Written by Crawford Kilian, I when I saw this in a discount book shop in An Arbor I was pleased. I always have wanted to write Science Fiction however the prospect of bands of Trekki like fans taking me apart because I called a Warp Drive and Hyper drive, and a Nebula a Gas cloud worried me.

So I bought it and read it, and I admit the book is pretty darn good. The book goes into concepts and also walks you through actual writing. I have read alot of reference books that tell you they "show you how to" write in a genre, however this is the first book that I have read that actually does that.

I was also pleased as it covered fantasy. I have dabbled in short story writing in this Genre and always thought I was "pretty good", however I can see now I have a long way to go. This book upon one reading has made me be a more "mindful" writer, and also has shown me some cool things.

Such as the actual "mechanics" when you write in these two areas. I mean this book gets into the details, it shows you how to turn a simple paragraph into something interesting and possibly mind blowing. I generally despise books by those that claim they can tell you how to write, however I will be darned if this does not do just that. The writer is not arogant nor is he sloppy in his approach. He carries through each concept clearly and completely, and this book has a very cool section for World Building...... I am writing a small scifi mini book and I think now it may become a full sized novel. And this book is solely responsible for making me decide to do that.

Thus this book gets a solid..............

5 Stars