Even Greater Mistakes

Even Greater Mistakes: Stories by Charlie Jane Anders

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In this collection, Charlie Jane Anders has assembled 19 (I think, I counted fast) sci-fi stories that in some cases defy easy classification. Smart, thoughtful truly thought-provoking issues of gender and bigotry and the loss of free will or ability to see this world in unusual ways characterize this collection. On the cover she is compared to Ursula K. LeGuin and I can’t argue with that.

For my money, the best story is “Six Months, Three Days”: a man who can see the future falls in love with a woman who can see many possible futures. But “The Time Travel Club” about a fun group of wishful thinkers who end up running into an actual time traveler is another cool story, as is “Ghost Champagne” about a woman who is followed/haunted by her own ghost. I also enjoyed “Power Couple” about a couple who elect to take turns cryogenically freezing themselves for a time when they will have more time for each other. More challenging are trigger warning tales such as “Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue” about how childhood friends wind up on other sides of an ideological divide.

I appreciate the explanations at the beginning of all the stories, offering backstory and introductions, and in at least one case giving a spoiler alert as it is a sequel to one of Anders’ novels (I didn’t read that one because of that—I may want to read it later). As she points out in the intro, in the short story format, it forces a punchier type of storytelling. Anders gets to the point.

Very cool, very enjoyable.




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