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A review by sorceress_j
Emporium: Stories by Adam Johnson
2.0
Actual rating: 2.5 stars.
OK, to say that I was ambivalent about this collection is a bit of an understatement. Like with any typical short story collection, you start seeing some of the same things pop up each time. With Johnson, it's zany yet oddly flat characters and ridiculously detailed arrays of weaponry/high tech for some reason. With certain stories, I couldn't help but think this collection is just the perfect example of an author writing for people who think like him, all in this hipster little niche of "oh, look how clever we are."
Which is a shame, because with one of my favorite stories here, "Teen Sniper", the collection showed some promise. But, honestly, none of the other stories quite rivaled it. A couple, "The Canadanaut" and "The Death-Dealing Cassini Satellite" , came close, but that was about it.
I feel like Johnson tended to stick to the same template for his main characters, most of them guys. The one time he did write from a female narrator's point of view was pretty abysmal, in my opinion, if not outright cringeworthy.
So...it's great for one story and then...eh.
OK, to say that I was ambivalent about this collection is a bit of an understatement. Like with any typical short story collection, you start seeing some of the same things pop up each time. With Johnson, it's zany yet oddly flat characters and ridiculously detailed arrays of weaponry/high tech for some reason. With certain stories, I couldn't help but think this collection is just the perfect example of an author writing for people who think like him, all in this hipster little niche of "oh, look how clever we are."
Which is a shame, because with one of my favorite stories here, "Teen Sniper", the collection showed some promise. But, honestly, none of the other stories quite rivaled it. A couple, "The Canadanaut" and "The Death-Dealing Cassini Satellite" , came close, but that was about it.
I feel like Johnson tended to stick to the same template for his main characters, most of them guys. The one time he did write from a female narrator's point of view was pretty abysmal, in my opinion, if not outright cringeworthy.
So...it's great for one story and then...eh.