A review by metaphorosis
Selections from Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories by John Joseph Adams, Heather Lindsley, Tobias S. Buckell, Cory Doctorow, Vylar Kaftan, Carrie Vaughn, Genevieve Valentine, Jeremiah Tolbert, Adam-Troy Castro
3.0
Other reviews indicate their version had only a few stories. Mine had eight, so perhaps a different version of the limited edition. The stories were:
AMARYLLIS by Carrie Vaughn
THE THINGS THAT MAKE ME WEAK AND STRANGE GET ENGINEERED AWAY by Cory Doctorow
IS THIS YOUR DAY TO JOIN THE REVOLUTION? by Genevieve Valentine
JUST DO IT by Heather Lindsley
ARTIES AREN’T STUPID by Jeremiah Tolbert
OF A SWEET SLOW DANCE IN THE WAKE OF TEMPORARY DOGS by Adam-Troy Castro
RESISTANCE by Tobias S. Buckell
CIVILIZATION by Vylar Kaftan
One benefit of anthologies is to introduce readers to new authors. Some of the above were unknown to me, but I'm afraid none of the stories converted me. I did like Tobias Buckell's story - the best of the group. The rest were competently written, but I didn't find them particularly compelling. One, "Of a Slow Sweet Dance..." seemed to me so clearly a re-casting of Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", that I'm surprised that both stories are included in the full version of the book.
Although this was only a sampler, and the stories are different in many ways, I found the styles and themes similar enough that a steady diet of serious dystopia grew wearing. This especially since Vylar Kaftan's story is essentially an outline for dystopian plots - choose one element from column A...
It may be that the full book is more balanced, but I ended up glad I didn't have more to read - surely the opposite of what this taster was intended for.
AMARYLLIS by Carrie Vaughn
THE THINGS THAT MAKE ME WEAK AND STRANGE GET ENGINEERED AWAY by Cory Doctorow
IS THIS YOUR DAY TO JOIN THE REVOLUTION? by Genevieve Valentine
JUST DO IT by Heather Lindsley
ARTIES AREN’T STUPID by Jeremiah Tolbert
OF A SWEET SLOW DANCE IN THE WAKE OF TEMPORARY DOGS by Adam-Troy Castro
RESISTANCE by Tobias S. Buckell
CIVILIZATION by Vylar Kaftan
One benefit of anthologies is to introduce readers to new authors. Some of the above were unknown to me, but I'm afraid none of the stories converted me. I did like Tobias Buckell's story - the best of the group. The rest were competently written, but I didn't find them particularly compelling. One, "Of a Slow Sweet Dance..." seemed to me so clearly a re-casting of Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", that I'm surprised that both stories are included in the full version of the book.
Although this was only a sampler, and the stories are different in many ways, I found the styles and themes similar enough that a steady diet of serious dystopia grew wearing. This especially since Vylar Kaftan's story is essentially an outline for dystopian plots - choose one element from column A...
It may be that the full book is more balanced, but I ended up glad I didn't have more to read - surely the opposite of what this taster was intended for.