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lordofthemoon's review
2.0
I feel quite bad about giving this book just two stars, and I should say off the bat that it's not a reflection on the quality of the stories, but on my (personal) enjoyment of them. I appreciate that writers don't write in a vacuum, and the editor is up front about her choices being a reaction to the events of 2016, but dear goodness, surely someone was writing optimistic science fiction in 2017!? This collection is almost entirely dark and gloomy, with the tone set by the opening story, Blinders, about those who repair orbital solar sails delivering power to earth, and the corrupt corporation and unions around them.
Some of the stories do contain dark humour or rays of light and some really don't. [a: Adam Roberts|23023|Adam Roberts|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1222988832p2/23023.jpg]' In the Night of the Comet is utterly bleak, as is [a: Eric Brown|243|Eric Brown|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]'s Targets and [a: Natalia Theodoridou|7810571|Natalia Theodoridou|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1398858746p2/7810571.jpg]'s The Nightingales in Plátres.
I don't know if some of the stories really are hopeful, or if they just felt like that, given the darkness around them. I know that the world seem completely awful at the moment, but I think the editor could have balanced the choice of stories a bit better.
And to try to avoid being resolutely doomy and gloomy myself, here's a link to one of my favourite stories of 2017, without a malicious word in its body (I may be biased as I know the author, but honestly, this story left me warm and fuzzy for ages after finishing it): Rab the Giant versus the Witch of the Waterfall. You may need it after finishing this collection.
Some of the stories do contain dark humour or rays of light and some really don't. [a: Adam Roberts|23023|Adam Roberts|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1222988832p2/23023.jpg]' In the Night of the Comet is utterly bleak, as is [a: Eric Brown|243|Eric Brown|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]'s Targets and [a: Natalia Theodoridou|7810571|Natalia Theodoridou|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1398858746p2/7810571.jpg]'s The Nightingales in Plátres.
I don't know if some of the stories really are hopeful, or if they just felt like that, given the darkness around them. I know that the world seem completely awful at the moment, but I think the editor could have balanced the choice of stories a bit better.
And to try to avoid being resolutely doomy and gloomy myself, here's a link to one of my favourite stories of 2017, without a malicious word in its body (I may be biased as I know the author, but honestly, this story left me warm and fuzzy for ages after finishing it): Rab the Giant versus the Witch of the Waterfall. You may need it after finishing this collection.
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