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Unpredictable Worlds: Stories
A teacher controls her students with an edible microchip. A reporter turns into a rhinoceros. A couple's efforts to eat local go frighteningly awry. If you're looking to be surprised, puzzled, or just plain entertained, pick up this omnibus. There's something for everyone!
More than twenty years in the making, UNPREDICTABLE WORLDS contains all of Jessica Knauss’s published and prize-winning short fiction as of March 2015 and a few of her best stories never before seen in print or ebook. Zany plots and outrageous characters will stretch your belief and tug at your heart.
These stories contain exaggeration, elision, disregard for “the real world.” Some even exhibit a tone of blatant optimism. However, they respect human speech patterns, admire good grammar, and hold proper punctuation in the highest regard.
More than twenty years in the making, UNPREDICTABLE WORLDS contains all of Jessica Knauss’s published and prize-winning short fiction as of March 2015 and a few of her best stories never before seen in print or ebook. Zany plots and outrageous characters will stretch your belief and tug at your heart.
These stories contain exaggeration, elision, disregard for “the real world.” Some even exhibit a tone of blatant optimism. However, they respect human speech patterns, admire good grammar, and hold proper punctuation in the highest regard.
- GenresFantasy
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 11, 2015
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 19, 2015
Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.
It was guilt that made me read this book. Let’s be straight up about that. The publisher is one that I’m auto approved for on Netgalley, and I hadn’t read anything from them in a long time. So I picked this out of guilt.
It’s awesome.
As anyone can tell from the title, this is a collection of short stories, most of which are fantasy based. The stories range from the really short (flash fiction) to several pages. The book itself is loosely divided into sections - Magic Realism, Mircofiction, Rhinos, Hemingway, and Women. There is an afterword that goes into detail for some of the stories.
The best section is the collection of Rhinoceros Stories, with Micro fiction being a close second. This doesn’t mean that the other sections are bad, but these two sections stand out the most. It does have to do with the power of the writing in the Rhinoceros section because, as many of you are no doubt aware, rhinoceros are hunted for the stupidest of reasons. Knauss’ section includes stories based around different species and ideas. There is a story of a woman who thinks she is becoming a rhino (and who falls in love with a man who loves books), the artist who is determined to do portraits of the Sumatran Rhinos, as well as a story about talking animals. There is also a series of flash fiction here. Knauss’s short stories in this section make her into the literary PR person for the species. If you love animals, you need to read this book for the Rhino section alone.
The Micro fiction is good and sometimes startling, but in some ways it can be more touching than some of the longer works. This is especially true for “The World’s Largest Rocking Chair”. Not that everything is sweetness and light. “Stairs to the Beach” is particularly Twilight Zonish.
While the other sections aren’t quite as good, they are not bad. There is a wonderfully powerful story called “The Consequences of Neglect and How to Make Amends” – which challenges the rhino stories as the best one of the volume. The Hemingway stories are mostly interlinked, though “El Novillero” is the best of the three. Furthermore, there is a disturbing story about teaching.
This collection is by turns funny, touching, thought provoking, anger inducing, and faith affirming. It’s great.
It was guilt that made me read this book. Let’s be straight up about that. The publisher is one that I’m auto approved for on Netgalley, and I hadn’t read anything from them in a long time. So I picked this out of guilt.
It’s awesome.
As anyone can tell from the title, this is a collection of short stories, most of which are fantasy based. The stories range from the really short (flash fiction) to several pages. The book itself is loosely divided into sections - Magic Realism, Mircofiction, Rhinos, Hemingway, and Women. There is an afterword that goes into detail for some of the stories.
The best section is the collection of Rhinoceros Stories, with Micro fiction being a close second. This doesn’t mean that the other sections are bad, but these two sections stand out the most. It does have to do with the power of the writing in the Rhinoceros section because, as many of you are no doubt aware, rhinoceros are hunted for the stupidest of reasons. Knauss’ section includes stories based around different species and ideas. There is a story of a woman who thinks she is becoming a rhino (and who falls in love with a man who loves books), the artist who is determined to do portraits of the Sumatran Rhinos, as well as a story about talking animals. There is also a series of flash fiction here. Knauss’s short stories in this section make her into the literary PR person for the species. If you love animals, you need to read this book for the Rhino section alone.
The Micro fiction is good and sometimes startling, but in some ways it can be more touching than some of the longer works. This is especially true for “The World’s Largest Rocking Chair”. Not that everything is sweetness and light. “Stairs to the Beach” is particularly Twilight Zonish.
While the other sections aren’t quite as good, they are not bad. There is a wonderfully powerful story called “The Consequences of Neglect and How to Make Amends” – which challenges the rhino stories as the best one of the volume. The Hemingway stories are mostly interlinked, though “El Novillero” is the best of the three. Furthermore, there is a disturbing story about teaching.
This collection is by turns funny, touching, thought provoking, anger inducing, and faith affirming. It’s great.
May 22, 2016
This has been about the most unusual collection of short stories I have ever read. All in all I enjoyed most of them. If you are a fan of rhinoceroses I would definitely recommend this book , but if not you should still enjoy it. For me it was a nice change as I did not feel like I was missing anything by setting the book down between stories as opposed to chapters. While this book is not for every one it would be enjoyed by many and you should not miss out if you are not sure as it does have a variety of stories.
May 17, 2016
"Unpredictable Worlds: Stories " by Jessica Knauss is my first read from this author. It is a series of short stories that deals with fantasy based fiction. It isn't my usual genre but I enjoyed reading them. I liked that the stories were short enough that I could read one without too much time on my hands. This book is good for teens on up. Some of the stories are a little out of the ordinary but younger readers that enjoy reading may enjoy this too.
July 30, 2015
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a review. I was not compensated in any way.
Yet another anthology of stories! I’m really into anthologies right now. Jessica Knauss has a long and varied history when it comes to short stories. Unpredictable worlds, indeed. These tales are very imaginative, with neat little twists and turns here and there.
I must say that my favorite story in this collection is about the teacher who gives her students experimental microchips in order to make them perform well in school, and eventually become better citizens. If this sounds like it could possibly go wrong, it does. I think I enjoyed this so much because I took and Intro to Teaching course in college that was so pessimistic it put me off teaching forever. This story was very, very spot on in describing what the American education system expects from students and teachers.
There is a lush variety of other topics within this book. The rhinoceros stories were a refreshing read; I just don’t think about them as an animal lending itself well to sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism.
The microfiction “Stairs to the Beach” was particularly enjoyable because I just love stories where the characters seem to blithely ignore social conventions. You can’t just leave children outside and let them get feral, you guys!
Overall this was a fun read and a good introduction to Knauss’ writing.
Yet another anthology of stories! I’m really into anthologies right now. Jessica Knauss has a long and varied history when it comes to short stories. Unpredictable worlds, indeed. These tales are very imaginative, with neat little twists and turns here and there.
I must say that my favorite story in this collection is about the teacher who gives her students experimental microchips in order to make them perform well in school, and eventually become better citizens. If this sounds like it could possibly go wrong, it does. I think I enjoyed this so much because I took and Intro to Teaching course in college that was so pessimistic it put me off teaching forever. This story was very, very spot on in describing what the American education system expects from students and teachers.
There is a lush variety of other topics within this book. The rhinoceros stories were a refreshing read; I just don’t think about them as an animal lending itself well to sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism.
The microfiction “Stairs to the Beach” was particularly enjoyable because I just love stories where the characters seem to blithely ignore social conventions. You can’t just leave children outside and let them get feral, you guys!
Overall this was a fun read and a good introduction to Knauss’ writing.
October 12, 2016
I was ask to review this book and to give my honest opinion.
I love good fantasy short stories, especially ones that are put in a big volume and sold for a fair price. They are perfect for just before bed or for something quick when you have a moment of free time. All in all, Unpredictable Worlds delivers exactly that. Whether you are looking for a micro short story or one with a little more meat, you will find it here... if you love rhinos, this is also your book!! Over all, the stories are well written with humor, darkness, and mystery. Good fantasy and a great price!!
I love good fantasy short stories, especially ones that are put in a big volume and sold for a fair price. They are perfect for just before bed or for something quick when you have a moment of free time. All in all, Unpredictable Worlds delivers exactly that. Whether you are looking for a micro short story or one with a little more meat, you will find it here... if you love rhinos, this is also your book!! Over all, the stories are well written with humor, darkness, and mystery. Good fantasy and a great price!!
July 4, 2017
Not a collection for the faint hearted or those who like to stick to reality, I thought I wrote strange short stories, but Jessica's imagination knows no bounds. A variety of stories and all of them unpredictable. I really enjoyed the collection of weird, but poignant rhino tales; it takes a good author to make the reader look at rhinos with a new heart. Of course we feel great sorrow at such ancient creatures being killed for no good reason, but Jessica enables us to feel what it is like to BE a rhino!
September 29, 2018
Unpredictable worlds
A fantastic and weird compendium of stories exploring the impact of the phrase 'what if' could have on our lives. Small changes to the world and conditions are explored in credible worlds as only science fiction fantasy writers can.
A wonderful compendium for anyone to discover a new writer to follow.
I received a free copy from net galley.com for my fair and honest review.
A fantastic and weird compendium of stories exploring the impact of the phrase 'what if' could have on our lives. Small changes to the world and conditions are explored in credible worlds as only science fiction fantasy writers can.
A wonderful compendium for anyone to discover a new writer to follow.
I received a free copy from net galley.com for my fair and honest review.
December 3, 2022
This is a book of short stories and, you know, you cannot expect consistent quality from a collection of this kind. However, in this book, the truly enjoyable short stories are unusually few, let us say one per section, while the others seem like those slightly drawn-out stories that every student of a creative writing course writes to impress their teachers. They would have been better left in the drawer.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews