Jousting for Ma's New Brain — Jamie McNabb

(Science Fiction and Historical Fiction Collection) This is a novel-length collection of short stories and novellas. The main selection is "Jousting For Ma's New Brain". This is a story about a kindly man, Gunner Gullnickson, in a vicious game. Like the gladiators of old, someone will die for the entertainment of the crowd. Only this isn't ancient Rome. It's a space colony. Yes, Gunner is facing a live-fire matchup-victory or death, mortal combat. and all in the name of the sport of skycykle jousting, a pastime made possible by the colony's rotationally created gravity. Gunner is an ace skycykle jock and all-around contender. But despite his hard shell, he loves his mother and would do anything for her. Yes, he'd do anything, but anything might not be enough. A fatal disease is ravaging her brain. Gunner doesn't understand his mother's illness, but he does understand that without a treatment that he can't afford and that the authorities refuse to provide, she will die a slow and agonizing death. Now, thanks to his manager, Gunner has a slim chance to save his mother. He must risk everything-his meager savings, his life, his reputation-and go up against a Martian jouster who will stop at nothing to win: not at bribery, not at intimidation, and certainly not at murder. The bonus stories feature a space marshal who must solve a vicious kidnapping and a missing-persons case, a story aboard a 19th-century lumber schooner in which the first mate must solve his captain's murder, an antique collector who discovers that a flamethrower might just be his best friend in the whole wide world, and a man recovering from a childhood trauma with the help of a wise and wise-cracking android dog. Look at it this way, you can't go too far wrong. Enjoy the ride! Check out Jamie's website at http://www. jamiemcnabb.com.