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289th out of 309 books
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Shine: An Anthology of Optimistic SF
by
Jetse de Vries ,
Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Goodreads Author), Jason Andrew (Goodreads Author)
Shine: a collection of gems that throw light on a brighter future. Some of the world's most talented SF writers (including Alastair Reynolds, Kay Keyon and Jason Stoddard) show how things can change for the better. From gritty polyannas to workable futures, from hard-fought progress to a better tomorrow; heart-warming and mind-expanding stories that will (re-) awaken the o...more
Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages
Published
March 30th 2010
by Solaris
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Shinynickel
marked it as to-read
Off this review:
One of the best anthologies of recent vintage is Jetse de Vries' "Shine." Its virtues are easy to enumerate. It offers a clear-eyed theme and unique remit: optimistic, near-future SF. It features a wide range of voices and styles. Its editor is young, knowledgeable, energetic and hip (the anthology was assembled with heavy reliance on social media sites). On all counts, it's a rousing success, the very model of a modern project, and points the way toward a he...more
One of the best anthologies of recent vintage is Jetse de Vries' "Shine." Its virtues are easy to enumerate. It offers a clear-eyed theme and unique remit: optimistic, near-future SF. It features a wide range of voices and styles. Its editor is young, knowledgeable, energetic and hip (the anthology was assembled with heavy reliance on social media sites). On all counts, it's a rousing success, the very model of a modern project, and points the way toward a he...more
Science fiction is not a cheerful genre. You might think that people preoccupied with the future would be purveyors of all that is happy and uplifting–flying cars, wonder cures, brave new worlds, friendly aliens, robot maids–a merry universe filled with optimistic geekery.
You’d be wrong, mostly. Oh, the happy-sappy stuff is out there, but it’s dominated by gloomy, grimy, horrific tales of Humanity Gone Wrong. Stories that wake you in the wee hours to whisper in your ear, You will all...more
You’d be wrong, mostly. Oh, the happy-sappy stuff is out there, but it’s dominated by gloomy, grimy, horrific tales of Humanity Gone Wrong. Stories that wake you in the wee hours to whisper in your ear, You will all...more
Shine is an anthology that comes with a lot of hype and an introduction that is utterly misleading imho - or maybe it's me and Mr. DeVries having quite different definitions of the terms sf and optimistic - since what Shine is about is mostly *mundane sf* extrapolated from current headlines, or sometimes even yesterday headlines like carbon trading and such which look more and more like the green version of the Jetsons and which will be dated very soon if not already so - and by optimistic, Mr. ...more
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...I wonder if de Vries knew what he was getting into with this project. It's not as if others hadn't tried before and it is certainly a lot easier to let a negative view of the future get the best of you. The stories in this anthology don't always depict shiny, bright futures but to do all posses a sense of profound positive change, ranging from a very personal level to things that will shift the balance in a nation or even worldwide. The diversity of the stories and the consistently high quali...more
I enjoy a dark 'n gritty dystopian tale as much as the next SF fan, but after a while they get a bit repetitive. And after following real-life news for a while, it gets hard to imagine any future in which the human species isn't doomed and taking everything else on the planet with it. So I was in the market for this anthology's brand of cautious hopefulness.
De Vries has assembled quite a mix. The short-short stories didn't do much for me personally, and the Gord Sellar story was so ...more
De Vries has assembled quite a mix. The short-short stories didn't do much for me personally, and the Gord Sellar story was so ...more
A lot of science fiction is about dystopias and terrors, the awful things that might happen in the future. This is a collection of short stories in which the future is better than the present. They're good stories, too. One of the best anthologies I've read lately. Twitters from space, artificial intelligence, Giant Robot Metallica- it's all here.
If these are optimistic futures, I would rather live in a Peter Hamilton Dystrophy. Every story starts would with the grimmest of visions; drastic weather, starvation, unemployment, and despair. And ends up with just a possible glimmer of hope...only if all past human behaviors are forgotten and we enter a world of drug addled fantasy land. None of these stories are helped by the editor's call for "diversity". Possibly a call for better writers would have made this a better anthology, ...more
This is a very disappointing anthology. It is misleading to classify many of these stories as science fiction. One story stands out: Twittering the Stars by Mari Ness. Following closely in the honorable mention category are: At Budokan by Alastair Reynolds and Castoff World by Kay Kenyon. Sarging Rasmussen by Gord Sellar is not really SF but is well written and fun to read. The other stories are either poorly written, not SF, boring, or all of the above.
I really wanted to like this book. I agree wholeheartedly with the dismal nature of scifi's infrastructure. But I don't think this mediocre collection is the antidote. Some of the stories were good, while I was reading them. But none of them, save the twitter story, really stuck with me, and I think that one did mostly due to the novelty. There was one about the rediscovery of books as lost sacred relics which was kind of cool and the idea that pickup lines can virally impact society, and a garb...more
"...this world is a place that is both beautiful and scary, inspiring and frightening, full of wonder and full or danger; and that we can make it work." - editor Jetse de Vries
I am passionate about the idea of optimistic sf and also wish to write stories that envision a positive future so I've been very interested in this fantastic project (following its progress online) and was pleased to be able to purchase the book on Kindle.
Alas, however, as of this time, ...more
I am passionate about the idea of optimistic sf and also wish to write stories that envision a positive future so I've been very interested in this fantastic project (following its progress online) and was pleased to be able to purchase the book on Kindle.
Alas, however, as of this time, ...more
Danielle
marked it as to-read
esp recommended to me: twittering the stars
Certainly like the idea.
This book has such a variety of themes, styles and ideas that half way through a story you just can't wait for the next one.
De Vries has made it a misson to have authors of diverse backgrounds and nationalities, as he introduces each ones at the beginning of their work you get a sort of story of stories feeling that ties each adventures together reinforcing the anthologie as a whole.
De Vries has made it a misson to have authors of diverse backgrounds and nationalities, as he introduces each ones at the beginning of their work you get a sort of story of stories feeling that ties each adventures together reinforcing the anthologie as a whole.
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