Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by jenbsbooks
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
4.5
I really liked this. I'm NOT a "short stories" fan, but these pulled me in, and were interconnected enough that it all felt like a single (non-traditional) story. It was interesting, that I just read Gleanings (book of short stories in the Scythe universe) last month. For that, you really need to already be familiar with the universe, the background, for most of the stories (and some are spoilers for the series). Here, it was all within this one book. It also reminded me a little of the "Calls" series on Apple+
After the Covid-19 pandemic, it's even more interesting to me to read books about viruses and apocalyptic world shifts. The "what ifs" of the future (climate change addressed as well). Technology and how it, and we, adapt, what is really an "improvement" ... lots to think about.
I stopped and made several notes and highlights. I had this in all three formats, went primarily with the audio. The audio had different narrators for each story which helped keep them separate, but still, there needed to be a bit more of a pause (or even music, and I hate music in audiobooks) to really indicate the end of one story, the start of another. There was a pause, a change in narrator, and STILL I had to stop, reverse, listen to the end of the other story. Many of them just ... ended, abruptly, and I needed a moment to ponder before shifting to the next story.
For my own memory - the titles of the stories and some thoughts ...
30,000 Years Beneath an Eulogy introduces the discovery, and accidental release of the Arctic plague.
City of Laughter ... oomph, euthanasia "park"
Through the Garden of Memory ... confusing, tidbit addressed in a later story too
Pig Son ... memorable, audio added. Connection (father to Fitch in "City of Laughter")
Elegy Hotel ... interesting idea
Speak, Fetch, Say I Love You ... little AI pets, interesting ideas
Songs of Your Decay ... a doctor/patient relationship. Letters after death ...
Life around the Event Horizon (I didn't really get this one, black hole in the brain)
A Gallery a Century, a Cry a Millennium - liked this, following those escaping into space
The Used-to-Be Party ... a look at the "after" new normal, socializing again?
Melancholy Nights in the Tokyo Virtual Cafe - didn't totally get this, but some sentences hit home, and it brought several stories together in a small way.
Before You Melt Into the Sea - body liquification and ice ship "funeral" ...
Grave Friends - gathering for a family funeral
The Scope of Possibility - bizarre! All encompassing
There was proFanity (x20) and lots of death (cremation, picking bones out of the ash)
After the Covid-19 pandemic, it's even more interesting to me to read books about viruses and apocalyptic world shifts. The "what ifs" of the future (climate change addressed as well). Technology and how it, and we, adapt, what is really an "improvement" ... lots to think about.
I stopped and made several notes and highlights. I had this in all three formats, went primarily with the audio. The audio had different narrators for each story which helped keep them separate, but still, there needed to be a bit more of a pause (or even music, and I hate music in audiobooks) to really indicate the end of one story, the start of another. There was a pause, a change in narrator, and STILL I had to stop, reverse, listen to the end of the other story. Many of them just ... ended, abruptly, and I needed a moment to ponder before shifting to the next story.
For my own memory - the titles of the stories and some thoughts ...
30,000 Years Beneath an Eulogy introduces the discovery, and accidental release of the Arctic plague.
City of Laughter ... oomph, euthanasia "park"
Through the Garden of Memory ... confusing, tidbit addressed in a later story too
Pig Son ... memorable, audio added. Connection (father to Fitch in "City of Laughter")
Elegy Hotel ... interesting idea
Speak, Fetch, Say I Love You ... little AI pets, interesting ideas
Songs of Your Decay ... a doctor/patient relationship. Letters after death ...
Life around the Event Horizon (I didn't really get this one, black hole in the brain)
A Gallery a Century, a Cry a Millennium - liked this, following those escaping into space
The Used-to-Be Party ... a look at the "after" new normal, socializing again?
Melancholy Nights in the Tokyo Virtual Cafe - didn't totally get this, but some sentences hit home, and it brought several stories together in a small way.
Before You Melt Into the Sea - body liquification and ice ship "funeral" ...
Grave Friends - gathering for a family funeral
The Scope of Possibility - bizarre! All encompassing
There was proFanity (x20) and lots of death (cremation, picking bones out of the ash)