D Is for Dinosaur

Rhonda Parrish — 2017

For the fourth installment of Rhonda Parrish's Alphabet Anthologies, contributors were challenged to write about dinosaurs. The resulting twenty-six stories contain widely different interpretations of the dinosaur theme and span the spectrum from literal to metaphoric. Within these stories -- set in alternative histories, far-flung futures and times just around the corner -- dinosaurs whimper and waste away or roar and rage. People can be dinosaurs, as can ideas, fictions and flesh. Knitted dinosaurs share space with ghostly, genetically engineered and even narcotic ones. Teenagers must embrace their inner dinosaurs in order to find peace and belonging, a dying woman duels a God in a far future city that echoes aspects of our past, an abused wife accompanies her husband on a hunt for an ancient power and finds more than she could ever have imagined and a girl with wonderful magical powers stumbles across the bones of a giant long-dead lizard. And so much more!

Reviews

Kirsty Mcguigan@aobhro

Sep 24, 2021

D is for Dinosaur Rhonda Parrish D is for Dinosaur is the fourth anthology in the alphabet series and the theme of this one is dinosaurs! This is a four star read.The authors were challenged to write a short story about dinosaurs and the differences in interpretation is vast. In the preface the author suggests not reading the stories in order- i read the first few in order and then started reading more randomly and i think it was a great idea. A by Michael M. Jones is a story about Tanith and her inner dinosaur. Tanith is angry at everything and learns to work with her dinosaur and overcome it. A is for Angry. B by Simon Kewin is a story about Bronte who is being bullied in school and makes the decision to rise above her bullies. B is for Brontosaurus. C by Brittany Warman is a very short story about being feel and brave while being small in a big world. C is for Catechism. D by CS MacCath is a futuristic story about revenge that includes slaves and battles. D is for Duel. E by Gary B Phillips is a story about a world famous photographer that gets a chance to photograph a real dinosaur. E is for Exposure. F by L.S. Johnson is a story about an unhappily married couple, Robert and Carol. Robert takes an unexpected path that changes both of their lives. F is for Females of the Species. G by Suzanne J. Willis is a story about Pax, Abbey and Evers. Pax tries to protect his friends and city from danger. G is for Grief in the Thousand year city. H by Megan Englehardt is a story about people who live underwater and morph between humans and fishy type creature. H is for Herpeto Morph. I by Michael Fosburg is a tale about life and death. Focusing on Kitarcha, her brother Aron and the Inaan people as they fight to survive. I is for Invasion. J by Jeanne Kramer-Smyth is about the smuggler Bonnie Britewell who is transporting cells from Mars in her own bone marrow. J is for Jewelry. K by Pete Aldin is a short story about Brynjar and Gunnar while on a fishing trip. K is for Kracken. L by Alexandra Seidel is a story about the relationship between Corvy and her geologist mother. L is for Luminos. M by Michael B. Tanger is a story about Eddy and Julia's attempt to clone dinosaurs. M is for Mentation. N by KV Taylor is a story about Judys avenging her mothers death. N is for Necromancy. O by Amanda C. Davis is a story about Hazel and Zigs building a time machine to hunt down dinosaurs to change the world. O is for Open Season. P by Beth Cato is a story about Carmen and Vincent. Vincent is a Velociraptor imagined by Carmen. P is for Pet. Q by Lynn Hardaker is a story about John, Margaret, Uncle Mike and a dinosaur egg. Q is for Quarry. R by Sara Cleto is a story about Lizzie finding dinosaur bones in their garden. R is for Remember. S by Jonathan C. Parrish is about time and memories. S is for Spirit. T by Samantha Kymmell-Harvey is a story about Maebell who strives for a different career in a time when dinosaurs are almost treated like domestic animals. T is for Tatting. U by Michael Kellar is a story about Raymond's failure to get allowed to another planet where dinosaurs are the dominant intelligent species. U is for Unwelcome. V by Corey Cone is a story about Michael, Archer and Jess whoare pest control officers for Dinosaur infestations. V is for Vermin. W by Hal J. Friesen is a story about Lisa who is trying to save dinosaurs and humans affected by the same genetic disease. W is for Weight. X by BD Wilson is a story about Victor who studies at an underground institute to cure diseases. Their intention is to do good but end up doing harm. X is for Xenoparasite. Y by Andrew Bourelle is a story about drugs being mixed in ground dinosuar bones. Once mixed the result is “Y” a powerful street drug. Y is for Yangchuan Lizard. Z by Laura VanArendonk Baugh is a story about very different siblings Brianna and Brandon who team up to decode ancient writing. Z is for Zaenyuanlong Servi.