Publication Date: January 13th
Genre: YA, NA, Science Fiction
This collection of short stories by NY Times bestselling author Beth Revis features science fiction tales about the future.
DOCTOR-PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY: A young woman wakes up in a cryomed ward of a hospital. As she recalls what led to her confinement, she starts to realize just what the consequences of her actions were, and how much time has passed since she was injured.
THE MOST PRECIOUS MEMORY: In a world where memories can be bought and sold as highly addictive drugs, one transaction takes an unusual turn. *Note*: this story was previously published in the Soothe The Savage Beast anthology.
THE GIRL AND THE MACHINE: A man has limited abilities to travel through time, but a cute girl pops up in his life, informing him that her time machine can open the door to far greater powers. But there's something ominous about it... *Note*: This story is available as an individual short in Amazon.
LAG: A reporter had been chasing down a lead...but after a malfunction in the teleporter she used, she's forgotten what the lead was. Now she's searching for clues in her own life to discover what it was she's missing.
THE TURING TEST: A college student participates in a turing test to see if she can distinguish which of the two subjects is human and which is an android. *Note:* A version of this story is a part of the Special Edition of THE BODY ELECTRIC novel and was previously published in Lightspeed Magazine.
AS THEY SLIP AWAY: A group of artists on a generation space ship that reviles art is given a unique assignment, one that draws one young lady far too close to a possessive man protected by the ship's government. *Note:* This short story is available free online and is linked to the ACROSS THE UNIVERSE world.
DOCTOR-PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY
This was one of the shortest stories in the collection but I was invested pretty quickly. I love stories about earth so far in the future that anything seems possible. I like seeing what authors have kept the same, what they think is timeless, what they think could happen in a new century. Beth Revis did a good job of pulling me in and I liked learning little snippets of the new world from the characters. The whole situation was very predictable though, especially the ending which is why I'm rating this 3.5 stars instead of a solid 4.
★★★½
THE MOST PRECIOUS MEMORY
I really enjoyed this story even though it was the shortest in the whole collection. I would love a whole book about this, I've never read anything like it, memories used like drugs. It was a little creepy and a whole lot intriguing and that's the perfect balance in my opinion! Beth *waves* I wouldn't be opposed to a whole book. ;)
★★★★★
THE GIRL AND THE MACHINE
Now this one was my favourite. Not just my favourite story from this collection but my favourite short ever. I honestly wanted to applaud the female MC at the end and never have I been more proud. At first I wasn't interested much because the time travel genre, for me, can be a hit or miss. There is generally no in between and unfortunately it's usually a miss. Time travel is too dense of a subject and it's too easy for mistakes to be made and overlooked. I read this one anyways because what the hell? It's just a short story. So, as I said, at first I was skeptical, then I was a little confused because some things didn't add up to the story I had already made in my head (back when I thought it was a typical time-travel short) and then I was annoyed. Confused and annoyed which isn't the best combo. By the end I'm pretty sure my jaw was on the floor and I felt the overwhelming urge to slow clap. Love, love, love this short story and I went on a little rant in my facebook group (The Book Owls) telling them all that if they were to read one short story in their lives let it be this one.
★★★★★(★)
LAG
This one was my least favourite. I did enjoy the general story, don't get me wrong. Beth Revis's writing is really good. I just didn't do well with the imagery created, it was pretty gross. It was also the story with the least substance so there wasn't much to invest myself in or judge.
★★
THE TURING TEST
Ah I love stories like this. Ones where I'm kept guessing until the end. I did guess the turn-out but barely before the reveal so I can't take much credit for that. I can't find much to say about this one though - It was good. Not my favourite but not my least favourite.
★★★½
AS THEY SLIP AWAY
I have yet to read Beth's ACROSS THE UNIVERSE series but I do have the first book. I will definitely be reading it now though because I am beyond curious. The world on board Godspeed is pretty complex and I know I only got to see a small portion of it in this short. This was my second favourite from this collection, it was also the longest. I feel like I got played a little bit... But it's hard to explain why without spoilers. Gah. I felt so many feelings. I felt pity and intrigue then happiness and then BAM, I was creeped out to the max and anxious. If you're a fan of the ACROSS THE UNIVERSE series then definitely read this. If I understand correctly, it intertwines with the first book in a couple of parts. I have a feeling this may have spoiled parts of ATU for me but I'm going to have to deal with that because I am definitely bumping it up my TBR. I'll probably actually read it next! It may not be as tied in as I think it is but hey, wont know until I read it.
★★★★½
Overall, I'm giving this collection 5 stars because I liked all the stories, some more than others, but they were all really interesting and Beth Revis's writing has left me craving more of her words!
*I won this book from an event free of charge. This did not influence my review in any way.
Beth Revis is on my automatic 'to-buy' list. You MUST read the Across the Universe trilogy soon! There's an implied rape scene in the first book (I don't know if you get queasy at the thought of that) but it's handled better than how most books are.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously. If I'm going to push any book on you, it's going to be that. Go go go! ;v;