From the Beginning to the End by Henry Lewi

 

Sure, there are beginnings and ends and there is all the stuff that happens in the middle.

Begin with the Big Bang and end with a distant trumpet call; understand how to send a cheese sandwich into the future, have the origin of the universe explained, and find out how to achieve immortality; and finally add in a splash of espionage. Enjoy the mix.

Henri Lewi packs a universe into a small space in his thought-provoking From the Beginning to the End.

 

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An excerpt form the book 

In the Beginning

 The Celestial Offices were in uproar; clerks, angels, and demons were running hither and thither, carrying sheaves of paper, instructions, and bulky files. The Celestial Board had decided on a Creation Program and the countdown to the Big Bang had started.

 The black matter engineers rigged up the lighting sources; unfortunately some were highly unstable and quite a few exploded, sending an awful lot of debris out into the void.

 “OK, OK,” said the senior celestial engineer, “let them cool for a while but at least we’ve now got light that we can work by.”

 The scattered debris started to shine out there in the void.  

“Well,” said the celestial engineers “they were part of our office lighting sources – let them be; I’m sure they won’t have an effect on our Creation Program – will they?”

  In the celestial offices the lights began to flicker off, then on, and off and on again, with a monotonous regularity.

 “Not doing any harm is it?” said the Senior Celestial Engineer.  “It’s quite pretty really, so if we can’t fix it let’s leave it – we can call it a ‘Day/Night Program’ – how about that?”

 The Celestial Board weren’t that happy, but agreed to monitor the situation.

  “Let’s address all that debris flying around in the void, so what are we going to do about all those rocks and fire globes banging into each other. Some of them are exploding, others are just hanging around,” said the Chairman of the Celestial Board.

“Leave them be,” said the Celestial and Black Matter Engineers.  “We’ll sort it, don’t worry.”

 “We’ll just throw some Dark Energy into the void; that’ll calm it down.”

 So here they were three days into the program and the Big Bang hadn’t even started.  They had flickering lights and debris, and now the Black Matter Engineers were pumping Dark Energy and a splash of Dark Matter into the void.

 The Celestial Board met for an emergency meeting, “not going too well is it,” said the Chairman, as the various board members nodded their agreement.

 “So when do we fire up the Big Bang?” asked the Chairman.

 “Not just yet,” said the Senior Celestial Engineer, “let things cool down and in a day or so we’ll send out a couple of observers to review the situation, report back and we’ll see if we can get back on track.”

 The committee met again the following day; well the lights had flickered on/off and on again, and the Celestial Observers now reported back.

 “It’s all chaos out there,” they reported.

  “All this dark energy and matter has allowed the debris to expand outwards into the void. Some of the matter is cooling down, and they’re forming into what looks like solar masses, and rocky planets that are now spinning on their own axes. You can all see this on the ‘Giant-Omniversal-Display’,” indicating the current view of the universe on the massive screen behind the Celestial Chairman.

“Right,” said the Chairman, “do we pull the plug on the Big Bang and start over?”

  “Not just yet,” said the Senior Celestial Engineer, “we could throw some normal matter into the mix and see what happens.”

  “Ok do that,” said the Chairman,  “but I’m setting up a Genesis subcommittee to monitor all this; you can report directly to them.”

  “Righto,” replied the engineer, “I’ll be sending out the observers again. They’ll report back to me and the Genesis committee.”

  They were now into day five of their somewhat skewed Creation Programme, the Celestial Observers now reported to the Genesis Committee that on some of the spinning rocks various forms of Organic life were beginning to appear. The Genesis Committee escalated this up to the Celestial Board who now declared a Celestial Emergency.

  The infinity-sized room was packed with Celestial Board Members, the Genesis Committee, Celestial Engineers and Observers plus the Host of Angels and the Legions of Demons.

“Right,” said the Chairman, “where are we with this?”

“It looks like we have a runaway Autonomous Creation Programme,” replied the Senior Celestial Engineer. “As you can see on the ‘Giant-Omniversal-Display’.”

“That’s disappointing, how do we stop it?” said the Chairman as he turned to face the Giant-Omniversal-Display.

 The G.O.D. suddenly displayed across its screen, “LET THERE BE LIGHT,” and counted down from ten, and at zero, there was silence and the Big Bang happened.

 Reviews

Enjoyed reading this book of short stories; all entertaining, some more quirky than others, many are thought provoking and interesting. "Immortality - is it really forever" and "A crossword Clue", like many of the others, are full of interesting details, facts and curios.. a lot of fun to read. Nicely differing lengths, themes, timespans, and genres this unique collection of stories makes for a fun and diverse read.

 

Blood and Electricity by Steven John

 

 

We took an excursion around the sun again this year, five hundred million miles back to where we started.’ From A Brief History of Time in Our House, a story in this collection.

There are no UFOs or extra-terrestrials in this first collection of short stories and flash fiction by Steven John. Blood and Electricity is about the vital currents that flow through and around us, powering our lonely orbits of life. We are all bright stars that appear close to one another when viewed with the naked eye, but the truth is, we’re separated by incomprehensible distances. 

RRP Paperback £7.50 / Kindle £2.30

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“A hidden gem”

Steven John is a master of short fiction and this collection does not disappoint. Heartfelt, poignant, sensitive and beautifully crafted, these stories are fascinating snapshots that are engaging from start to finish. If you enjoy excellent writing and story-telling, I highly recommend. 

 

Each piece beautifully written by Steven John, rich with detail and emotion. Always interesting and thought-provoking and kept me turning pages for the next story in this gorgeous collection. Can't wait for more.

 

Steven John's stories use everyday detail to reveal truths about life and growing up and relationships. They are warm and sometimes sad in their familiarity. I particularly liked the descriptions in "The Lake," and my favourite protagonists were in "The Composer's Tall Trees" and "Paunch Porsche Pooch." I highly recommend "Fashion in Men's Footwear, Late 20th Century" and "Blueberry Muffins" as well. All around a testament to the power of the short story to reflect our lives.

 

 

Listen to one of the stories 

Beside Another Sea by David Lythgoe

 

These poems are inspired by David Lythgoe’s world-wide travels, the natural world, our place in the universe, and a (still) developing love of being alive. The poems follow a sequence in which each poem has a connection, sometimes tenuous, with those immediately before and behind. Consequently, you may find here juxtapositions where pathos is followed by unexpected joy, spirituality is intertwined with humour and mundane life engages with the cosmos.

David Lythgoe will certainly invite you to look again at nature in Beside Another Sea, his fourth book of poetry.

“I like the way it evokes the past … and yet connects with the present … at the same time containing an element of lightness – even of joking – which is entertaining to the reader.”
Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate emeritus

“David has won awards for his writing and … he unearths feelings as much as facts … his background enables him to merge a travelogue with classical literary, and scientific linguistic devices. In short this collection is a selection of gems to hold, to treasure and to reflect upon. The cliché would be to say, ‘enjoy’. This you will do, but expect also to be moved, perhaps to weep, to sigh, to laugh but, above all, to be grateful for such gifts, skill and insight that have been shared.”
Revd. Dr Andrew Pratt

RRP paperback £7.00 / Kindle £2.30

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I don't usually read poetry, but I was given this book by a friend, and read it on the train journey home. The book is full of such a variety of themes. I particularly liked First Date. Who knew you could say so much in only 3 verses! I also liked Meditation about losing yourself when playing piano. Probably my favourite, is Grief, written, I imagine, by someone who's experienced the loss of the love of his life. Yet David Lythgoe has intertwined the sadness with positive advice. I'll put it in my 'Dying Tidily' file - but hope that won't be needed for a while.

 

 

Something Very Human by Hannah Retallick

 

This collection takes the reader on a journey through life, from the innocence of young voices to the reflections of those seeking meaning as they look back at the paths they've taken.

Each story captures the very essence of being human. The characters tackle everyday challenges, face inner struggles, navigate familial relationships and friendships, fall in love and out of love, process grief, and reflect on the beautiful fragility of it all.

Something Very Human is the debut short story collection from award-winning writer, Hannah Retallick.

RRP Paperback £ 8.50

Kindle £2.30 

Buy from Amazon (including Kindle)    

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.  

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Buy from us 1-4 books

  

 

Buy from us  5 + books

 

 

I love Hannah’s writing styles. Each story is self-contained, but together they provide a wonderful journey through the diversity of life. It’s not just one voice or style at different ages, it’s different voices and styles.

Retallick’s stories are imbued with a wealth of experiences and emotions – exploring friendships, love, loss and longing, and the eternal search for connection. But there is humour and hope at their heart, and this warmth shines through. Our lives may be woven from what appears to be fragile thread, but this is a writer who understands the real resilience of the human heart; she knows that “however many times you’ve been let down and however drenched you become, there are always reasons to sing.” A truly accomplished debut collection.

I loved this collection of short fiction and it was great to see the list of awards, prizes and placements that each has secured.