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shanbitt's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book for free through GoodReads First Reads. I liked the collection as a whole. This may have been one of the first collections I've read where I liked all the stories. I wasn't familar with any of the authors except Peter S. Beagle so it was nice to branch out.
"Seven Years from Home" by Naomi Novik was about a woman who travels from a government in the galaxy that is hoping to colonize a planet. However, there are two types of people living on the planet: those who seek to use the planet in whatever way they like and those that have genetically modified themselves to adapt to their environment and keep it whole. The main character is sent to those that are genetically modified and comes to identify with the people she is with. I liked the way it was told and it had some interesting technology thrown in there.
"Dirae" by Peter S. Beagle. This one was my favorite. I loved how it was told and how the character and writing became more aware and complex as the story went on. It was a little hard to get into at first but well worth it.
"Ancient Ways" by S. M. Stirling. This story was about two people from two different cultures teaming up to rescue a princess from a third culture. I liked it and thought it was a neat story. My favorite part was when they talked about technology in the past and how it could never have happened.
"The Scroll" by David Ball. This was a good story just really sad.
"Recidivist" by Gardner Dozois. This was my least favorite. It was a little complicated and too strange for my tastes.
"Ninieslando" by Howard Waldrop. This was a cute story about soldiers in World War II trying to create a more utopian society and living under the noses of the German and French/English armies.
"Out of the Dark" by David Weber. I liked this novella. It was about an alien society trying to take over the world. War and guns don't interest me that much in stories so I skimmed over the parts describing the military terms and equipment. I figured out the secret twist pretty early which is rare for me, but I won't spoil it for anyone else. I did like what the aliens had to say about our psychology.
Overall, I think this is the best collection of stories I've read in awhile.
"Seven Years from Home" by Naomi Novik was about a woman who travels from a government in the galaxy that is hoping to colonize a planet. However, there are two types of people living on the planet: those who seek to use the planet in whatever way they like and those that have genetically modified themselves to adapt to their environment and keep it whole. The main character is sent to those that are genetically modified and comes to identify with the people she is with. I liked the way it was told and it had some interesting technology thrown in there.
"Dirae" by Peter S. Beagle. This one was my favorite. I loved how it was told and how the character and writing became more aware and complex as the story went on. It was a little hard to get into at first but well worth it.
"Ancient Ways" by S. M. Stirling. This story was about two people from two different cultures teaming up to rescue a princess from a third culture. I liked it and thought it was a neat story. My favorite part was when they talked about technology in the past and how it could never have happened.
"The Scroll" by David Ball. This was a good story just really sad.
"Recidivist" by Gardner Dozois. This was my least favorite. It was a little complicated and too strange for my tastes.
"Ninieslando" by Howard Waldrop. This was a cute story about soldiers in World War II trying to create a more utopian society and living under the noses of the German and French/English armies.
"Out of the Dark" by David Weber. I liked this novella. It was about an alien society trying to take over the world. War and guns don't interest me that much in stories so I skimmed over the parts describing the military terms and equipment. I figured out the secret twist pretty early which is rare for me, but I won't spoil it for anyone else. I did like what the aliens had to say about our psychology.
Overall, I think this is the best collection of stories I've read in awhile.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
2.0
A collection of stories about warriors, mostly but not solely sff. One story was fantastic--the rest ranged from mediocre to outright awful.
"Seven Years from Home" by Naomi Novik. An academic goes to a far off planet that is right on the tipping point of a civil war between colonists who transform themselves to adapt to the planet, and colonists who want to terraform the planet to match themselves. I love the technology used here (bio-transformations are my favorite sf trope, but are so rarely used), but the real brilliance of this story is in the way it twisted and turned as I read it. Not that the narrator is unreliable or even hiding things, but that they're telling a story where they assume we know their background and context, and not knowing those things means I had to constantly readjust my interpretation of the plot and the narrator's motives. I found this story fascinating and would definitely read it again.
"Dirae" by Peter S Beagle. A specter fights crime and injustice in their city, but wonders where it came from and what motivates it. Super dark.
"Ancient Ways" by SM Stirling. In the future, a Cossak and a Kalmyk ally themselves. This took so long to get going, and I didn't care about the characters or world at all, so I didn't finish this.
"The Scroll" by David Ball. In 17th century Morocco, an engineer is tortured for 42 pages and then dies. Unpleasant but also boring.
"Recidivist" by Gardner Davois. After they gain consciousness, AIs turn on humans and play with them (and the very make up of the Earth) for their amusement. One old man tries to stop them. The ever-changing Earth was cool, but the main character had so little personality that I didn't care whether he succeeded at stopping the AIs or not. (And of course, like so many stories in this collectionhe fails because futility is apparently GRMM's favorite trope .
"Ninieslando" by Howard Waldrop. In the midst of WWI, soldiers create a mini oasis of peace where they speak Esperanto. Of course they cannot escape the trenches forever.More futile gestures and dark endings full of death! Hurrah.
"Out of the Dark" by David Weber. Evil aliens try to conquer the Earth but are shocked, shocked I tell you to discover how adaptable and amazing humanity is. The end reveal thatone of the humans is Dracula was just the idiot icing on a cake made of stupid.
"Seven Years from Home" by Naomi Novik. An academic goes to a far off planet that is right on the tipping point of a civil war between colonists who transform themselves to adapt to the planet, and colonists who want to terraform the planet to match themselves. I love the technology used here (bio-transformations are my favorite sf trope, but are so rarely used), but the real brilliance of this story is in the way it twisted and turned as I read it. Not that the narrator is unreliable or even hiding things, but that they're telling a story where they assume we know their background and context, and not knowing those things means I had to constantly readjust my interpretation of the plot and the narrator's motives. I found this story fascinating and would definitely read it again.
"Dirae" by Peter S Beagle. A specter fights crime and injustice in their city, but wonders where it came from and what motivates it. Super dark.
"Ancient Ways" by SM Stirling. In the future, a Cossak and a Kalmyk ally themselves. This took so long to get going, and I didn't care about the characters or world at all, so I didn't finish this.
"The Scroll" by David Ball. In 17th century Morocco, an engineer is tortured for 42 pages and then dies. Unpleasant but also boring.
"Recidivist" by Gardner Davois. After they gain consciousness, AIs turn on humans and play with them (and the very make up of the Earth) for their amusement. One old man tries to stop them. The ever-changing Earth was cool, but the main character had so little personality that I didn't care whether he succeeded at stopping the AIs or not. (And of course, like so many stories in this collection
"Ninieslando" by Howard Waldrop. In the midst of WWI, soldiers create a mini oasis of peace where they speak Esperanto. Of course they cannot escape the trenches forever.
"Out of the Dark" by David Weber. Evil aliens try to conquer the Earth but are shocked, shocked I tell you to discover how adaptable and amazing humanity is. The end reveal that
saphirablue's review
3.0
These stories weren't as good as the one in the first book but there were two gems in it:
The second story - Dirae by Peter S. Beagle - blew my mind. Such an awesome, awesome, awesome story. Yes, the idea isn't something that wasn't done before but still. It's my favourite story from both books.
The second one was the novella "Out of the Dark" by David Weber. Buttons pushed! I love the main characters and I love the plot of the novella. Earth being invaded by aliens and the humans fighting back. We get the POV of various human and alien fighters and the twist in the end. HOLY COW! So did not see this coming! Yeah, the aliens are basically intelligent dogs but it's okay. The rest of the story makes it up.
The second story - Dirae by Peter S. Beagle - blew my mind. Such an awesome, awesome, awesome story. Yes, the idea isn't something that wasn't done before but still. It's my favourite story from both books.
The second one was the novella "Out of the Dark" by David Weber. Buttons pushed! I love the main characters and I love the plot of the novella. Earth being invaded by aliens and the humans fighting back. We get the POV of various human and alien fighters and the twist in the end. HOLY COW! So did not see this coming! Yeah, the aliens are basically intelligent dogs but it's okay. The rest of the story makes it up.
srm's review
3.0
The stories I read were okay. Much more interested in the fact that I'll soon have Rogues.
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