Scan barcode
amy_m_143's review against another edition
3.0
Some stories were 4 or 5 stars, some were 2 or 3, so I averaged my rating at 3. Overall enjoyed this book, but felt like I wanted more from a lot of the stories.
patrickwadden's review
3.0
Saying Goodbye to Yang ⭐⭐⭐
- What brought me to reading this short stories collection was the brilliant film by Koganada that is based on this piece. Unfortunately for Weinstein, the film greatly eclipses the short story. In the short pages allotted, he does create not a vast world, but one that is deep and is infused with tinges of every little advancement that he could think of for this theme. I think altogether, the piece is just too 'American' and for a story about the future feels very contemporary to when it was written.
Cartographers ⭐⭐⭐
- A captivating fun premise with some great allegories to be drawn, this checks all the boxes of a sci-fi short story. I have in my notes that the execution of Cynthia wasn't particularly skilled but I entirely forget in what aspect now. Would like to explore this premise of fabricating memories sometimes in this fashion as I've already commenced a writing piece of my own on the subject, albeit not from a sci-fi perspective.
Heartland ⭐⭐
- Notes read: Not much to begin with and doesn't go anywhere
Dictionary
- Nice interjection and connects the stories
Moksha ⭐⭐
Along with a couple of other stories, Weinstein begins using his utensils of being particularly interested in outlawing Buddhism through the eyes of an American. Although this theme of being 'born again' reverberates nicely with the facet of social media serving as a 'second life' where one compares how my nirvana is more serene than yours, Weinstein does not dabble in this story in a way that I find appealing.
Fall-Line ⭐⭐
This felt comparable to the project I'm working on right now with my bicycle. I found a cheap one on fb marketplace and have been slowly putting new brake pads and the like on it which feel somewhat out of place as they look so shiny. This is a generic story of how tempting reliving your former glory but with new shiny brake pads.
Revolution ⭐⭐⭐
Notes read: good and thought-provoking, lost me but good world building.
Migration ⭐⭐
Maybe it means something that I read this story just yesterday or two and I cannot remember it. Notes read: it's alright, nice ending and okay worldbuilding. Seems like the last one eh? I seem to be getting lazy with the notes (I believe that was a before-bed read).
The Pyramid & The Ass⭐
The opposite of sexy. Both in content and context.
Rocket Night ⭐⭐⭐
A bitter vignette (or better yet, a vinaigrette) of presenting the absolutely horrific as entirely mundane. If there's one thing Alex Weinstein can do great is knowing when and how to end his stories. He always leaves you wanting more and (most of the time) lets you fill in the blanks of the world.
Openness ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What I believe to be the Opus of this collection, 'Openness' creates actualizes a sci-fi tool to allegorize the quotidien, and examines the relationships that follow. I would love to play around with this premise and think Weinstein did a great job with this story!
Ice Age ⭐⭐⭐
A nice cap of the book, it's still elusive on what I'm meant to or did even, take away from it. But most likely that's on me. What I do know is there, is an engaging world filled with engaging characters with engaging interactions, and in my book, that's a good story!
- What brought me to reading this short stories collection was the brilliant film by Koganada that is based on this piece. Unfortunately for Weinstein, the film greatly eclipses the short story. In the short pages allotted, he does create not a vast world, but one that is deep and is infused with tinges of every little advancement that he could think of for this theme. I think altogether, the piece is just too 'American' and for a story about the future feels very contemporary to when it was written.
Cartographers ⭐⭐⭐
- A captivating fun premise with some great allegories to be drawn, this checks all the boxes of a sci-fi short story. I have in my notes that the execution of Cynthia wasn't particularly skilled but I entirely forget in what aspect now. Would like to explore this premise of fabricating memories sometimes in this fashion as I've already commenced a writing piece of my own on the subject, albeit not from a sci-fi perspective.
Heartland ⭐⭐
- Notes read: Not much to begin with and doesn't go anywhere
Dictionary
- Nice interjection and connects the stories
Moksha ⭐⭐
Along with a couple of other stories, Weinstein begins using his utensils of being particularly interested in outlawing Buddhism through the eyes of an American. Although this theme of being 'born again' reverberates nicely with the facet of social media serving as a 'second life' where one compares how my nirvana is more serene than yours, Weinstein does not dabble in this story in a way that I find appealing.
Fall-Line ⭐⭐
This felt comparable to the project I'm working on right now with my bicycle. I found a cheap one on fb marketplace and have been slowly putting new brake pads and the like on it which feel somewhat out of place as they look so shiny. This is a generic story of how tempting reliving your former glory but with new shiny brake pads.
Revolution ⭐⭐⭐
Notes read: good and thought-provoking, lost me but good world building.
Migration ⭐⭐
Maybe it means something that I read this story just yesterday or two and I cannot remember it. Notes read: it's alright, nice ending and okay worldbuilding. Seems like the last one eh? I seem to be getting lazy with the notes (I believe that was a before-bed read).
The Pyramid & The Ass⭐
The opposite of sexy. Both in content and context.
Rocket Night ⭐⭐⭐
A bitter vignette (or better yet, a vinaigrette) of presenting the absolutely horrific as entirely mundane. If there's one thing Alex Weinstein can do great is knowing when and how to end his stories. He always leaves you wanting more and (most of the time) lets you fill in the blanks of the world.
Openness ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What I believe to be the Opus of this collection, 'Openness' creates actualizes a sci-fi tool to allegorize the quotidien, and examines the relationships that follow. I would love to play around with this premise and think Weinstein did a great job with this story!
Ice Age ⭐⭐⭐
A nice cap of the book, it's still elusive on what I'm meant to or did even, take away from it. But most likely that's on me. What I do know is there, is an engaging world filled with engaging characters with engaging interactions, and in my book, that's a good story!
jnkay01's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
brb_reads's review
3.0
Between 3.5-4 stars. This is for those who are needing their Black Mirror fix before season six comes out. Like any book of short stories, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others but this book is not for everyone and there are very few people I would recommend it to.
_reedmylife_'s review against another edition
1.0
I really only liked two short stories out of the many that were in this book. There was way too much over-sexualization of women and not enough different types of futures. Overall this book just was not for me.
grackback's review
3.0
2.75 stars
This book had so much potential, but as all short story collections go, most of the stories just tend not to hit the spot! I found out of the fourteen stories, only maybe five were captivating. Everything else felt like a similar version of one another. I would still recommend for those who enjoy Black Mirror, as this is a quick read so you could even skip the stories that you don’t like! Fair warning, lots of sex, and some of it feels super repetitive. The stories also felt a little jarring in the beginning and because they were short sometimes would take until the last paragraph for me to have a clear picture in mind as to what was going on.
This book had so much potential, but as all short story collections go, most of the stories just tend not to hit the spot! I found out of the fourteen stories, only maybe five were captivating. Everything else felt like a similar version of one another. I would still recommend for those who enjoy Black Mirror, as this is a quick read so you could even skip the stories that you don’t like! Fair warning, lots of sex, and some of it feels super repetitive. The stories also felt a little jarring in the beginning and because they were short sometimes would take until the last paragraph for me to have a clear picture in mind as to what was going on.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Excellently written, cohesive collection of short stories in the tradition of Philip K. Dick. Futurist technology is not going to make us happy in any of Weinstein's imagined timelines.
scobo's review against another edition
3.0
I'd say less than half of the stories are worth reading, but the ones that were are great. The earlier stories seemed to have more of an emotional impact and the rest were just interesting ideas. But overall, they were very creative and made you think.