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Unpossible and Other Stories
The short stories in this first collection by Daryl Gregory run the gamut from science fiction to contemporary fantasy, with a few stories that defy easy classification. His characters may be neuroscientists, superhero sidekicks, middle-aged heroes of children's stories, or fanatics spreading a virus-borne religion, but they are all convincingly human. Includes two never-before published short stories.
Contents:
- Daryl Gregory: Facts and Obsessions (2011) by Nancy Kress
- Second Person, Present Tense (2005)
- Unpossible (2007)
- Damascus (2006)
- The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm (2008)
- Gardening at Night (2006)
- Petit Mal #1: Glass (2008)
- What We Take When We Take What We Need (2010)
- Petit Mal #2: Digital (2011)
- Message from the Bubblegum Factory (2010)
- Free, and Clear (2004)
- Dead Horse Point (2007)
- In the Wheels (1990)
- Petit Mal #3: Persistence (2011)
- The Continuing Adventures of Rocket Boy (2004)
- Story Notes
Cover art by Antonello Silverini
Contents:
- Daryl Gregory: Facts and Obsessions (2011) by Nancy Kress
- Second Person, Present Tense (2005)
- Unpossible (2007)
- Damascus (2006)
- The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm (2008)
- Gardening at Night (2006)
- Petit Mal #1: Glass (2008)
- What We Take When We Take What We Need (2010)
- Petit Mal #2: Digital (2011)
- Message from the Bubblegum Factory (2010)
- Free, and Clear (2004)
- Dead Horse Point (2007)
- In the Wheels (1990)
- Petit Mal #3: Persistence (2011)
- The Continuing Adventures of Rocket Boy (2004)
- Story Notes
Cover art by Antonello Silverini
273 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
46 people are currently reading
927 people want to read
About the author
Daryl Gregory
151 books1,457 followersAward-winning author of Revelator, The Album of Dr. Moreau, Spoonbenders, We Are All Completely Fine, and others. Some of his short fiction has been collected in Unpossible and Other Stories.
He's won the World Fantasy Award, as well as the Shirley Jackson, Crawford, Asimov Readers, and Geffen awards, and his work has been short-listed for many other awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon awards . His books have been translated in over a dozen languages, and have been named to best-of-the-year lists from NPR Books, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal.
He is also the writer of Flatline an interactive fiction game from 3 Minute Games, and comics such as Planet of the Apes.
He's a frequent teacher of writing and is a regular instructor at the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.
He's won the World Fantasy Award, as well as the Shirley Jackson, Crawford, Asimov Readers, and Geffen awards, and his work has been short-listed for many other awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon awards . His books have been translated in over a dozen languages, and have been named to best-of-the-year lists from NPR Books, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal.
He is also the writer of Flatline an interactive fiction game from 3 Minute Games, and comics such as Planet of the Apes.
He's a frequent teacher of writing and is a regular instructor at the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
October 28, 2018
Mind = blown.
I can only read this one story at a time, because my brain needs a cool-down.
I can only read this one story at a time, because my brain needs a cool-down.
June 10, 2015
Daryl Gregory has been one of my favourite discoveries of the past couple of years. I've read two of his novels, Pandemonium and Raising Stony Mayhall and fallen quite in love with them. This time, I was settling down to read his short stories, and by far and large, I enjoyed them quite a lot. But there's also a way in which what I like most about this author is better displayed in longer formats.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
March 4, 2012
Como casi todas las antologías es un poco desigual, pero mi opinión sobre los libros de Daryl Gregory sigue siendo estupenda. Recupero algún comentario cuento a cuento.
1. SECOND PERSON, PRESENT TENSE
El principio recuerda un poco al Greg Egan de algunos relatos, con su interés en explorar la naturaleza de la conciencia a partir de la neurociencia, aunque la intención del cuento parece otra. Aparentemente está más interesado en las relaciones entre las personas. Es un cuento bonito,sutil y más bien triste. También enigmático. Me gusta como recurre a pequeños detalles para mostrar que la madre es la primera que consigue aceptar la realidad de la situación de su hija. Sobresaliente.
2. UNPOSSIBLE
Un cuento de retorno al reino de la infancia perdida. La imaginería del planteamiento es muy interesante y funciona realmente bien, con metáforas hermosas y una atmosfera nostálgica y onírica muy conseguida. El final me sabe poco. Notable.
3. DAMASCUS
La religión como enfermedad. Notable
4. THE ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GRIMM
Parece un número de Astro City. Notable. Buen final
5. GARDENING AT NIGHT
Pide a gritos una secuela. Sobresaliente.
6. PETIT MAL #1: GLASS
Muy buena premisa y bien llevada a cabo. Su brevedad es una virtud. Sobresaliente.
7. WHAT WE TAKE WHEN WE TAKE WHAT WE NEED
Muy sofocante. Muy bueno. Me gusta el tipo de fantasía cotidiana/rural que escribe. Sobresaliente.
8. PETIT MAL #2: DIGITAL
Divertido a rabiar. Sobresaliente.
9. MESSAGE FROM THE BUBBLEGUM FACTORY
Astro City strikes again. Mejor planteamiento que desarrollo. Bien. Lo mejor es que en las notas finales el escritor dice que habrá dos secuelas, con lo cual el desarrollo mejorará.
10. FREE, AND CLEAR
Divertido y ya. Regular.
11. DEAD HORSE POINT
Buenísimo. Matrícula de honor
12. IN THE WHEELS
Coches demoníacos, mundo post-apocalíptico. El cuento se le queda corto. Notable.
13. PETIT MAL #3: PERSISTENCE
Me gustan estos cuentitos estilo Oliver Sacks. Este es bonito. Notable.
14. THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF ROCKET BOY
Como otros en el libro, me ha gustado mucho pero me sabe a poco. Notable
1. SECOND PERSON, PRESENT TENSE
El principio recuerda un poco al Greg Egan de algunos relatos, con su interés en explorar la naturaleza de la conciencia a partir de la neurociencia, aunque la intención del cuento parece otra. Aparentemente está más interesado en las relaciones entre las personas. Es un cuento bonito,sutil y más bien triste. También enigmático. Me gusta como recurre a pequeños detalles para mostrar que la madre es la primera que consigue aceptar la realidad de la situación de su hija. Sobresaliente.
2. UNPOSSIBLE
Un cuento de retorno al reino de la infancia perdida. La imaginería del planteamiento es muy interesante y funciona realmente bien, con metáforas hermosas y una atmosfera nostálgica y onírica muy conseguida. El final me sabe poco. Notable.
3. DAMASCUS
La religión como enfermedad. Notable
4. THE ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GRIMM
Parece un número de Astro City. Notable. Buen final
5. GARDENING AT NIGHT
Pide a gritos una secuela. Sobresaliente.
6. PETIT MAL #1: GLASS
Muy buena premisa y bien llevada a cabo. Su brevedad es una virtud. Sobresaliente.
7. WHAT WE TAKE WHEN WE TAKE WHAT WE NEED
Muy sofocante. Muy bueno. Me gusta el tipo de fantasía cotidiana/rural que escribe. Sobresaliente.
8. PETIT MAL #2: DIGITAL
Divertido a rabiar. Sobresaliente.
9. MESSAGE FROM THE BUBBLEGUM FACTORY
Astro City strikes again. Mejor planteamiento que desarrollo. Bien. Lo mejor es que en las notas finales el escritor dice que habrá dos secuelas, con lo cual el desarrollo mejorará.
10. FREE, AND CLEAR
Divertido y ya. Regular.
11. DEAD HORSE POINT
Buenísimo. Matrícula de honor
12. IN THE WHEELS
Coches demoníacos, mundo post-apocalíptico. El cuento se le queda corto. Notable.
13. PETIT MAL #3: PERSISTENCE
Me gustan estos cuentitos estilo Oliver Sacks. Este es bonito. Notable.
14. THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF ROCKET BOY
Como otros en el libro, me ha gustado mucho pero me sabe a poco. Notable
August 31, 2014
A very good collection of short stories from a great writer of speculative fiction. My favorite from this collection is the excellent Damascus, about religious zealots who contaminate a city's blood banks to share with people "the blood of Christ." Other stand outs, Second Person, Present Tense (a young girl experiences a radical personality change), Glass (a therapist injects empathy and remorse into a serial killer), Dead Horse Point (a savant with severe ADD loses herself in herself) and Persistence (what if one day your vision froze to a single image for the rest of your life). What We Take When We Take What We Need is an early version of Mr. Gregory's excellent novel The Devil's Alphabet. Interesting to see where the novel began. I did not enjoy the comic book/superhero themed stories in this collection. Each felt incomplete, like a excerpt from a larger story that the reader is not privy too.
July 7, 2012
Disappointing. I didn't particularly like any of these stories, or think much of the collection as a whole. Many seem to lack conclusion or even a sense of finale. Enjoyed his novels Pandemonium and Stony Mayhall; didn't find The Devil's Alphabet to be on their level, and unfortunately think the same is true of this collection.
May 3, 2018
Ugh. I hate this book so much! Daryl Gregory is too smart and too talented.
Now I guess I have to read more of his stuff. Except my brain is broken soooo...
Now I guess I have to read more of his stuff. Except my brain is broken soooo...
November 2, 2012
I'm not always a fan of the short story, but I've really enjoyed the couple of Daryl Gregory novels I've read so I thought I'd give these a try too.
I often find that short stories tend to be darker than novels, maybe because a short story has to give an emotional punch in a much shorter space and so can't vary the mood as much. No exception in these stories. I don't tend to enjoy reading darker moods as much, although the story subjects are all interesting and thoughtful. I find Gregory's novels to have more humor in them and to feel a bit more hopeful, even though they've got their dark elements too of course- demonic possession and zombie apocalypse can't be all fun and games, after all!
Common themes include perception and consciousness. Most of the stories have a science fiction/fantasy feel, but there are a couple that you might not think of that way if you weren't reading them with the rest of this collection. I'm a big fan of "Message from the Bubblegum Factory", a story that turns the superhero/comic book trope around and looks at it a different way.
I'd rather read his novels, but these are good stories. You might consider spacing them out a bit if you want a mood respite.
I often find that short stories tend to be darker than novels, maybe because a short story has to give an emotional punch in a much shorter space and so can't vary the mood as much. No exception in these stories. I don't tend to enjoy reading darker moods as much, although the story subjects are all interesting and thoughtful. I find Gregory's novels to have more humor in them and to feel a bit more hopeful, even though they've got their dark elements too of course- demonic possession and zombie apocalypse can't be all fun and games, after all!
Common themes include perception and consciousness. Most of the stories have a science fiction/fantasy feel, but there are a couple that you might not think of that way if you weren't reading them with the rest of this collection. I'm a big fan of "Message from the Bubblegum Factory", a story that turns the superhero/comic book trope around and looks at it a different way.
I'd rather read his novels, but these are good stories. You might consider spacing them out a bit if you want a mood respite.
December 26, 2012
A whole-year collection! I have loved Gregory's novels, and wanted to simply tuck in to this, as if a meal. Instead--what fortitude and willpower!--I spread it out, nibbling away each month or so. I love how open to risky innovation the author is, but , for all the terrific riffing on tropes and conventions across the spectrum of speculative fiction, Gregory consistently centers on strong characters. A very good writer--try these out, or circle back after you try out his novels.
January 13, 2019
A short story SF collection
I don't typically include summaries of short stories in my reviews, but I'm realizing that I often forget what short stories are about after reading them so I'm including a sentence of specifics on each. I'm put them in order of which I enjoyed most (at the top) to those I enjoyed least at the bottom. All of the stories were worth reading. I'm a huge fan of Daryl Gregory's novels, and I'm impressed with his short stories as well.
Damascus: Paula begins seeing God after she makes friends with a group of women with a secret.
Message from the Bubblegum Factory: The former sidekick of a superhero breaks into a Super Max prison to release some supervillians.
Petit Mal #1: Glass: Drug tests on psychotic convicts affect their ability to feel regret.
Second Person, Present Tense: Therese isn’t herself after taking a new drug, but her ‘mother’ and ‘father’ want her back.
Petit Mal #2: Digital: Franklin’s consciousness moves to inhabit only his left hand.
The Continuing Adventures of Rocket Boy: Tim is determined to figure out what happened to his friend Stevie, who died while filming the last scene of their childhood SF film.
Dead Horse Point: Venya helps a genius friend whose trips into her head are becoming longer and longer.
Unpossible: A man tries desperately to return to the fantasy world he used to reach on his bike as a boy.
The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm: In a world of superhero/super villain battles, one of the observers tells how the war affects the normal people.
What We Take When We Take What We Need: the roots of “The Devil’s Alphabet” novel
In the Wheels: Joey’s friend harnesses a demon to serve as a muscle car engine so that he can race cars.
Gardening at Night: Programmed code change in mini-robots affect the results of an experiment.
Petit Mal #3: Persistence: A woman who is in an accident can only see the face of her child, locked in one moment of time.
Free, and Clear: Edward goes to desperate lengths to clear his sinuses.
I don't typically include summaries of short stories in my reviews, but I'm realizing that I often forget what short stories are about after reading them so I'm including a sentence of specifics on each. I'm put them in order of which I enjoyed most (at the top) to those I enjoyed least at the bottom. All of the stories were worth reading. I'm a huge fan of Daryl Gregory's novels, and I'm impressed with his short stories as well.
Damascus: Paula begins seeing God after she makes friends with a group of women with a secret.
Message from the Bubblegum Factory: The former sidekick of a superhero breaks into a Super Max prison to release some supervillians.
Petit Mal #1: Glass: Drug tests on psychotic convicts affect their ability to feel regret.
Second Person, Present Tense: Therese isn’t herself after taking a new drug, but her ‘mother’ and ‘father’ want her back.
Petit Mal #2: Digital: Franklin’s consciousness moves to inhabit only his left hand.
The Continuing Adventures of Rocket Boy: Tim is determined to figure out what happened to his friend Stevie, who died while filming the last scene of their childhood SF film.
Dead Horse Point: Venya helps a genius friend whose trips into her head are becoming longer and longer.
Unpossible: A man tries desperately to return to the fantasy world he used to reach on his bike as a boy.
The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm: In a world of superhero/super villain battles, one of the observers tells how the war affects the normal people.
What We Take When We Take What We Need: the roots of “The Devil’s Alphabet” novel
In the Wheels: Joey’s friend harnesses a demon to serve as a muscle car engine so that he can race cars.
Gardening at Night: Programmed code change in mini-robots affect the results of an experiment.
Petit Mal #3: Persistence: A woman who is in an accident can only see the face of her child, locked in one moment of time.
Free, and Clear: Edward goes to desperate lengths to clear his sinuses.
December 5, 2019
I’m not often a short story fan or sci fi reader. I get frustrated by starting over again just when I’d settled into the plot and characters of the last story. I read this book because I so enjoyed Gregory’s recent novel, Spoonbenders. Some of the stories I liked a lot. I tend to enjoy science fiction most when it centers on psychology, time travel, or using new scientific research to imagine new advances. Stories with strange creatures, unless they're trying to enlighten humans, lose me, so I averaged my rating.
What most impressed me about this collection were the finishing touches. The Introduction by Nancy Kress was utterly charming. She seems to be both a fan and friend of the author and summarized the recurring themes in Gregory’s writing. What she said fit his novel, too. Before reading the stories, I also read “About You,” Gregory’s biography written in second person, present tense: more charm. The third bonus was “Story Notes.” I followed his instructions and read them after each story to see what inspired the work. That’s always fun to learn.
Kress was right in her analysis. Although the stories are vastly different in locations, situations,
and time frame (not always specified, but we know it’s in the future) what they have in common is that when his characters want something, “they want it with every fiber of their fictional souls.” Complicated relationships and an obsession with “the limits of the human brain” also color these stories. I found the overall tone bleak, but interesting just the same.
What most impressed me about this collection were the finishing touches. The Introduction by Nancy Kress was utterly charming. She seems to be both a fan and friend of the author and summarized the recurring themes in Gregory’s writing. What she said fit his novel, too. Before reading the stories, I also read “About You,” Gregory’s biography written in second person, present tense: more charm. The third bonus was “Story Notes.” I followed his instructions and read them after each story to see what inspired the work. That’s always fun to learn.
Kress was right in her analysis. Although the stories are vastly different in locations, situations,
and time frame (not always specified, but we know it’s in the future) what they have in common is that when his characters want something, “they want it with every fiber of their fictional souls.” Complicated relationships and an obsession with “the limits of the human brain” also color these stories. I found the overall tone bleak, but interesting just the same.
February 1, 2014
Daryl Gregory is an inspiration when it comes to imagination, world-building strangeness into everyday life, and the density of the sensory detail. I love his novels and I loved most of the short stories in this book. There was only one that I really could not get into, so I ended up skipping it, but the rest were vivid and just so damn good. If you haven't read his books, start with Pandemonium. I think that is my favorite, followed by Raising Stony Mayhall. Or if you like short works, start with this book. Certainly you will run the gamut of themes and types of stories, and his amazing talent is very clearly on display.
September 21, 2014
An insanely good short story collection. There are really fresh ideas here about consciousness and physics, coupled with religion and human folly. Heartbreaking fantasy, too. My favorites are “Second Person, Present Tense”, the title story “Unpossible”, and “The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm”, which is set in a country resembling Russia and where Superman is the villain. Gregory was raised a Southern Baptist and works as a programmer, and the influence of both worlds is clear in his fiction.
September 9, 2020
Some real gems in here. The title story is particularly wonderful but so are many of the others. Several draw on real brain science (Second Person, Present Tense; Damascus; Petit Mal #2: Digital; Petit Mal #3: Persistence
Addiction/drugs/drug abuse is also a frequent theme (Second Person, Present Tense; Unpossible; Damascus; Petit Mal #1; What We Take When We Take What We Need;
My favorite story was "Dead Horse Point." You think you know what's going on, but you really don't. Great twist at end.
My least favorite story was The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm. I'm not that big of a superhero fan so this felt overlong and too obvious an anti-war metaphor to hold my interest. Ditto for Message from the Bubblegum Factory. In the Wheels was okay but a little too much "young boys play with cars" for my taste. The Continuing Adventures of Rocket Boy was better, still about friendship between two boys, but still not as strong as some of the other stories.
Superbugs make an appearance in "Gardening at Night" and for this reader, brought to mind COVID. Super allergies are the theme of "Free and Clear" but although I have pretty severe allergies, I didn't get this story at all.
Lots of good writing here. One example (from one of my favorite stories in the collection) is this paragraph that does a fantastic job of setting the scene:
"Then he saw it, the sheet metal half swallowed by ivy, its message punctuated by bullet holes. WELCOME TO SWITCHCREEK, TN, POPULATION 815. The number was a lie, unchanged since the day he drove out twelve years ago. Or perhaps a temporary lie. Maybe o one had died or been born or moved away in all that time, the town waiting for him like an old dog that wouldn't leave the porch, and now that he'd returned the number was true again."
I loved "Raising Stony Mayhall" by this author so much, I wasn't sure if his short stories could measure up, but this collection shows Gregory is just as good in short form as he is in novel length.
Addiction/drugs/drug abuse is also a frequent theme (Second Person, Present Tense; Unpossible; Damascus; Petit Mal #1; What We Take When We Take What We Need;
My favorite story was "Dead Horse Point." You think you know what's going on, but you really don't. Great twist at end.
My least favorite story was The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm. I'm not that big of a superhero fan so this felt overlong and too obvious an anti-war metaphor to hold my interest. Ditto for Message from the Bubblegum Factory. In the Wheels was okay but a little too much "young boys play with cars" for my taste. The Continuing Adventures of Rocket Boy was better, still about friendship between two boys, but still not as strong as some of the other stories.
Superbugs make an appearance in "Gardening at Night" and for this reader, brought to mind COVID. Super allergies are the theme of "Free and Clear" but although I have pretty severe allergies, I didn't get this story at all.
Lots of good writing here. One example (from one of my favorite stories in the collection) is this paragraph that does a fantastic job of setting the scene:
"Then he saw it, the sheet metal half swallowed by ivy, its message punctuated by bullet holes. WELCOME TO SWITCHCREEK, TN, POPULATION 815. The number was a lie, unchanged since the day he drove out twelve years ago. Or perhaps a temporary lie. Maybe o one had died or been born or moved away in all that time, the town waiting for him like an old dog that wouldn't leave the porch, and now that he'd returned the number was true again."
I loved "Raising Stony Mayhall" by this author so much, I wasn't sure if his short stories could measure up, but this collection shows Gregory is just as good in short form as he is in novel length.
July 30, 2018
I read the first story in this anthology, "Second Person, Present Tense", in a sci-fi collection in a bookstore several years ago while waiting for a friend, and it stuck with me so strongly that I kept reading sci-fi anthologies in the hopes of coming across it again. The story is about a drug called Z that suppresses the conscious part of your brain, and what happens to a teenager when she overdoses on it. At the time, I couldn't remember the name of the story or author, so I was delighted to discover it again so many years later. It was even better than I remembered!
Most of the stories are interesting and engaging; I especially liked the recurring theme of consciousness running through a few stories. I was less of a fan of the superhero stories but I have to admit that the variety was refreshing. Definitely skip the story about allergies, which sadly just reads like filler.
Overall I enjoyed most of this collection, and "Second Person, Present Tense" remains one of my absolute favourite sci-fi short stories.
Most of the stories are interesting and engaging; I especially liked the recurring theme of consciousness running through a few stories. I was less of a fan of the superhero stories but I have to admit that the variety was refreshing. Definitely skip the story about allergies, which sadly just reads like filler.
Overall I enjoyed most of this collection, and "Second Person, Present Tense" remains one of my absolute favourite sci-fi short stories.
September 11, 2021
Unpossible is unpossibly brilliant. Finished Afterparty and had to leap into the next DG I could lay my hands on, which turned out to be this one.
Some of the best short stories I've had the good fortune to read, and I read a *lot* of short stories.
Dark fantasy, SF, touches of horror. Good enough that I burned through the whole volume in two quick bursts. Immediately jumped into Raising Stony Mayhall, which may well turn out to be my favorite of the lot. I've read more than half of it over the last couple of hours. If you've read anything by this guy, I don't have to tell you how good he is. In my opinion, anyway. If I don't slow down a bit, I'm going to run out of D. Gregory, and I'm sure I'll have withdrawal symptoms. If you haven't read anything he's written, I suggest you do so. 4.5 stars, easily.
BTW, this isn't a collaboration with Nancy Kress, she just wrote the intro. Enjoy.
Some of the best short stories I've had the good fortune to read, and I read a *lot* of short stories.
Dark fantasy, SF, touches of horror. Good enough that I burned through the whole volume in two quick bursts. Immediately jumped into Raising Stony Mayhall, which may well turn out to be my favorite of the lot. I've read more than half of it over the last couple of hours. If you've read anything by this guy, I don't have to tell you how good he is. In my opinion, anyway. If I don't slow down a bit, I'm going to run out of D. Gregory, and I'm sure I'll have withdrawal symptoms. If you haven't read anything he's written, I suggest you do so. 4.5 stars, easily.
BTW, this isn't a collaboration with Nancy Kress, she just wrote the intro. Enjoy.
May 17, 2019
Heartfelt and shrewdly written, this is a collection to mark up and come back to. Several of these stories have corker endings and the most amazing bits here are those never published before. Well worth your time to read it once, and then again slowed down, like a young magician watching videotapes of a master, hoping to catch a glimpse of where the trick actually happens.
A lot of collections make amazing claims in their jacket copy—this one delivers. Highly recommended.
A lot of collections make amazing claims in their jacket copy—this one delivers. Highly recommended.
August 26, 2019
Some really great stories and some stinkers. “What we take when we take what we need” is one of the most disturbing stories I’ve ever read that didn’t rely on graphic violence or sex. The short form “petit-mal” stories were all good. The continuing adventures of rocket boy was heartbreaking. But the illustrated biography of lord grimm, in the wheels, and free and clear were pretty bad. Everything else falls in between. Maybe try one of his novels
March 27, 2022
IF there were a story in Unpossible and Other Stories that I found my eyes glazing over as I read / looking ahead to the next entry (which is the case with most collections, even the best of them), then I don't remember it. From cannibal cults to a nostalgic take on children's storybook heroes, there's a little bit of everything, all entertaining and highly recommended.
June 17, 2018
I really liked the story about the super hero sidekick. I realized - with the success of all the Marvel movies, where are all the super hero books? There's Soon I will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman...and Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld...and? I need more super hero books!!!
February 22, 2019
His first published collection containing content written before his novels. It starts off with two mind-blowing stories and then settles into a decent mix of good and lesser good efforts. :-)
I call some lesser good only because the endings were very abrupt or left the reader dangling. I enjoyed reading them all because there currently isn't a lot of existing material by him.
I call some lesser good only because the endings were very abrupt or left the reader dangling. I enjoyed reading them all because there currently isn't a lot of existing material by him.
December 29, 2025
Short stories by the author of Pandemonium. These are sci-fi, fantasy, with some tech and neurological aspects. Really liked them, but they are definitely quirky. Just recently read We're All Completely Fine by this author and wanted to read more.
October 2, 2017
I loved it. I didn't like all of the stories the same amount, but they were all thought provoking for me.
April 15, 2018
The short story “second person, present tense” is one of the most striking stories I’ve ever read.
March 20, 2021
Gregory is a highly intelligent man with great ideas, but unfortunately he’s still having a hard time making good stories out of them, at least stories entertaining to me.
Read
October 23, 2021Really weird. A few stories were interesting. A couple really odd. One very off putting. Mixed bag.
November 25, 2022
Wow. Casually dark. I loved it
December 29, 2022
I am usually not a reader of short stories but these ones are, for the most part, quite compelling. There are one or two duds but that may just be me, not comprehending his purpose.
November 15, 2023
This is a great collection collection of short stories that are disturbing, thought provoking and emotional. Just pick it up and read it!
March 29, 2024
One of the most inventive writers on the planet. Some of these will stay with me for a while. I kept this in my car as a treat to read while waiting for various spawn of mine to finish activities….
October 7, 2016
A fine showcase for characters
Daryl Gregory has a rare talent for establishing scene, conflict, and character in short order. His prose is lean, but not sparse, and his stories are expeditions into humanity.
Daryl Gregory has a rare talent for establishing scene, conflict, and character in short order. His prose is lean, but not sparse, and his stories are expeditions into humanity.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews