PogueEdited by
Liska McCabe
(Raconteur Press, February 2026, 274 pp, pb, kindle)
“Another Man’s Treasure” by Ted Begley
“Al In Logistics” by Addison Reid
“Manifest Destiny” by D.S. Ligon
“Composting Status: Offline” by Xavier Anderson
“The Shell Script of Destruction” by T.R. Benjamin
“Masters of Mechamagic” by Z.M. Renick
“Snipe Hunt” by Jason B. Hobbs
“Revision 12” by Daryl F. Mallett
“Life of a Deliveryman” by B.K. Gibson
“Sudden Death Overtime” by Malory
Reviewed by Mina
Pogue or POG stands for a “Person Other than Grunt.” It is often used pejoratively in the U.S. military to refer to non-combat or support personnel, implying that they are less capable or tough than infantry soldiers.
This volume celebrates the people behind the scenes who keep everything running smoothly. The stories are well-written and fun. And there are some great black and white illustrations.
This should be the paperback you take with you to lounge on the beach.
“Another Man’s Treasure” by Ted Begley is a light tale. On a routine trip with a cargo shuttle, we watch Corporal Picklesimer wheel and deal his way through space. Every time you think you have reached the end of the story, there is another deal. There’s also a nice twist at the end. Enjoyable.
“Al In Logistics” by Addison Reid is also a light tale. Lieutenant Ted Williams is a Logistics Readiness Officer in the Space Corps, who is flooded with team equipment requests. To cope with his workload, he invents an assistant, Sergeant Al Tuttle, which is actually an AI system. Al turns out to be very good at logistics, modifying orders in ways that save lives. But things start to get complicated when people want to thank Al…when Al gets a commendation, starts receiving a salary and is suddenly under investigation.
“Manifest Destiny” by D.S. Ligon is fun. Elora (cryo-logistics) and Moreno (sanitation) in Outpost Seven find themselves keeping five hundred frozen soldiers alive, whilst outwitting alien invaders. They both take pride in doing their jobs “badly, but effectively,” and Elora’s incompetence turns out to be a blessing in disguise. She lives by her motto: “luck is just chance that you’ve befriended.” This story takes flying by your pants to a whole new level.
“Composting Status: Offline” by Xavier Anderson starts with the toilets being down. Hazel realises that her slimy and incompetent colleague, Dean, is also setting up another colleague, Manda, to take the fall for his own illegal activities. As she sets out to find proof to save Manda, we meet a lot of interesting characters. A light tale but it makes us care about Hazel’s quest.
“The Shell Script of Destruction” by T.R. Benjamin is about problem-solving. Sarah Steadman is asked to interrupt her final exam in artillery school. Space Pirates have learned how to hack the fuses of the marines’ artillery shells. Sarah is known for her ability to learn having come from a luddite planet. She is asked to think outside the box so she can outwit the pirate computer hacker. We watch Sarah as she throws herself into her mission, letting go of her personal ambitions. An intriguing tale with psychological depth.
It’s good to find a tale critical of our over-reliance on electronics. Computers can be hacked; good old-fashioned engineering solutions cannot.
“Masters of Mechamagic” by Z.M. Renick is an intriguing mix of magic and engineering. Karu and Laitha are mages working with an engineer that doesn’t understand or trust their abilities. But then all three of them are caught in a life or death situation together.
“Snipe Hunt” by Jason B. Hobbs takes the idea of a wild goose chase and runs with it. Briggs sends a new recruit to find some equipment he thinks doesn’t exist as punishment. To his horror, Briggs discovers that the equipment exists and that the new recruit is breaking all the rules to follow his orders. All he can hope for is damage control.
“Revision 12” by Daryl F. Mallett shows us how a paper pusher can become a hero. By documenting everything about his ship, Silas knows all its weak spots; including those caused by unauthorised use of unverified enemy hardware by a ship’s engineer. As Silas fears, the malware from the hardware leads to a full-scale invasion of the ship. He uses his knowledge of every well-documented nook and cranny of the ship to use extremely unorthodox methods to save the day.
It’s a very satisfying demonstration of how doing things by the book has its value.
The cargo specialist in “Life of a Deliveryman” by B.K. Gibson is battling an infestation of his ship by vicious possum-like vermin. He needs to deal with the problem before they cause damage to a vital system, and before the captain finds out. On top of that, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a space battle. Almost accidentally, he takes heroic action.
“Sudden Death Overtime” by Malory is a great end to this anthology—totally irreverent and funny. Miller has done several illegal things to screen a galactic rugby game in a remote outpost. Then a superior officer comes calling just as the station is attacked by enemy ships. Miller saves the day with a sports broadcast and a microwave. Best line ever: “Microwave is KIA, Chief.”