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amyotheramy's review against another edition
4.0
TL;DR version: Read the stories by Connolly, Cook, Williamson, Penn Romine, Sullivan, Levine, Broaddus, Wrigley, Bolander, and McGuire. SKIP the ones by Tolbert, Pratt, and Howard and your life will be better for it. For the rest, your mileage may vary depending on your own personal obsessions and expectations. Overall, though those ten stories that make the must read cut are well worth the $5 for this collection.
Full review: Short story is a difficult art. To paint a world and its characters and deliver the actual story in just a few pages is, to me at least, perhaps the height of the storyteller's art. The trick in this anthology is to restrain the form of the story to a Kickstarter proposal (along with comments from the denizens of the Internet and updates from the creator as appropriate. (Some of the proposals are only proposals and some are fully funded with updates from their aftermath.) This is like haiku, the required form either pushing the authors to achieve more with less. Of course, like bad haiku, when these stories fail, they all run together into a blur with nothing to distinguish them. This is made more noticeable by the fact that the form seems to have suggested a number of very similar themes to the authors.
HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! by [a:Keffy R.M. Kehrli|4133755|Keffy R.M. Kehrli|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1425413428p2/4133755.jpg]★★★☆☆. This is the story that sparked the anthology, so the innovation here is the form itself. (I bumped it up a star.) Otherwise, meh.
FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY by [a:Jeremiah Tolbert|1916425|Jeremiah Tolbert|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]★☆☆☆☆ Story about avoiding spoilers contains a major spoiler for the movie Serenity. Ironic! NO actually. Annoying. Don't read this one. (Even if you've seen Serenity, the story is pure meh.)
ZERO G R&J by [a:Mary Robinette Kowal|2868678|Mary Robinette Kowal|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1365253716p2/2868678.jpg] ★★★☆☆ The story is the battle to get [b:Romeo and Juliet|18135|Romeo and Juliet|William Shakespeare|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872146s/18135.jpg|3349450] (in space! with puppets!) funded. I was so ready to call this two stars, but it actually did make me laugh.
A MEMORIAL TO THE PATRIOTS by [a:Jake Kerr|4648176|Jake Kerr|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1414214080p2/4648176.jpg] ★★★☆☆ There is the germ of a really good story here, but the constraints of the form got to this one. I never really had that "Aha!" moment that made clear what actually happened, and the confusion wasn't necessarily good. But, fog of war, and all that. USA post terror attack with a funding drive that may or may not be related.
I WANT TO BE A LIONESS by [a:Chuck Wendig|17152|Chuck Wendig|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294919586p2/17152.jpg] ★★★★☆ A mother, her revenge, and the aftermath.
LIBERTY:SEEKING SUPPORT FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS FOR A NON-HUMAN BEING by [a:Samuel Peralta|4210465|Samuel Peralta|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★. It is a little heavy handed on the last line, but this is the first story in the anthology that spoke poetry to me. An android needs help.
HELP SUMMON THE MOST HOLY FOLDED ONE! by [a:Harry Connolly|89973|Harry Connolly|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1252023000p2/89973.jpg] ★★★★☆. Cthulhu via taco truck. Fun.
FULFILL MY DESTINY - AND SAVE THE WORLD! by [a:Matt Forbeck|9505|Matt Forbeck|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1269284918p2/9505.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ The first of three timetravel stories herein. Meh.
LARPING THE APOCALYPSE 2: THE NANO-PLAGUE by [a:Tim Pratt|121364|Tim Pratt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1312310991p2/121364.jpg] ★☆☆☆☆. Revenge of the geeks, apocalypse style. Annoying due to failed attempt to grapple with sexism in the gamer community.
FUND TAPHOGNOSIS INDUSTRIES by [a:Tobias S. Buckell|107891|Tobias S. Buckell|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1370963821p2/107891.jpg] ★★★☆☆ Successfully funded virtual mind upload and its aftermath. (I almost forgot about it as soon as I read it, but rereading it it was fine. YMMV.)
CATASSASSINS! by [a:Veronica Belmont|8121761|Veronica Belmont|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1404331277p2/8121761.jpg] ★★★☆☆ See title. Kind of meh, but even more that the taco truck story succeeds in suggesting people ought to be careful what they fund, for their own personal safety.
FINDER OF LOST THINGS by [a:Monte Cook|16208|Monte Cook|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238608816p2/16208.jpg] ★★★★★ Now here is a geek story done right. Charming, touching, and beautiful.
PRIMA NOCTA DETECTIVE AGENCY NEEDS YOU by [a:Genevieve Valentine|3400079|Genevieve Valentine|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360060998p2/3400079.jpg] ★☆☆☆☆ I actually had to reread this one to remember it and the reread did not help. The first of three vampire related fund drives.
SO JUICY TRANSFORMING STRIPS by [a:Matt Williamson|4782249|Matt Williamson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★☆ What the hell was that? I still don't even know. Medical issues following worldwide environmental crisis? Some kind of zombie story? Just read this.
THE SPIRIT OF MARS: FUND A SACRED JOURNEY TO THE RED PLANET by [a:Andrew Penn Romine|4446686|Andrew Penn Romine|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★☆ Another WTH? story, this time on a pilgrimage to Mars. Shaky on the take off, great on the end.
FLASHED FORWARD by [a:Bradley Beaulieu|14025548|Bradley Beaulieu|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★☆ Beautiful time travel story.
HELP ME FOLLOW MY SISTER INTO THE LAND OF THE DEAD by [a:Carmen Maria Machado|6860265|Carmen Maria Machado|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1376418795p2/6860265.jpg] ★★★★★ See title. Maybe the best story in the anthology. Well worth the read.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR by [a:Michael J Sullivan|14137801|Michael J Sullivan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★ Awesome continuation of [b:The Monkey's Paw|351064|The Monkey's Paw|W.W. Jacobs|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297721168s/351064.jpg|3275269].
A PRACTICAL MECHANISM FOR OVERCOMING THE DIRECTIONALITY OF TEMPORAL FLOW by David D. Levine ★★★★★ The aftermath of a successfully funded time travel project. The story depends on the shifting details of the fund drive (which first seem like typos) to unfold the story. Very nicely done.
LIFE-SIZED ARENA TETRIS! by [a:David Malki !|13648054|David Malki !|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★☆☆☆ More geek angst, but pointless this time.
ZIPPERS by [a:Derek Van Gorder|8264692|Derek Van Gorder|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★☆☆☆ Mind control via Internet, with kitten pictures, but otherwise meh.
I USED TO LOVE H.E.R. by [a:Maurice Broaddus|1419586|Maurice Broaddus|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1221126216p2/1419586.jpg] ★★★★★ [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Shelley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381512375s/18490.jpg|4836639] from the perspective of a black lesbian scientist. Set in 2005, prior to Kickstarter, so it plays out in the newspaper. Loved. Gut punch of an ending, though.
LOCALLY GROWN, ORGANIC by [a:Kat Howard|4098207|Kat Howard|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] ★☆☆☆☆ If I could give this negative stars I would. Elitist, sexist attempt to recreate [b:A Modest Proposal|5206937|A Modest Proposal|Jonathan Swift|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348659670s/5206937.jpg|6627040]. Stick with Swift.
LET'S KEEP BURT GRIMSBY'S HEAD FROZEN! by [a:Heather Lindsley|3337132|Heather Lindsley|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] ★★☆☆☆ Pointless. And I hate Disney most days, so that's not the issue.
JEROME 3.0 by [a:Jason Gurley|6904187|Jason Gurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1435178484p2/6904187.jpg] ★★★☆☆ Second "bring back a dead love" story in the collection. Doesn't work nearly as well. But it does also deal with the subject of Internet fame, also not with great impact, but it does OK. (I'm rounding up out of pity, I guess. Broaddus is a hard act to follow.)
HELP ME DESTROY CANNES! by [a:Jonathan L. Howard|1488908|Jonathan L. Howard|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1298173761p2/1488908.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ Destroying Cannes maybe sounds like fun, but super meh story.
SAVE THE PHOTOPHOBIC HEMOGLOBIVORES WITH THE SANGUINE RESERVE! by [a:Mur Lafferty|97284|Mur Lafferty|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1314461906p2/97284.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ Vampires manipulating folks, as they do. Meh.
NOSFERATU, BRUTUS? by [a:Scott Sigler|114504|Scott Sigler|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1434042056p2/114504.jpg] ★★★☆☆ Why are vampires so hard to do in this format? Destroying the sparkly ones sounds great to me, so this should have been a lot of fun, but the project fails to fund so we don't get any aftermath. The writing is solid. I'm rounding up. I may check out Sigler's books.
UPDATES by [a:Vylar Kaftan|2915792|Vylar Kaftan|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1413144896p2/2915792.jpg] and [a:Shannon Prickett|8345521|Shannon Prickett|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★☆☆☆ The stupid of the masses is a popular theme in this collection, but this is giant meh.
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE by [a:Sylvia Spruck Wrigley|5376501|Sylvia Spruck Wrigley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1438115782p2/5376501.jpg] ★★★★☆ Second space journey, better stupid of the masses. I kind of though meh when I first read it, but it has grown on me.
MECHANICAL ANIMALS by [a:Brooke Bolander|6889348|Brooke Bolander|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] ★★★★★ I can't classify this one without spoiling it. Being able to deliver this kind of characterization in this short of a story is a kind of magic I wish I could do. Read it.
KISMET(TM) by [a:Daniel H. Wilson|33773|Daniel H. Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1298332667p2/33773.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ Augmented consciousness. The project is funded, but no updates follow. (Don't you just hate that?) Meh.
BRING ABOUT THE HALLOWEEN ETERNAL!!! by [a:Seanan McGuire|2860219|Seanan McGuire|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1245623198p2/2860219.jpg] ★★★★☆ (Full disclosure, I bought this anthology to feed my addiction to McGuire's short stories.) Best "summon our own destruction" story in the collection, but none of the weight I love this author for to be found here. Still, pure sugar and fun with a side of end of the world, as befits Halloween.
**Original review written 8/8/15, edited 8/12/15 to add, you know, the actual rating, since no stars is not what I was going for here.**
Full review: Short story is a difficult art. To paint a world and its characters and deliver the actual story in just a few pages is, to me at least, perhaps the height of the storyteller's art. The trick in this anthology is to restrain the form of the story to a Kickstarter proposal (along with comments from the denizens of the Internet and updates from the creator as appropriate. (Some of the proposals are only proposals and some are fully funded with updates from their aftermath.) This is like haiku, the required form either pushing the authors to achieve more with less. Of course, like bad haiku, when these stories fail, they all run together into a blur with nothing to distinguish them. This is made more noticeable by the fact that the form seems to have suggested a number of very similar themes to the authors.
HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! by [a:Keffy R.M. Kehrli|4133755|Keffy R.M. Kehrli|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1425413428p2/4133755.jpg]★★★☆☆. This is the story that sparked the anthology, so the innovation here is the form itself. (I bumped it up a star.) Otherwise, meh.
FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY by [a:Jeremiah Tolbert|1916425|Jeremiah Tolbert|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]★☆☆☆☆ Story about avoiding spoilers contains a major spoiler for the movie Serenity. Ironic! NO actually. Annoying. Don't read this one. (Even if you've seen Serenity, the story is pure meh.)
ZERO G R&J by [a:Mary Robinette Kowal|2868678|Mary Robinette Kowal|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1365253716p2/2868678.jpg] ★★★☆☆ The story is the battle to get [b:Romeo and Juliet|18135|Romeo and Juliet|William Shakespeare|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872146s/18135.jpg|3349450] (in space! with puppets!) funded. I was so ready to call this two stars, but it actually did make me laugh.
A MEMORIAL TO THE PATRIOTS by [a:Jake Kerr|4648176|Jake Kerr|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1414214080p2/4648176.jpg] ★★★☆☆ There is the germ of a really good story here, but the constraints of the form got to this one. I never really had that "Aha!" moment that made clear what actually happened, and the confusion wasn't necessarily good. But, fog of war, and all that. USA post terror attack with a funding drive that may or may not be related.
I WANT TO BE A LIONESS by [a:Chuck Wendig|17152|Chuck Wendig|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294919586p2/17152.jpg] ★★★★☆ A mother, her revenge, and the aftermath.
LIBERTY:SEEKING SUPPORT FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS FOR A NON-HUMAN BEING by [a:Samuel Peralta|4210465|Samuel Peralta|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★. It is a little heavy handed on the last line, but this is the first story in the anthology that spoke poetry to me. An android needs help.
HELP SUMMON THE MOST HOLY FOLDED ONE! by [a:Harry Connolly|89973|Harry Connolly|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1252023000p2/89973.jpg] ★★★★☆. Cthulhu via taco truck. Fun.
FULFILL MY DESTINY - AND SAVE THE WORLD! by [a:Matt Forbeck|9505|Matt Forbeck|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1269284918p2/9505.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ The first of three timetravel stories herein. Meh.
LARPING THE APOCALYPSE 2: THE NANO-PLAGUE by [a:Tim Pratt|121364|Tim Pratt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1312310991p2/121364.jpg] ★☆☆☆☆. Revenge of the geeks, apocalypse style. Annoying due to failed attempt to grapple with sexism in the gamer community.
FUND TAPHOGNOSIS INDUSTRIES by [a:Tobias S. Buckell|107891|Tobias S. Buckell|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1370963821p2/107891.jpg] ★★★☆☆ Successfully funded virtual mind upload and its aftermath. (I almost forgot about it as soon as I read it, but rereading it it was fine. YMMV.)
CATASSASSINS! by [a:Veronica Belmont|8121761|Veronica Belmont|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1404331277p2/8121761.jpg] ★★★☆☆ See title. Kind of meh, but even more that the taco truck story succeeds in suggesting people ought to be careful what they fund, for their own personal safety.
FINDER OF LOST THINGS by [a:Monte Cook|16208|Monte Cook|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238608816p2/16208.jpg] ★★★★★ Now here is a geek story done right. Charming, touching, and beautiful.
PRIMA NOCTA DETECTIVE AGENCY NEEDS YOU by [a:Genevieve Valentine|3400079|Genevieve Valentine|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360060998p2/3400079.jpg] ★☆☆☆☆ I actually had to reread this one to remember it and the reread did not help. The first of three vampire related fund drives.
SO JUICY TRANSFORMING STRIPS by [a:Matt Williamson|4782249|Matt Williamson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★☆ What the hell was that? I still don't even know. Medical issues following worldwide environmental crisis? Some kind of zombie story? Just read this.
THE SPIRIT OF MARS: FUND A SACRED JOURNEY TO THE RED PLANET by [a:Andrew Penn Romine|4446686|Andrew Penn Romine|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★☆ Another WTH? story, this time on a pilgrimage to Mars. Shaky on the take off, great on the end.
FLASHED FORWARD by [a:Bradley Beaulieu|14025548|Bradley Beaulieu|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★☆ Beautiful time travel story.
HELP ME FOLLOW MY SISTER INTO THE LAND OF THE DEAD by [a:Carmen Maria Machado|6860265|Carmen Maria Machado|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1376418795p2/6860265.jpg] ★★★★★ See title. Maybe the best story in the anthology. Well worth the read.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR by [a:Michael J Sullivan|14137801|Michael J Sullivan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★★★★ Awesome continuation of [b:The Monkey's Paw|351064|The Monkey's Paw|W.W. Jacobs|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297721168s/351064.jpg|3275269].
A PRACTICAL MECHANISM FOR OVERCOMING THE DIRECTIONALITY OF TEMPORAL FLOW by David D. Levine ★★★★★ The aftermath of a successfully funded time travel project. The story depends on the shifting details of the fund drive (which first seem like typos) to unfold the story. Very nicely done.
LIFE-SIZED ARENA TETRIS! by [a:David Malki !|13648054|David Malki !|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★☆☆☆ More geek angst, but pointless this time.
ZIPPERS by [a:Derek Van Gorder|8264692|Derek Van Gorder|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★☆☆☆ Mind control via Internet, with kitten pictures, but otherwise meh.
I USED TO LOVE H.E.R. by [a:Maurice Broaddus|1419586|Maurice Broaddus|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1221126216p2/1419586.jpg] ★★★★★ [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Shelley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381512375s/18490.jpg|4836639] from the perspective of a black lesbian scientist. Set in 2005, prior to Kickstarter, so it plays out in the newspaper. Loved. Gut punch of an ending, though.
LOCALLY GROWN, ORGANIC by [a:Kat Howard|4098207|Kat Howard|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] ★☆☆☆☆ If I could give this negative stars I would. Elitist, sexist attempt to recreate [b:A Modest Proposal|5206937|A Modest Proposal|Jonathan Swift|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348659670s/5206937.jpg|6627040]. Stick with Swift.
LET'S KEEP BURT GRIMSBY'S HEAD FROZEN! by [a:Heather Lindsley|3337132|Heather Lindsley|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] ★★☆☆☆ Pointless. And I hate Disney most days, so that's not the issue.
JEROME 3.0 by [a:Jason Gurley|6904187|Jason Gurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1435178484p2/6904187.jpg] ★★★☆☆ Second "bring back a dead love" story in the collection. Doesn't work nearly as well. But it does also deal with the subject of Internet fame, also not with great impact, but it does OK. (I'm rounding up out of pity, I guess. Broaddus is a hard act to follow.)
HELP ME DESTROY CANNES! by [a:Jonathan L. Howard|1488908|Jonathan L. Howard|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1298173761p2/1488908.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ Destroying Cannes maybe sounds like fun, but super meh story.
SAVE THE PHOTOPHOBIC HEMOGLOBIVORES WITH THE SANGUINE RESERVE! by [a:Mur Lafferty|97284|Mur Lafferty|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1314461906p2/97284.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ Vampires manipulating folks, as they do. Meh.
NOSFERATU, BRUTUS? by [a:Scott Sigler|114504|Scott Sigler|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1434042056p2/114504.jpg] ★★★☆☆ Why are vampires so hard to do in this format? Destroying the sparkly ones sounds great to me, so this should have been a lot of fun, but the project fails to fund so we don't get any aftermath. The writing is solid. I'm rounding up. I may check out Sigler's books.
UPDATES by [a:Vylar Kaftan|2915792|Vylar Kaftan|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1413144896p2/2915792.jpg] and [a:Shannon Prickett|8345521|Shannon Prickett|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] ★★☆☆☆ The stupid of the masses is a popular theme in this collection, but this is giant meh.
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE by [a:Sylvia Spruck Wrigley|5376501|Sylvia Spruck Wrigley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1438115782p2/5376501.jpg] ★★★★☆ Second space journey, better stupid of the masses. I kind of though meh when I first read it, but it has grown on me.
MECHANICAL ANIMALS by [a:Brooke Bolander|6889348|Brooke Bolander|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] ★★★★★ I can't classify this one without spoiling it. Being able to deliver this kind of characterization in this short of a story is a kind of magic I wish I could do. Read it.
KISMET(TM) by [a:Daniel H. Wilson|33773|Daniel H. Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1298332667p2/33773.jpg] ★★☆☆☆ Augmented consciousness. The project is funded, but no updates follow. (Don't you just hate that?) Meh.
BRING ABOUT THE HALLOWEEN ETERNAL!!! by [a:Seanan McGuire|2860219|Seanan McGuire|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1245623198p2/2860219.jpg] ★★★★☆ (Full disclosure, I bought this anthology to feed my addiction to McGuire's short stories.) Best "summon our own destruction" story in the collection, but none of the weight I love this author for to be found here. Still, pure sugar and fun with a side of end of the world, as befits Halloween.
**Original review written 8/8/15, edited 8/12/15 to add, you know, the actual rating, since no stars is not what I was going for here.**
clara_mai's review against another edition
3.0
This rating is only for the story "Help Me Folllow My Sister into the Land of the Dead" by Carmen Maria Machado because that's the only one I've read
missjackieoh's review against another edition
5.0
This short story murdered me! I will see you all in the Land Of The Dead.
Incredibly unique. So much emotion packed into just a few pages. It was an amazing experience!
Incredibly unique. So much emotion packed into just a few pages. It was an amazing experience!
ruzgofdi's review against another edition
4.0
I think the title of the collection may skew a person's impressions of the types of stories that are found inside. I was expecting the tone of the book to be over all humorous. And while there are more than a few funny "projects" included, it ends up feeling nicely balanced by stories like Jake Kerr's "A Memorial to the Patriots" and Samuel Peralta's "Liberty: Seeking Support for a Writ of Habeas Corpus for a Non-Human Being".
I would say that most of the stories included are really good. I there were a couple that I didn't really care for. One didn't seem like it was trying to be a self contained thing so much as a possible add for another work by the author. And one hit my personal pet peeve of "gobblefunk"-ing around with words (something that is only made worse in short fiction where your audience may not have the chance to adapt to your invented gibberish).
Over all, I rather enjoyed the collection and was not disappointed.
(Full disclosure: As part of the Kickstarter for this project, I paid to be Tuckerized in Veronica Belmont's story. Weaponized house cats. That's a good idea, right? :})
I would say that most of the stories included are really good. I there were a couple that I didn't really care for. One didn't seem like it was trying to be a self contained thing so much as a possible add for another work by the author. And one hit my personal pet peeve of "gobblefunk"-ing around with words (something that is only made worse in short fiction where your audience may not have the chance to adapt to your invented gibberish).
Over all, I rather enjoyed the collection and was not disappointed.
(Full disclosure: As part of the Kickstarter for this project, I paid to be Tuckerized in Veronica Belmont's story. Weaponized house cats. That's a good idea, right? :})
ericarobyn's review against another edition
3.0
Help Me Follow My Sister Into the Land of the Dead by Carmen Maria Machado is an interesting short story set up in the format of a GoFundMe page.
I received a print copy through PageHabit... I was happy to have read this story. However, I wouldn't have labeled it horror, which is the box that I had gotten... So that was a bit of a let down.
But anyway!
This was an interesting story! I liked that the format was a GoFundMe page. As a result, the book followed along with the elements of the page; number of backers, amount pledged, how many days are left in the campaign, a description (which included the backstory), a quick FAQ (that dives a little deeper into the back story), the pledge amounts broken out by dollar amount and the gifts that go along with them, the updates that guided us through the story, and then finally the comments that end it.
This is a very quick read; I think it took me just ten minutes to read. I did enjoy it, but didn't love it. However, I would definitely recommend checking it out.
I received a print copy through PageHabit... I was happy to have read this story. However, I wouldn't have labeled it horror, which is the box that I had gotten... So that was a bit of a let down.
But anyway!
This was an interesting story! I liked that the format was a GoFundMe page. As a result, the book followed along with the elements of the page; number of backers, amount pledged, how many days are left in the campaign, a description (which included the backstory), a quick FAQ (that dives a little deeper into the back story), the pledge amounts broken out by dollar amount and the gifts that go along with them, the updates that guided us through the story, and then finally the comments that end it.
This is a very quick read; I think it took me just ten minutes to read. I did enjoy it, but didn't love it. However, I would definitely recommend checking it out.
jenn_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this collection because someone I know has a piece included in it (one of the better ones, it turns out) and the concept sounded intriguing. It's a little hit or miss. Some of the stories are really great, others fall flat. But on the whole the good ones are good enough to be worth it.
brucemri's review against another edition
4.0
This is a collection of short stories about people trying to get others to help them with a variety of science-fictional projects, from the titular robot army to the first writ of habeus corpus for a synthetic being to sending Mary Robinette Kowal and David Tennant into space long enough that they can perform _Romeo and Juliet_ with puppets. The gimmick here is that each of these stories is written in the form of a Kickstarter pitch. In his introduction, Adams says that the title piece came his way as a magazine submission, and he realized how much could be done with the format. So he bought the story for the magazine, then promptly put the anthology idea together.
In recent years, Adams has become one of my favorite sf editors. He's prolific enough that I keep worrying if maybe he's stooped to shoveling together any ol' junk lying around, and the answer keeps being, no, this is another really good collection. No change this time around. Most of the stories are humorous, and made me smile, snort, laugh, and otherwise have a good time. But there are some serious pieces in here, too - that habeus corpus story is one of several that I found genuinely moving. There's also a good dosage of acidic satire, which makes a nice leaven in the mix. Given the format, of course, none of these is terribly long, either, so it's a great browse-and-read-for-a-few-minutes kind of volume.
In recent years, Adams has become one of my favorite sf editors. He's prolific enough that I keep worrying if maybe he's stooped to shoveling together any ol' junk lying around, and the answer keeps being, no, this is another really good collection. No change this time around. Most of the stories are humorous, and made me smile, snort, laugh, and otherwise have a good time. But there are some serious pieces in here, too - that habeus corpus story is one of several that I found genuinely moving. There's also a good dosage of acidic satire, which makes a nice leaven in the mix. Given the format, of course, none of these is terribly long, either, so it's a great browse-and-read-for-a-few-minutes kind of volume.
jillheather's review against another edition
4.0
To my surprise, I never got sick of the style (all stories are told as Kickstarter-style fundraisers). Some stories are weaker than others of course, but overall it's a really great anthology.