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cassmarlatt's review
4.0
3.5* I purchased this anthology solely for Becky Chambers's story, and I have no regrets.
I liked this anthology! I enjoyed the common thread throughout, and I felt that there were some really strong contributions here. My average rating is 3.5*, and I've broken them down as follows:
1. The Light Long Lost at Sea by An Owomoyela - 2*
2. The Cleft of Bones by Kate Elliott - 4*
3. The Voyage of Brenya by Carrie Vaughn - 4.5*
4. Comfort Lodge, Enigma Valley by Charles Yu - 1*
5. The Expedition Stops for the Evening at the Foot of the Mountain Pass by Genevieve Valentine - 3*
6. Down in the Dim Kingdoms by Tobias S. Buckell - 4*
7. Those Who Have Gone by C.C. Finlay - 3.5*
8. An Account, by Dr. Inge Kühn, of the Summer Expedition and Its Discoveries by E. Lily Yu - 5*
9. Out of the Dark by James L. Cambias - 3*
10. Endosymbiosis by Darcie Little Badger - 4.5*
11. The Orpheus Gate by Jonathan Maberry - 5*
12. Hotel Motel Holiday Inn by Dexter Palmer - 2*
13. On the Cold Hill Side by Seanan McGuire - 5*
14. The Return of Grace Malfrey by Jeffrey Ford - 1.5*
15. The Tomb Ship by Becky Chambers - 5*
16. Pellargonia: A Letter to the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology by Theodora Goss - 4*
17. There, She Didn't Need Air to Fill Her Lungs by Cadwell Turnbull - 3*
I liked this anthology! I enjoyed the common thread throughout, and I felt that there were some really strong contributions here. My average rating is 3.5*, and I've broken them down as follows:
1. The Light Long Lost at Sea by An Owomoyela - 2*
2. The Cleft of Bones by Kate Elliott - 4*
3. The Voyage of Brenya by Carrie Vaughn - 4.5*
4. Comfort Lodge, Enigma Valley by Charles Yu - 1*
5. The Expedition Stops for the Evening at the Foot of the Mountain Pass by Genevieve Valentine - 3*
6. Down in the Dim Kingdoms by Tobias S. Buckell - 4*
7. Those Who Have Gone by C.C. Finlay - 3.5*
8. An Account, by Dr. Inge Kühn, of the Summer Expedition and Its Discoveries by E. Lily Yu - 5*
9. Out of the Dark by James L. Cambias - 3*
10. Endosymbiosis by Darcie Little Badger - 4.5*
11. The Orpheus Gate by Jonathan Maberry - 5*
12. Hotel Motel Holiday Inn by Dexter Palmer - 2*
13. On the Cold Hill Side by Seanan McGuire - 5*
14. The Return of Grace Malfrey by Jeffrey Ford - 1.5*
15. The Tomb Ship by Becky Chambers - 5*
16. Pellargonia: A Letter to the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology by Theodora Goss - 4*
17. There, She Didn't Need Air to Fill Her Lungs by Cadwell Turnbull - 3*
merface's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
annarella's review
5.0
Some beloved and new to me authors. A lot of fascinating short stories that left me wanting more stories and more from these authors.
An excellent anthology.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
An excellent anthology.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
piperkitty's review
4.0
Short story anthologies are a great way to discover new authors, and Lost Worlds was no exception. I was initially drawn to this book by social media alerts and because it contained stories by two of my favourite authors, Kate Elliot and Seanan McGuire.
The anthology contains 17 stories, most of which fit the brief, though some have a tenuous connection. As is often the case, some of the stories resonated with me as a reader while others did not, particularly those that felt like an excerpt from a longer work rather than a complete story.
The Cleft of Bones by Kate Elliott, Endosymbiosis by Darcie Little Badger, The Orpheus Gate by Jonathan Maberry, and Hotel
The anthology contains 17 stories, most of which fit the brief, though some have a tenuous connection. As is often the case, some of the stories resonated with me as a reader while others did not, particularly those that felt like an excerpt from a longer work rather than a complete story.
The Cleft of Bones by Kate Elliott, Endosymbiosis by Darcie Little Badger, The Orpheus Gate by Jonathan Maberry, and Hotel
endlesswonder's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
cyrkenstein's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
marneyjane's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
kate_1910's review
1.0
I tryed reading this book. I got through the first few pages and figured out the fant was too small for me to read it for a long period of time, so I would need to read it a little bit at the time and I don't want to do it. Font would need to be far bigger for this book to be read.
nini23's review
adventurous
2.25
This anthology of short stories by well-known SFF writers promised 'Lost Worlds and Mythological Kingdoms' with the cover art pointing to a spot marked 'Here Be Dragons.' I was rather disappointed with the results of this prompt.
Here's the order I read them in:
There, She Didn't Need Air to Fill Her Lungs by Cadwell Turnbull 3.5/5 - I really liked Turnbull's full length speculative fiction novel No Gods, No Monsters read last year. Here a group of graduate students at an American university take a trip to Nepal to find a mythological tree on Fishtail Peak. One of them Maya is originally from Nepal so it's a homecoming of sorts while others are from St Croix, Mexico etc. I think it's about the code-switching and personality splitting that one has to do when living abroad stranded from one's true self.
Endosymbiosis by Darcie Little Badger 2/5 - A South Asian Oceanography graduate student Jul tries to back out of an expedition due to her nephew being injured. But her evil white thesis advisor and PI won't let her! The team encounter some kind of giant squid at sea and tragedy ensues. I usually like reading about POC female scientists but the execution of this one left a lot to be desired.
Pellargonia: A Letter to the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology by Theodora Goss - A group of female high schoolers discover.... skimmed, couldn't be bothered to finish
The Light Long Lost at Sea by An Owomoyela 4.25/5 - This is the only story in the whole collection whose characters and worldbuilding intrigued me.
Down in the Dim Kingdoms by Tobias S. Buckell 2.5/5 - This story has interesting valid points to make about colonialism and so-called explorers that are venerated being ruthless murderers. The teenage female protagonist is written to be shocking but I found her predictable and spoiled.
An Account, by Dr. Inge Kuhn, of the Summer Expedition and Its Discoveries by E. Lily Yu - I usually love Yu's short stories but this one couldn't capture my interest.
The Voyage of Brenya by Carrie Vaughn 2.25/5 Agree with the reviewer who said this had Moana vibes. Female adolescent sets off alone in boat to get help from the gods in the west for her beleagured island. Encounters talking tern and whale. Are we in a Disney movie?! Finally meets the 'gods' who can magically understand her, I guess there's no linguistics differences in this world /s. Moral of this simplistic story is a society builds up and passes down their myths and stories, which may not be true. Who knew?
Comfort Lodge, Enigma Valley by Charles Yu 3/5 - Somewhat creative, the entire story consists of Yelp reviews of a Comfort Lodge which has very strange properties.
Thanks to Grim Oak Press for providing an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Here's the order I read them in:
There, She Didn't Need Air to Fill Her Lungs by Cadwell Turnbull 3.5/5 - I really liked Turnbull's full length speculative fiction novel No Gods, No Monsters read last year. Here a group of graduate students at an American university take a trip to Nepal to find a mythological tree on Fishtail Peak. One of them Maya is originally from Nepal so it's a homecoming of sorts while others are from St Croix, Mexico etc. I think it's about the code-switching and personality splitting that one has to do when living abroad stranded from one's true self.
Endosymbiosis by Darcie Little Badger 2/5 - A South Asian Oceanography graduate student Jul tries to back out of an expedition due to her nephew being injured. But her evil white thesis advisor and PI won't let her! The team encounter some kind of giant squid at sea and tragedy ensues. I usually like reading about POC female scientists but the execution of this one left a lot to be desired.
Pellargonia: A Letter to the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology by Theodora Goss - A group of female high schoolers discover.... skimmed, couldn't be bothered to finish
The Light Long Lost at Sea by An Owomoyela 4.25/5 - This is the only story in the whole collection whose characters and worldbuilding intrigued me.
Down in the Dim Kingdoms by Tobias S. Buckell 2.5/5 - This story has interesting valid points to make about colonialism and so-called explorers that are venerated being ruthless murderers. The teenage female protagonist is written to be shocking but I found her predictable and spoiled.
An Account, by Dr. Inge Kuhn, of the Summer Expedition and Its Discoveries by E. Lily Yu - I usually love Yu's short stories but this one couldn't capture my interest.
The Voyage of Brenya by Carrie Vaughn 2.25/5 Agree with the reviewer who said this had Moana vibes. Female adolescent sets off alone in boat to get help from the gods in the west for her beleagured island. Encounters talking tern and whale. Are we in a Disney movie?! Finally meets the 'gods' who can magically understand her, I guess there's no linguistics differences in this world /s. Moral of this simplistic story is a society builds up and passes down their myths and stories, which may not be true. Who knew?
Comfort Lodge, Enigma Valley by Charles Yu 3/5 - Somewhat creative, the entire story consists of Yelp reviews of a Comfort Lodge which has very strange properties.
Thanks to Grim Oak Press for providing an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
mweis's review
4.0
*I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
In an age where there is little of the world that remains unexplored, is there still space for the "Here Be Dragons" type stories of Atlantis, El Dorado, Shangri-La, etc? This collection of short stories aims to answer that question and I think it does a pretty good job of it.
I was a little nervous as I didn't really jive with the first 2 or 3 stories, but ultimately there were far more hits than misses for me. I was surprised by the percentage of sci-fi leaning stories versus fantasy leaning ones. I was expecting more fantasy, but I would categorize most of the stories as sci-fi or sci-fantasy. That being said, I think it kind of fits because the two most unexplored places of our time are the ocean and space both of which, to me, feel more science fiction than typical fantasy.
I particularly loved:
• Comfort Lodge, Enigma Valley (Charles Yu) - a series of motel guest reviews get strange
• Down in the Dim Kingdoms (Tobias S. Buckell) - a take on civilization at the center of the Earth that gets dark
• Those Who Have Gone (C.C. Finlay) - not going to lie, this one got to me because I am terrified of the desert
• The Orpheus Gate (Jonathan Maberry) - ghosts, portals to second dimensions, physics, and real life scientists and historical figures make for a fascinating conversation
• On the Cold Hill Side (Seanan McGuire) - a disappearing and reappearing island off the coast of Maine and a protagonist who works for the US government to weaponize folklore
• Pellargonia: A Letter to the journal of Imaginary Anthropology (Theodora Goss) - the interruptions and footnotes got a little excessive for the length of the story in my opinion, but I still loved the premise of a group of high schoolers accidentally creating a new country and it getting out of control
In an age where there is little of the world that remains unexplored, is there still space for the "Here Be Dragons" type stories of Atlantis, El Dorado, Shangri-La, etc? This collection of short stories aims to answer that question and I think it does a pretty good job of it.
I was a little nervous as I didn't really jive with the first 2 or 3 stories, but ultimately there were far more hits than misses for me. I was surprised by the percentage of sci-fi leaning stories versus fantasy leaning ones. I was expecting more fantasy, but I would categorize most of the stories as sci-fi or sci-fantasy. That being said, I think it kind of fits because the two most unexplored places of our time are the ocean and space both of which, to me, feel more science fiction than typical fantasy.
I particularly loved:
• Comfort Lodge, Enigma Valley (Charles Yu) - a series of motel guest reviews get strange
• Down in the Dim Kingdoms (Tobias S. Buckell) - a take on civilization at the center of the Earth that gets dark
• Those Who Have Gone (C.C. Finlay) - not going to lie, this one got to me because I am terrified of the desert
• The Orpheus Gate (Jonathan Maberry) - ghosts, portals to second dimensions, physics, and real life scientists and historical figures make for a fascinating conversation
• On the Cold Hill Side (Seanan McGuire) - a disappearing and reappearing island off the coast of Maine and a protagonist who works for the US government to weaponize folklore
• Pellargonia: A Letter to the journal of Imaginary Anthropology (Theodora Goss) - the interruptions and footnotes got a little excessive for the length of the story in my opinion, but I still loved the premise of a group of high schoolers accidentally creating a new country and it getting out of control