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dani03's review
3.0
Good, if slightly uneven, collection of short stories. Emergency Skin, Summer Frost, and the Last Conversation were my favorites (4-5 stars). Ark was my least favorite (2ish stars), and Randomize and You Have Arrived at Your Destination were middle of the road but still interesting/ enjoyable (3ish stars). Overall I'd give 3.5 stars
jessrezac's review
4.0
I really enjoyed most of the books in this collection. In some cases (Amor Towles) it was fun to read a less polished and out-of-typical-genre short story from an author I love and in others (N.K. Jemisin) it was great to read an author I've been meaning to pick up for a while. I thought Randomize by Paul Tremblay fell short of the strength of the rest of the stories in the collection, but I still found it overall enjoyable.
toryhallelujah's review
4.0
You Have Arrived at Your Destination (Amor Towles): 3.5 stars, rounded to 4. Mapping out your kid's future. Bleak.
Summer Frost (Blake Crouch): 3. AI video game becomes sentient.
Emergency Skin (N.K. Jemisin): 5 stars. "Advanced" creatures returning to a "primitive" planet. Effing hilarious.
Ark (Veronica Roth): 5 stars. Beautiful, aching sci-fi that loves our world. Biologists cataloging plants at the end of the world.
Randomize (Andy Weir): 2.5 stars, rounded to 3. Smart at gambling but incredibly bad at dialogue.
The Last Conversation (Paul Tremblay): 4 stars. Being trained to be yourself when the world is gone. (I went out right away and read The Cabin at the End of the World.)
Summer Frost (Blake Crouch): 3. AI video game becomes sentient.
Emergency Skin (N.K. Jemisin): 5 stars. "Advanced" creatures returning to a "primitive" planet. Effing hilarious.
Ark (Veronica Roth): 5 stars. Beautiful, aching sci-fi that loves our world. Biologists cataloging plants at the end of the world.
Randomize (Andy Weir): 2.5 stars, rounded to 3. Smart at gambling but incredibly bad at dialogue.
The Last Conversation (Paul Tremblay): 4 stars. Being trained to be yourself when the world is gone. (I went out right away and read The Cabin at the End of the World.)
fairymodmother's review
4.0
An overall wonderful collection of short stories/novelettes. I listened to all of them and found them well-narrated as well.
The Last Conversation: Eerie and moving. I liked it. I wanted a bit more depth, but the concept and execution were sharp.
Randomize: This had some of Weir's classic characterizations which I enjoyed very much. The concept was neat and well-explained. I got a "Three Body Problem"-esque sensation to understanding the underlying issue, but with Martian-style likableness.
Ark: Sad and personal. I thought this was a beautiful story.
Summer Frost: This one made me say "oh shit" at the end, just like a good Blake Crouch novel. I really thought this was superb.
Emergency Skin: I was cracking up. It's such a moody topic, only she would find a way to poke fun at the whole thing in a smart, interesting way with her beautiful worldbuilding. A bit of wish fulfillment? Maybe. But it all hung together and was very pleasing.
You Have Arrived at Your Destination: This is the only one I didn't get. I liked the concept, but I didn't quite get all the pieces to gel together for me.
Sorry, I didn't track content warnings, and I read this over the course of several months. I can name a few at least:
The Last Conversation: Eerie and moving. I liked it. I wanted a bit more depth, but the concept and execution were sharp.
Randomize: This had some of Weir's classic characterizations which I enjoyed very much. The concept was neat and well-explained. I got a "Three Body Problem"-esque sensation to understanding the underlying issue, but with Martian-style likableness.
Ark: Sad and personal. I thought this was a beautiful story.
Summer Frost: This one made me say "oh shit" at the end, just like a good Blake Crouch novel. I really thought this was superb.
Emergency Skin: I was cracking up. It's such a moody topic, only she would find a way to poke fun at the whole thing in a smart, interesting way with her beautiful worldbuilding. A bit of wish fulfillment? Maybe. But it all hung together and was very pleasing.
You Have Arrived at Your Destination: This is the only one I didn't get. I liked the concept, but I didn't quite get all the pieces to gel together for me.
Sorry, I didn't track content warnings, and I read this over the course of several months. I can name a few at least:
Spoiler
end of the world, loss of loved ones, pandemic, adultery, racism.elsiemookow's review
3.0
Not bad overall, but didn't have any stories I just loved- in order of reading:
Randomize - Really really bad- almost didn't read any more!
You Have Arrived at Your Destination - I think my favorite- it was an actual short story length- poignant, and read in one sitting.
Emergency Skin - Meh- couldn't even really tell you what it was about a few day later. I did find the point of view horrid and I think that caused most of the issues
Summer Frost - Interesting- almost a novella length- took me a few days to get through, but I did have a nightmare about AI, so it must have stuck with me
The Last Conversation - Enjoyed that I could read in one sitting, engrossing, but no twist- it was clear what was going on early on, but at least worth my time.
Ark - Had a weird glitch and couldn't read
Randomize - Really really bad- almost didn't read any more!
You Have Arrived at Your Destination - I think my favorite- it was an actual short story length- poignant, and read in one sitting.
Emergency Skin - Meh- couldn't even really tell you what it was about a few day later. I did find the point of view horrid and I think that caused most of the issues
Summer Frost - Interesting- almost a novella length- took me a few days to get through, but I did have a nightmare about AI, so it must have stuck with me
The Last Conversation - Enjoyed that I could read in one sitting, engrossing, but no twist- it was clear what was going on early on, but at least worth my time.
Ark - Had a weird glitch and couldn't read
jesm98's review
4.0
I listened and read this collection via Kindle and Audible.
I really enjoyed the entire collection of stories! I am a huge fan of many of the authors, and this was a great set. Each small story is independent of the larger group, yet the theme of each story is the future (or looking forward).
Other reviewers have written about each individual story, but none of them stood out to me so much or felt like my least favorite. A few of these authors were new to me, so I will be looking to read longer works by those authors. This was a great collection!
I really enjoyed the entire collection of stories! I am a huge fan of many of the authors, and this was a great set. Each small story is independent of the larger group, yet the theme of each story is the future (or looking forward).
Other reviewers have written about each individual story, but none of them stood out to me so much or felt like my least favorite. A few of these authors were new to me, so I will be looking to read longer works by those authors. This was a great collection!
bibliophilicjester's review
3.0
This collection came out to an average 3.5 stars for me. I wrote my brief thoughts on everything, but my two favorites/5 star stories were by Blake Crouch and n.k. jemisin. Which honestly doesn't surprise me at all
omnibozo22's review
5.0
Uniformly excellent sci-fi short stories. A few provide hopeful glimpses of possible futures, while others offer less succor. The Jameson story I've already posted about, and it does standout.