Mike’s Reviews > Futuredaze 2: Reprise > Status Update

Beth Revis's story here wasn't nearly as good as the one she contributed to Defy the Dark. This one was more exposition than story, with a bland main character.

Sweet Sixteen by Kat Howard: 3/5 The writing was alright, but it was really rushed.
Secret Identity by Will Shetterly: 2/5 Aimless story, odd worldbuilding.
Wilding by Jane Yolen: 3/5 More unexplained worldbuilding, but at least the descriptions were pretty intense.

The Last Ride of the Glory Girls by Libba Bray: 2/5 I might've finished it, if I hadn't been aware of how utterly detestable Libba Bray is, but the worldbuilding sucked, and the plot was slow.
Stupid Perfect World by Scott Westerfeld: 4/5 Alright, fine, Westerfeld, you have one good story. You still suck apart from this.
Going Deep by James Patrick Kelly: 3/5 Good worldbuilding, boring story.

Valedictorian was also really good. I'm actually surprised by how consistently good this anthology seems to be - there have been a couple of weaker stories, but this, The Fluted Girl, and Good Girl were all some of the best YA short stories I've read.

The last short story (whose name I've forgotten) was really good. This guy is giving Malinda Lo a run for her money.

This short story - which I'm still in the middle of - is pretty good. It took a bit for me to warm up to it, but the premise seems to be really interesting.

Connie Willis's story was alright, I guess. It's not the kind of thing that's gonna stand out in my mind, but there was some good worldbuilding, and the protagonist was pretty well-written.

That should not count as a story. It was disjointed, unexplained and lazy.

Malinda Lo is and always will be a phenomenal writer. It's too soon to call, but I wouldn't be surprised if her story is the best in the anthology.

Neil Gaiman's story was... eh. Not the best I've read from him, although I've only read a couple of his short stories. But still, I think he can do better than that - the characters don't really resemble real people, and I didn't understand the ending.