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Think Like a Dinosaur and Other Stories
This is a handsome, limited edition collection of the best work by one of the finest short fiction writers in science fiction. There are 14 stories in all, ranging from straight SF to tales that stray into the fantasy and horror genres. Of special note is the title story, which earned the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, the 1995 Nebula Award nomination for Best Novelette, among several other awards and nominations as well. But all of the stories are excellent in their own right. An insightful forward by James Patrick Kelly's friend and sometimes collaborator John Kessel (Corrupting Dr. Nice) leads off the collection and explores Kelly's somewhat underrated career.
Contents:
Think Like a Dinosaur (1995)
Heroics (1987)
Pogrom (1991)
Faith (1989)
Big Guy (1994)
Dancing with the Chairs (1989)
Rat (1986)
The First Law of Thermodynamics (1996)
Breakaway, Backdown (1996)
Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy (1991)
Crow (1984)
Monsters (1992)
Itsy Bitsy Spider (1997)
Mr. Boy (1990)
275 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1997
3 people are currently reading
509 people want to read
About the author
James Patrick Kelly
435 books142 followersJames Patrick Kelly (please, call him Jim) has had an eclectic writing career. He has written novels, short stories, essays, reviews, poetry, plays and planetarium shows. His short novel Burn won the Science Fiction Writers of America's Nebula Award in 2007. He has won the World Science Fiction Society’s Hugo Award twice: in 1996, for his novelette “Think Like A Dinosaur” and in 2000, for his novelette, “Ten to the Sixteenth to One.” His fiction has been translated into eighteen languages. He produces two podcasts: James Patrick Kelly's StoryPod on Audible and the Free Reads Podcast (Yes, it’s free). His most recent publishing venture is the ezine James Patrick Kelly’s Strangeways. His website is www.jimkelly.net.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 22, 2010
4.0 stars. I have not read all of the stories in this collection so my rating will only apply to the stories listed below (I will update my rating from time to time as a read more stories):
Think Like A Dinosaur - My first JPK short story. Great story about an alien form of instantaneous travel that causes a human technician to suffer a crisis of conscience. Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
Think Like A Dinosaur - My first JPK short story. Great story about an alien form of instantaneous travel that causes a human technician to suffer a crisis of conscience. Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
August 25, 2016
Average of 3.5 stars
Contains 14 stories of mixed genres, of which two I could not really understand, hence lie unrated. Stories range from science-fiction and contemporary fantasy, to satire, horror, and comedy. Most of them are set in an SF scenario.
5-stars to The First Law of Thermodynamics, 4-stars to Think Like a Dinosaur; Faith; Rat; Monsters; and Mr. Boy, while 3-stars to the remaining five stories and 2 to one of 'em.
The writing was not easy to understand a few times, and became confusing. Hence the non-rating of two stories. Also, it seems, many parts of the sequences in the stories are kept less described for the sake of stretching the reader's imagination, by not using minor explanations, as would have been generally used. This is what I feel, and it may be due to this that my ratings may be lower than should have been. Well, in that case, there lies scope for improvement in a future re-read. :)
Otherwise, some have interesting scenarios, really bizarre ideas and characters. Liked it. Not boring at all.
Contains 14 stories of mixed genres, of which two I could not really understand, hence lie unrated. Stories range from science-fiction and contemporary fantasy, to satire, horror, and comedy. Most of them are set in an SF scenario.
5-stars to The First Law of Thermodynamics, 4-stars to Think Like a Dinosaur; Faith; Rat; Monsters; and Mr. Boy, while 3-stars to the remaining five stories and 2 to one of 'em.
The writing was not easy to understand a few times, and became confusing. Hence the non-rating of two stories. Also, it seems, many parts of the sequences in the stories are kept less described for the sake of stretching the reader's imagination, by not using minor explanations, as would have been generally used. This is what I feel, and it may be due to this that my ratings may be lower than should have been. Well, in that case, there lies scope for improvement in a future re-read. :)
Otherwise, some have interesting scenarios, really bizarre ideas and characters. Liked it. Not boring at all.
April 16, 2016
Lafferty. New Wave. James Tiptree Jr. A couple of things that immediately come to mind after reading, so far, six stories of this already excellent collection by acclaimed short story writer James Patrick Kelly.
I've seen and heard of this collection for several years now, recommended on sites like Goodreads and Reddit from time to time, as well as my local library. The cover being what it is - a goofy-looking dinosaur in a space suit - gives an accurate but fairly narrow impression of what I have run into so far.
Lafferty comes to mind because I was a bit caught off guard by the underlying, and often outright, dark tones some stories have which verge on the horrorific. Kelly also have a simple but very effective style of prose that I find refreshing and readable.
I'm struck with how varied these stories have been in style, genre, story, theme etc., the same reaction I had with Lafferty and Tiptree. Tiptree comes to mind partly because some of the humor sprinkled throughout stories such as Faith, though mainly because of the state of melancholy evoked after reading each story.
As much as I love horror, and short stories, few writers leave me having to sit down and process what I read before compelling a reread of a story that can change my mood for the entire right, or wrong, day. A couple of these writers are Ligotti, King with his stories like "The Reach", "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away", and "The Woman in the Room", and pretty much everything I've so far read by Tiptree. I'd bow consider James Patrick Kelly among them. Not to give the wrong impression that this collection is anywhere near as soul-crushingly depressing as the previously mentioned writers, but, this collection does remind me of them, albeit tenuously in regard to Ligotti. Enough said for now, I doubt I'll have much else to add to this review other than a couple more paragraphs of reworded praise. Highlights so far are probably the s/t novelette and Faith. I can't wait for the eventual release of Centipede Press' collection of his works in the upcoming Masters of Science Fiction line.
I've seen and heard of this collection for several years now, recommended on sites like Goodreads and Reddit from time to time, as well as my local library. The cover being what it is - a goofy-looking dinosaur in a space suit - gives an accurate but fairly narrow impression of what I have run into so far.
Lafferty comes to mind because I was a bit caught off guard by the underlying, and often outright, dark tones some stories have which verge on the horrorific. Kelly also have a simple but very effective style of prose that I find refreshing and readable.
I'm struck with how varied these stories have been in style, genre, story, theme etc., the same reaction I had with Lafferty and Tiptree. Tiptree comes to mind partly because some of the humor sprinkled throughout stories such as Faith, though mainly because of the state of melancholy evoked after reading each story.
As much as I love horror, and short stories, few writers leave me having to sit down and process what I read before compelling a reread of a story that can change my mood for the entire right, or wrong, day. A couple of these writers are Ligotti, King with his stories like "The Reach", "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away", and "The Woman in the Room", and pretty much everything I've so far read by Tiptree. I'd bow consider James Patrick Kelly among them. Not to give the wrong impression that this collection is anywhere near as soul-crushingly depressing as the previously mentioned writers, but, this collection does remind me of them, albeit tenuously in regard to Ligotti. Enough said for now, I doubt I'll have much else to add to this review other than a couple more paragraphs of reworded praise. Highlights so far are probably the s/t novelette and Faith. I can't wait for the eventual release of Centipede Press' collection of his works in the upcoming Masters of Science Fiction line.
May 25, 2013
I finished Reading Think Like a Dinosaur this afternoon. What an amazing collection of short stories! Given the title and the fact that Kelly won a Hugo award for the title story I was expected a collection of science fiction stories and I suppose most (though not all) of them are. Maybe I’ve been reading too much 50s and 60s SF recently, but these stories were nothing like what I expected. I’m not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t this.
The title story (really a novelette) was very good. It starts out a little slow, seemingly in the middle of the story, but gathers speed as Kelly reveals what’s going on. And before we know it, the story makes an unexpected turn (unexpected by me at least, but not without precedent) and ends.
The second story, “Heroics” was interesting, and had me wondering the whole time where it was going. Not a genre story; completely mainstream.
This was followed by “Pogrom”, and back to SF. An interesting story of the generation/class gap in the near future. Not an uncommon theme, but nicely told with a good POV character. I could feel her distress, but the ending was still a bit of a surprise.
The next three stories, “Faith” (a novelette), “Big Guy” and “Dancing with the Chairs” are all love stories of various sorts. ”Big Guy” was the only SF story of the bunch.
“Rat” was a strange SF story about drug smuggling.
“The First Law of Thermodynamics” was a trippy story about drugged out students in the 60s, trying to find meaning in their lives. I think.
“Breakaway, Backdown”, “Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy” and “Crow” are all SF stories with fairly common SF future themes, all with interesting twists.
“Monsters” is a horror/fantasy/love story, novelette really. It wasn’t quite clear to me which until the end.
“Itsy Bitsy Spider” is the story of a daughter meeting her father after years of separation. SF with a slight feeling of Bradbury.
“Mr. Boy” the final novella in the collection, had a lot in common with “Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy”. Both were love stories and both could be from the same dystopian future. But where “Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy” is about the have nots, “Mr. Boy” is about the haves.
It’s hard to pick out a single favorite. “Think Like a Dinosaur”, “Dancing with the Chairs”, and “Standing in Line with `Mister Jimmy” were all quite good. But so were “Crow”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Mr. Boy”. “Rat” may have been my least favorite, but even it was interesting.
All in all, it’s a very good collection. A very enjoyable read.
The title story (really a novelette) was very good. It starts out a little slow, seemingly in the middle of the story, but gathers speed as Kelly reveals what’s going on. And before we know it, the story makes an unexpected turn (unexpected by me at least, but not without precedent) and ends.
The second story, “Heroics” was interesting, and had me wondering the whole time where it was going. Not a genre story; completely mainstream.
This was followed by “Pogrom”, and back to SF. An interesting story of the generation/class gap in the near future. Not an uncommon theme, but nicely told with a good POV character. I could feel her distress, but the ending was still a bit of a surprise.
The next three stories, “Faith” (a novelette), “Big Guy” and “Dancing with the Chairs” are all love stories of various sorts. ”Big Guy” was the only SF story of the bunch.
“Rat” was a strange SF story about drug smuggling.
“The First Law of Thermodynamics” was a trippy story about drugged out students in the 60s, trying to find meaning in their lives. I think.
“Breakaway, Backdown”, “Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy” and “Crow” are all SF stories with fairly common SF future themes, all with interesting twists.
“Monsters” is a horror/fantasy/love story, novelette really. It wasn’t quite clear to me which until the end.
“Itsy Bitsy Spider” is the story of a daughter meeting her father after years of separation. SF with a slight feeling of Bradbury.
“Mr. Boy” the final novella in the collection, had a lot in common with “Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy”. Both were love stories and both could be from the same dystopian future. But where “Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy” is about the have nots, “Mr. Boy” is about the haves.
It’s hard to pick out a single favorite. “Think Like a Dinosaur”, “Dancing with the Chairs”, and “Standing in Line with `Mister Jimmy” were all quite good. But so were “Crow”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Mr. Boy”. “Rat” may have been my least favorite, but even it was interesting.
All in all, it’s a very good collection. A very enjoyable read.
December 12, 2013
A very good collection of stories that are an easy read but also make you think both during and after.
April 12, 2019
Creo que eran solo historias de ciencia ficción, pero la selección es variada, lo que hace al libro mucho más entretenido.
Think like a dinosaur es particularmente memorable, pero honestamente siento que no todas las historias se adaptan a los tiempos. Si se siente un estilo y enfoque que ya no cuadra tanto con una audiencia del siglo XXI. Hombres en ácido no es un tema que me atrape en estos días.
Think like a dinosaur es particularmente memorable, pero honestamente siento que no todas las historias se adaptan a los tiempos. Si se siente un estilo y enfoque que ya no cuadra tanto con una audiencia del siglo XXI. Hombres en ácido no es un tema que me atrape en estos días.
January 22, 2020
Цікава теорія про квантові скани, так звані двійники, що утворюються під час подорожей на великі відстані. Піднімаються питання, чи можна скан вважати людиною? У динозаврів відповідь однозначна. Та люди... Люди думають інакше.
Дилема міжпланетних подорожей та її транспортної системи.
Не більше.
Дилема міжпланетних подорожей та її транспортної системи.
Не більше.
April 25, 2023
I only read “Think Like a Dinosaur”
dnf
April 7, 2019While I don't think there's anything overtly wrong with the writing, I'm just not getting into it. Life is too short, yadda yadda yadda.
***Think Like a Dinosaur
***Heroics
***Pogrom
***Faith
***Big Guy
***Dancing with the Chairs
***Think Like a Dinosaur
***Heroics
***Pogrom
***Faith
***Big Guy
***Dancing with the Chairs
November 19, 2009
What does it take to lose your humanity? It is a common enough theme in fiction, but science fiction makes the question concrete. Are you human if you never age? What if you no longer have a body, or your body has been transformed into a living replica of the Statue of Liberty, or you have a body but most of your existence is mediated through virtual reality? What if you choose to look like a bright yellow dinosaur or give up decades of your life to become a cancer-ridden attenuated being with thumbs where her big toes should be? Still human? Can alien peer pressure make you lose your humanity? What about mental illness or age or just plan greed? James Patrick Kelly's stories ask these questions; what I particularly like about his book is how, after I've read the stories and closed the book thinking I know the answer, a new and insidious question makes me shiver: Having lost my humanity, would I want it back?
Two stories, "Pogrom" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" were of particular interest because they feature aging and technology. Some of the ideas in these two stories (written in the nineties) have since come to seem to have been written with a Clarke-like prescience.
Two stories, "Pogrom" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" were of particular interest because they feature aging and technology. Some of the ideas in these two stories (written in the nineties) have since come to seem to have been written with a Clarke-like prescience.
January 3, 2017
This is the first collection released by Golden Gryphon Press, back in 1997. It is mostly a collection of sci-fi stories, but it bounces around every genre, including one story that is just a weird tale about an acid trip by a group of friends in the 1960's. It's a very good mix of styles contained herein.
This wasn't a great collection, but it was very interesting, as I found myself reading through this collection rather effortlessly and quickly. The title story was memorable, as it tells how a race of dinosaurs came back to earth and helped them learn how to travel through space. Standing in Line with Mr. Jimmy was a fantastic tale of waiting in line for a new tomorrow. And the final story Mr. Boy was a novella sized story of a coming-of-age story in a weird future where rich people altered their bodies, and Mr. Boy kept on stunting himself to keep him the size and appearance of a 12-year old. All-in-all this was a worthwhile read, with some very good stuff within this collection.
This wasn't a great collection, but it was very interesting, as I found myself reading through this collection rather effortlessly and quickly. The title story was memorable, as it tells how a race of dinosaurs came back to earth and helped them learn how to travel through space. Standing in Line with Mr. Jimmy was a fantastic tale of waiting in line for a new tomorrow. And the final story Mr. Boy was a novella sized story of a coming-of-age story in a weird future where rich people altered their bodies, and Mr. Boy kept on stunting himself to keep him the size and appearance of a 12-year old. All-in-all this was a worthwhile read, with some very good stuff within this collection.
March 20, 2008
An excellent book of short fiction from James Patrick Kelly, including the Hugo winning title story, Think Like a Dinosaur, which richly deserves the award.
James plays with genre bending a lot - a hallmark of the shift in fiction, and of this years 2008 Clarion instructors. It's a direction in fiction that shows great promise.
James plays with genre bending a lot - a hallmark of the shift in fiction, and of this years 2008 Clarion instructors. It's a direction in fiction that shows great promise.
January 14, 2011
Actually just read only "Think Like A Dinosaur" - short story, by James Patrick Kelly.
Great story about teleportation technology given to us by an alien form and
the consequences of that technology on the conscience of a human technician.
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
Great story about teleportation technology given to us by an alien form and
the consequences of that technology on the conscience of a human technician.
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
Read
August 22, 2008Think Like a Dinosaur and Other Stories by James Patrick Kelly (2003)
December 9, 2008
the title short story was especialy good
February 9, 2009
One of the best short stories ever... creates a very interesting moral question that is very difficult to answer for just about anyone.
January 4, 2013
Good lunchtime read.
Science Fiction.
Science Fiction.
June 15, 2013
Great short stories
July 17, 2013
The short story "Think Like a Dinosaur" completely flipped my mind around and turned it inside-out, in a good way. Several friends and I were just discussing it this past weekend.
November 30, 2013
A boring attempt to re-write the themes of the story The Cold Equation.
April 4, 2015
well this one'll stick with me
December 22, 2015
About 4 of the 15 stories first rate. 'Think like a Dinosaur' and 'Monsters' really held my attention.
July 31, 2016
4.5 stars - Wonderful science fiction short stories. Kelly is a tremendous writer. If you haven't read him, you should.
April 26, 2017
I was expecting this to be all sci fi; in fact, it was a mix of sci fi, "speculative fiction" and conventional fiction. And the sci fi bits (with the exception of the title story) were not necessarily the best. The druggie scene that lay behind some of the stories was a real put off for me, otherwise this book might have rated a 4: on the whole it was well done, thoughtful and believable even when it was implausible.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews