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fortifiedbybooks's review
4.0
I wound up devouring Welcome to the Future in one day. I don't usually do that with short story anthologies. I tend to dip into them for a story or two and then read something else for a bit before returning. That's mostly because I've never read an anthology in which every single story was phenomenal. While I didn't love all the stories in this one either, almost all of my favorites were front loaded.
If anything, that's what I disliked about this collection. I didn't enjoy the last few stories, and if I hadn't plowed through the book so quickly, that might have tarnished my view of it as a whole. I feel as if the runner-up selections were tacked on at the end only to make the book a little longer. A better way of organizing it would have been to spread them out amongst the gems of the bunch. Putting that aside, Welcome to the Future is well worth buying.
If anything, that's what I disliked about this collection. I didn't enjoy the last few stories, and if I hadn't plowed through the book so quickly, that might have tarnished my view of it as a whole. I feel as if the runner-up selections were tacked on at the end only to make the book a little longer. A better way of organizing it would have been to spread them out amongst the gems of the bunch. Putting that aside, Welcome to the Future is well worth buying.
izabrekilien's review
4.0
I bought this short stories collection because of Kimberly Sams, who wrote one of it and whose blog I used to visit when I had one.
And I must say that this collection was way above what I expected ! In France where I live, short stories are not a popular genre : they are almost always irregular, like 5 stories you detest, 3 are average and only 1 blows your mind if you're lucky.
Here, nothing of the kind. Maybe it's because I haven't read any sci-fi since "The Martian" ? I don't know but it's been difficult for me lately to find books I would adore and/or that would surprise me, interest me, so this anthology left mewith my mouth open in shock. I loved it ! There were short stories, very short but to the point, that delivered a punch, there were longer stories with a worldbuilding. In spite of its title, "Welcome to the future" doesn't make us want to jump ahead and live then, not only because we'll be older and grayer if we're not dead, but because that future is definitely not bright, even if the outside picture looks pretty (no more murders, everybody finds their soulmate, etc).
There were only two stories I liked less : the one with the eyes and the needles (I know I'm making you flinch ! "Seeing the future") and the last one that kept me hoping for something more than it actually was.
My favorites were "Simulated perfection" by Kimberly Sams because it was fast-paced, well written even if its main character almost made me as anxious as he is, and that I would love to see developed as a novel - it has the potential ; "Only a crack in a black glass wall" by Rachael Acks because it reminds me of completely contemporary issues, alas, and it gives a flicker of hope ; "Lost in translation" by Lynette Mejia because I could completely picture the story and loved its ending ; "Zombi 6 : salvation" by James Park, not because of the under-aged girls reference, no, or the quote of different authors, but because I totally understand the character's point of view : whatever happens, we brought this on ourselves ; "Rudy's arms" by Stephanie de Haven which reminded me of that quote by Einstein, I think, that the world is a dangerous place not because of dangerous people, but because of those who stand aside and let them act ; "Blood blooms" by Nicole Tanquary because it made me shed a tear, sad and beautiful at the same time.
And that doesn't mean that the other stories I didn't write about are not worth mentioning, no ! It just means that I should have taken reading notes and didn't, bad me.
Honestly, this is the best sci-fi stories collection I ever read, thanks to Berls for mentioning it and kudos for your story !
PS : Urgh, I pressed Save and forgot to add the quote, here it is :
"The humans will suffer their extinction, and the zombies will follow. But the world, if anything, needs this to survive. Our planet will continue to make laps around the sun and the animal populations will grow larger and larger. All we're experiencing is the end of the human species. And I assure you of one thing... the other creatures have yet to express even the tiniest morsel of disappointment."
And I must say that this collection was way above what I expected ! In France where I live, short stories are not a popular genre : they are almost always irregular, like 5 stories you detest, 3 are average and only 1 blows your mind if you're lucky.
Here, nothing of the kind. Maybe it's because I haven't read any sci-fi since "The Martian" ? I don't know but it's been difficult for me lately to find books I would adore and/or that would surprise me, interest me, so this anthology left mewith my mouth open in shock. I loved it ! There were short stories, very short but to the point, that delivered a punch, there were longer stories with a worldbuilding. In spite of its title, "Welcome to the future" doesn't make us want to jump ahead and live then, not only because we'll be older and grayer if we're not dead, but because that future is definitely not bright, even if the outside picture looks pretty (no more murders, everybody finds their soulmate, etc).
There were only two stories I liked less : the one with the eyes and the needles (I know I'm making you flinch ! "Seeing the future") and the last one that kept me hoping for something more than it actually was.
My favorites were "Simulated perfection" by Kimberly Sams because it was fast-paced, well written even if its main character almost made me as anxious as he is, and that I would love to see developed as a novel - it has the potential ; "Only a crack in a black glass wall" by Rachael Acks because it reminds me of completely contemporary issues, alas, and it gives a flicker of hope ; "Lost in translation" by Lynette Mejia because I could completely picture the story and loved its ending ; "Zombi 6 : salvation" by James Park, not because of the under-aged girls reference, no, or the quote of different authors, but because I totally understand the character's point of view : whatever happens, we brought this on ourselves ; "Rudy's arms" by Stephanie de Haven which reminded me of that quote by Einstein, I think, that the world is a dangerous place not because of dangerous people, but because of those who stand aside and let them act ; "Blood blooms" by Nicole Tanquary because it made me shed a tear, sad and beautiful at the same time.
And that doesn't mean that the other stories I didn't write about are not worth mentioning, no ! It just means that I should have taken reading notes and didn't, bad me.
Honestly, this is the best sci-fi stories collection I ever read, thanks to Berls for mentioning it and kudos for your story !
PS : Urgh, I pressed Save and forgot to add the quote, here it is :
"The humans will suffer their extinction, and the zombies will follow. But the world, if anything, needs this to survive. Our planet will continue to make laps around the sun and the animal populations will grow larger and larger. All we're experiencing is the end of the human species. And I assure you of one thing... the other creatures have yet to express even the tiniest morsel of disappointment."
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