Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were a reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

I’m going to speed through the rest of these for two reasons. One, I’ve selected my next Chapter By Chapter book and I really want to get into it. Two, One of the authors who contributed to this anthology, in fact the one that was selling it at ConnectiCon 2010, will be there at ConnectiCon 2012 and I want to be able to give him an honest review should he ask me. This is not that guy, though.

Robin Wayne Bailey (insert Bruce Wayne and Robin joke here) is a busy little beaver. In addition to writing novel series like Dragonkin, he’s a former president of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, and helped found a science fiction museum. They also point out three acclaimed books Shadowdance, Turn Left to Tomorrow, and a Nebula Award winning novelette, “The Children’s Crusade”. Now there is the occasional sci-fi element to the Phantom’s world but will he go there? We’ve seen a few other writers go outside they’re usual genre for this series. What will happen here?

Night Visitor To Bangalla

by Robin Wayne Bailey

Nope, stayed true to his style. The Phantom is investigating some rather nasty diamond smugglers during a meteor shower when strange things happen. An alien is involved, but there isn’t a lot to say beyond that without just outright telling you the whole story. It seems to be one of the shorter stories in the book but that doesn’t hurt it. While the sci-fi stuff is hardly the forefront of the story, it’s woven in well with the events of the smugglers and I can’t tell which is the catalyst of the other.

It’s a short read, but a good one. Definitely worth reading if you get this book. I’m going to try to do at least one a week in the hopes of getting to the end before the convention.

Next Time: “A Man Of His Word” by Joe McKinney

Related articles

• Chapter By Chapter: The Phantom Chronicles V2 – “The Sky Warriors”
• Chapter By Chapter: The Phantom Chronicles V2 – “The Leopard’s Eye”
• Chapter By Chapter: The Phantom Chronicles V2 – I Of The Storm