Today it is my pleasure to welcome author Svet Rouskov and his book Antithesis: A Collection of Science Fiction and Other Short Stories.
Author’s description
Antithesis is a collection of vivid and exhilarating science fiction stories, tied together by characters whose moral challenges offer windows into humanity and the human condition. These stories are cautionary tales, flights of fancy, terrifying psychological journeys, humorous romps, and even a space opera.
A speculative tale about humankind becoming obsolete from the perspective of the machines we created. The story of an airline pilot who loses his faith in the physics of flying as his rational and irrational mind fight for dominance. An ancient being born of human evolution that strips us of our memories, feeding on one precious reminiscence at a time. An audacious fable that explores a new galaxy, one where humans are irrelevant, but the conflicts of a class-based society are not. A novella-length saga about a mission to Mars, the origins of humanity, and an atrocity that stretches across time and space. And finally, a story that asks the question whether an unstoppable artificial intelligence would indeed be happier traveling the vast reaches of space, or back amongst the flawed beings who created it.
Escape into worlds unlike anything you have seen before, but some eerily similar to our own. Antithesis – where the opposite is to be expected.
My Review
There is no doubt that author Svet Rouskoy has a deft command of the language and flair for telling a story. Start any of the tales in his book Antithesis and you will know you are in good hands, going places that will surprise you and get you to think.
My favorite story was , a slightly eerie but fascinating look at a pilot taking his first flight after surviving a crash. The reader isn’t sure what exactly is off in this tale, but something is not right …
My least favorite happened to be
My biggest quarrel with the entire book is that the cover and title led me to believe I was about to enjoy several short stories. I love short stories.
But this book offers only two and then serves up several multi-part novelette/novella length works broken into various chapters and interspersed. The format is confusing and, worse yet, several of the stories are continued in another book!
However, a reader going into this work understanding this situation, or one willing to just enjoy whatever show up on the page, is in for a treat because there is a lot of good stuff in here.
About the Author
Svet Rouskov started his career as a graduate from the University of Toronto Mechanical Engineering program and became a successful automotive industry executive. After fifteen years he discovered that his real passion was writing. Once he took an introductory screenwriting class, Svet realized he was hooked and continued his filmmaking education at Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre. Since that time, Svet has written, developed, and produced feature films, television shows, video games, and web-based series. His passion for writing has now extended to literature, which offers him another exciting avenue to tell stories. This is Svet’s first work of fiction.
Please check out his IMDb page for details of his work and representative contact information.
Find the Author
WEBSITE: https://svetrouskov.com/
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3118508/
Buy the Book
AMAZON.COM https://amazon.com/dp/0228840317
AMAZON.CA https://amazon.ca/dp/0228840317
BOOKSHOP https://bookshop.org/books/antithesis-a-collection-of-science-fiction-and-other-short-stories-9780228840329/9780228840312
INDIGO CHAPTERS https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/antithesis-a-collection-of-science/9780228840336-item.html
BARNES & NOBLE https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/antithesis-svet-rouskov/1138748979
BOOK DEPOSITORY https://www.bookdepository.com/Antithesis-Svet-Rouskov/9780228840312
SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1067295
APPLE BOOKS https://books.apple.com/us/book/antithesis-collection-science-fiction-other-short-stories/id1552933427
Yes, there is a giveaway
The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
This post is part of a tour sponsored by Goddess Fish. Check out all the other tour stops. If you drop by each of these and comment, you will greatly increase your chances of winning.
My Favorite Excerpt
Samantha also knew Kenji was sweet on Ellie, but Ellie wasn’t interested, as she found him dreadfully boring. Sam didn’t know why, but people trusted her. Maybe it was the fact that she was middle-aged and had done enough to know something, but still felt young at heart. Either way, Samantha loved being in the middle of the drama.
“Listen, Kenji, I don’t think she likes you that way,” Samantha replied.
“Has she said so?” “No. But it’s just … you guys are so different,” she said.
“How?”
“She’s an adrenaline junkie, rides a motorcycle, climbs mountains, hang-glides …”
“I’m not exciting enough for her?” Kenji asked, the hurt plainly visible on his face.
“No, that’s not it at all. It’s just—” But she was cut off as Ellie stormed into the room, face flushed, eyes wide, looking like she was going to hyperventilate.
“It’s building!” Ellie blurted out.
“Calm down, Ellie,” said Samantha.
Ellie took a deep breath, then continued, “The line is building something.”
“What did you program it to make?” asked Kenji.
“I didn’t. No one did,” she replied.
Kenji and Samantha exchanged a shocked look, and then both jumped to their feet.
Samantha and Ellie stared out the control room’s observation window. Below them, the assembly line hummed with activity. Kenji was behind them at the stations, madly entering commands on the panels. Sam turned to look at him and could see the look of shock in his eyes.
“No plans were entered into the system,” he said.
“Then what’s being made?” asked Samantha.
The door burst open, and Ross stormed in. He first went to the window—eyes wide, practically frothing at the mouth—but then whipped around and glared at Kenji. “What the fuck is going on?” he barked. “I don’t know,” said Kenji.
“What do you mean you don’t know? What are we building?”
Kenji didn’t answer, just curled his shoulders and lowered his head. Ross whipped around to look at Ellie. “Don’t look at me,” she said.
“You integrated his code, didn’t you? Take some responsibility for once!”
“Take it easy, Ross. Yelling’s not going to help,” said Samantha.
Ross slowly softened; Samantha knew the calming effect she had on him and wasn’t afraid to interrupt one of his outbursts.
Ross turned back to Kenji. “What happened?”
“As far as I can tell, the system chose to make something on its own,” said Kenji.
“I thought we followed the anti-artificial-intelligence laws, you know, so something like this couldn’t happen,” Ross said accusingly.
“We did. I can’t explain it—” Kenji began, but he was cut off by Ellie, who was at the viewing window.
“It’s done!” she cried.
Thank you!
Svet Rouskov — we appreciate your sharing your book Antithesis: A Collection of Science Fiction and Other Short Stories with us! Best of luck with sales, and with all of your future writing.