Scan barcode
naysh's review against another edition
5.0
A consistently good collection of literary short sci-fi stories. Ten stories that I particularly liked:
1. "When We Were Starless" by Simone Heller ~ A nice, clean characterization of an interesting world.
2. "Prophet of the Roads" by Naomi Kritzer ~ A cool idea, presented well.
3. "Traces of Us" by Vanessa Fogg ~ Nice narration and story structure. It's impressive how concisely the author is able to communicate certain emotions.
4. "Lab B-15" by Nick Wolven ~ A story with a rational protagonist.
5. "Entropy War" by Yoon Ha Lee ~ A strange meditation.
6. "Sour Milk Girls" by Erin Roberts ~ Vaguely similar to Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day."
7. "Mother Tongues" by S. Qiouyi Lu ~ A simple, effective story about family.
8. "Singles' Day" by Samantha Murray ~ A beautifully structured, multi-perspective tale.
9. "The Buried Giant" by Lavie Tidhar ~ Gorgeous, fairy tale writing.
10. "Byzantine Empathy" by Ken Liu ~ Intellectually engaging.
1. "When We Were Starless" by Simone Heller ~ A nice, clean characterization of an interesting world.
2. "Prophet of the Roads" by Naomi Kritzer ~ A cool idea, presented well.
3. "Traces of Us" by Vanessa Fogg ~ Nice narration and story structure. It's impressive how concisely the author is able to communicate certain emotions.
4. "Lab B-15" by Nick Wolven ~ A story with a rational protagonist.
5. "Entropy War" by Yoon Ha Lee ~ A strange meditation.
6. "Sour Milk Girls" by Erin Roberts ~ Vaguely similar to Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day."
7. "Mother Tongues" by S. Qiouyi Lu ~ A simple, effective story about family.
8. "Singles' Day" by Samantha Murray ~ A beautifully structured, multi-perspective tale.
9. "The Buried Giant" by Lavie Tidhar ~ Gorgeous, fairy tale writing.
10. "Byzantine Empathy" by Ken Liu ~ Intellectually engaging.
mithren's review against another edition
Well, it seems Clarke's tastes and mine don't really align at all, or maybe SF is just not for me (or his brand of modern scifi anyway). Also, a bunch of those stories where just filled with selfish and narcissistic people being selfish and narcissisic, which is not something I like to read on the whole. This anthology threw me off so bad it took me a month to read this book and I couldn't even finish it! 44% was the fartest I could get into this embarassement, and I'm done.
Also, as it relates to stats, most of these authors are women and most of the protagonists are lesbians. It was hard to come by even one decent man here, even as a side character. It is also generally racist towards white people, as if discriminating based on skin color was acceptable now because the new victims have less melanin than the old ones. Progressive virtue signaling is always off putting, especially of the sort that boils down to MAN = BAD, WOMAN = GOOD; WHITE = BAD, BLACK = GOOD.
Overall: 2 stars
When We Were Starless - 4
Intervention - 3.75
All the Time We’ve Left to Spend - 2
Domestic Violence - 0.25
Ten Landscapes of Nili Fossae - 0.25
Prophet of the Roads - 3
Traces of Us - 2
Theories of Flight - 2
Lab B–15 - 3.75
Requiem - 4
Sour Milk Girls - 2
Mother Tongues - 4
Singles’ Day - 3
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth - DNF / 1
Also, as it relates to stats, most of these authors are women and most of the protagonists are lesbians. It was hard to come by even one decent man here, even as a side character. It is also generally racist towards white people, as if discriminating based on skin color was acceptable now because the new victims have less melanin than the old ones. Progressive virtue signaling is always off putting, especially of the sort that boils down to MAN = BAD, WOMAN = GOOD; WHITE = BAD, BLACK = GOOD.
Overall: 2 stars
When We Were Starless - 4
Intervention - 3.75
All the Time We’ve Left to Spend - 2
Domestic Violence - 0.25
Ten Landscapes of Nili Fossae - 0.25
Prophet of the Roads - 3
Traces of Us - 2
Theories of Flight - 2
Lab B–15 - 3.75
Requiem - 4
Sour Milk Girls - 2
Mother Tongues - 4
Singles’ Day - 3
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth - DNF / 1
catbooking's review against another edition
3.0
A decent collection overall. My favorites are listed below. The starred ones are the ones I especially enjoyed.
When We Were Starless—Simone Heller
Prophet of the Roads—Naomi Kritzer
Traces of Us—Vanessa Fogg
Lab B#x2013;15—Nick Wolven
Mother Tongues—S. Qiouyi Lu*
Singles’ Day—Samantha Murray*
The Anchorite Wakes—R.S.A. Garcia
Okay, Glory—Elizabeth Bear*
Byzantine Empathy—Ken Liu*
Meat and Salt and Sparks—Rich Larson
When We Were Starless—Simone Heller
Prophet of the Roads—Naomi Kritzer
Traces of Us—Vanessa Fogg
Lab B#x2013;15—Nick Wolven
Mother Tongues—S. Qiouyi Lu*
Singles’ Day—Samantha Murray*
The Anchorite Wakes—R.S.A. Garcia
Okay, Glory—Elizabeth Bear*
Byzantine Empathy—Ken Liu*
Meat and Salt and Sparks—Rich Larson
thestarman's review against another edition
4.0
VERDICT: 3.42 stars average rating, if I exclude one story I couldn't get into at all.
I'm rounding UP to 4 because the overall quality is higher than average for such collections. And you get your $ worth at 600+ pages.
Breakdown (29 total stories)
4.6 to 5 stars = none
4 to 4.5 stars = 6
3 to 3.9 stars = 18
2 to 2.9 stars = 4
Below 2 stars = 1
I'm rounding UP to 4 because the overall quality is higher than average for such collections. And you get your $ worth at 600+ pages.
Breakdown (29 total stories)
4.6 to 5 stars = none
4 to 4.5 stars = 6
3 to 3.9 stars = 18
2 to 2.9 stars = 4
Below 2 stars = 1
xschweingehabtx's review against another edition
4.0
A handful of garbage stories, imo, but mostly solid and a few GREAT ones.
More...