Both Sides of the Portal eBook Craig Askham
Download As PDF : Both Sides of the Portal eBook Craig Askham 
If you want to use the Stillwater portal, there are rules. Not many, but just enough to keep things running smoothly.
Firstly, get your affairs in order before you go. Stillwater will do their best to keep you alive, but stuff happens. It’s not a game. There’s no reset button; if you die, you will actually be dead.
Secondly, don’t mention to anybody over there that you’re from over here; they have no idea that we exist, and we’d really like to keep it that way. Because, to be honest, they'd probably try to stop us from visiting if they knew. And they’d be well within their rights to.
Thirdly, Stillwater would very much prefer it if you didn’t try to remove your implant. Yes, it means that we can keep track of you at all times. We appreciate that some of you aren’t keen on that. On the plus side, however, it allows you to actually understand what people over there are saying, which we’ve found usually leads to a more enjoyable holiday. As an added bonus, it will also prevent you from impregnating the locals. Or, indeed, from being impregnated by them. As you can no doubt imagine, there’s not much in the way of reliable contraception on medieval planets, so do please try your best not to remove it; we placed it under your skin so that it will really hurt if you try.
Lastly, and most importantly, please remember to come home. By all means, relax in the sun if you wish. Find some knights and go on a quest if that’s your thing. Change up some money and buy stuff. Live like a king. We appreciate that it’s a lot nicer over there than it is over here, but that doesn’t mean you can stay there forever. Stillwater does not, under any circumstances, offer an emigration package.
If you do decide you want to stay, and so many of you do, then please be aware that nobody has yet been successful in the five years that we’ve been running the Stillwater Project. We employ men like Lukwaro to bring you back, even if you do have the balls to remove your tracker and make a run for it. Call him a bounty hunter, if you will. He’s very good at what he does, but he has a beautiful wife and two great kids at home in Los Angeles, and he really doesn’t like to be kept away from them for too long. So just bear that in mind. He’ll bring you back, by hook or by crook.
Even in a body bag, if he has to.
Both Sides of the Portal is a short story. 13,000 words approx.
Both Sides of the Portal eBook Craig Askham
Would love to see this developed as a mass market paperback series. Great concept great character - a "caine" with a family. Works for me :) Would cheerfully pay 8.99 for a market length (200+page) kindle copyProduct details
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Both Sides of the Portal eBook Craig Askham Reviews
This is a well written, high on action, mix of fantasy and science fiction short story. It had a feel of a fan fiction, but was good enough for me to keep reading to the end.
Stillwater is a portal to another world, the main character discusses it as if it were a world around another star, but from the description, it sounds like a parallel world, with an equivalent New York and London (from one of the plot moments), so we're never quite sure which.
Our hero is a swordsman/super agent used on missions into this other world. He's a scalpel, a precise tool when things need to get done. His employer controls the portal and allows only some people through. The other world is quite medieval in its technology, with various tribes using swords and crossbows and riding horses instead of cars.
This is, what I hope, is just one story among many, since the set-up has huge potential for interesting story lines, with a dark, dangerous world with lots of interesting tribes and peoples that could be explored. The idea that the other world is incredibly clean and fresh is also appealing, both to the reader and the main character.
This strongly reminds me of "The Merchant Princes" by Charles Stross, with a similar feel to the other world. Worth your time to read. Since this is quite a short story, it's a low-investment lead into the author's other works. I intend to read more.
Both sides of the Portal. Craig Askham
I received this from the author in return for an honest review. I don't gush and give false praise - I don't believe that helps readers or authors so what you read is what I truly feel about a book.
OK- I'm a fantasy reader and this is fantasy but based around real life Gaming. What I know of gaming can be written on a postage stamp, my only experience is with Legend of Zelda on the Snez back in eighties....tells you a lot doesn't it!! However that didn't stop me enjoying this short story - and there's another oddity in that I rarely read shorts. Still, Craig asked if I'd be interested in reviewing and the sample sounded good so....
It jumps straight in with the main character Luke trying to balance his real life with wife and kids with his job as a sort of bounty hunter/retrieval person for the company running Stillwater. What is Stillwater ? - well it seems a company have found a way of opening a portal to another dimension, and people rich enough can pay and be transported through to play out real life scenes with real people. Sometimes things go wrong though, and the retrievers are sent in to bring back those who break the rules. It took me a while to begin to get to grips with this - maybe my lack of gaming knowledge could be to blame, but the actual worlds - both sides as the title says - are very well fleshed out and I felt as if I was there with Luke on his mission. Of course there's danger - this is playing for real and not a game of "Life ended do you want to play again?". Luke gets called on at short notice and in this short story it coincides with promises made to his children for an outing - he has to use both sides of the portal to keep his family and employers happy.
Despite my aversion to shorts and fantasy of this type I found I actually enjoyed this story. I feared I'd be lost not having the background knowledge but it was easy to follow and very realistic. There's another longer book out from Craig and I'll be reading and reviewing that soon. Having dipped my toe in the water of this type of genre I won't shy away from it in future - I can't see it being one I'll go to often but for a quick escape into something different it was a fun, easy to follow novel and I'll make the leap again for the right book. Still won't get me reading Lord of the Rings though or Pratchett )
Craig has done well to create a realistic and yet fantasy world that meshes with the real one we live in - and to be honest whose to say there aren't other worlds out there after all. Maybe its fiction imitating life?
Stars well its well written and edited, easy to read and 44 pages for 77p on kindle. Its not one I'll read again but I did enjoy it as a one off and for sci-fi type fantasy readers its a quick fun read. So 3and half stars - I'm sure readers of this genre and gamers would rate higher but my ratings are for how I personally enjoyed it.
"Both Sides of the Portal" is Sci-fi short story by author Craig Askham. This e-book was a 200 Kb download (approx. 44 printed pages) and sold for $0.99 at the time of writing this review.
Please Note the author provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Spoilers (general theme)
The Stillwater Project allows citizens of a ruined and dying Earth to use a portal device to visit another planet... a beautiful, pristine world that has developed only to the equivalent of our medieval period. The main problem with portal travel to this particular planet is that many travelers do not wish to return to a near end-of-days Earth after experiencing the serene and almost pastural lifestyle they found there. And while a short visitation is OK, permanent migration is strictly forbidden. Those that try to stay are hunted down and returned to Earth by law enforcing bounty hunters men like Lukwaro (Luke)... the main character in this short story who is about to be involved with another 'runaway'.
End Spoilers
Some thoughts on "Both Sides of the Portal"...
1.) an interesting and unique premise for a story... a bounty hunter who has access to a portal(s) to chase intergalactic fugitives.
2.) the author takes some time to develop the character of our hero, showing some of his personality in discussions with others, his family life and methods he uses while at 'work'.
3.) some interesting encounters and confrontations. A near perfect blend of action vs drama.
4.) information on the product page gives some useful information regarding the rules of portal travel to this new planet. BUT doesn't reveal any spoilers about this particular story.
5.) cover art... the font used on the cover was both different and eye-catching... the actual image used, less so. In fact the cover image makes no sense to me.
Impression
It's not difficult to determine early on that Luke will always prevail... using a skillful blend of verbal bravado, cunning and swordsmanship. But this realisation does nothing to diminish the fact that this was a very good story... well written. It had no difficulty in holding this readers interest to the end.
Good enough to make me want to read more 'Stillwater' tales and also other works by this author.
As it is... 5 Stars
Ray Nicholson
raynicholsonsreviews@hotmail.com
@ralannicholson
Would love to see this developed as a mass market paperback series. Great concept great character - a "caine" with a family. Works for me ) Would cheerfully pay 8.99 for a market length (200+page) kindle copy
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