What do you think?
Rate this book
Space Ships & Other Trips: A Short Story Collection: Book II
Part II of this debut collection by multi-award-winning author and artist Raven Oak brings together speculative fiction stories from the past ten years of her career, ranging from space adventures with a dash of mystery and other near-future tales to post-apocalyptic stories and deep dives into the mind.
You’ll find closed-ship mysteries, foul-acting apps, talking cats, retail hell, and hacked programs in these ELEVEN speculative fiction pieces. Space Ships & Other Trips contains FIVE never-before seen stories for your enjoyment, including a tie-in story from Jeff Sturgeon’s The Last Cities of Earth universe.
STORIES The Loss of Luna, Hungry, Mouth, Only a Bird, Q-Be, Hands, Ol’ St. Nick, Drip, Level Up, Scout’s Honor , and D.E.A.T.H.
You’ll find closed-ship mysteries, foul-acting apps, talking cats, retail hell, and hacked programs in these ELEVEN speculative fiction pieces. Space Ships & Other Trips contains FIVE never-before seen stories for your enjoyment, including a tie-in story from Jeff Sturgeon’s The Last Cities of Earth universe.
STORIES The Loss of Luna, Hungry, Mouth, Only a Bird, Q-Be, Hands, Ol’ St. Nick, Drip, Level Up, Scout’s Honor , and D.E.A.T.H.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2023
7 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Raven Oak
27 books283 followersMulti-international award-winning speculative fiction author and artist Raven Oak (she/they) is best known for Amaskan’s Blood (2016 Ozma Fantasy Award Winner, Epic Awards Finalist, & Reader’s Choice Award Winner), Amaskan’s War (2018 UK Wishing Award YA Finalist), and Class-M Exile. With over a dozen short stories in various anthologies, she's even published on the moon! Raven spent most of her K-12 education doodling and writing 500 page monstrosities that are forever locked away in a filing cabinet.
Besides being a writer and artist, she’s a geeky, disabled ENBY who enjoys getting her game on with tabletop games, indulging in cartography and art, or staring at the ocean. She lives in the Seattle area with her partner, and their three kitties who enjoy lounging across the keyboard when writing deadlines approach. Her hair color changes as often as her bio does, and you can find her at www.ravenoak.net.
Besides being a writer and artist, she’s a geeky, disabled ENBY who enjoys getting her game on with tabletop games, indulging in cartography and art, or staring at the ocean. She lives in the Seattle area with her partner, and their three kitties who enjoy lounging across the keyboard when writing deadlines approach. Her hair color changes as often as her bio does, and you can find her at www.ravenoak.net.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 28, 2023
"Truly alive or mechanical, that little bird had lived more dead than their desensitized hearts ever could."
Drawing from both personal experiences and current matters that often pop up in the realm of technology, this sci-fi anthology covers a range of diverse, dark and creative narratives. I do feel that some of the stories are a bit of a miss for me and aren't that memorable. But I very much enjoy the dystopian side, even though a few stories don't particularly fit with the theme or felt rather haphazardly included.
My personal favorites are The Loss of Luna, Level Up, and D.E.A.T.H. Overall it's a pretty diverting short read. Thank you BookSirens and Grey Sun Press for the free copy, I'm leaving this review voluntarily.
Drawing from both personal experiences and current matters that often pop up in the realm of technology, this sci-fi anthology covers a range of diverse, dark and creative narratives. I do feel that some of the stories are a bit of a miss for me and aren't that memorable. But I very much enjoy the dystopian side, even though a few stories don't particularly fit with the theme or felt rather haphazardly included.
My personal favorites are The Loss of Luna, Level Up, and D.E.A.T.H. Overall it's a pretty diverting short read. Thank you BookSirens and Grey Sun Press for the free copy, I'm leaving this review voluntarily.
June 28, 2023
I found this a nice easy read. storys were enjoyable but sadly only a few of these worked for me. I enjoyed the meaning behind some of these storys and the authors writting flowed very well.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Many thanks to the Author, publisher and Booksirens.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Many thanks to the Author, publisher and Booksirens.
July 23, 2023
I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed the first installment of short stories and this one was just as enjoyable. You don’t have to read one collection to enjoy the other. This has 11 short stories ranging from a few pages to a few chapters and is a bit more sci fi based but covers many different sub-genres. I really enjoyed Ol St. Nick, a space opera type of story with a mystery element; D.E.A.TH., a cool hacker mystery that anyone who works in software development can appreciate; and Hungry if you’ve ever owned a pet this one will resonate.
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the author through these short stories. I really like that each story has an explanation at the end as to why it was written and where it was published initially. If you are looking for a great short story collection with a sci fi theme give this a try.
I really enjoyed the first installment of short stories and this one was just as enjoyable. You don’t have to read one collection to enjoy the other. This has 11 short stories ranging from a few pages to a few chapters and is a bit more sci fi based but covers many different sub-genres. I really enjoyed Ol St. Nick, a space opera type of story with a mystery element; D.E.A.TH., a cool hacker mystery that anyone who works in software development can appreciate; and Hungry if you’ve ever owned a pet this one will resonate.
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the author through these short stories. I really like that each story has an explanation at the end as to why it was written and where it was published initially. If you are looking for a great short story collection with a sci fi theme give this a try.
January 19, 2025
IN A NUTSHELL
There are eleven stories in this collection. Five of them worked well for me: Q-BE about an abusive app, OL' SAINT NICK a murder mystery on salvage space ship, DRIP a vivid evocation of insomnia and anxiety , LEVEL UP a grim picture of the street people in the near-future and SCOUT'S HONOR a cartel-sponsored treasure hunt with a newly-minted pirate captain of an airship in a far-future Mexico
Overall, I enjoyed this collection. I admired its variety and its inventiveness and I liked the sense of intimacy added by the author's notes.
I didn't like the order that the stories where presented in. If I was the editor, I'd want to start and end on strong stories. From my point of view, the strong stoires are all in the middle. The downside of this is that I alsmost set the collection aside after none of the first four stories landed for me. The first one was a sort of poem. The other three were slightly whimsical or 'what if?' stories with a subtext on the importance of empathy. They left me thinking that I this collection might not be for me. Given the title, I hadn't expected to wait until the seventh story before I encountered a space ship.
I've commented on each of the stories individually below, in the order that the occur in the book.
THE LOSS OF LUNA
This was a clever idea - of the one line punchline variety - presented almost as poetry. An odd choice to oprn a collection of speculative fiction short stories with. It was OK but more like a writing exercise in response to a prompt than a story to pull me into the collection.
HUNGRY
A near-future story with an app that translates a cat's cries into simple human speach. The situation felt real. as did the relationship with the cat. I was surprised that the main point of the story was that, if cats could speak, we'd feel obliged to treat them well. I already feel obliged to treat them well, even when they are being scent spraying, dead bird carrying, arrogant, demanding little monsters, so this story didn't have much impact on me.
MOUTH
This is a horror story where the main horror is having to do a retail job during the Christmas season which brings you into constant contact with screaming, smelly, contagious children and babies. I that the horror in the started came fromn the change brought about when a table top gaming store had become 'familiy friendly' turning it from something cool and nerdish into something loud and incessantly demanding. I understnd the ending but it arrived quite abruptly.
ONLY A BIRD
This was a story about the importance of empathy. It had a couple of cute ideas in it about testing man-made animals but overall it was too didactic for me.
Q-BE
This was the first story that worked for me. I think it should have been the first story in the collection, not the fourth, eapecially as it was the author's first traditionally published short story.
This story of an abusive app reminded me of Stephen King's 'UR' but set in a campus population.
HANDS
A vivid sketch of a how anxiety manifests. Not quite developed into a story.
OL' SAINT NICK
At last, a space ship story and a mystery at that.. A dead body discovered by a crew salvaging a wracked spaceship - a body that hadn't been dead when the crew boarded the ship. I had fun with this one. It was a solid mystery and did a good job of building up a picture of how a small salvage crew scrapes a living in space.
DRIP
This is a very short story but it isn't a sketch. It's complete and satisfying. It captures the experience of being in insomnia's grip with your anxiety rising relentlessly like water that will eventually drown you. The anxiety here comes from being aware of the destruction being caused by wildfires and how hard they are to stop and how powerless we ae before them. It shows how the ability to visualise disaster can drip tiny drops of fear into your bloodstream for hours at a time.
LEVEL UP
I thought I knew where this grim story about being homeless in a near-future Manhattan was going. The desitnation I had in mind wasn't a pleasant one but the story was getting there in style. Then I hit the twist, got taken somewhere even worse than I'd imagined and was given an ending that will stick with me, not just because it's original and terrible but because I believe it describes something that the very richest in America would smile about as they set it up. As Raven Oak says in her afterword "We'd do it if we could".
SCOUT'S HONOR
A cartel-sponsored treasure hunt with a newly-minted pirate captain of an airship in a far-future Mexico, two centuries after the apocalypse story that was fun and intriguing. I liked the Scout character and Captain Pia, I think they'd be a good pair to hang a novel on.
D.E.A.T.H.
This was a clever and original idea dealing with population control once most killer diseases have been tamed. It uses a puzzle type murder mystery to drive the plot and focus the world-building. I thought the ending was a little abrupt.
There are eleven stories in this collection. Five of them worked well for me: Q-BE about an abusive app, OL' SAINT NICK a murder mystery on salvage space ship, DRIP a vivid evocation of insomnia and anxiety , LEVEL UP a grim picture of the street people in the near-future and SCOUT'S HONOR a cartel-sponsored treasure hunt with a newly-minted pirate captain of an airship in a far-future Mexico
Overall, I enjoyed this collection. I admired its variety and its inventiveness and I liked the sense of intimacy added by the author's notes.
I didn't like the order that the stories where presented in. If I was the editor, I'd want to start and end on strong stories. From my point of view, the strong stoires are all in the middle. The downside of this is that I alsmost set the collection aside after none of the first four stories landed for me. The first one was a sort of poem. The other three were slightly whimsical or 'what if?' stories with a subtext on the importance of empathy. They left me thinking that I this collection might not be for me. Given the title, I hadn't expected to wait until the seventh story before I encountered a space ship.
I've commented on each of the stories individually below, in the order that the occur in the book.
THE LOSS OF LUNA
This was a clever idea - of the one line punchline variety - presented almost as poetry. An odd choice to oprn a collection of speculative fiction short stories with. It was OK but more like a writing exercise in response to a prompt than a story to pull me into the collection.
HUNGRY
A near-future story with an app that translates a cat's cries into simple human speach. The situation felt real. as did the relationship with the cat. I was surprised that the main point of the story was that, if cats could speak, we'd feel obliged to treat them well. I already feel obliged to treat them well, even when they are being scent spraying, dead bird carrying, arrogant, demanding little monsters, so this story didn't have much impact on me.
MOUTH
This is a horror story where the main horror is having to do a retail job during the Christmas season which brings you into constant contact with screaming, smelly, contagious children and babies. I that the horror in the started came fromn the change brought about when a table top gaming store had become 'familiy friendly' turning it from something cool and nerdish into something loud and incessantly demanding. I understnd the ending but it arrived quite abruptly.
ONLY A BIRD
This was a story about the importance of empathy. It had a couple of cute ideas in it about testing man-made animals but overall it was too didactic for me.
Q-BE
This was the first story that worked for me. I think it should have been the first story in the collection, not the fourth, eapecially as it was the author's first traditionally published short story.
This story of an abusive app reminded me of Stephen King's 'UR' but set in a campus population.
HANDS
A vivid sketch of a how anxiety manifests. Not quite developed into a story.
OL' SAINT NICK
At last, a space ship story and a mystery at that.. A dead body discovered by a crew salvaging a wracked spaceship - a body that hadn't been dead when the crew boarded the ship. I had fun with this one. It was a solid mystery and did a good job of building up a picture of how a small salvage crew scrapes a living in space.
DRIP
This is a very short story but it isn't a sketch. It's complete and satisfying. It captures the experience of being in insomnia's grip with your anxiety rising relentlessly like water that will eventually drown you. The anxiety here comes from being aware of the destruction being caused by wildfires and how hard they are to stop and how powerless we ae before them. It shows how the ability to visualise disaster can drip tiny drops of fear into your bloodstream for hours at a time.
LEVEL UP
I thought I knew where this grim story about being homeless in a near-future Manhattan was going. The desitnation I had in mind wasn't a pleasant one but the story was getting there in style. Then I hit the twist, got taken somewhere even worse than I'd imagined and was given an ending that will stick with me, not just because it's original and terrible but because I believe it describes something that the very richest in America would smile about as they set it up. As Raven Oak says in her afterword "We'd do it if we could".
SCOUT'S HONOR
A cartel-sponsored treasure hunt with a newly-minted pirate captain of an airship in a far-future Mexico, two centuries after the apocalypse story that was fun and intriguing. I liked the Scout character and Captain Pia, I think they'd be a good pair to hang a novel on.
D.E.A.T.H.
This was a clever and original idea dealing with population control once most killer diseases have been tamed. It uses a puzzle type murder mystery to drive the plot and focus the world-building. I thought the ending was a little abrupt.
July 14, 2023
How much hope do you have for the future?
“Only a Bird” explored what happened after some students found an injured bird outside of their classroom. The empathy they had for that creature was beautiful. I especially enjoyed their conversations that compared it to the robotic birds that had just begun to be released into the wild. This was a sweet and gentle story that could fit into so many different genres.
There were several stories in this collection that I thought would have been better with more development. “Drip” was one of them. As intrigued as I was by the protagonist’s struggle with insomnia, I had a lot of unanswered questions about the world they lived in. For example, I would have liked to know what was going on with all of the out-of-control fires they were worrying about as they tried to go to sleep. Was this an unusual portion of daily life in their world or was it something frightening that ordinary people had no choice but to deal with regularly? These sorts of questions about the world building kept popping up for me and influenced the rating I ended up choosing.
To be perfectly honest with all of you, eating out of a dumpster isn’t something I ever expect to read about in the science fiction genre. The fact that “Level Up” began with a scene about the main character doing this intrigued me, especially once she was interrupted a moment later just as she was about to enjoy an English muffin. There are so many plot twists I wish I could dive into, but this is one of those tales that works best for readers who know as little as possible about what is to come. What I can say is that it was creative and made me want more.
This is the second anthology in a series that does not need to be read in order. Just like with Dragon Springs & Other Things, be sure to read the author’s notes to learn about where her ideas came from!
Space Ships & Other Trips was full of surprises.
“Only a Bird” explored what happened after some students found an injured bird outside of their classroom. The empathy they had for that creature was beautiful. I especially enjoyed their conversations that compared it to the robotic birds that had just begun to be released into the wild. This was a sweet and gentle story that could fit into so many different genres.
There were several stories in this collection that I thought would have been better with more development. “Drip” was one of them. As intrigued as I was by the protagonist’s struggle with insomnia, I had a lot of unanswered questions about the world they lived in. For example, I would have liked to know what was going on with all of the out-of-control fires they were worrying about as they tried to go to sleep. Was this an unusual portion of daily life in their world or was it something frightening that ordinary people had no choice but to deal with regularly? These sorts of questions about the world building kept popping up for me and influenced the rating I ended up choosing.
To be perfectly honest with all of you, eating out of a dumpster isn’t something I ever expect to read about in the science fiction genre. The fact that “Level Up” began with a scene about the main character doing this intrigued me, especially once she was interrupted a moment later just as she was about to enjoy an English muffin. There are so many plot twists I wish I could dive into, but this is one of those tales that works best for readers who know as little as possible about what is to come. What I can say is that it was creative and made me want more.
This is the second anthology in a series that does not need to be read in order. Just like with Dragon Springs & Other Things, be sure to read the author’s notes to learn about where her ideas came from!
Space Ships & Other Trips was full of surprises.
May 30, 2023
Thought-provoking, evocative tales
This is an interesting futuristic blend of short stories.
Scout's Honor is dystopian steampunk tale about a minority female who is forced to fly her ship for the cartel.
Level Up is a dystopian story that takes callous indifference toward homeless and trans people to a new level. The main character is trans and newly homeless.
D.E.A.T.H. is murder mystery set in a dystopian future where there's a new approach to population control.
Ol' St. Nick is a murder mystery in space and features minority and lesbian characters.
In Q-Be a lesbian minority college freshman needs extra credit in an ecoomics class to keep her scholarhship.
She and the other economics students have no idea what the extra credit entails.
Hungry and Only a Bird Two are poignant and remind us to not be callous and to take time to be in the moment.
Mouth, Hands, and Drip showcase themes of insomnia and anxiety.
Sometimes you're so tired and anxious, you no longer know what's real and what's imagined.
These stories are a stark reminder that we have a choice of how we approach life.
I liked that the author used LGBTQ+ and minority characters in some stories; and I liked that she tackled subjects of stress and anxiety.
I liked that the stories ranged from the reimagined daily grind to futuristic extremes.
I can't pick one favorite. I loved Hunger and really liked Ol' St. Nick and D.E.A.T.H. and I could really relate to the insomnia and anxiety in Drip.
I recommend this collection for readers of science fiction and for readers wanting more LGBTQ+ and minority protagonists.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is an interesting futuristic blend of short stories.
Scout's Honor is dystopian steampunk tale about a minority female who is forced to fly her ship for the cartel.
Level Up is a dystopian story that takes callous indifference toward homeless and trans people to a new level. The main character is trans and newly homeless.
D.E.A.T.H. is murder mystery set in a dystopian future where there's a new approach to population control.
Ol' St. Nick is a murder mystery in space and features minority and lesbian characters.
In Q-Be a lesbian minority college freshman needs extra credit in an ecoomics class to keep her scholarhship.
She and the other economics students have no idea what the extra credit entails.
Hungry and Only a Bird Two are poignant and remind us to not be callous and to take time to be in the moment.
Mouth, Hands, and Drip showcase themes of insomnia and anxiety.
Sometimes you're so tired and anxious, you no longer know what's real and what's imagined.
These stories are a stark reminder that we have a choice of how we approach life.
I liked that the author used LGBTQ+ and minority characters in some stories; and I liked that she tackled subjects of stress and anxiety.
I liked that the stories ranged from the reimagined daily grind to futuristic extremes.
I can't pick one favorite. I loved Hunger and really liked Ol' St. Nick and D.E.A.T.H. and I could really relate to the insomnia and anxiety in Drip.
I recommend this collection for readers of science fiction and for readers wanting more LGBTQ+ and minority protagonists.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 13, 2023
Just finished the second collection of short stories by Raven Oak. I will start off by saying that overall it was good. However, it just didn't catch my attention as the first collection did. I kept picking this up and then putting it back down. It took me a while to get through this as I just wanted to read something else. Again we are given another 11 stories, and I can say that I wasn't a fan of some of them.
When I did get into a story that I really liked it would seem like it was over too soon, and then the next story would lose my interest. The overall writing style was good, but I couldn't connect with most of these short stories. I think it's because a lot of them had a horror theme, which to be honest I'm not a massive fan of that genre. I honestly believe this collection would appeal to someone who prefers horror to fantasy. For me, the last collection was more fantasy stories which is why I loved it. This one was just more meh to me.
I am still impressed with the amount of details that were able to be captured in such a short time, but I needed a bit more to fully immerse myself in these stories.
As an overall this collection was good but it just wasn't a favorite of mine. Due to this, I am giving this book a 3-star rating as I did enjoy some of the stories. I will definitely be checking out more of Raven Oaks' works, but will probably lean more toward their fantasy stories.
I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens and Grey Stone Press, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
When I did get into a story that I really liked it would seem like it was over too soon, and then the next story would lose my interest. The overall writing style was good, but I couldn't connect with most of these short stories. I think it's because a lot of them had a horror theme, which to be honest I'm not a massive fan of that genre. I honestly believe this collection would appeal to someone who prefers horror to fantasy. For me, the last collection was more fantasy stories which is why I loved it. This one was just more meh to me.
I am still impressed with the amount of details that were able to be captured in such a short time, but I needed a bit more to fully immerse myself in these stories.
As an overall this collection was good but it just wasn't a favorite of mine. Due to this, I am giving this book a 3-star rating as I did enjoy some of the stories. I will definitely be checking out more of Raven Oaks' works, but will probably lean more toward their fantasy stories.
I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens and Grey Stone Press, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 27, 2023
Space Ships & Other Trips is the second book of author Raven Oak’s short story collection. This collection doesn’t have a strong theme tying the stories together and the stories range from science fiction to dystopia to psychological horror. Like all short story collections, there are stories that I liked better than others and stories that I wish could have been full books. Some of my favorite stories include:
Loss of Luna: A lyrical story of Earth’s love for the moon. This story was sweet, timeless and explores loneliness and proximity.
Hunger: Explores our love and willingness to do anything for our pets as well as how technology can aid us in understanding them. A sweet and realistic tale for any cat owner.
Q-Be: A technological thriller that dives into our dependence on our phones. This story had characters that I could easily connect with and I would love to see this expanded into a longer book.
Ol’ St. Nick: An interesting take on Christmas traditions complete with space mobsters. I really enjoyed this spaceship mystery.
Scout’s Honor: A story set in a future world where cities have taken to the sky from the Last Cities of Earth Universe. I was quickly connected to the rag-tag group of characters, especially Scout.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Loss of Luna: A lyrical story of Earth’s love for the moon. This story was sweet, timeless and explores loneliness and proximity.
Hunger: Explores our love and willingness to do anything for our pets as well as how technology can aid us in understanding them. A sweet and realistic tale for any cat owner.
Q-Be: A technological thriller that dives into our dependence on our phones. This story had characters that I could easily connect with and I would love to see this expanded into a longer book.
Ol’ St. Nick: An interesting take on Christmas traditions complete with space mobsters. I really enjoyed this spaceship mystery.
Scout’s Honor: A story set in a future world where cities have taken to the sky from the Last Cities of Earth Universe. I was quickly connected to the rag-tag group of characters, especially Scout.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
June 26, 2023
This second book of Raven Oak's short stories is much darker in tone than the first 'Dragon Springs and Other Things'.
These stories tend to deal more heavily with issues heavily pertaining to our present day social anxieties; climate change, medical ethics & uncertainties, late stage capitalism, etc...
Not to say that all is gloom and doom, there is always light to be found within.
'Hungry' especially hit me where it hurts. As the food providing servant to several furry overlords I really contected with this tale. While the technology within could be a boon, I can also understand the protagonist's choice to silence it. Thankfully all turned out well in the end or this would have been a hard DNF for the rest of the book.
'Only a Bird' also hit home.
'Ol St. Nick', 'Scout's Honor' and 'D.E.A.T.H.' were the longest of the stories and very enjoyable! Really hoping 'Scout's Honor' leads to a novel, or is part of another series I need to trace down.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
These stories tend to deal more heavily with issues heavily pertaining to our present day social anxieties; climate change, medical ethics & uncertainties, late stage capitalism, etc...
Not to say that all is gloom and doom, there is always light to be found within.
'Hungry' especially hit me where it hurts. As the food providing servant to several furry overlords I really contected with this tale. While the technology within could be a boon, I can also understand the protagonist's choice to silence it. Thankfully all turned out well in the end or this would have been a hard DNF for the rest of the book.
'Only a Bird' also hit home.
'Ol St. Nick', 'Scout's Honor' and 'D.E.A.T.H.' were the longest of the stories and very enjoyable! Really hoping 'Scout's Honor' leads to a novel, or is part of another series I need to trace down.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
July 16, 2023
Thank You Raven Oak and Book Sirens
The is the second half of the 11 story collection Dragon Springs and Other Things.
It's Only A Bird was a humanitarian story with a deeper message. “It’s better that he isn’t suffering anymore. Truly alive or mechanical, that little bird had lived more dead thentheir desensitized hearts ever could.
Of St Nick reads as a standalone Novella. This is a Christmas Story that takes place in Space and Santa is a Mobster.
Level Up is a kinder look on homelessness. Perhaps in the future, people will show empathy towards one another.
The collection stories were interesting each dealing with a science fiction, dark fiction, and fantasy. There are Triggers.
The author did not have a trigger page neither in the front of the book or back. The writing style stammered at the end at several pages. The same sentence was written twice. That's not always the writers writing tho. It does take a team to create a story. For these two reasons the collection was a 3.75 rating. I would recommend this Novella.
The is the second half of the 11 story collection Dragon Springs and Other Things.
It's Only A Bird was a humanitarian story with a deeper message. “It’s better that he isn’t suffering anymore. Truly alive or mechanical, that little bird had lived more dead thentheir desensitized hearts ever could.
Of St Nick reads as a standalone Novella. This is a Christmas Story that takes place in Space and Santa is a Mobster.
Level Up is a kinder look on homelessness. Perhaps in the future, people will show empathy towards one another.
The collection stories were interesting each dealing with a science fiction, dark fiction, and fantasy. There are Triggers.
The author did not have a trigger page neither in the front of the book or back. The writing style stammered at the end at several pages. The same sentence was written twice. That's not always the writers writing tho. It does take a team to create a story. For these two reasons the collection was a 3.75 rating. I would recommend this Novella.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2023
Solid 3.5 stars rounded up to 4
I really enjoyed Raven's first short story collection (Dragon Springs & Other Things) so I looked forward to this collection. For me, the first collection was better. However, the writing is very good here. Particular stand-outs for me were:
'Ol' St. Nick' - I'd love to read a full-length novel with these characters in this reality, same for 'Scout's Honor'.
I also really enjoyed 'Hungry' and 'Only A Bird'.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I really enjoyed Raven's first short story collection (Dragon Springs & Other Things) so I looked forward to this collection. For me, the first collection was better. However, the writing is very good here. Particular stand-outs for me were:
'Ol' St. Nick' - I'd love to read a full-length novel with these characters in this reality, same for 'Scout's Honor'.
I also really enjoyed 'Hungry' and 'Only A Bird'.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
August 30, 2023
This was a diverse collection of short stories - both in characters and sub-genre. I like that the stories are short enough that you can read one, set the book down, and pick it up again later when you only have time for a quick read. Although some of the themes are a bit dark, that doesn't make this any less of an enjoyable read. If you're into spec fiction that flirts with sci-fi, thriller, and horror elements, you're likely to enjoy reading this!
August 27, 2023
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Enjoyable short stories from an author clearly versed in the genre Oak has compiled a collection of mostly near-future sci-fi tech dystopias that, as a whole, fit really well together. One note aside, there aren't many spaceships in a collection appropriately named as such, with more earthbound stories than not. But such a minor detail barely affects the reading experience or pleasure. A whole-rounded experience and my favorite read of the month.
Enjoyable short stories from an author clearly versed in the genre Oak has compiled a collection of mostly near-future sci-fi tech dystopias that, as a whole, fit really well together. One note aside, there aren't many spaceships in a collection appropriately named as such, with more earthbound stories than not. But such a minor detail barely affects the reading experience or pleasure. A whole-rounded experience and my favorite read of the month.
July 7, 2023
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I really enjoyed the book. I did like that there was a variety of stories and not all of them were in space. The stories were well written too. I think the only thing that kept me from giving 5 stars was that it didn’t feel like a page turner to me but was still an enjoyable read and maybe would have just changed the order around that the stories were in to get it to flow a bit better. Would recommend to anyone who likes speculative fiction.
I really enjoyed the book. I did like that there was a variety of stories and not all of them were in space. The stories were well written too. I think the only thing that kept me from giving 5 stars was that it didn’t feel like a page turner to me but was still an enjoyable read and maybe would have just changed the order around that the stories were in to get it to flow a bit better. Would recommend to anyone who likes speculative fiction.
January 4, 2024
Certi racconti non li ho proprio capiti
[Disclaimer: Ho ricevuto il libro grazie al programma Early Reviewer di LibraryThing] Questa collezione di racconti più o meno lunghi spazia dalla SF standard a... beh, non ho capito nulla di almeno due racconti ("Hands" e "Drip"). In generale, comunque, arrivando alla fine dei racconti sono rimasto spesso con l'impressione che mancasse qualcosa. Rapido commento sugli altri racconti:
◆ The Loss of Luna - c'è quanlcosa, a parte l'antropoformizzazione, che non ho capito. 2/5
◆ Hungry - avendo tre gatti, capisco il concetto. . 4/5
◆ Mouth - troppo spaventoso per me. 1/5
◆ Only a Bird - davvero delicato: non è importante alla fine sapere se l'uccello è vivo o meccanico. 5/5
◆ Q-Be - l'idea di base sui modelli freemium è carina, ma mi pare ci siano troppi buchi nella storia. 3/5
◆ Ol’ St. Nick - trama standard, personaggi poco delineati. 3/5
◆ Level Up - plausibile racconto postapocalittico. 3/5
◆ Scout’s Honor - a parte l'uso di Español básico, racconto carino. 4/5
◆ D.E.A.T.H. - il racconto migliore, direi, almeno dal punto di vista di un programmatore. 5/5
Una cosa positiva sono infine le brevi spiegazioni di Oak su come sono nati i vari racconti.
[Disclaimer: Ho ricevuto il libro grazie al programma Early Reviewer di LibraryThing] Questa collezione di racconti più o meno lunghi spazia dalla SF standard a... beh, non ho capito nulla di almeno due racconti ("Hands" e "Drip"). In generale, comunque, arrivando alla fine dei racconti sono rimasto spesso con l'impressione che mancasse qualcosa. Rapido commento sugli altri racconti:
◆ The Loss of Luna - c'è quanlcosa, a parte l'antropoformizzazione, che non ho capito. 2/5
◆ Hungry - avendo tre gatti, capisco il concetto. . 4/5
◆ Mouth - troppo spaventoso per me. 1/5
◆ Only a Bird - davvero delicato: non è importante alla fine sapere se l'uccello è vivo o meccanico. 5/5
◆ Q-Be - l'idea di base sui modelli freemium è carina, ma mi pare ci siano troppi buchi nella storia. 3/5
◆ Ol’ St. Nick - trama standard, personaggi poco delineati. 3/5
◆ Level Up - plausibile racconto postapocalittico. 3/5
◆ Scout’s Honor - a parte l'uso di Español básico, racconto carino. 4/5
◆ D.E.A.T.H. - il racconto migliore, direi, almeno dal punto di vista di un programmatore. 5/5
Una cosa positiva sono infine le brevi spiegazioni di Oak su come sono nati i vari racconti.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews