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gabalodon's review
5.0
A really excellent collection of short fiction. Incredible range of fascinating takes on the same theme. Some stories were cathartic, some were pointed and ominous, some were full unfiltered yikes, some were fun, and some were very weird. I'm looking forward to digging up a copy of its predecessor.
whatsmacksaid's review
5.0
Absolutely fantastic from start to finish. It's also as comforting as it is upsetting to see the myriad ways that individuals resist fascism and fascist regimes.
wlbolm's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
danielwestheide's review
3.0
I backed the Kickstarter, because I like science fiction and fantasy short stories, and the idea of collection stories that shine a light on all the different facets of facism sounds quite appealing. That being said, I was somewhat disappointed because there were only four or fice stories that I really liked. Some of the others were a bit clumsy, didn't have much of a plot, or were too goofy for my taste, for example "Chicken Time".
The stories I enjoyed most were "Just an Old Grouch" by Laura Jane Swanson and "Brooklyn" by Jonathan Shipley, both of which have a humorous tone that is right up my alley. I also liked "The Sisterhood of the Eagle Lion", which is about the mechanisms of bullying at school. The story illustrates nicely that those mechanisms are quite similar to how a charismatic authoritarian leader comes to power.
The stories I enjoyed most were "Just an Old Grouch" by Laura Jane Swanson and "Brooklyn" by Jonathan Shipley, both of which have a humorous tone that is right up my alley. I also liked "The Sisterhood of the Eagle Lion", which is about the mechanisms of bullying at school. The story illustrates nicely that those mechanisms are quite similar to how a charismatic authoritarian leader comes to power.
jugglingpup's review
4.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
This was one of the books that I wanted, because of the cover and the title. I am really not a fan of fantasy or anthologies, so I might not have been the best audience for this.
I really did enjoy the book! Most of the stories were captivating and wonderful reads. I loved how the bios were directly after the stories so I could follow up on authors right away, instead of hoping to remember at the end. It also gave me more information that helped shape how things will be remembered (like that a lot of these stories are by queer people and would work for so many of the reading prompts in the reading challenge).
Some of the stories were just wonderful and I can’t rave enough about them. The chicken one. Just imagine measuring time in chickens. This is the sort of over the top nonsense that I needed, but it was also dark and wonderful. It was the perfect combination for me.
There were so many queer characters that my heart was full of happiness. It wasn’t just sadness for the queer characters, though oppression of queer people seems to go hand in hand with fascism. There were some really cute moments, like growing while holding hands or a first haircut. Things that mean so much to me and made the story have that glimmer of hope and love for a moment that helped the really dark be a bit more bearable.
Some of them were just misses for me, but that comes down to me just really, really hating magic. The words were wonderful, I liked the stories until the magic appeared. So I know this is on me.
Overall, this was more hits than misses. The stories were all relatively short and felt complete. Pretty great anthology.
I got an ARC of this book.
This was one of the books that I wanted, because of the cover and the title. I am really not a fan of fantasy or anthologies, so I might not have been the best audience for this.
I really did enjoy the book! Most of the stories were captivating and wonderful reads. I loved how the bios were directly after the stories so I could follow up on authors right away, instead of hoping to remember at the end. It also gave me more information that helped shape how things will be remembered (like that a lot of these stories are by queer people and would work for so many of the reading prompts in the reading challenge).
Some of the stories were just wonderful and I can’t rave enough about them. The chicken one. Just imagine measuring time in chickens. This is the sort of over the top nonsense that I needed, but it was also dark and wonderful. It was the perfect combination for me.
There were so many queer characters that my heart was full of happiness. It wasn’t just sadness for the queer characters, though oppression of queer people seems to go hand in hand with fascism. There were some really cute moments, like growing while holding hands or a first haircut. Things that mean so much to me and made the story have that glimmer of hope and love for a moment that helped the really dark be a bit more bearable.
Some of them were just misses for me, but that comes down to me just really, really hating magic. The words were wonderful, I liked the stories until the magic appeared. So I know this is on me.
Overall, this was more hits than misses. The stories were all relatively short and felt complete. Pretty great anthology.
feywildfiction's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Giving this a solid 3 because I don't finish anthologies often since my enjoyment of the stories as a whole can go either way. I like the concepts here, using SFF to inspire people to not only recognize fascism but it stand against it when confronted with its reality.
I skim the last few stories. I tried to space them out between other novels so I dont get burned out but even then I felt I held onto this book for far too long and if I didnt skim it, I'd never finish it. I suppose I'm learning that it takes a bit for me to buy into a story and constantly having to go through that process multiple times in one sitting makes me less and less interested in continuing. (I think this is why I prefer the 2nd book into trilogies - I'm already invested in the characters and overall plot and just along for the ride by that time).
Would I buy this anthology though? Probably not. It was nice to read and it's nice to return it to the library.
I skim the last few stories. I tried to space them out between other novels so I dont get burned out but even then I felt I held onto this book for far too long and if I didnt skim it, I'd never finish it. I suppose I'm learning that it takes a bit for me to buy into a story and constantly having to go through that process multiple times in one sitting makes me less and less interested in continuing. (I think this is why I prefer the 2nd book into trilogies - I'm already invested in the characters and overall plot and just along for the ride by that time).
Would I buy this anthology though? Probably not. It was nice to read and it's nice to return it to the library.
galy's review against another edition
3.0
I recieved this ebook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! All opinions are my own.
Here's the thing, my main issue with anthologies is that if the stories are too short I'll want more! But I'm always trying to read more anthologies cause it's a great way to find new to me authors.
This book is an anthology of fantasy and science fiction short stories of moments when people see fascism in front of them and we get to see how they act. There are many different stories with many different circumstances.
There are so many short stories that I didn't connect with all of them. Some of them were like one page long and I wanted more! It took me a while to read it all cause I kept trying to understand every detail (a really hard thing to try in a science fiction book). Overall there were stories that I really loved, stories that I enjoyed and there were other stories that I didn't connect with or I didn't understand so I didn't enjoy them. And I really want to insist on saying that some of the stories were amazing and some of them were also beautiful. I kept thinking "what an interesting story" in some of them.
It was a good book but sadly it's not something I loved.
Here's the thing, my main issue with anthologies is that if the stories are too short I'll want more! But I'm always trying to read more anthologies cause it's a great way to find new to me authors.
This book is an anthology of fantasy and science fiction short stories of moments when people see fascism in front of them and we get to see how they act. There are many different stories with many different circumstances.
There are so many short stories that I didn't connect with all of them. Some of them were like one page long and I wanted more! It took me a while to read it all cause I kept trying to understand every detail (a really hard thing to try in a science fiction book). Overall there were stories that I really loved, stories that I enjoyed and there were other stories that I didn't connect with or I didn't understand so I didn't enjoy them. And I really want to insist on saying that some of the stories were amazing and some of them were also beautiful. I kept thinking "what an interesting story" in some of them.
It was a good book but sadly it's not something I loved.
readwithethel's review against another edition
2.0
An interesting collection of short-stories but sometimes confusing
Key words: fascism, short-stories, fantasy, science-fiction, politics
I thought this book would be really interesting since it uses science-fiction and fantasy to carry its message. I was quite wrong. I mean, the concept is good, it was sometimes interesting and some short-stories were quite good but most of them were not. First of all, I think the biggest problem here is to make such short-stories (10 pages max for each one) in a world of science-fiction. It doesn’t work because it is almost impossible to get into this new world, to understand its mechanisms and its vocabulary. The first story for example was so difficult and confusing, I put this book back on my shelf for a month. This idea is good but for it to work, I believe the stories should be longer, like 20 pages. Such short-stories also make it difficult to like the different characters but this is more of a detail. I liked how every story was exploring something different while also talking about the same global problem. There were some good approaches in there and I think my favourite was the one about The Old Grouch. The stories were also very inclusive. Overall, there are a few good stories in there but I would recommend it only to people who like anthologies and who quickly understand science-fiction.
2.5/5
Thank you Netgalley for this eArc in exchange of my honest opinion.
Key words: fascism, short-stories, fantasy, science-fiction, politics
I thought this book would be really interesting since it uses science-fiction and fantasy to carry its message. I was quite wrong. I mean, the concept is good, it was sometimes interesting and some short-stories were quite good but most of them were not. First of all, I think the biggest problem here is to make such short-stories (10 pages max for each one) in a world of science-fiction. It doesn’t work because it is almost impossible to get into this new world, to understand its mechanisms and its vocabulary. The first story for example was so difficult and confusing, I put this book back on my shelf for a month. This idea is good but for it to work, I believe the stories should be longer, like 20 pages. Such short-stories also make it difficult to like the different characters but this is more of a detail. I liked how every story was exploring something different while also talking about the same global problem. There were some good approaches in there and I think my favourite was the one about The Old Grouch. The stories were also very inclusive. Overall, there are a few good stories in there but I would recommend it only to people who like anthologies and who quickly understand science-fiction.
2.5/5
Thank you Netgalley for this eArc in exchange of my honest opinion.
irasobrietate's review against another edition
5.0
This amazing anthology explores the various ways fascism can make itself known, both small ad large, through the lens of speculative fiction. Contributors come from a variety of countries and backgrounds, highlighting the fact that while fascism is recognizable regardless of specifics, it is nonetheless different according to individual context - fascism in the US is not the same as fascism in Germany is not the same as fascism in Chile is not the same as fascism when you're queer is not the same as fascism when you're Jewish is not the same as fascism when you're disabled. Putting such a vast array of stories together emphasizes these differences while still acknowledging their similarities. Altogether this was a powerful anthology that ultimately left me with a feeling of hope in resistance despite the discouraging odds against us.