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Tales to Read Before the End of the World
This is a collection of short stories exploring the absurd.
Most of the short stories contained within this book revolve around central themes. "Everything Changes" is about the vanity of the human condition. "Faking It" takes aim at the absurdity of modern society. And "Beale Street Blues" explores the breakdown of communication within a relationship. These three themes are continuously prodded while the reader attempts to understand them.
The exceptions are "Ascension" and "The Worst Date Ever".
"Ascension" is piece of historical fiction, based in Ancient Egypt. And while it doesn't explore the absurdity of modern society, it does exploit some of the absurd notions of even our greatest ancient civilizations.
"The Worst Date Ever" takes the everything terrifying and horrendous about the world of dating and combines them into a comedy of errors.
Most of the short stories contained within this book revolve around central themes. "Everything Changes" is about the vanity of the human condition. "Faking It" takes aim at the absurdity of modern society. And "Beale Street Blues" explores the breakdown of communication within a relationship. These three themes are continuously prodded while the reader attempts to understand them.
The exceptions are "Ascension" and "The Worst Date Ever".
"Ascension" is piece of historical fiction, based in Ancient Egypt. And while it doesn't explore the absurdity of modern society, it does exploit some of the absurd notions of even our greatest ancient civilizations.
"The Worst Date Ever" takes the everything terrifying and horrendous about the world of dating and combines them into a comedy of errors.
246 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2012
34 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Hadena James
45 books246 followersHadena James began writing at the age of eight. As a teenager, she had several short stories published in literary magazines. She completed writing her first novel at the age of 17.
Hadena graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in European History with minors in German and Russian studies. She has always wanted to be a writer so she also took several classes in creative writing.
Hadena’s primary literary genre is action/thriller. She currently writes two series, both use action/thriller. “The Brenna Strachan Series” uses fantasy and the “Dreams & Reality Series” uses murder mystery as its secondary genre. She continues to explore and expand her writing and hopes to soon produce a comedic action/thriller.
When she isn’t busy writing or running her business, Hadena enjoys playing in a steel-tip dart league. She also loves to travel throughout North America and Europe. Her favorite cities are Chicago, Illinois and Berlin, Germany. She is an avid reader, reading everything from the classics like Jane Austen to modern writers like Terry Pratchett. One of her all-time favorite books is “Good Omens” by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett. She writes all of her books while listening to music and the bands tend to get “honorable mentions” within the pages.
Hadena graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in European History with minors in German and Russian studies. She has always wanted to be a writer so she also took several classes in creative writing.
Hadena’s primary literary genre is action/thriller. She currently writes two series, both use action/thriller. “The Brenna Strachan Series” uses fantasy and the “Dreams & Reality Series” uses murder mystery as its secondary genre. She continues to explore and expand her writing and hopes to soon produce a comedic action/thriller.
When she isn’t busy writing or running her business, Hadena enjoys playing in a steel-tip dart league. She also loves to travel throughout North America and Europe. Her favorite cities are Chicago, Illinois and Berlin, Germany. She is an avid reader, reading everything from the classics like Jane Austen to modern writers like Terry Pratchett. One of her all-time favorite books is “Good Omens” by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett. She writes all of her books while listening to music and the bands tend to get “honorable mentions” within the pages.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 21, 2022
This was a very interesting read of short stories that had you thinking. They are entirely different to the author's other works in that these are primarily based on observations of human behaviour & what drives it. They are the sort of writings that I remember studying at school in English Literature obsessively.
One of my favourites was "The Worst Date Ever". I laughed so much I cried at this comedy of errors.
The first half of the book I awarded 3.5 stars, but I feel the latter half of short stories under the umbrella title "The Davidson Family History" to be the best works in the novel. I was entranced with the whole series involving the Davidson family, revolving mainly around the lives of the three sons. I was left at the end thinking ... "and then what happened?" It would be great to have a few more short stories surrounding this family.
I gave the latter stories 4.5 stars, which rounded out to a 4 star rating overall. I genuinely enjoyed this collection & would certainly recommend it. :)
One of my favourites was "The Worst Date Ever". I laughed so much I cried at this comedy of errors.
The first half of the book I awarded 3.5 stars, but I feel the latter half of short stories under the umbrella title "The Davidson Family History" to be the best works in the novel. I was entranced with the whole series involving the Davidson family, revolving mainly around the lives of the three sons. I was left at the end thinking ... "and then what happened?" It would be great to have a few more short stories surrounding this family.
I gave the latter stories 4.5 stars, which rounded out to a 4 star rating overall. I genuinely enjoyed this collection & would certainly recommend it. :)
October 19, 2022
Awesome!!
I keep coming back to Ms James books. No matter how many times I've read each one, I find something new. In this short story book she takes you through the life of two families tied by deep friendship and love. The way she switches roles that we all typically hear about is really thoughtful and revealing in a non-typical manner. Ms James books are so very difficult to put down, I have very late nights when I start one. Most excellent in all her writings.
I keep coming back to Ms James books. No matter how many times I've read each one, I find something new. In this short story book she takes you through the life of two families tied by deep friendship and love. The way she switches roles that we all typically hear about is really thoughtful and revealing in a non-typical manner. Ms James books are so very difficult to put down, I have very late nights when I start one. Most excellent in all her writings.
August 16, 2013
I love this collection. Some were new things I was trying, some show my passion for psychology and some my passion for history.
The Worst Date Ever is by far the funniest thing I have ever written. I tried to write a sequel, but I just couldn't get the magic to strike twice.
Ascension was nearly turned into a novella. My love for Ancient Civ was made apparent when I penned the piece. There was so much more that could have gone into it... but didn't because I felt the need to leave some of the story to the reader's imagination.
Everything Changes was the ultimate revenge tale in my opinion.
The others were mostly studies in my perception of the breakdown of society. I would consider them "modern life laid bare" pieces.
The Worst Date Ever is by far the funniest thing I have ever written. I tried to write a sequel, but I just couldn't get the magic to strike twice.
Ascension was nearly turned into a novella. My love for Ancient Civ was made apparent when I penned the piece. There was so much more that could have gone into it... but didn't because I felt the need to leave some of the story to the reader's imagination.
Everything Changes was the ultimate revenge tale in my opinion.
The others were mostly studies in my perception of the breakdown of society. I would consider them "modern life laid bare" pieces.
December 26, 2014
Like everything Hadena James writes, this collection of stories are engaging and keep you reading!
January 21, 2016
Interesting. I think some had the potential to do more but good reads nonetheless.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews