NOVELLA REVIEW: When Will You Rise, Stories to End the World

[temporaryworlds]

Title: When Will You Rise, Stories to End the World

Comments

[calico_reaction]

See, I was the opposite: I really enjoyed the hell out of #683 (of course, I knew going in that it wasn't Newsflesh), but really found Countdown lacking. I read both as individual ebooks when they were released originally (bought this Sub Press collection because I couldn't resist), but I didn't read Countdown until it was on the Hugo ballot, and ... yeah... despite being a HUGE fan of the Newsflesh series, this was weaker, made weaker in my eyes for being on the ballot. I might've enjoyed it more had I read it without the Hugo context, but you're right: World War Z handles the format better, and no wonder: it's a book to a novella. :) Then again, I didn't care much for World War Z, so that might explain a lot...

[temporaryworlds]

Yeah, I can see why if you don't like World War Z, why Countdown might not work for you, as they both use the same format. It's interesting that while reading other Hugo novellas, which I assumed were all pretty well written, that you ended up not enjoying Countdown. In comparison I read this while listening to an audiobook that didn't always work for me (Grave Witch, which I'll be reviewing next week). So reading a story that was actually somewhat intelligent was a nice change!

[calico_reaction]

The novellas in the category were all excellent. I was partial to Valente's because I'd read it long before the Hugos. :)

[temporaryworlds]

Ooh! I really liked that one. It would have gotten my vote. I really need to read her latest one about Snow White.