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nanassanoli's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
zwier28's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed Ark, Randomize, Emergency Skin, and 90% of You Have Arrived at Your Destination.
grantclover's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting collection of short stories that explored possible futuristic situations involving technology that we aren’t terribly far from creating. Some stories were better than others, and I didn’t even get that far into Blake Crouch’s story for... reasons.
Amor Towles’ story was the best in my opinion, and I found it to be by far the deepest and most thought-provoking as it went beyond just his technological creations and inventive devices and rooted itself in the philosophical; in doing so, weaving its plot through the character arch of every human life and exploring what makes us grow and fail and become better versions of ourselves. As well as wondering over the concept of nurture vs. nature and what is required to bring about the most felicitous result in a child‘s life. Can you really plot out one’s whole entire storyline?
Veronica Roth’s story was close behind. Since I’ve never read Divergent, I didn’t know what to expect of her writing style, but it was actually quite lovely and through her simple but touching prose she creates the most story- and character-oriented plot line. Which plays out as a girl prepares to leave earth before the world ends due to a meteor collision.
Andy Weir’s story was remarkably lackluster. I thoroughly enjoyed the Martian, and every bit of science deeply intrigued me in it. But this dragged and, while original, didn’t capture my attention.
Paul Tremblay’s story had a pretty good sci-fi twist ending. But every other part of it kind of seems to dawdle and flounder in so much redundancy, that it feels stretched merely for the required length of a proper novella.
N. K. Jemisin’s story was peculiar and held such an uncomfortable second-person perspective that I found myself annoyed more than anything through its length. When it became strangely focused on the “reproduction methods” of people wearing complexly engineered suits of sorts that they called Emergency Skin, I began to skip my way to the end which fascinated me none the more.
Lastly, the curator of this collection, Blake Crouch, wrote a story that I barely got a few pages into. It followed the romance between a female robot/non-playable chapter in a video game with an already married lesbian. More than one of those things raised red flags for me, so I decided that it wasn’t super necessary to read.
Amor Towles’ story was the best in my opinion, and I found it to be by far the deepest and most thought-provoking as it went beyond just his technological creations and inventive devices and rooted itself in the philosophical; in doing so, weaving its plot through the character arch of every human life and exploring what makes us grow and fail and become better versions of ourselves. As well as wondering over the concept of nurture vs. nature and what is required to bring about the most felicitous result in a child‘s life. Can you really plot out one’s whole entire storyline?
Veronica Roth’s story was close behind. Since I’ve never read Divergent, I didn’t know what to expect of her writing style, but it was actually quite lovely and through her simple but touching prose she creates the most story- and character-oriented plot line. Which plays out as a girl prepares to leave earth before the world ends due to a meteor collision.
Andy Weir’s story was remarkably lackluster. I thoroughly enjoyed the Martian, and every bit of science deeply intrigued me in it. But this dragged and, while original, didn’t capture my attention.
Paul Tremblay’s story had a pretty good sci-fi twist ending. But every other part of it kind of seems to dawdle and flounder in so much redundancy, that it feels stretched merely for the required length of a proper novella.
N. K. Jemisin’s story was peculiar and held such an uncomfortable second-person perspective that I found myself annoyed more than anything through its length. When it became strangely focused on the “reproduction methods” of people wearing complexly engineered suits of sorts that they called Emergency Skin, I began to skip my way to the end which fascinated me none the more.
Lastly, the curator of this collection, Blake Crouch, wrote a story that I barely got a few pages into. It followed the romance between a female robot/non-playable chapter in a video game with an already married lesbian. More than one of those things raised red flags for me, so I decided that it wasn’t super necessary to read.
sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Since this is a collection of short stories, I'll make a quick note on each one.
Ark by Roth - Probably my favorite of the collection. Enjoyed the story and the characters.
Summer Frost by Crouch - I do enjoy explorations of AI becoming sentient. This was an interesting short story focused on that. I feel rather meh about it, though.
Emergency Skin by Jemisin - This one might tie for favorite. I particularly enjoyed the narrative style.
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Towles - I did not care for this one at all.
The Last Conversation by Tremblay - I guessed where this was going from the beginning, but it's told in an interesting way.
Randomize by Weir - This one just didn't seem to fit in the collection. It was mildly interesting, though.
Ark by Roth - Probably my favorite of the collection. Enjoyed the story and the characters.
Summer Frost by Crouch - I do enjoy explorations of AI becoming sentient. This was an interesting short story focused on that. I feel rather meh about it, though.
Emergency Skin by Jemisin - This one might tie for favorite. I particularly enjoyed the narrative style.
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Towles - I did not care for this one at all.
The Last Conversation by Tremblay - I guessed where this was going from the beginning, but it's told in an interesting way.
Randomize by Weir - This one just didn't seem to fit in the collection. It was mildly interesting, though.
kayrayp's review against another edition
3.0
Ark **
Summer Frost ***
Emergency Skin ****
You Have Arrived ***
Last Conversation ****
Randomize **
Summer Frost ***
Emergency Skin ****
You Have Arrived ***
Last Conversation ****
Randomize **
demandabanana's review against another edition
4.0
6 stories curated by Blake Crouch. Short stories are probably the trickiest to write. Some were more successful than others. In order that I liked them:
Emergency Skin, N.K. Jemisin: It's a nearly perfect short story. The character arcs are so good, the political background so on the nose, the use of science effective even for me, a scientist. I was totally taken in. 4 stars
You Have Arrived at Your Destination, Amor Towles: I would not have expected the author of A Gentleman in Moscow to write futuristic fiction, but he used his mastery of understanding people to write an incredible story about why we are who we are. 4 stars
The Last Conversation, Paul Tremblay. Ultimately predictable, but the writing and structure is terrific. 3.5 stars
Ark, Veronica Roth: I was all in until the end. It needed more time to truly understand the main character. The challenge of writing a short story. 3 stars
Summer Frost, Blake Crouch: It’s hard to write an AI story better than Ex Machina. This one seems like a tribute, not original enough. It’s hard to build a story around a being with complete control that doesn’t end like all the others. 2.5 stars
Randomize, Andy Weir: I usually don’t mind how technical Andy Weir is, but this one really only developed the tech, not the characters. It wrapped up, though, and he does love smart women. 2 stars
Emergency Skin, N.K. Jemisin: It's a nearly perfect short story. The character arcs are so good, the political background so on the nose, the use of science effective even for me, a scientist. I was totally taken in. 4 stars
You Have Arrived at Your Destination, Amor Towles: I would not have expected the author of A Gentleman in Moscow to write futuristic fiction, but he used his mastery of understanding people to write an incredible story about why we are who we are. 4 stars
The Last Conversation, Paul Tremblay. Ultimately predictable, but the writing and structure is terrific. 3.5 stars
Ark, Veronica Roth: I was all in until the end. It needed more time to truly understand the main character. The challenge of writing a short story. 3 stars
Summer Frost, Blake Crouch: It’s hard to write an AI story better than Ex Machina. This one seems like a tribute, not original enough. It’s hard to build a story around a being with complete control that doesn’t end like all the others. 2.5 stars
Randomize, Andy Weir: I usually don’t mind how technical Andy Weir is, but this one really only developed the tech, not the characters. It wrapped up, though, and he does love smart women. 2 stars
kristinarr's review
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
jenc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
3.0
Collections are always tough to rate because the quality of the parts tend to vary.
Jemisin: 5*
Roth: 4.5*
Crouch: 3.5*
Towels: 3*
Tremblay: The premise is interesting but this one was boring, if Im honest. I wish I saw what others seem to get from his works.
Weir: This was barely a story. Or, rather, this story needs more space. Right when the thing happens, its over.
Jemisin: 5*
Roth: 4.5*
Crouch: 3.5*
Towels: 3*
Tremblay: The premise is interesting but this one was boring, if Im honest. I wish I saw what others seem to get from his works.
Weir: This was barely a story. Or, rather, this story needs more space. Right when the thing happens, its over.
pheonixangel84's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
fast-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? Yes
3.0
bexdubyah's review against another edition
3.0
What was all of this?? Weird peeks into the future? Genetic editing to the extreme, AI’s taking over the world, preparing to leave a doomed world behind. Quick short stories, not much character depth, ideas to get your mind going.