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Third Flatiron Anthologies #Vol. 4, Summer 2015
Only Disconnect
Reconnect your innate curiosity with 13 short fantasy, science fiction, and horror pieces exploring our networked world and how we desire to change it. "Only Disconnect" from Third Flatiron Anthologies brings you speculative fiction and flash humor about the pitfalls of distraction and overstimulation.
134 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2015
137 people want to read
About the author
Juliana Rew
58 books45 followersJuliana Rew was an NCAR science and technical writer in Boulder, Colorado, and is editor at Third Flatiron Publishing, publishing SF and fantasy anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 14, 2015
The theme of this anthology of sci-fi short stories seems very apt – I don’t think its hard to notice how distracted we all are by the online world. Whether it’s checking various social media sites or emails throughout the day, or trying to talk to your partner whilst he or she is consumed by the playstation or the internet. You catch yourself waking up each morning and reaching to check your twitter feed, rather than saying good morning to the person next to you. It is a real danger I think to not really be present in your life, but on the other hand the internet is a wonderful resource and allows you to reach so many more people, ideas and information.
From this anthology a few stories stood out to me. I really liked:
- Seven Sense by Evan Henry where people go to extreme lengths to stay disconnected, through taking drugs and going underground. I really liked how the story seemed to draw similarities between disconnecting from the network and the illegal drug trade – on the one hand, it seems natural and even admirable to me to be off-line and just yourself, but illegal drugs conjure up a seedy, violent underworld. I liked the juxtaposition of those two things. But neither party – the connected or the un-connected – seemed free. The story posed a lot of questions to me, about what it means to be controlled, be free, be connected, be yourself, and I like stories that do that.
- A House of Mirrors by Stephanie Flood was quite a weird tale and I really liked it. I like the use of the second person narrative as it really put you in the story, especially as the main character is reading a book (as you, the reader, is) and falls into this odd imaginary world. I liked the idea that imagination is powerful, but that so too are rules and our societal need/instinct to follow them. When you think about it, there are no rules to imagination, or there shouldn’t be. Your imagination is your own, and using it – through writing, painting, music making, etc – should be a completely free-ing experience, by definition.
- She Dies by Jason Lairamore was a cool story where kids live so virtually that they play games fully connected and even do school online and take part in social activities all online. But Dad pulls the plug and they move to a colony on another planet. I liked the fact that a dangerous incident where the pain, achievement or fear could be all too real, was so much more potent (and rewarding as result) to the kids than the virtual pain, achievement or fear they had been experiencing. Virtual life was made to feel bland by comparison. A very well executed short story I thought.
From this anthology a few stories stood out to me. I really liked:
- Seven Sense by Evan Henry where people go to extreme lengths to stay disconnected, through taking drugs and going underground. I really liked how the story seemed to draw similarities between disconnecting from the network and the illegal drug trade – on the one hand, it seems natural and even admirable to me to be off-line and just yourself, but illegal drugs conjure up a seedy, violent underworld. I liked the juxtaposition of those two things. But neither party – the connected or the un-connected – seemed free. The story posed a lot of questions to me, about what it means to be controlled, be free, be connected, be yourself, and I like stories that do that.
- A House of Mirrors by Stephanie Flood was quite a weird tale and I really liked it. I like the use of the second person narrative as it really put you in the story, especially as the main character is reading a book (as you, the reader, is) and falls into this odd imaginary world. I liked the idea that imagination is powerful, but that so too are rules and our societal need/instinct to follow them. When you think about it, there are no rules to imagination, or there shouldn’t be. Your imagination is your own, and using it – through writing, painting, music making, etc – should be a completely free-ing experience, by definition.
- She Dies by Jason Lairamore was a cool story where kids live so virtually that they play games fully connected and even do school online and take part in social activities all online. But Dad pulls the plug and they move to a colony on another planet. I liked the fact that a dangerous incident where the pain, achievement or fear could be all too real, was so much more potent (and rewarding as result) to the kids than the virtual pain, achievement or fear they had been experiencing. Virtual life was made to feel bland by comparison. A very well executed short story I thought.
June 15, 2015
This book has a timely premise – the increasing presence of the net and interconnectivity and the varied problems this may cause. I could easily see this theme falling into a repetition of the same idea over and over but the diversity of storylines and settings in this book keeps things fresh and moving. Most of the authors handle their subjects with style and finesse and a little humor too. Lots of thought-provoking stories here for futurists and fans of science fiction, but the great thing is you don’t have to be a technophile to understand these tales (or else I would have been hopelessly lost). Recommended.
August 8, 2015
very interesting group of shorts.Almost any one of these could be imagined as a longer theme.I received this book as part of goodreads first reads program.I will be looking up some of these authors for furure reading.
September 2, 2015
a bunch of shorts that make it a quick and enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews