben A. Bell was born in Boston, MA, but now lives overseas and works as a freelance writer.

His works have been published in: Blood Bound Books-Rock is Dead, Niteblade, Pill Hill Press-Rotting Tales, Emerald Tales, Whortleberry Press-Peace on all the Earths, Pill Hill Press-365 Days of Flash Fiction, Literal Translations, Farspace 2, Sex and Murder Magazine and Moon Drenched Fables.

blood    death    demon    devil    ghost    gore    monster    zombie   

• The Last Real New Yorker in the World on June 28, 2011
  
  As a New Yorker, this story had me at the title. Reading on, I found clever lines, economical prose, and brilliant black humor wrapped up in a fast-paced, sharp SF story. In short, it was terrific.
  
• The Backworlds on Nov. 27, 2013
  
  The first book in M.Pax’s Backworlds series does a great job of introducing the hero, Craze, and setting up his story. At the outset, he’s facing the worst day of his life, and with a family and community like he’s got, who needs enemies? It’s no wonder the young man rockets off to seek his fortune in the dangerous Backworlds. His adventures are exciting and pull the story along at a fast pace. The part I liked most about this book was its attention to detail and the world-building. Those are the criteria on which every SF story should be judged. Just because a set of characters are placed in “the future” or on “another planet” doesn’t mean they’re really unique or original. But in Pax’s world, the aliens are truly alien, with values unlike humanity’s, and complex social rules and histories that ring true while being completely new and different from anything I’ve read before. While I loved Craze, it was the aliens that really drew me into this book. The descriptions, characterizations, and dialog were amazing, and made me feel I was really at the back end of the galaxy where anything could happen. I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series.