Forward

Stories of Tomorrow

De: Veronica Roth, Blake Crouch, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, Andy Weir, N. K. Jemisin

Narrado por: Evan Rachel Wood, Rosa Salazar, Jason Isaacs, David Harbour, Steven Strait, Janina Gavankar

2020 Audie Award Finalist for Best Short Stories/Collection Audiobook

For some, it’s the end of the world. For others, it’s just the beginning. With brilliant imagination, today’s most visionary writers point to the future in a collection curated by bestselling author Blake Crouch. These stories range from darkly comic to deeply chilling, but they all look forward. Featuring stories by Andy Weir, Amor Towles, Veronica Roth, N. K. Jemisin, Paul Tremblay, and Blake Crouch; with narration by Evan Rachel Wood, David Harbour, Jason Isaacs, Rosa Salazar, Steven Strait, and Janina Gavankar.

ARK, by Veronica Roth, read by Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld)

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.

SUMMER FROST, by Blake Crouch, read by Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel)

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. 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?

EMERGENCY SKIN, by N. K. Jemisin, read by Jason Isaacs (Star Trek: Discovery)

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. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.

YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT YOUR DESTINATION, by Amor Towles, read by David Harbour (Stranger Things)

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 the choices he has made in his life.

THE LAST CONVERSATION, by Paul Tremblay, read by Steven Strait (The Expanse)

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 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 make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?

RANDOMIZE, by Andy Weir, read by Janina Gavankar (True Blood)

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.

©2019 Ark © 2019 by Veronica Roth. Summer Frost © 2019 by Blake Crouch. Emergency Skin © 2019 by N. K. Jemisin. You Have Arrived at Your Destination © 2019 by Amor Towles. The Last Conversation © 2019 by Paul Tremblay. Randomize © 2019 by Andy Weir. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

eh. some were way better than others

it was ok, nothing special. passed the time, but that was about it. had to skip a bit cause some spots were just so slow and boring.

Loved these sci-fi short stories.

Each was very different and thought provoking. This was one of my favorite listens in my 4 years with Audible. I would love a sequel with even more stories.

great shorts

short stories are fun and these are both written well and performed flawlessly, great listens

Could be Better

Starts strong with some great stories but then dissolves into a meandering mess that keeps your interest about as much as an empty water glass.

1,2 - skip, the rest quite good

Ignore stories that you find boring or familiar, give a chance to the rest ones. They all are very different. Some are very interesting and dynamic.

I’ve almost returned the book in the middle of the 2d story. Don’t make my mistake, skip forward, don’t wait.

excellent variety

I loved all the stories, well written and well read. I love all those authors.

Many intriguing twists

The short story format lends itself to creative idea that challenge your senses. This book combines different authors to great effect.

No spoilers

Great collection of short works by amazing authors (and narrators). Introduced a couple of authors I wasn’t familiar with, but the story styles meshed well with the more familiar writers. If you enjoy NK Jemisin & Blake Crouch give this a try.

Great collection!

Enjoyed all of them, Crouch’s most and the first story the least. So if it doesn’t grip you right away, keep going. Each is quite different from the other. Excellent narration across the board.

Makin' my way through the Hugos

I was delighted, on looking through Hugo finalists, to see one which I actually already OWNED. "Oh, thank goodness," I said to myself. "I'm not going to get COMPLETELY murdered in backlog. Just a LITTLE murdered."

So, let's start this review a bit out of order. Story 3, "Emergency Skin" by N.K. Jemisin. Now, this story has something in it that really made me go all warm and fuzzy inside: all the racist, sexist, homophobic men leaving Earth! And fucking up their new world just as bad as the old! Oh, Jemisin. You know exactly how to make me happy. Dystopia, utopia, lies, rebellion, having no skin. There's a lot going on here, but...bye bye, bigots! <3

Now, all the stories in this anthology are AMAZING, quite worthy of this book's entire five-star rating, but if I'm picking a stand-out, it's got to be "Randomize" by Andy Weir. I can't tell you with even a percentage of certainty that Weir's explanation of quantum computing and random number generators is correct, but he explained enough to make a clever heist tale. One whose unpredictability is even more important than the story's narrative focus on predictability.

This collection is a great pick for lovers of the near-future. The technology that drives each story feels plausible, and that makes them all the more hopeful, terrifying, and amusing.