This is a collection of mixed genre, flash fiction short stories from one author. To be accurate, a few of the stories are flash nonfiction; but that’s chaotic diversity for you. None of the stories runs to more than 1000 words. Some have a classic twist in the ‘tale’ and some don’t. Expect everything from the trivial to the disguised rant. If you would like something to read during breaks in a dedicated chef’s life, then the egg-timer will seem like a bit of a red herring, as none of the stories has anything whatsoever to do with food arts. Well, unless one considers the time it takes to boil an egg to be the yolk of all reading material. However, this is actually the perfect book for the busy everyday cook, executive banker, child maintenance engineer, or candlestick maker, in fact for anybody with a couple of minutes in which to grab a much needed, short dramatic, distraction. No one will like all the stories, even the author wouldn’t want to read some of them everyday, but everyone should find a few to resonate in a ‘that was worth a moment’ sort of way.
Assessed
Books in this series:
The Amazon button should take you to your regional Amazon. If you purchase this book, the AIBA coordinator may receive a small commission from Amazon. Payment of this commission does not affect the price you pay to Amazon or the royalty paid by Amazon to the author. ~:~:~:~:~:~Available from: Amazon Kobo Barnes & Noble Smashwords Apple Inc. Book Depository Author's Website
Review by Awesome Indies
August 8, 2014
Fifty Egg Timer Stories by Richard Bunning is a short story collection that engages the readers’ short attention span. Each story is approximately 750 words and, according to the author, should take about three minutes to read. I will admit, I was dubious about the idea at first (his first story explains his method), but I warmed to it as I continued to read. Bunning did not limit himself to one particular genre for these stories, but rather took on as many as he could.
This style of story collection is an interesting concept and allows both the reader and the author to dabble in fields unexplored. By including a variety of genres, the reader can experience a small example of what historical fiction, speculative fiction, or philosophical thought (to name a few) might be like. The author even includes a story in outline format, and a short play. Interestingly enough, the author could have broken down each genre into several sub-categories. The reader will notice that the stories are also anecdotal, allegorical, life lessons, or educational. The range displayed in Bunning’s collection gave him an excellent opportunity to try his hand at writing from a variety of character perspectives, points of view, and setting descriptions. These stories are told through the minds of young men or women, aliens, scientists, philosophers, and adults under duress.
As the stories are so short, it is difficult to describe them without giving too much away. The readers will find themselves riding on a train in Sard
inia, donating their body to science, hitchhiking on the moon, being written out of a will due to a fashion choice, learning that deceased loved ones are never far away, and many more places. Two of the stories contained trigger warnings for sexual violence. I applaud the author for recognizing the necessity of announcing this.
By limiting himself to 750 words, the author did miss several opportunities to turn very creative ideas into meatier stories. Though many of the stories play out well, a few seemed halted unexpectedly to meet the length criteria and others didn’t have enough time to flush out characters or purpose. Regardless, the collection is a well-rounded variety and contains something for everyone.