L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38

I didn't finish reading all the stories in this anthology, but I just can't keep it on my Currently Reading shelf anymore. This is usually an excellent anthology, a good way of finding new authors, and I've read some of my favorite short stories in previous volumes, as well as the winning stories of some of my favorite authors and a few colleagues. Writers of the Future was edited by David Farland and always includes material by luminaries of science fiction and fantasy, and has a nice, pulpy feel that keeps it grounded in the past while looking to the future.

Unfortunately, the stories in this volume are not very good. That's an example of “litotes.” I won't go into specifics to avoid burning bridges that haven't been built yet, but I was honestly shocked by how juvenile and poorly written they were. One of the original stories was really good, and there was a nice little (I mean a page and a half) essay of advice from Frank Herbert. Thankfully this volume wasn't too expensive, but even fifteen bucks doesn't seem worth it for one good short story and 1.5 pages of wisdom from Frank Herbert. Skip this one. That's not to say other volumes of this series aren't excellent. I'd find out which ones have stories by your favorite authors and seek out those volumes. I'll be giving Volume 39 (upcoming) a try, but if it sucks as bad as this one, I'll only be going back to older volumes.