Meteors of Molten Glass

Dear story snacker,

The idiom ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is very true, except when you’re judging a book. In that case, you should absolutely judge it by its cover.

Especially the title.

A good (or a bad) title makes or breaks a book because it’s what makes me stop or not when I’m walking past its shelf, scrolling on Audible, or robbing the library of congress.

Some titles are intriguing (The 48 Laws of Power)—sound too good in your head to not investigate (Life After Life)—make you ask a question only the book can answer (For Whom the Bell Tolls)—or promise an adventure you can’t miss (Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth).

One of my favorite titles ever is The Horse and His Boy, just for the complete reversal in roles it implies, telling you the greater part and point of the whole book in just 5 words.

What is one of your favorite book titles? Let me know right HERE.

After that, feast your eyes upon part 3 of Saturn’s Shadow, a story and title which I loved writing.

STORY SNACK

SATURN’S SHADOW

Part 3

Parts 1 and 2

It was nicknamed Sunbeam 5, and it had obliterated a planet fifty years ago in the same explosion that crippled it and disintegrated the fleet of its creators.

Like a black hurricane cloud frozen in space, the moon-sized remnant encircled Kronos, its surface absorbing the sunlight shining through the haze of the surrounding Field of Saturn, its cracked, tenebrous surface reflecting as much as a black hole. Once the space where Kronos hung inside the colossal ring had used that solar energy to transport crafts at faster than light speed. Sunbeam 1 through 4 still did, but only between each other, hanging where their creators left them.