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aceinit's review
5.0
Reading Hannu Rajaniemi inevitably makes me wish I was smarter. The science and physics in his novels usually have me pulling up Wikipedia for a crash course in string theory, quantum physics, entanglement, or something else my brain was previously unaware than I needed to know. Any other time, this kind of intense reading would put me off of an author, but Rajaniemi catapulted to near the top of my favorites with the release of his first novel, “The Quantum Thief.” It was a hard read, and a lot of the science still doesn’t make as much sense to me as I wish it did, but the storytelling was phenomenal and, every release since then has been an instant pre-order almost as soon as pre-ordering became available.
So I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Rajaniemi’s Collected Fiction, and I was immediately thrown in over my head again and never more happy to be there.
Collected within these pages is plenty of the sci-fi Rajaniemi has become known for, but what might surprise readers is that there are also stories here that step outside that element. From the whimsical and romantic “Paris in, Love,” (my personal favorite in the collection), which tells the story of a city falling very literally falling in love with a man, to “Fisher of Men,” which is steeped in folklore with a splash of good old-fashioned horror thrown in for good measure, Rajaniemi presents his audience with a diverse collection that never disappoints.
It’s a strange thing, trying to explain my love for Rajaniemi’s writing to my friends. I’m not much of a sci-fi reader. “The Quantum Thief” was my first venture into the genre, and though it was one of the hardest reads I’ve ever picked up, I couldn’t put it down. I had to indulge in very small doses, but I could not put it down. Trying to explain why I couldn’t put it down to my friends who know my very short tolerance for books proved somewhat of a challenge, and it wasn’t until I read “Invisible Planets,” Rajaniemi’s ode to Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities,” that I was finally able to really make sense of my own adoration for his works.
There are people who tell stories. There are people who tell damn good stories. And there are people who paint masterful stories using words as their canvas. Rajaniemi is the third. In an age where authors seem overly enamored with adjectives and compete to throw as many as they can into one sentence, you know, to make sure you really see it, Rajaniemi can evoke the whole of a scene with a handful of well-chosen words. He doesn’t saturate his stories. He doesn’t need to. As a reader, you are thrust fully into his world. You know move through his worlds as a traveling companion to his characters. You fall in love with them, and are sad to leave when your time with them is over.
Whether dragons are skillfully weaving stories to trap their unwitting victims, or hyper-intelligent dogs scheme with hyper-intelligent cats to steal back their imprisoned master, or an admin assistant with one hell of an employer searches desperately for a way out of her current job, you always get the full story with surprisingly few words, none of them ever wasted.
So I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Rajaniemi’s Collected Fiction, and I was immediately thrown in over my head again and never more happy to be there.
Collected within these pages is plenty of the sci-fi Rajaniemi has become known for, but what might surprise readers is that there are also stories here that step outside that element. From the whimsical and romantic “Paris in, Love,” (my personal favorite in the collection), which tells the story of a city falling very literally falling in love with a man, to “Fisher of Men,” which is steeped in folklore with a splash of good old-fashioned horror thrown in for good measure, Rajaniemi presents his audience with a diverse collection that never disappoints.
It’s a strange thing, trying to explain my love for Rajaniemi’s writing to my friends. I’m not much of a sci-fi reader. “The Quantum Thief” was my first venture into the genre, and though it was one of the hardest reads I’ve ever picked up, I couldn’t put it down. I had to indulge in very small doses, but I could not put it down. Trying to explain why I couldn’t put it down to my friends who know my very short tolerance for books proved somewhat of a challenge, and it wasn’t until I read “Invisible Planets,” Rajaniemi’s ode to Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities,” that I was finally able to really make sense of my own adoration for his works.
There are people who tell stories. There are people who tell damn good stories. And there are people who paint masterful stories using words as their canvas. Rajaniemi is the third. In an age where authors seem overly enamored with adjectives and compete to throw as many as they can into one sentence, you know, to make sure you really see it, Rajaniemi can evoke the whole of a scene with a handful of well-chosen words. He doesn’t saturate his stories. He doesn’t need to. As a reader, you are thrust fully into his world. You know move through his worlds as a traveling companion to his characters. You fall in love with them, and are sad to leave when your time with them is over.
Whether dragons are skillfully weaving stories to trap their unwitting victims, or hyper-intelligent dogs scheme with hyper-intelligent cats to steal back their imprisoned master, or an admin assistant with one hell of an employer searches desperately for a way out of her current job, you always get the full story with surprisingly few words, none of them ever wasted.
woodchuckpie's review
4.0
Lots of cool ideas, characters, and wonderful worlds and humor in these stories. Loved it!
danielwestheide's review against another edition
4.0
If you liked Rajaniemi's trilogy about Jean Le Flambeur, you should definitely read this collection of short stories that he wrote over the years as well. At the same time, you will probably be surprised: While some of the stories are quite similar – the author describing a strange posthuman and post-singularity world – the collection also shows a few different, as yet unknown sides of Rajaniemi, and those stories are actually more easily accessible than the former ones. The book concludes with the result of an experiment in using a computer-brain-interface to have the reader's reaction unconsciously influence how the story continues (something that Rajaniemi calls neurofiction) and are far more compelling collection of Twitter micro fiction. It's fascinating how Rajaniemi can invoke such vivid and colourful scenes in the reader's mind with a few powerful words – no longer than 140 characters. Rajaniemi is truly a master of terse, but incredibly poetic language.
ninj's review against another edition
4.0
A varied collection, from some hard take-off near future singularity stories, to mythology-type pieces, far out future stories (The Server and the Dragon is brilliant, and reminiscent of the Quantum Thief), along with twitter-style microfiction (more miss than hit for me) and an interesting piece that started as a BCI-whilst-reading-experiment to generate surprise in the reader.
essinink's review
2.0
I knew nothing about Hannu Rajaniemi prior to reading this. It showed up in my recommendations and I was in the mood for short stories, so I snagged it on a whim.
Now that I'm done with it... I probably won't look for more by this author. It's fine, but it never got better than that. There's a mish-mash of genres here, from quantum physics to Finnish mythology (often within the same story, which sounds interesting but isn't really). As a collection, it's inconsistent, and I had a lot of trouble connecting to the individual stories. I can't think of any that warrant more than a "that was nice", and several inspire less enthusiasm.
Maybe it's just me. Clearly, plenty of people like it. Still, I have to wonder if they really like the writing or just the underlying vision.
Now that I'm done with it... I probably won't look for more by this author. It's fine, but it never got better than that. There's a mish-mash of genres here, from quantum physics to Finnish mythology (often within the same story, which sounds interesting but isn't really). As a collection, it's inconsistent, and I had a lot of trouble connecting to the individual stories. I can't think of any that warrant more than a "that was nice", and several inspire less enthusiasm.
Maybe it's just me. Clearly, plenty of people like it. Still, I have to wonder if they really like the writing or just the underlying vision.
acrisalves's review
5.0
An amazing collection of science fiction stories with a strong technological background – stories of worlds created by servers, and men that live as avatars in virtual realities. With peculiar storylines these stories deliver a mix of strange and common depictions of fantastic future worlds with men being only men, but also something else.
Uma colecção espectacular de contos de ficção científica com um forte contexto tecnológico. Histórias de mundos criados por servidores ou de homens que vivem como avatars em realidades virtuais. Com linhas narrativas peculiares, estas histórias fornecem um retrato simultaneamente estranho e comum de mundos futuros e fantásticos em que os homens, sendo apenas homens, são também algo mais.
Na sua maioria são histórias sem grande componente emocional mas que fascinam pela exploração das possibilidades informáticas, envolvendo, por diversas vezes, estranhas inteligências artificiais.
Uma colecção espectacular de contos de ficção científica com um forte contexto tecnológico. Histórias de mundos criados por servidores ou de homens que vivem como avatars em realidades virtuais. Com linhas narrativas peculiares, estas histórias fornecem um retrato simultaneamente estranho e comum de mundos futuros e fantásticos em que os homens, sendo apenas homens, são também algo mais.
Na sua maioria são histórias sem grande componente emocional mas que fascinam pela exploração das possibilidades informáticas, envolvendo, por diversas vezes, estranhas inteligências artificiais.
nanimao's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
daynpitseleh's review
4.0
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A wonderful, bizarre, cyberpunk-ish, post-human collection of short stories. Not all of the stories shine, and often I was left wanting more, but overall, a delightful, thought-provoking collection. This was my first introduction to Hannu Rajaniemi, and I will definitely be seeking out more.
A wonderful, bizarre, cyberpunk-ish, post-human collection of short stories. Not all of the stories shine, and often I was left wanting more, but overall, a delightful, thought-provoking collection. This was my first introduction to Hannu Rajaniemi, and I will definitely be seeking out more.
old_tim's review
5.0
Wow. Exactly what I expected, meaning I had no idea what to expect.
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-does-that-even-mean.html
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-does-that-even-mean.html