The Telepath Chronicles is one of those rare anthologies where each piece beautifully matches the others, so while my emotional response varies from story to story, I never feel like any contribution is part of a game of “one of these things is not like the other.” While the genres vary slightly from hardcore space sci-fi to what I refer to as sci-fi light (There’s technology we don’t currently have, but the world is otherwise the same.), each explores different aspects of telepathy, gently tying the diverse tales together.  This is truly a book where if one story doesn’t appeal to you, skip ahead, because I guarantee that there’s something engaging for almost all readers in the pages. 

All of the stories in the anthology entertained me, but my stand-out favorites were probably “#Don’tTell” by Peter Cawdron, “Decode” by Autumn Kalquist, and “No More Lies” by Nina Croft.  Each of the stories focused more on the human angle of telepathy, which intrigues me more than new species who communicate mind to mind.  “#Don’tTell” is an insidious, little tale of a strange interview between a celebrity reporter and a telepath who is willing to share details of his or her ability.  “Decode” follows a doctor whose life fell apart after her only child died in an epidemic.  Meeting a young girl who has developed special abilities due to a gene modification project helps get both their lives on track and may save lives.  “No More Lies” follows a young telepath who is being marketed as a weapon to the government due to her strength at getting information out of detainees who won’t talk; however, when she gains a hint about what her keepers really intend for her and her fellow telepaths, she takes a stand to make a life for herself.

I also had the opportunity to beta-read MeiLin Miranda’s contribution to The Telepath Chronicles, “Word-Bound.”  Seeing how the writing had tightened and coalesced between my version and the one in print was gratifying. 

I don’t dare give more details about the plots of each story, because a large part of my enjoyment came from piecing the plots together on my own.  Each of the contributing authors has a wider range of works to investigate if they catch your fancy, and links to their pages on Amazon, social media, or personal websites are included in the eBook editions.

I really enjoyed reading The Telepathy Chronicles, and I look forward to more installments in Samuel Peralta’s The Future Chronicles anthology series.  If you love sci-fi, telepathy, or stories that look at a wide range of possibilities for our future, I definitely recommend this.  The stories are all well written, engaging, and diverse enough for most tastes.

5 Interpretations of What It Means to Speak Mind to Mind out of 5