The latest flash fiction anthology from Havok is based on colors and entitled Havok: Prismatic. For the past four books, I’ve rated the super short stories, all 1000 words or under, from 1 to 10 to determine my favorites in two categories. However, many stories still tied for the highest score. This time, I decided to rate each story by three elements that I call “hue,” “tech,” and “emo.”
Hue refers to how well the story did in incorporating the color. For high marks, the object in question should be closely associated with the item it’s describing (compare an orange jacket to an orange pumpkin) and bonus points for the color being a key aspect to the story itself. Tech refers to mechanics of course, but also the basic concept itself and the style of the writer. Emo means “emotional.” If a tragedy, did it leave me truly melancholic? Did the scary story touch a nerve?
Before I describe the top-rated stories, a note on the rating. For a 1-10 score for each element, a perfect score would be 30. A 15 is a solid story, and one well-worth reading. Everyone scored at least a 15. Kudos to the authors and editors of Havok because the tech scores were high. Authors knew what to write about; editors knew what to publish and craft. The entire book deserves a round of applause.
I counted fifty stories. For this review, I’m only going to call out the ones that scored at least a 24, or received a 10 in any one of my three categories. The highest score was a 26 and only one achieved this high mark.
The stories that reached a 10 in one of the categories were:
- Pick A Color, Any Color – A “10” in hue.
- The Man with the Golden Voice – A “10” in hue.
- The Hologram Hypothesis – A “10” in tech
- Safety Recall – A “10” in tech
- Meet Feet – A “10” in tech
- Trumpet Blues – A “10” in hue
- The Transformation – A “10” in tech
Several stories were high combinations of all three elements to a final score of 24. “The Wolf at the Door,” (Beka Gremikova), “The Hologram Hypothesis” (Pamela Love), “The Nocturnal Ambush of Fae Forest” (Michael Dolan), “Girl #24” (Krysta Tawlks), “Flair” (Seth N. Locke), “Seeking Calypso” (Kaitlyn Emery), and “A Home for Nova” (Hannah Carter).
Four stories rated an excellent score of 25. The offbeat nature of “Pick A Color, Any Color” by Lisa Godfrees reminded me a bit of the SciFi channel’s series Dark Matter. It packs a mysterious punch in a short amount of words with a twist I didn’t see coming. “Meet Feet” by Jeff Gard landed under the Wacky category and really nailed that theme. Hilarious, a great concept, and lively comical writing contributed to the success of this entry. “The Prince of Bees” was my favorite fairy tale representation of many in this anthology. With heart and imagination, Beka Gremikova retells a little-known fantasy but with a masterful spin on it. “The Transformation” by Joshua A. Smith was categorized as fantasy but deserves equal billing under thriller. This piece created an image so vivid in my mind, it lingered there the rest of the day.
Finally, “Trumpet Blues,” achieved a score of 26 of this anthology. Sophia Hansen’s unassuming tale is a delight to read. Describing the plot wouldn’t do it justice but it brought together the three elements in a unique and emotional away. I enjoyed every word of it.
I decided, before I read the first page, that an 18 or higher was a solid story, and possibly I’d return to them and reread them one day. Doing the math, that was 80% of the stories. Clearly, Havok has a wealth of talent in this anthology and I look forward to future installments.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LKDQHJH