Gunning For The Buddha - Softcover

Michael Jasper loves to explore the places where the normal meets the strange. In pursuit of this fascination, he has written and published ten novels, over sixty short stories, and a digital comic with artist Niki Smith. In the past he attempted bartending, teaching junior high, painting houses, being a secret shopper, working construction, and many more jobs; he prefers fiction writing. For his day job, he works as a technical writer. He lives with his family in North Carolina, and his website is michaeljasper.net.

Jasper's style is all over the place in his first collection—the influence of such established SF authors as John Kessel (who provides an introduction), Tim Powers and Andy Duncan is manifest—but readers curious to see the growth of a writer one story at a time will be rewarded. The title tale involves time travel with an atmospheric twist. Black comedy marks "A Feast at the Manor," with its desperate dieters, and "Goddamn Redneck Surfer Zombies," about a small beach community dealing with a seasonal influx of the undead. Less successful are "Unplugged," about outmoded cyber cowboys, and "Working the Game," in which a downtrodden worker finally realizes there's no way to beat the system. "Explosions" and the three tales that follow explore the repercussions when humans attempt to make a place for the alien Wannoshay after their space ship crashes on Earth. The last four entries are the most memorable, the standout being the evocative and vivid "Natural Order," which Jasper calls in his afterword "the best story I've ever written in ten hours." (Apr.)