nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3210130.html
I wrote some of these up at the time for the Hugos (novellas, novelettes, short stories), but this collection includes all of the short stories and novelettes, so that's three out of six short stories and five out of six novelettes which were new to me. It didn't change my personal judgement that "Spar" by Kij Johnson was the best of the short stories (though neither Hugo nor Nebula voters agreed) and I enjoyed “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” by Eugie Foster best of the Novella nominated novelettes. The book also has short stories by that year's SFWA Author Emeritus, Neal J. Barrett, and that year's SFWA Grand Master, Damon Knight; and also the two poems by Geoffrey A. Landis and that year's winner of the Rhysling Award (short form), a poem by Amal El-Mohtar. A solid collection.
I wrote some of these up at the time for the Hugos (novellas, novelettes, short stories), but this collection includes all of the short stories and novelettes, so that's three out of six short stories and five out of six novelettes which were new to me. It didn't change my personal judgement that "Spar" by Kij Johnson was the best of the short stories (though neither Hugo nor Nebula voters agreed) and I enjoyed “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” by Eugie Foster best of the Novella nominated novelettes. The book also has short stories by that year's SFWA Author Emeritus, Neal J. Barrett, and that year's SFWA Grand Master, Damon Knight; and also the two poems by Geoffrey A. Landis and that year's winner of the Rhysling Award (short form), a poem by Amal El-Mohtar. A solid collection.
ferencb's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of short-stories, novellas, and excerpts from the 2014 Nebula Award Winners.
Some thoughts on them:
Immersion by Aliette de Bodard - **** (that's four stars) - What happens if we rely too much on technology? If we see the world only through the prism of an artificial intelligence? The story presents a case where technology took over humanity, quite literally. -
Close Encounters by Andy Duncan - *** - A story about ‘real’ close encounters, criticizing the over-mediatized abducting stories, and our need to find a scientific explanation for everything. The ending was expectable.
After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress - ***** - The plot didn't seem very original at first. Aliens destroy the world, some survive, try to rebuild humanity. What makes this story unique is the storytelling. It is so captivating, that I forgot about the fact that I have read and seen similar stories. Of course, it’s more than just plain old aliens destroying the Earth. The survivors can go back in the past, to steal children, who will then repopulate the Earth. Not to mention that in the end the aliens aren't exactly what they seem to be. And they are definitely not the bad guys. I bet this story will make for a blockbuster movie…
(Some later thoughts: it's been more than a week since I read this novella, yet I can't seem to get it out of my head. Seeing the pollution, the excessive use of Earth's resources, I wonder whether the 'cleansing' from this story will happen eventually. And I doubt that the Tesslies will come to save humanity from self-destruction.)
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (excerpt) - No point rating an excerpt - Most likely a great novel, but space fantasy doesn't really captivate me. Also not much given away in this excerpt.
The Bookmaking Habits of Selected Species by Ken Liu - **** - A short story about the importance of book, with a thought provoking ending: “Everyone makes books.”
Fair Coin by E.C. Myers (excerpt) - No point rating an excerpt - A very promising story. It has not convinced me to read another YA novel, but probably worth reading for those who like them.
Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain by Cat Rambo - *** - The ending is definitely not what I expected. A little bit disturbing.
Christmas Inn by Gene Wolfe - **** - After a somewhat long introduction to the works of Gene Wolfe (I haven’t read anything from him yet), I was very curious why his writing is so special. After reading the novelette, I realized that everything that has been told previously about him is absolutely correct. He is a genius, but he doesn't overwhelm us with it. Instead he lets us realize for ourselves who the strangers are, without ever naming them.
Some thoughts on them:
Immersion by Aliette de Bodard - **** (that's four stars) - What happens if we rely too much on technology? If we see the world only through the prism of an artificial intelligence? The story presents a case where technology took over humanity, quite literally. -
Close Encounters by Andy Duncan - *** - A story about ‘real’ close encounters, criticizing the over-mediatized abducting stories, and our need to find a scientific explanation for everything. The ending was expectable.
After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress - ***** - The plot didn't seem very original at first. Aliens destroy the world, some survive, try to rebuild humanity. What makes this story unique is the storytelling. It is so captivating, that I forgot about the fact that I have read and seen similar stories. Of course, it’s more than just plain old aliens destroying the Earth. The survivors can go back in the past, to steal children, who will then repopulate the Earth. Not to mention that in the end the aliens aren't exactly what they seem to be. And they are definitely not the bad guys. I bet this story will make for a blockbuster movie…
(Some later thoughts: it's been more than a week since I read this novella, yet I can't seem to get it out of my head. Seeing the pollution, the excessive use of Earth's resources, I wonder whether the 'cleansing' from this story will happen eventually. And I doubt that the Tesslies will come to save humanity from self-destruction.)
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (excerpt) - No point rating an excerpt - Most likely a great novel, but space fantasy doesn't really captivate me. Also not much given away in this excerpt.
The Bookmaking Habits of Selected Species by Ken Liu - **** - A short story about the importance of book, with a thought provoking ending: “Everyone makes books.”
Fair Coin by E.C. Myers (excerpt) - No point rating an excerpt - A very promising story. It has not convinced me to read another YA novel, but probably worth reading for those who like them.
Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain by Cat Rambo - *** - The ending is definitely not what I expected. A little bit disturbing.
Christmas Inn by Gene Wolfe - **** - After a somewhat long introduction to the works of Gene Wolfe (I haven’t read anything from him yet), I was very curious why his writing is so special. After reading the novelette, I realized that everything that has been told previously about him is absolutely correct. He is a genius, but he doesn't overwhelm us with it. Instead he lets us realize for ourselves who the strangers are, without ever naming them.
heart1lly's review against another edition
4.0
A good collection of stories. Some of them really got to me, others...not so much. Really, really did not like the award winner, "Spar." In fact, I found it just downright offensive that it won in the first place when there were so many other wonderful runner-ups! Overall, decent collection.
kellyd's review
5.0
The first one of these books that I really liked. I liked every story in this one, surprise, surprise.
cannonsr's review
4.0
Keeping track of books, I'm realizing how much I actually do read short story collections.
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