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hneite's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
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
3.25
branej's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
mburnamfink's review against another edition
4.0
Writers of the Future is one of the few contests targeted explicitly at early career writers, with realistic financial rewards rather than "exposure" (people die of exposure, you know). Stories are chosen by a panel of scifi elders quarterly. With such a collection, there's going to be a lot of variance, but I enjoyed 7 of these 8 stories.
I'd like to call out for special attention "The Shadow Man" by Donald Mead, which is a creepy and wistful look at life in Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb, and "The Assignment of Runner ETI" Fiona Lehn, which has a great Hunger Games style athletic-competition as public policy endurance race at the center of a story about teamwork and human limits.
I'd like to call out for special attention "The Shadow Man" by Donald Mead, which is a creepy and wistful look at life in Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb, and "The Assignment of Runner ETI" Fiona Lehn, which has a great Hunger Games style athletic-competition as public policy endurance race at the center of a story about teamwork and human limits.
angielisle's review
3.0
I adore short story anthologies, especially when multiple authors are involved, but I avoided this series for a long time because L Ron Hubbard's religious cult scares me. Then, I received two volumes (29 and 30) in exchange for reviews and now I'm reading the series backwards. I described the Volume 26 as my least favorite volume (to date) but it's now tied with this one.
What I like about this book/series is the exposure to authors that I haven't read before but this book, like Vol. 26, is dull. Many of these short stories revolve around the same themes so the stories began to feel repetitive as I read on and, maybe because I'm reading this volume years after its publication date, none of the ideas felt new. I needed several weeks to get through this volume because I kept putting the book aside in favor of other books. I will pick up Volume 24 - I am eager to read some of the older volumes, to see the earlier works of authors I may already be familiar with - but it will be at my leisure.
What I like about this book/series is the exposure to authors that I haven't read before but this book, like Vol. 26, is dull. Many of these short stories revolve around the same themes so the stories began to feel repetitive as I read on and, maybe because I'm reading this volume years after its publication date, none of the ideas felt new. I needed several weeks to get through this volume because I kept putting the book aside in favor of other books. I will pick up Volume 24 - I am eager to read some of the older volumes, to see the earlier works of authors I may already be familiar with - but it will be at my leisure.
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