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A review by parallax_kimchi
Nightflyers and Other Stories by George R.R. Martin
4.0
A mixed bag.
Nightflyers - ★★★
An enjoyable and straight-forward narrative, that side-lines its interesting premise into a sub-plot for a much more familiar "space crew is picked off one-by-one" plot. Interesting ideas in a forgettable package (could sum up a lot of these really).
Overide - ★★
Another one that eschews a potentially interesting focus for another lesser one. It feels like and is the opening chapter to a bigger conflict, with an interesting premise, but an ultimately less-interesting narrative.
Weekend in a War Zone - ★★
Nihilistic and rather nasty. The main character is horrid and likeable, though works for the central idea, which is interesting but really very hard to take seriously.
And Seven Times Never Kill a Man - ★★★
An engaging conflict that feels cut-short and unsatisfying because of the short-story limit. The resolution is rather confusing, and really feels like expanding further on.
Nor the Many-Coloured Fires of a Star Ring - ★★★★
It's a shame this one is so short, because it's one of the most thought-provoking and interesting. I would really have liked this to be longer. Really gelled with my interests with sci-fi.
A Song for Lya - ★★★★★
One of the most thought-provoking things I've ever read. Fascinating and doesn't feel constrained at all. A couple annoyances to do with how female characters are depicted do take away but not enough for me to not recommend reading this. Quite devastating and depressing but no worries if you just keep in mind it's fiction.
Nightflyers - ★★★
An enjoyable and straight-forward narrative, that side-lines its interesting premise into a sub-plot for a much more familiar "space crew is picked off one-by-one" plot. Interesting ideas in a forgettable package (could sum up a lot of these really).
Overide - ★★
Another one that eschews a potentially interesting focus for another lesser one. It feels like and is the opening chapter to a bigger conflict, with an interesting premise, but an ultimately less-interesting narrative.
Weekend in a War Zone - ★★
Nihilistic and rather nasty. The main character is horrid and likeable, though works for the central idea, which is interesting but really very hard to take seriously.
And Seven Times Never Kill a Man - ★★★
An engaging conflict that feels cut-short and unsatisfying because of the short-story limit. The resolution is rather confusing, and really feels like expanding further on.
Nor the Many-Coloured Fires of a Star Ring - ★★★★
It's a shame this one is so short, because it's one of the most thought-provoking and interesting. I would really have liked this to be longer. Really gelled with my interests with sci-fi.
A Song for Lya - ★★★★★
One of the most thought-provoking things I've ever read. Fascinating and doesn't feel constrained at all. A couple annoyances to do with how female characters are depicted do take away but not enough for me to not recommend reading this. Quite devastating and depressing but no worries if you just keep in mind it's fiction.