It’s finally showing signs of spring here in Upstate New York, even though friends from warmer climates have been posting pictures of blossoms for many weeks now. The Ume trees are the first to burst forth (their cousins in Japan have been out for a couple of months now and are already producing fruit.)

After finishing the excellent (but long and relentless) Otherland series, I was in the mood for something lighter, so I picked out some stories in a more humorous vein. I came up with three that satisfied the need, and reviewed them below. It started me thinking about how they used humor in different ways.

I’ve used a lot of aphorisms in my career, short sayings to make a point. Some of my favorites were:

Sufficient unto the day are the meetings thereof
Cheap hardware isn’t
Anything can be accomplished given sufficient caffeine
To explain simply, understand deeply

A Science Fiction story of first contact Lieutenant Yusmara is an unconventional starship pilot. She steers by rope and canvas, at least in metaphor. She’s at the helm of the Gemini as something pulls onto

A contagious short story Stories are repeated. They evolve. They are cross-bred and spliced. Ideas take on a life of their own. The oldest legends appear in the latest retellings. One day, by design or

Knots

Follow a thief into a twisty world with a unique magic system. M Resche crossed a bridge and can’t go back. He can’t even find the bridge. Monsieur Resche is an art thief. He has

Sellenria

A Science Fiction Adventure … this story bolstered my faith that someone can still write decent sci-fi. Sellenria brings you back to a timeless quest on an alien world. Archaeologist Stenn Gremm was following the