All Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories

Moles & Lake have done an incredible job on this collection of stories. They're all different lengths and styles, and I enjoyed every one. They deliver all the Stirring Adventure promised in the title, considerably better written than that might imply. Many of the stories pay homage to the 40's pulps, revisiting all of the good stuff; however, the book isn't limited to that era. In addition to splendid space opera, there's a fine ghost story, a David Brin what's-next-with-technology thriller, strange conspiracies among the apes in the zoo, and one surprise after another. For example, David Levine's story "Love in the Balance" qualifies as dashing space opera, with lines like "Zenobia, prepare my zeppelin gun" but also has the description "He paced before the shuttered window, heedless of the books' shuffling and murmuring as they rearranged themselves alphabetically." The image of the books sorting themselves out on the shelves stays with me, but so do the ranks of zombie troops, and the affectionate ship. Lee Battersby's couple that restored their old house too accurately, huddled together for strength, is going to haunt me, too. Maybe it wouldn't worry me, if my house hadn't been built in 1911? It's 19 all-new stories and one reprint -- Howard Waldrop's classic "You Could Go Home Again."