Reviews

Forward: Stories of Tomorrow by Blake Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Paul Tremblay, Amor Towles, Veronica Roth, Andy Weir

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i_read_and_i_know_things's review

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3.0

The Last Conversation and Summer Frost are the standouts out, followed closely by Emergency Skin.

ronanprsh's review against another edition

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1.0

Média geral de notas: 1.16⭐

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch - 0.5⭐
Pele de Emergência by N.K. Jemisin - 1.5⭐
ARCA by Veronica Roth - 1⭐
Você chegou ao seu destino by Amor Towles - 2⭐
A última conversa by Paul Tremblay - 2⭐
Randomizando by Andy Weir - 0⭐

mcogan's review against another edition

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5.0

Very Black Mirror like

rozarka's review against another edition

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3.0

Veronica Roth: Ark
⭐⭐⭐
One of those stories you read, think they are nice and soon forget about them.

Blake Crouch: Summer Frost
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I admit I was a bit bored during reading this and quite exasperated with the main character, but the nearer the end the more compelling it became and I was more than satisfied with the ending. One of those pieces that make you think (even though some of those things are about what you didn't like about the characters).

N. K. Jemisin: Emergency Skin
⭐⭐
Capitalism bad, eat the rich. Here, I saved your time reading it.

Amor Towles: You Have Arrived at Your Destination
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
An original spin on a theme of "should we genetically modify our children", except not really. It's about us, our take on life, the way we are shaped by our decisions, and how (and if) it can be predicted/predetermined. Best in the collection.

Paul Tremblay: The Last Conversation
⭐⭐⭐⭐
A mystery thriller, nice! It dragged a little initially but I understand why the author chose to write it this way.

Andy Weir: Randomize
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I don't understand quantum computing (and oh boy I tried...) so I can't tell if the things presented in the story could happen or not, but I don't care. It was fun, short, fast-paced, and I liked the twist at the end.

apf's review

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3.0

Forward is an uneven collection of short stories that fails to be more than the sum of it parts. The six authors all have distinctive, strong voices that pull in wildly different directions. Forward's theme -- technologies causing social change -- is far too broad to provide any coherence. I recommend picking and choosing the stories separately; it isn't clear to me that all six would be to any one person's taste. (Individual reviews are below.)

Ark: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A delicate portrait of two scientists, working to catalogue and preserve plant specimens in the shadow of an impending asteroid strike. I enjoyed the depths of the characters and the joy of scientific discovery.

The Last Conversation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A short psychological thriller that delves into the meaning of self.

You Have Arrived at Your Destination: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was put off by the unnecessary ode to Tesla at the beginning, but the story contains an interesting look at the way lives can be lived. I'm guessing I will appreciate this story more when I am older; it feels like it could be very meaningful to someone in middle age, reflecting on what might have been.

Summer Frost: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fun take on super-sentient AI.

Emergency Skin: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ An unexpectedly funny story of space travel and apocalypses-that-weren't. Quite clever, but also a little too simplistic and on-the-nose. I imagine this story could be divisive among some readers.

Randomize: ⭐️ A Vegas casino heist that involves quantum computers. Stilted technical talk and shallow characters.

tarana's review

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5.0

I listened to the audiobooks. 2 are good, worth the read. 2 are very good, worth a reread, and 2 are outstanding. Different stories will attract different people, so read/listen yourself.