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somesnarksareboojums's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Metaphorazine!
landolphia's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
mimooo's review
4.0
my fav stories were those where something sad is lurking below the surface. “crawl town” is eerie and sublime. i’m a sucker for strange factories producing mystery and misery. and parallel machines. and the machines being a metaphor for this collection as a whole:
“i call them games; there wasn’t any obvious way of playing them. you just had to find your way around them, work out what they were for, try to unravel their mystery as you went along”
ps: isn’t there a short story by harlan ellison possibly about another cursed factory of some sort? and ofc my favorite, oyamada’s “the factory.”
other highlights:
“somewhere the shadow” (a crazed jaunt through our carceral and perverse panopticons) “cloudwalkers,” (the samizdat from infinite jest, hardboiled evil-lite version) “the charisma engine” (VURTual miss havisham reunited with her lover), and “spaceache and heartships” (curse youuuu neil armstrong!!!!).
“pixel dub juice” sums up the whole collection (literally. it’s a summary.) despite being surreal and wacky and trippy, the collection was very coherent. a successor to borges indeed. the blurb at the back is right: “ideas per page dangerously close to the limit!”
and the puns are great too.
“i call them games; there wasn’t any obvious way of playing them. you just had to find your way around them, work out what they were for, try to unravel their mystery as you went along”
ps: isn’t there a short story by harlan ellison possibly about another cursed factory of some sort? and ofc my favorite, oyamada’s “the factory.”
other highlights:
“somewhere the shadow” (a crazed jaunt through our carceral and perverse panopticons) “cloudwalkers,” (the samizdat from infinite jest, hardboiled evil-lite version) “the charisma engine” (VURTual miss havisham reunited with her lover), and “spaceache and heartships” (curse youuuu neil armstrong!!!!).
“pixel dub juice” sums up the whole collection (literally. it’s a summary.) despite being surreal and wacky and trippy, the collection was very coherent. a successor to borges indeed. the blurb at the back is right: “ideas per page dangerously close to the limit!”
and the puns are great too.
lushr's review
5.0
A collection of short stories by the most imaginative sci if writer I know. I love the boy Quentin who is allergic to the letter Q. Brilliant ideas on every page there's always more to come back to.
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