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brinbrown_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
killa_bunnies's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
eggieweggie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
bought this book on sale for rm3 at kinokuniya and read it blindly with no expectations whatsoever! surprisingly i enjoyed this!
rochelleisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Minor: Sexual content
felifirefly's review against another edition
4.0
The stories in here are often more than 'just' short stories. They are full of legends and mythology, religion and complex worlds. There's even character development which many short stories are lacking.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Nightflyers:
I was surprised at how much I liked this story. It’s classical sci-fi: spaceships, aliens, a group of scientists, all mixed with a bit of horror. Our group of academicians tries to find a very old alien species. Soon they are starting to lose members of the crew and start to question the absence of their captain.
For me (who isn’t the biggest sci-fi fan), this story was very readable and interesting. The characters were good and it was quite a page-turner.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Override:
This story is about a corpse handler and his job. It’s quite short and it feels like we’re thrown into a completely different world here without any explanation and have to deal with it. It felt like I missed something..- I enjoyed the setting and the concept of this story but was a bit disappointed with the ending because it was too weak in story and too much action and fighting for me.
Just after finishing the story and doing some research I saw that this is indeed the second story of a trilogy of short stories by Martin: The corpse handler trilogy. I have absolutely no idea why they put this story in this collection..
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Weekend in a War Zone:
What do you do in your free time? Playing tennis or are you ready to try something new: How about a war game? The risk of getting killed isn’t that huge… well, maybe it is.
I pretty much liked this one, especially for the writing. I am not into war stories but this one was really well-written. Only negative aspect: the ending was absolutely predictable from the very beginning. No surprises here...
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ And Seven Times Never Kill Man:
The new settlers of a planet try to get rid of the former inhabitants, a nice and peaceful furry race. There’s a trader who tries to help that race and prepare them for what is coming.
This story started really great and was quite complex for a short story/novella. It’s full of different cultures, religions history and languages. I really liked that. However, I lost interest in the last third of this story, maybe because it was a bit too long and not getting to the point for some time. Also, the ending wasn’t that satisfying for me (but unpredictable, I have to say).
⭐ ⭐ Nor the Many-Colored Fires of a Star Ring:
Well…. no. I don’t know what to write here. This very short story wasn’t for me and to be honest I can’t really tell what this was about.. I got the philosophical background and this was quite interesting but the rest… Maybe it was too scientific for me but I have no clue what exactly happened there. As I said before, I haven’t read that many sci-fi/space-traveling books so the terminology may have been a bit too much for me.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ A Song for Lya:
This is the story about the psychics Lyanna & Robb (Martin seems to like those names ;-) ) who travel to another planet to help to do some research on why humans convert to another species' religion although this includes committing suicide.
I absolutely loved this story from the very beginning. I liked the characters, the writing, the setting, it was well-paced and just very interesting. Again we have a mix of science and religion in here + some philosophical aspects. There were parts which really made me quite sad and thoughtful and I liked that a lot.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Nightflyers:
I was surprised at how much I liked this story. It’s classical sci-fi: spaceships, aliens, a group of scientists, all mixed with a bit of horror. Our group of academicians tries to find a very old alien species. Soon they are starting to lose members of the crew and start to question the absence of their captain.
For me (who isn’t the biggest sci-fi fan), this story was very readable and interesting. The characters were good and it was quite a page-turner.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Override:
This story is about a corpse handler and his job. It’s quite short and it feels like we’re thrown into a completely different world here without any explanation and have to deal with it. It felt like I missed something..- I enjoyed the setting and the concept of this story but was a bit disappointed with the ending because it was too weak in story and too much action and fighting for me.
Just after finishing the story and doing some research I saw that this is indeed the second story of a trilogy of short stories by Martin: The corpse handler trilogy. I have absolutely no idea why they put this story in this collection..
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Weekend in a War Zone:
What do you do in your free time? Playing tennis or are you ready to try something new: How about a war game? The risk of getting killed isn’t that huge… well, maybe it is.
I pretty much liked this one, especially for the writing. I am not into war stories but this one was really well-written. Only negative aspect: the ending was absolutely predictable from the very beginning. No surprises here...
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ And Seven Times Never Kill Man:
The new settlers of a planet try to get rid of the former inhabitants, a nice and peaceful furry race. There’s a trader who tries to help that race and prepare them for what is coming.
This story started really great and was quite complex for a short story/novella. It’s full of different cultures, religions history and languages. I really liked that. However, I lost interest in the last third of this story, maybe because it was a bit too long and not getting to the point for some time. Also, the ending wasn’t that satisfying for me (but unpredictable, I have to say).
⭐ ⭐ Nor the Many-Colored Fires of a Star Ring:
Well…. no. I don’t know what to write here. This very short story wasn’t for me and to be honest I can’t really tell what this was about.. I got the philosophical background and this was quite interesting but the rest… Maybe it was too scientific for me but I have no clue what exactly happened there. As I said before, I haven’t read that many sci-fi/space-traveling books so the terminology may have been a bit too much for me.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ A Song for Lya:
This is the story about the psychics Lyanna & Robb (Martin seems to like those names ;-) ) who travel to another planet to help to do some research on why humans convert to another species' religion although this includes committing suicide.
I absolutely loved this story from the very beginning. I liked the characters, the writing, the setting, it was well-paced and just very interesting. Again we have a mix of science and religion in here + some philosophical aspects. There were parts which really made me quite sad and thoughtful and I liked that a lot.
bigbookslilreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
adelajda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mr_wyte's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly space opera with a bit of a dip into horror. Three stars.