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A review by chirson
The New Voices of Science Fiction by Jacob Weisman, Hannu Rajaniemi
4.0
I read this anthology courtesy of NetGalley. My reflections are my own.
I was hoping to find new-to-me gems from authors I do not know, and unfortunately, that wasn't the case - but maybe that's just because the stories I liked best were either ones I already knew, or stories from authors whose other work I'm familiar with. All the same, there are some pretty awesome stories here - my favourites included:
Nino Cipri "The Shape of My Name" - one of several stories in the collection that focused on time travel and family; brave and thoughtful. The only one that was new to me at the time of reading - I have since read Cipri's short novel Finna.
Vina Jie-Min Prasad, "A Series of Steaks" - a fun, clever caper in the near future. Just exhilarating to read from page one.
Amal El-Mohtar, "Madeleine"- I found the ending to be a little rushed, and this is heavy, with queerness and institutionalisation, as well as grief taking center stage (this is another time travel + family story) but the mood was powerful.
I was also impressed with Sam J. Miller's "Calved" (despite the fairly obvious plot twist of a variety that I simply dislike, there was some raw emotion here), Kelly Robson's "A Study in Oils" (very well written, enjoyed it despite the Black Mirror-esque concept - I am that rare person who's not into Black Mirror). I also enjoyed reading Palmer's "Secret Life of Bots" more than I'd expected. Alice Sola Kim's story (another memory-time travel-family themed one) had good moments. Pinsker is always good, but this is one of my least favourite stories of hers. I enjoyed Darcie Little Badger's story but wish it wasn't so short - it felt more like a teaser than anything else, and it ended before the premise felt fully used.
Unfortunately, despite the good and great stories, there are also a few stories that were only so-so or even legitimately bored me enough that I ended up skimming them (see also "Ice") and one whose misuse of the term "passive voice" interrupted my reading for half a year. But a mixed bag is always to be expected in collections like this, and finding out what one doesn't like can be useful, too.
I was hoping to find new-to-me gems from authors I do not know, and unfortunately, that wasn't the case - but maybe that's just because the stories I liked best were either ones I already knew, or stories from authors whose other work I'm familiar with. All the same, there are some pretty awesome stories here - my favourites included:
Nino Cipri "The Shape of My Name" - one of several stories in the collection that focused on time travel and family; brave and thoughtful. The only one that was new to me at the time of reading - I have since read Cipri's short novel Finna.
Vina Jie-Min Prasad, "A Series of Steaks" - a fun, clever caper in the near future. Just exhilarating to read from page one.
Amal El-Mohtar, "Madeleine"- I found the ending to be a little rushed, and this is heavy, with queerness and institutionalisation, as well as grief taking center stage (this is another time travel + family story) but the mood was powerful.
I was also impressed with Sam J. Miller's "Calved" (despite the fairly obvious plot twist of a variety that I simply dislike, there was some raw emotion here), Kelly Robson's "A Study in Oils" (very well written, enjoyed it despite the Black Mirror-esque concept - I am that rare person who's not into Black Mirror). I also enjoyed reading Palmer's "Secret Life of Bots" more than I'd expected. Alice Sola Kim's story (another memory-time travel-family themed one) had good moments. Pinsker is always good, but this is one of my least favourite stories of hers. I enjoyed Darcie Little Badger's story but wish it wasn't so short - it felt more like a teaser than anything else, and it ended before the premise felt fully used.
Unfortunately, despite the good and great stories, there are also a few stories that were only so-so or even legitimately bored me enough that I ended up skimming them (see also "Ice") and one whose misuse of the term "passive voice" interrupted my reading for half a year. But a mixed bag is always to be expected in collections like this, and finding out what one doesn't like can be useful, too.