BooksScifi

Open Mic Night At The Nexus by Ian Brazee-Cannon (book review).

‘Open Mic Night At The Nexus’ is a collection of short stories from a single author, Ian Brazee-Cannon. Here are a few stories that resonated deeply with me.

In ‘Brew Of The Gods,’ Tryggvi, a clever merchant, buys a potion from a cloaked figure in a temple, waters it down, and sells it to his fellow townsmen. It gives them magical powers, but there are unforeseen consequences. The gods just toy with us.

Marjorie works in a diner. After serving coffee all day to a man doing paperwork at one of the tables, she gets into conversation with him. He claims to be the new god, recently appointed to the post. ‘The New Guy In Charge’ is a lovely wish-fulfilment fantasy.

‘Full Circle’ is a time travel fantasy in which a man finds himself with a broken-down car by the side of the road and goes to help. His bootstraps are not involved, but there is a wrench. We all enjoy loops, and this execution is commendable.

Karl Sinclair finds it challenging to persuade the President of the United States to attend a diplomatic function in his underwear, but he must do so in order to establish a rapport with the Odians, a reptilian alien race that has the potential to greatly benefit humanity. The First Lady has no trouble going nude, but she’s pretty fit for her age. ‘Naked Diplomacy’ has a bit of fun with our western nudity taboo.

‘The Great Illness’ tackles another taboo. A new disease kills teenagers who don’t orgasm regularly, which is a problem for other world colonies founded by religious cults. Many science fiction scenarios use the unlikely disease to critique certain attitudes.

Robert and Jasmine Jones have a new baby named Jimmy who may be the next step in evolution, thanks to all the chemicals and hormones in our modern world and a little help from the medical profession. If you are a parent, ‘The Path Of Evolution’ will make you thank the gods you don’t have children like Jimmy.

Jna’than and the millions of nanobots that inhabit his body are the last survivors in our universe. ‘The End’ is an old SF theme with a bit of pantheism thrown in but well done here.

The Central Authority on New Salvation recaptures Gregory Eakin after he escapes the Unified Galactic Establishment. ‘This Crime Immortality’ is about human folly being repeated endlessly and reminded me of ‘Methuselah’s Children,’ where the common people want the secret of living forever.

‘What Lies In The Wastelands’ is a story in the Divided States of America series from Nomadic Delirium Press. The USA has broken up into separate territories. In this adventure, a gang of preppers bushwhack some well-equipped friendly people from the Rocky Mountain States of America as they explore the wastelands. We can only hope the States of America stay united because there is no war worse than a civil war.

‘Lemon-Man vs The Flannel Darkness’ is one of a series Brazee-Cannon has written about Georgie and Armand on vacation. They are shape-shifting master mage dragons who run an interdimensional hotel but travel as well. Here they are on a world where radioactivity somehow gives people superpowers instead of killing them. Marvellous! However, not all the abilities are useful, so the combat between a man who drank radioactive lemonade and another who somehow merged with his shadow gets silly. Comic book tropes are employed in a humorous manner.

If I had to sum up ‘Open Mic Night At The Nexus,’ I’d say quirky, mostly light, easy reading. Ian Brazee-Cannon shows his liberal values in a few stories, and they won’t sit well with some in the USA but are fine with most science fiction readers, I’m sure. One future character, in a casual aside, puts Trump in the same class as Hitler. It’s not an uncommon point of view. Let’s hope it isn’t true. Other stories line up reality to defeat sex and nudity taboos. However, the tone is mostly light-hearted, gentle, playful, and not aggressive. I enjoyed the book and hope Mr. Brazeee-Cannon keeps writing.

Eamonn Murphy

January 2025

(pub: Nomadic Delirium Press, 2024. 121 page enlarged paperback. Price: $10.00 (US), £ 7.88 (UK). ISBN: 979-8-30067-126-6. Ebook price: $ 2.99 (US), £ 2.36 (UK))

check out website: www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com   

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