Eric James Stone

Go buy this book.

Buy it, put it by your bed, or desk, or chair, or couch, or where ever you like to read, and then read it.

But don't read it straight through. Stop at the end of each story, set your head back on your pillow/headrest/cushion/ground and enjoy the warm sense of wonder that [b:Rejiggering the Thingamajig and Other Stories|11631077|Rejiggering the Thingamajig and Other Stories|Eric James Stone|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1309283051s/11631077.jpg|16574652] will show more bring as it alights on your imagination, bringing a smile to your face and an eagerness to turn the page and find what is awaiting in the next story.

Repeat.

Eric James Stone is revelation, his writing full of the fantastic, wonderful, and imaginative world that marks what science fiction ought to be. Along with a delightful and surprising sense of humor, a cleverness for unexpected plot twists, and a taste for the quirks of human nature, Stone's collection is an utterly enjoyable romp through a mind that is ever interested in the world we live in and the worlds we might create.

In short, it is wonderful writing.

In the title story, Rejiggering the Thingamajig, our unlikely hero is a genetically modified tyrannosaurus rex, stranded from her unborn across the vast reach of space and thrust into the role of galactic savior.

Another, the Six Billion Dollar Colon, echoes both Stone's experience working for members of Congress and predicts the drama of vast, sweeping healthcare legislation...with a twist.

The short, one page Buy You a Mockingbird is poignant as it is parsimonious, showing a talent for language and story-telling in only an incredibly short space. Just a bit longer, but every bit as humorous as Buy You a Mockingbird is sad, Accounting for Dragons will leave anyone who has ever filed their own taxes smiling.

In a twist, The Robot Sorcerer mashes science fiction and fantasy, suggesting that the lines between the genres need not be as thick as we treat them. Or maybe they are already thin?

And there are more, many more. I found Stone's stories brilliant and refreshing. Unique, also, is Stone's willingness to address religion, including his own--he is Latter-day Saint--without knocking it, but as a rational examination of how people and faith might be affected by science and fantasy. Tabloid Reporter to the Stars takes man across the galaxy and asks: what if we were alien life to another planet, and what if we found out we were not the first of our kind to arrive? Whose religion would be proven or destroyed? The Ashes of His Fathers provides the opportunity for an unfaithful descendant of saints to find redemption, drawing inspiration from Thomas Babington Macaulay's "Horatius." Loophole is about a young woman taking her new husband, a Mormon, home to meet her "demonic" family. And That Leviathan Whom Thou Hast Made examines Mormon missionary zeal among extraterrestrial sun dwellers with some unexpected results.

In short, Stone's imagination seems to know no bounds, and his writing proves to be a powerful tool to tell his stories. I bumped into him at Salt Lake Comic Con where he was sitting on panel about the Writers of the Future contest, which he has won, alongside David Farland and Brad R. Torgersen, two other brilliant writers. He was billed, by Torgersen, as one of the best short story writers working, and, IMHO, he fits the ticket well.

So what are you waiting for? Buy it already! show less

It's been a couple years since I discovered Eric James Stone's short stories. They are clever, witty, and seeded by unique ideas that meld science and the human experience. Whether its a story about the religious proselytization of a whale-like species of alien that dwells within fiery heat at the heart of stars or a tale that involves a tyrannosaurus rex, teleportation, and Buddism, or one about man's first discovery of sentient life on another planet, Stone's stories are part science show more fiction, part humanity and always mind-popping.

Unforgettable retains Stone's clever touch, though at novel length. Nat Morgan is an scientific anomaly, a man who cannot be remembered by anyone. As soon as he is out of sight, he is, within a minute, lost from memory. Even electronic records fail to retain memory of him. He is a fluke of quantum mechanics, leaving almost no trace behind. Only things written out about him are retained, and it is this one form of record that allows Morgan to find himself one of the few honest jobs that might be available to him--as a spy.

When a simple mission to steal a piece of technology goes wrong, Morgan finds himself bound to a beautiful Russian thief. Strangely, and for the first time for him, she doesn't forget him as others do. Together they will take on a dangerous villain with a quantum chip that dominate the world and end humanities ability to choose.

It's an intriguing set of concepts that Stone has combined. Written like a thriller, Unforgettable is every bit a slice of science fiction that takes place the day after tomorrow, but with all the page turning capacity of a spy novel. And yet, in a turn from many spy/thriller genre tropes, Morgan's story takes on questions that transcend superficial spy versus spy games. It's enjoyable, fun, and satisfying.

And yet, Stone dodges questions about Morgan's life that merit deeper inspection and treatment. From birth, Nat Morgan is completely forgettable, and it is only through sheer will that his mother stays with him as long as she does, while a father who cannot recall where baby Nat has come from leaves Nat and his mother confused. Perhaps this is the wrong book--or the wrong genre--to address the myriad of issues that a man who cannot be remembered would face: he cannot be loved or even known, cannot develop relationships, know responsibility or duty...who will he become? How will he be socialized when society does not know or recognize him? And how does he respond--having no experience with any relationships of any kind--when someone, a woman, suddenly recognizes and remembers him?

Again, perhaps this is the wrong genre. Stone has set up the novel like a thriller, and pacing requires a certain amount of action and movement. But still, it's hard to read even an enjoyable and fun book like this and not wonder how this man must be different from every other man, let alone how he is sane.

Stone's Unforgettable comes to a close addressing other interesting questions, especially about agency and freedom and security, and it is how Stone ties these questions into his fast paced and well-plotted tale that makes Unforgettable, well...unforgettable. I look forward to reading the sequels and following Nat Morgan's further adventures. There's more to this story to tell, and Stone has shown that he has the capacity to spin a story that will keep readers glued. show less

Nat has a very special talent: people and computers forget him a minute after he stops interacting with them. He uses this talent for the CIA, until on one mission he meets a beautiful Russian spy—and then, when he meets her again, she remembers him. Very neat and tidy, and there’s technobabble about his talent that is largely vitiated by the fact that it lasts exactly sixty seconds, but it’s still plenty enjoyable for what it is.

Accounting advice for dragons regarding taking inventory of their hordes, saving treasure to pay as taxes to the Dragon King, whether virgin sacrifices count as income, whether knight insurance is deductible, etc. Very cute.