If you aren’t aware of these, Amazon does these collections labeled under Amazon Original Stories. where each features a theme and featured authors. They are also free on Kindle and Audible for all prime members to access, which is a huge plus. Although they’re good, who’s really going to pay individually for short stories? If you’d like, you can check out my write-up for their Creature Feature series here.
There are several of these already, two of which I have read so far. This one stuck out to me immediately, as I am quite a big fan of Blake Crouch’s writing, and he was actually the curator for the collection.
Below, I think I’ll just share each review separately and let you see if they interest you. As usual, this is a warning for all possible spoilers, so beware.
Synopsis
On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.
It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond. Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.
As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.
Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Audible narration by Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld)
Review
Two weeks before an asteroid destroys all of earth, a group of scientists are still dealing with the small stuff. And by that I mean seeds and plants. Most of earth is already evacuated, but this group is taxed with cataloguing samples for humanity’s long journey to somewhere new. Somewhere in the growing panic, Samantha finds a new species, and with that, a new lease on hope.
This was a well done short about what it means to be human, and what ties us to our humanity. In the event that we’d need to leave earth, would you be able to willingly give up your home?
Personally a 4/5*. Narration from Evan Rachel Wood was great!
Synopsis
A video game developer becomes obsessed with a willful character in her new project, in a mind-bending exploration of what it means to be human by the New York Times bestselling author of Recursion.
Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision—veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?
Blake Crouch’s Summer Frost is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Audible narration by Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel)
Review
I truly feel as if Blake Crouch is not respected enough as a writer, researcher, and creator. Everything scifi that he releases is so incredibly detailed and researched to the point where you don’t even have to question if it’s real or not. It doesn’t feel like it needs debating. This one even broke down how many hours of HGTV would fit into the amount of stored data needed. I thought it was a great touch.
This is a short about an NPC going rogue, breaking from its programming, and then becoming sentient. All while its creator becomes deeply obsessed with it. It reads like a mix of Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller’s ‘Otherworld’ and Alex Garland’s ‘Ex Machina’ as Crouch navigates the future of VR interfacing and gaming, and the nature of what it means to be human.
Genuinely gripping, and one hell of a ride for such a short story. Personally a 5/5*, and the narration by Rosa Salazar was very good!
Synopsis
Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy.
An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out ages ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.
N. K. Jemisin’s Emergency Skin is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Audible narration by Jason Isaacs (Star Trek: Discovery)
Review
When earth is finally damaged beyond repair, a group of the best human specimen head off in search of a new home, but in time it leaves them in need of materials to survive, which they get by sending people back. They never planned on those sent back having a reason to think for themselves, to want to stay.
As this author tends to do, this story heavily played into the idea of race. Not only as a whole, but the idea that even in a future where things are falling apart, those in charge will still feel like they’re better. The new world is scientifically generated down to skin and build. There are no women with them, as they were part of the problem. It was in a sense, harsh, but this author tends to offer you the truth with no amount of sugar coating.
Personally a 4/5*. I enjoyed reading this one. The general idea that if the favored few didn’t hoard, we’d be far better off sang true. Also, really loved the description of the birthing/body bags, gave me very Blade Runner feels.
Synopsis
Nature or nurture? Neither. Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.
When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.
Amor Towles’s You Have Arrived at Your Destination is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Audible narration by David Harbour (Stranger Things)
Review
Imagine in the future that gene altering has gotten to the point where you can literally choose the directional beats your child’s life would go down. Fertility companies can do more than just pregnancies, they can give you glimpses of the life your child may lead, give you options, and let you even choose which you’d prefer. But would you be able to watch a programmed sample of 30 years of their life and just accept that you chose it all for them?
This one was deeply thought provoking, challenging the reader to think about their own lives, or that of their children (future or existing). How would you feel taking the steering wheel for someone else? Or finding out that it had been taken from you? I’ll be thinking about this one for quite a while.
Personally a 5/5*. Chilling in its near future feels.
Synopsis
What’s more frightening: Not knowing who you are? Or finding out? A Bram Stoker Award–winning author explores the answer in a chilling story about identity and human consciousness.
Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?
Paul Tremblay’s The Last Conversation is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Audible narration by Steven Strait (The Expanse)
Review
What would you do if there was a global pandemic where so few of us survived? What if you lost the one you cared about the most? If our technology allowed for you to clone them, to in a sense, bring them back, would you do it? More importantly, would they want you to?
I enjoyed this one. Parts of it were very eerie, with elements that felt like Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and even I am Legend. The idea that even a clone would be just as predisposed to the pandemic as it’s forebear was a really cool idea. As if the genetic makeup couldn’t be altered enough by technology to save them.
Personally a 5/5*. A deep dive into what it means to be human, and what one would do to their humanity to not be alone. To regain the one they love.
Synopsis
In the near future, if Vegas games are ingeniously scam-proof, then the heists have to be too, in this imaginative and whip-smart story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Martian.
An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house—unless human ingenuity isn’t entirely a thing of the past.
Andy Weir’s Randomize is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Audible narration by Janina Gavankar (True Blood)
Review
This one is very straight forward. It deals with a new super computer that would allow for the gambling scene to be entirely ripped off. Pseudo-number randomizers can be hacked through this new process, allowing the cheating to appear like genuine wins, indistinguishable. When an IT guy catching this, saving his casino millions, it’s too bad that not everyone is as clean.
This was perhaps my least favorite of the Forward Collection if I’m honest. The short story features a total of perhaps three scenes, and they are all very simple. Two of which are very similar. I did like that Weir uses his signature style of heavily delivering on the science though. It just felt a little flat.
Personally a 3/5*, just not as deep or hard hitting as the others.
Overall, I gave the series a 8.67/10. Really not bad at all for a series that a huge chunk of people will have access to for free via prime. I’d suggest the series as a whole, even with the one I cared less for.
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