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theinkwyrm's review against another edition
DNFd @ 26%
I normally wouldn’t leave a review for something I’ve read so little of since I wouldn’t feel like I’ve got an adequate taste of what it’s like, but I am this time because it taught me something about my reading preferences that I didn’t know before: that if I’m going to read sci-fi with aliens in it, I want it to be at least novella length to allow for adequate world building and civilization development. There’s nothing wrong with the short stories in this collection (and in fact I even enjoyed a few of them from what I’ve read), but the format limits world building to where I just couldn’t get invested in any of the stories adequately enough to want to continue reading. I was going to try to push on to at least 50% but I found myself actively avoiding picking this up and picking up other books instead, which I think is a pretty decent sign that it’s time to move on.
I normally wouldn’t leave a review for something I’ve read so little of since I wouldn’t feel like I’ve got an adequate taste of what it’s like, but I am this time because it taught me something about my reading preferences that I didn’t know before: that if I’m going to read sci-fi with aliens in it, I want it to be at least novella length to allow for adequate world building and civilization development. There’s nothing wrong with the short stories in this collection (and in fact I even enjoyed a few of them from what I’ve read), but the format limits world building to where I just couldn’t get invested in any of the stories adequately enough to want to continue reading. I was going to try to push on to at least 50% but I found myself actively avoiding picking this up and picking up other books instead, which I think is a pretty decent sign that it’s time to move on.
michaeldrakich's review against another edition
2.0
And another collection of sci-fi shorts has hit the market. Thirty-two in total with many having appeared in different collections. There must be some free to use short story website out there where these editors put their collections together from.
A quick glance at the average online review had my hopes up, but after reading I put this collection as one of the worst so far. With an average rating of only 3 stars per story and five that I had to rate at 1 star, there is not much reason for anyone to pick up this book. I had my favorites, GOLUBASH, OR WINE-BLOOD-WAR-ELEGY by Catherynne M. Valente at the top of the list, and NOUMENON by Robert Ree running second.
Here's a quick breakdown on them all.
FROZEN VOICE by An Owomoyela. The Earth gets conquered by giant spiders that keep the humans as pets. Books are taboo. Not much else to the story. 3 stars
THE BOOKMAKING HABITS OF SELECT SPECIES by Ken Liu. More like an encyclopedia posting than a story. In fact, there is no story. 1 star
GOLUBASH, OR WINE-BLOOD-WAR-ELEGY by Catherynne M. Valente. I've read this one before. Still a favorite. Unique method of telling a tale of galactic war where wine is the number one contraband. 5 stars
THE FOUR GENERATIONS OF CHANG E by Zen Cho. A girl goes through numerous physical and mental changes to become a moon person. 2 stars
THE TETRAHEDON by Vandana Singh. A tetrahedon appears out of nowhere in the middle of New Dehli. Intrigue, a young girl named Maya is constantly drawn to the thing while her own life and relationships spiral out of control. 4 stars
THE MAN by Paul McAuley. A woman living alone on a foreign planet where huge ruined machines lay everywhere is visited by a man. Is he human or something else? 5 stars
SEASONS OF THE ANSARAC by Ursula K. Le Guin. A human on vacation visits a world where the people are birdlike and their lives are migration driven. 3 stars
LAMBING SEASON by Molly Gloss. Second story I have seen before. Are there really that few good sci-fi shorts out there? Especially as this one bored me once more with the alien dog looking creature's constant visits to sniff the ground then crash on his last without explanation. 2 stars
CELADON by Desirina Boskovich. The implications of xenocide when colonizing new worlds. Lacked drama. 3 stars
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST by Genevieve Valentine. And another I've seen before. A better grasp of the story third time around but still lacking depth. Waiting forever for an altruistic alien means no war while the wait is on. 3 stars
I AM THE ABYSS AND I AM THE LIGHT by Caitlin R. Kiernan. A human going through with a merger (physically and mentally) with an alien. Lack of details made this boring. 2 stars.
THE BEEKEEPER by Jamie Barras. Humans land in this crater where humanoid life evolves from some seeding program. It felt like part of a novel. 3 stars
NOUMENON by Robert Reed. Not for the science theory challenged which is why I loved it. A host of theories are explored in this short. 5 stars
THE DEATH OF TERRESTRIAL RADIO by Elizabeth Bear. The boring life of a SETI scientist is boring. 2 stars
HONEY BEAR by Sofia Samatar. Okay, I like stories to make some semblance of being understandable. Tall aliens won't harm families with vampire babies. Seriously? 1 star
THE FORGOTTEN ONES by Karin Lowachee. A human colony long forgotten on an alien world at war. Nicely done. 5 stars
THE GODFALL'S CHEMSONG by Jeremiah Tolbert. Squid people with a hint of biogenetic engineering to be there. 4 stars
FOR THE AGES by Alastair Reynolds. How does mankind tell the future universe about all that was? Carve into onto a neutron star. 5 stars
SUN DOGS by Brooke Bolander. Cruel experiments on a dog lead to a transcendence. Could have used a few more details. 2 stars
HONORARY EARTHLING by Nisi Shawl. Not sure if this is science fiction or a political rant against racism. 1 star
SHALLOT by Samantha Henderson. A horror story with a hint of sci-fi. You need to guess the antagonist is an alien. If it were not in this book titled "Aliens: Recent Encounters" I would never have guessed. 2 stars
THE BOY WHO LEARNED HOW TO SHUDDER by Sonya Taaffe. Nothing disappoints me more than awriter trying to prove her command of the English language by writing in such florid ways you can't understand what is going on. 1 star
KNACKSACK POEMS by Eleanor Arnason. A unique alien life form with many bodies and minds. A very enjoyable story that normally would earn five stars. Only problem, no alien encounter. 4 stars
NULLIPARA by Gitte Christensen. When a planet changes your children to aliens, how do you cope? 5 stars
MUO-KA'S CHILD by Indrapamit Das. A human crash victim adopted by an alien mother. 3 stars
THE DISMANTLED INVENTION OF FATE by Jeffrey Ford. Convoluted, the story of a spacer and his alien wife takes many twists and turns. 5 stars
JAGANNATH by Karin Tidbeck. A unique alien with a symbiosis relationship to humans. 5 stars
TEST OF FIRE by Pervin Saket. Alien gives up on delivering important message to mankind. 3 stars
MY MOTHER DANCING by Nancy Kress. One segment of mankind visiting another when years and biological changes make them different. 3 stars
NATIVE ALIENS by Greg Van Eekhout. A parallel examination between 1945 and 2367 examining reaction to alien settling. 4 stars
COVENANT by Lavie Tidhar. Ancient civilizations, where did they go? Odd symbiosis aspect to this one. 4 stars
A VECTOR ALPHABET OF INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL by Yoon Ha Lee. Sorry. Nothing to this. 1 star
A quick glance at the average online review had my hopes up, but after reading I put this collection as one of the worst so far. With an average rating of only 3 stars per story and five that I had to rate at 1 star, there is not much reason for anyone to pick up this book. I had my favorites, GOLUBASH, OR WINE-BLOOD-WAR-ELEGY by Catherynne M. Valente at the top of the list, and NOUMENON by Robert Ree running second.
Here's a quick breakdown on them all.
FROZEN VOICE by An Owomoyela. The Earth gets conquered by giant spiders that keep the humans as pets. Books are taboo. Not much else to the story. 3 stars
THE BOOKMAKING HABITS OF SELECT SPECIES by Ken Liu. More like an encyclopedia posting than a story. In fact, there is no story. 1 star
GOLUBASH, OR WINE-BLOOD-WAR-ELEGY by Catherynne M. Valente. I've read this one before. Still a favorite. Unique method of telling a tale of galactic war where wine is the number one contraband. 5 stars
THE FOUR GENERATIONS OF CHANG E by Zen Cho. A girl goes through numerous physical and mental changes to become a moon person. 2 stars
THE TETRAHEDON by Vandana Singh. A tetrahedon appears out of nowhere in the middle of New Dehli. Intrigue, a young girl named Maya is constantly drawn to the thing while her own life and relationships spiral out of control. 4 stars
THE MAN by Paul McAuley. A woman living alone on a foreign planet where huge ruined machines lay everywhere is visited by a man. Is he human or something else? 5 stars
SEASONS OF THE ANSARAC by Ursula K. Le Guin. A human on vacation visits a world where the people are birdlike and their lives are migration driven. 3 stars
LAMBING SEASON by Molly Gloss. Second story I have seen before. Are there really that few good sci-fi shorts out there? Especially as this one bored me once more with the alien dog looking creature's constant visits to sniff the ground then crash on his last without explanation. 2 stars
CELADON by Desirina Boskovich. The implications of xenocide when colonizing new worlds. Lacked drama. 3 stars
CARTHAGO DELENDA EST by Genevieve Valentine. And another I've seen before. A better grasp of the story third time around but still lacking depth. Waiting forever for an altruistic alien means no war while the wait is on. 3 stars
I AM THE ABYSS AND I AM THE LIGHT by Caitlin R. Kiernan. A human going through with a merger (physically and mentally) with an alien. Lack of details made this boring. 2 stars.
THE BEEKEEPER by Jamie Barras. Humans land in this crater where humanoid life evolves from some seeding program. It felt like part of a novel. 3 stars
NOUMENON by Robert Reed. Not for the science theory challenged which is why I loved it. A host of theories are explored in this short. 5 stars
THE DEATH OF TERRESTRIAL RADIO by Elizabeth Bear. The boring life of a SETI scientist is boring. 2 stars
HONEY BEAR by Sofia Samatar. Okay, I like stories to make some semblance of being understandable. Tall aliens won't harm families with vampire babies. Seriously? 1 star
THE FORGOTTEN ONES by Karin Lowachee. A human colony long forgotten on an alien world at war. Nicely done. 5 stars
THE GODFALL'S CHEMSONG by Jeremiah Tolbert. Squid people with a hint of biogenetic engineering to be there. 4 stars
FOR THE AGES by Alastair Reynolds. How does mankind tell the future universe about all that was? Carve into onto a neutron star. 5 stars
SUN DOGS by Brooke Bolander. Cruel experiments on a dog lead to a transcendence. Could have used a few more details. 2 stars
HONORARY EARTHLING by Nisi Shawl. Not sure if this is science fiction or a political rant against racism. 1 star
SHALLOT by Samantha Henderson. A horror story with a hint of sci-fi. You need to guess the antagonist is an alien. If it were not in this book titled "Aliens: Recent Encounters" I would never have guessed. 2 stars
THE BOY WHO LEARNED HOW TO SHUDDER by Sonya Taaffe. Nothing disappoints me more than awriter trying to prove her command of the English language by writing in such florid ways you can't understand what is going on. 1 star
KNACKSACK POEMS by Eleanor Arnason. A unique alien life form with many bodies and minds. A very enjoyable story that normally would earn five stars. Only problem, no alien encounter. 4 stars
NULLIPARA by Gitte Christensen. When a planet changes your children to aliens, how do you cope? 5 stars
MUO-KA'S CHILD by Indrapamit Das. A human crash victim adopted by an alien mother. 3 stars
THE DISMANTLED INVENTION OF FATE by Jeffrey Ford. Convoluted, the story of a spacer and his alien wife takes many twists and turns. 5 stars
JAGANNATH by Karin Tidbeck. A unique alien with a symbiosis relationship to humans. 5 stars
TEST OF FIRE by Pervin Saket. Alien gives up on delivering important message to mankind. 3 stars
MY MOTHER DANCING by Nancy Kress. One segment of mankind visiting another when years and biological changes make them different. 3 stars
NATIVE ALIENS by Greg Van Eekhout. A parallel examination between 1945 and 2367 examining reaction to alien settling. 4 stars
COVENANT by Lavie Tidhar. Ancient civilizations, where did they go? Odd symbiosis aspect to this one. 4 stars
A VECTOR ALPHABET OF INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL by Yoon Ha Lee. Sorry. Nothing to this. 1 star
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