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clendorie's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
moreteamorecats's review against another edition
4.0
Though the stories here are uniformly quality work, I was especially taken with "By Fools Like Me". Most post-apocalypses portray doomsayer cults; few actually show any understanding of the dynamics of apocalyptic belief, let alone how that belief might shift in the event of a true catastrophe. Kress not only nails that, but does it using the Bible. I'd stand this story with Canticle for Leibowitz in the Getting Religion Right In SF category. That's as high praise as I can give.
Nothing else is quite that good, but it's all thought-provoking and well-crafted. Kress is terrific at the humanist-hard-SF game of playing out all the possible implications of a single biological innovation. Though the worlds are often ugly, I never found them too bleak or too gross—such a relief after quite a bit of New Weird influence in my recent SF reading. The male narrators' and POV characters' voices seemed to me slightly less plausible than the female ones, but that too is refreshing in its way.
My first experience with Kress. Now I look forward to others down the road!
Nothing else is quite that good, but it's all thought-provoking and well-crafted. Kress is terrific at the humanist-hard-SF game of playing out all the possible implications of a single biological innovation. Though the worlds are often ugly, I never found them too bleak or too gross—such a relief after quite a bit of New Weird influence in my recent SF reading. The male narrators' and POV characters' voices seemed to me slightly less plausible than the female ones, but that too is refreshing in its way.
My first experience with Kress. Now I look forward to others down the road!
wealhtheow's review
4.0
A collection of sf stories by Nancy Kress. Usually collections are an uneven mix, but these stories not only flow together well, but each and every story is excellent. Many of the stories are about individual humans' reactions to technological leaps or apocalyptic events. Aliens appear in a few. And yet they are all believable, like what might actually, truly happen if these events come to pass. Kress has a solid scientific understanding and avid curiosity and imagination about future breakthroughs, and it makes her tales all the better.
travistravis's review against another edition
4.0
As with all story collections, this had some winners and some losers, but overall it was pretty good. I came across it while looking for Beggars in Spain, since I remember loving that when I was in high school.
She has an interesting style, to me it seems a lot like a mix of Neil Gaiman and Stephen Baxter, but it works.
She has an interesting style, to me it seems a lot like a mix of Neil Gaiman and Stephen Baxter, but it works.
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