Collection Review: Forward: Stories of Tomorrow

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Title: Forward: Stories of Tomorrow
Editor: Blake Crouch
Authors: Veronica Roth, Blake Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, Andy Weir
Genre: Science-Fiction
Audience: Adult
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone – Short-Story Collection
Format read: Primarily Audio, some eBook
Publisher: Brilliance Audio (Amazon)
Date read: December 2022 – January 2023
First published: 17 September 2019
Content Warning: end of the world, some violence, blood, guns, bullying, childhood trauma, death, depression, divorce, drugs, eating disorder, eugenics, hospitalization, medical procedures, kidnapping, suicide, attempted suicide.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to save a world, you see.
A new vision.
A new way of thinking, appearing at just the right time

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

Mini Review:

These short stories all look at ways the world is changing from scientific advancements, speculating the impact in the future. Near and Far. Forward is a very fitting name for this collection. Each story has a different take, and some could occur in the very near future and others perhaps a more distant future. This is a delightful blend of Sci-Fi that will leave you with lots of questions about ethics and morality, as well as plenty of “What-If’s.” I can happily recommend it, even better if you read it with someone to discuss and debate!

“It’s fine.
Knowledge is just information, which is subjective.”

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

Full thoughts:

This is a collection of thought-provoking Science-Fiction short stories, also known as novelettes. Some are quite short and some are a little bit longer. Ranging in length from 32-85 pages, these stories quickly introduce you to complex situations, sometimes with a moral dilemma. The audio versions range in length from 50 minutes to 2 hours and 19 minutes.

“There is no such thing as real taste or real smell or even real sight, because there is no true definition of ‘real.’
There is only information, viewed subjectively, which is allowed by consciousness—human or AI. In the end, all we have is math.”

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

Some stories take place in a post-apocalyptic version of our world, in some the world is about to end and others could literally occur tomorrow. Each story is so delightfully science fiction and focused on the human element mixed with the science/technology. What is it to be a human in these times? Such wonderful questions and scenarios.

“Well, you can’t love everything equally,” she said. “You just can’t—and if you did, then it’s the same as loving nothing at all.
So you have to hold just a few things dear, because that’s what love is. Particular. Specific.”

Ark by Veronica Roth

They were all very interesting reads which I really enjoyed, but I did have a favorite, Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin. I can easily understand how it has won so many awards for best novelette, including a Hugo. This story is so well crafted and presents wonderful social commentary. I am so excited to read more of her work.

Consciousness is a horror show.
You search for glimpses of beauty to justify your existence.

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

Overall this was a wonderful collection. I’ve been dabbling in short story collections the last few years but this is the first purely Science Fiction one that I’ve read and it did not disappoint. I really enjoy when there’s some commentary or thoughts from the editors/curators of the collection. In this case, we’re informed that editor/curator Blake Crouch and his partner were driving some distance and got on the subject of emerging technology, the speed of change, and the effects for good and bad, intended or not. From those discussions his short story was eventually born and he recruited other authors to write one in response to this same line of questions.

But now she felt like he had known too well that he was in a piece of weaving that was unraveling, that the world was unmaking itself, and he just didn’t want to witness it.

Ark by Veronica Roth

Ark
by Veronica Roth –
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In this version of the future, Earth’s days are numbered and it’s time to load up the Arks. Join one horticulturist as she helps catalog plants and samples for the journey to hopefully a brighter future. This story was quite short while remaining intriguing and presenting lots of What-If’s and tough scenarios. I really enjoy Veronica Roth and need to catch up on some of her other works.

The allure of optimization is what I would imagine a vampire feels toward blood.

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

Summer Frost
by Blake Crouch –
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Once upon a time there was a game developer and an NPC (non-playable character). One day the NPC started doing things that was not part of its code and the game developer thought, “oh hey, maybe I should release it into the world.” This is that story. You have been warned.
This was a very interesting story about AI and reality. I rated it 3 stars after my initial read, but this story has has been taking up space in my head and has been very thought-provoking, warranting a bump up to 4 stars for me. I haven’t read this author before and will have to check out his other works.

Astra inclinant, sed non obligant; while naturally we had certain expectations for how this mission would go, we aren’t infallible.

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

Emergency Skin
by N.K. Jemisin –
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This was a very powerful short story about a distant future earth and skin. “Astra inclinant, sed non obligant” means “the stars incline, but do not bind.” This is a quote I really enjoy and have seen popping up in a few places recently.
In this novelette, the main character is a descendent of Earth and sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve valuable materials for their society. If he succeeds, he will be rewarded and able to raise his station in life. Can he make it in and out without problems?
Emergency Skin was named the winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Short Novelette, and I can completely understand why. This was my first read by N.K. Jemisin and I am very excited to read her other stories.

But our genes don’t merely express who we are.
They contain all manner of talents from previous generations that we may not benefit from personally but that can be passed on to our progeny.

You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles

You Have Arrived at Your Destination
by Amor Towles –
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The description on Goodreads calls this story unsettling and that’s a very fitting word for it. This is a story about control. About nature vs nurture. About finding that boundary of morality/ethics and perhaps crossing it, perhaps not.
While this was my least favorite of the stories, it was a very interesting read and poses some very interesting questions.

You consider the origin of this time during which you’ve been awake and not-awake and conclude it is, for the moment, unknowable.

The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay

The Last Conversation
by Paul Tremblay –
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If you woke up without any memories of who you are, you probably want them back; but what if you were better off not-knowing? How can you decide? This was a wonderfully written story with a bit of mystery to it. I really enjoyed the flow of the story and how things built up then unraveled.

That does sound solid, but remember a system is only as secure as the humans who operate it.

Randomize by Andy Weir

Randomize by Andy Weir
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This is the first book I read in the collection before realizing they were curated and had a specific order. I don’t think the order really matters so much, but someone did put them in this order.
This was an interesting read involving a quantum computer system, a casino in Vegas, and some human ingenuity. Andy Weir has a great style which I’m realizing I enjoy very much. This is the only story out of this collection that I exclusively read, as opposed to listening to. This story didn’t stay with me quite the same way most of the others have, but felt more like a short and amusing adventure.

Notes on edition:

The Forward Collection is available from Amazon. The audios are published by Brilliance Audio, an amazon company, and the stories are Amazon Originals.

I listened to the bulk of the stories via audio, but enjoy highlighting lines that stuck out to me.