Scan barcode
A review by wunder
Take Us to a Better Place by Mike McClelland, David A. Robertson, Achy Obejas, Hannah Lillith Assadi, Calvin Baker, Karen Lord, Madeline Ashby, Roxane Gay, Yoon Ha Lee, Martha Wells, Frank Bill
3.0
Oddly, this did not take me to a better place. Some of the stories were downers, others more stopped than ended. All of the science fiction stories were better than the non-genre stories. Maybe SF authors have more experience at weaving a topic into a story.
But none of the stories were five-star for me. The anthology is supposed to revolve around the Culture of Health idea from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I couldn't see any common threads beyond "health" being part of the plots. I could give the whole thing 3.5 stars, but without a standout, I'm rounding down.
For an anthology that really does take you to a better place (mostly), I recommend "Consolation Songs: Optimistic Speculative Fiction For A Time of Pandemic". https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54327781-consolation-songs
But none of the stories were five-star for me. The anthology is supposed to revolve around the Culture of Health idea from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I couldn't see any common threads beyond "health" being part of the plots. I could give the whole thing 3.5 stars, but without a standout, I'm rounding down.
For an anthology that really does take you to a better place (mostly), I recommend "Consolation Songs: Optimistic Speculative Fiction For A Time of Pandemic". https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54327781-consolation-songs