Wave of Infection

"Wave of Infection" is the reason I found the tor.com free short story collections and accepting the "Tor.com short fiction challenge." I just loved Jason Hough's series "Dire Earth Cycle," although to be honest the ending of the series made me want to tear out my own eyes and mail them to Mr. Hough. I just hate novels that end unresolved, don't you? But I digress. I of course wanted to read this prequel to the series, so off I went to tor.com and the rest is as we say history.

This is such a sad and sweet tale of the protagonist's first experience with the SUBS virus. It is not necessary to have read any of the books in the series to appreciate the story, but if the reader is familiar with Skyler Luiken, it makes the story that much more crushing. When he finds his parents my heart just broke. This story is a good introduction to the series for the new reader, and a delicious morsel for readers familiar with the characters.