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Principles of Uncertainty
In this collection of mind-boggling short stories, things aren't always what they appear to be. Question every detail, and challenge what you know. Then, read it again. Sometimes, all it takes is a shift in perspective.
Andy Weir's Principles of Uncertainty consists of nine unique pieces including one never-before-seen story that will tickle your space fancy:
Access
Annie's Day
Antihypoxiant
Meeting Sarah
Midtown Butcher
The Chef
The Egg
The Real Deal
Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy
Andy Weir's Principles of Uncertainty consists of nine unique pieces including one never-before-seen story that will tickle your space fancy:
Access
Annie's Day
Antihypoxiant
Meeting Sarah
Midtown Butcher
The Chef
The Egg
The Real Deal
Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy
ebook
First published August 29, 2016
2 people are currently reading
567 people want to read
About the author
Andy Weir
53 books62.2k followersANDY WEIR built a career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, THE MARTIAN, allowed him to live out his dream of writing fulltime. He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of subjects such as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He also mixes a mean cocktail. He lives in California. Andy’s next book, ARTEMIS, is available now.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 18, 2025
I love that these stories are also freely available on Weir's website, so I'll link them and anyone can read them if they want. I didn't even know they formed a short story collection, and since they're bus-ride long, why not read all of them?
Access
Review here.
Story here.
Annie's Day
Review here.
Story here.
Antihypoxiant ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The pretentious, egomaniacal scientist reminds me of naive, reckless tech bros who act without considering the broader consequences of their achievements. I was flabbergasted by how short, yet excellent, the story was. Despite its brevity, a lot happens here, unfolding smoothly from the scientist's chilling arrogance to a powerful and thought-provoking conclusion.
Review here.
Story here.
Meeting Sarah
Review here.
Story here.
Midtown Butcher
Review here.
Story here.
The Chef
Review here.
Story here.
The Egg
Review here.
Story here.
The Real Deal
Review here.
Story here.
Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy
Review here.
Story here.
Access
Review here.
Story here.
Annie's Day
Review here.
Story here.
Antihypoxiant ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The pretentious, egomaniacal scientist reminds me of naive, reckless tech bros who act without considering the broader consequences of their achievements. I was flabbergasted by how short, yet excellent, the story was. Despite its brevity, a lot happens here, unfolding smoothly from the scientist's chilling arrogance to a powerful and thought-provoking conclusion.
Review here.
Story here.
Meeting Sarah
Review here.
Story here.
Midtown Butcher
Review here.
Story here.
The Chef
Review here.
Story here.
The Egg
Review here.
Story here.
The Real Deal
Review here.
Story here.
Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy
Review here.
Story here.
October 3, 2022
Otra de las recopilaciones que ha hecho Andy Weir con historias cortas de su "juventud" escritora. Todas comparten su brevedad y la existencia de un giro que cambia el sentido de la historia. A veces está justo al final, como en Annie's day o The Chef o incluso The real deal. En otras el giro está a mitad de la historia y no cambia todo el sentido, pero le da razón de ser al relato, como en Yuri Gagarin saves the Galaxy.
De todas, El huevo es la que más me llegó y la historia gracias a la cual descubrí a Weir (y me empapé de su Marciano antes de que lo publicara).
Son 9 historias pero tan cortas que juntas no llegan ni a novela corta. Muy recomendable en general.
De todas, El huevo es la que más me llegó y la historia gracias a la cual descubrí a Weir (y me empapé de su Marciano antes de que lo publicara).
Son 9 historias pero tan cortas que juntas no llegan ni a novela corta. Muy recomendable en general.
January 31, 2019
It started with me reading “The Egg”. I am not a sci-fi fan, so did not want to go with Marcian, but I thought that if there are many short stories by Andy Weir, there has to be a book or some place where they can be found together. And it appeared that such place exists, this is the book. It is available on tapas.io exclusively, even though you can probably find all of the stories available on the net for free. I never looked, but I think so.
Stories are short and are touching some of the existential problems we all face at some point. And because it is hard not to spoil the essence of a 3-page story, I give no feedback on stories here. I would just say that I liked “The Egg”, “Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy”, “Access” and “Meeting Sarah”.
This is a one day read. And it is good for people who like short parables. For some it might help to broaden the view I guess. For me, it was a nostalgic read, for it reminded me about short stories I used to write when I was around 16. Especially the one about angels.
I must also say that there are authors out there, who are much better with writing such short fictitious stories that illustrate a moral attitude. Imho, of course.
Stories are short and are touching some of the existential problems we all face at some point. And because it is hard not to spoil the essence of a 3-page story, I give no feedback on stories here. I would just say that I liked “The Egg”, “Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy”, “Access” and “Meeting Sarah”.
This is a one day read. And it is good for people who like short parables. For some it might help to broaden the view I guess. For me, it was a nostalgic read, for it reminded me about short stories I used to write when I was around 16. Especially the one about angels.
I must also say that there are authors out there, who are much better with writing such short fictitious stories that illustrate a moral attitude. Imho, of course.
September 4, 2016
I loved "The Martian." I've read it twice, listened to the audiobook, love the movie. So I was eager to read this book of short stories from Andy Weir.
And the stories are decent. I know, I read them for free on his website years ago. They range from cute to pretty good to, in the case of "The Egg," excellent. I can't tell you how good the story "Yuri Gargarin Saves the Galaxy" is, though, as that's the only new story here and the book is only available on the Tapas app, which locks most of the content and requires keys to open it. Keys can be earned by watching ads and answering marketing questions to earn coins, or you can buy them outright. Different books on Tapas have different pricing and key payouts. The problem here is that to read the whole book will cost you 5,040 coins to buy keys. Coins come in batches of 5,000 ($3.99), 10,500 ($7.99) and more. So to read the entire book, you'll need to pay eight bucks and have keys left over, or $3.99 and watch a lot of ads to make up the difference. If you plan to read a lot on this app you'll need the extra keys.
I don't have a problem paying for the book. I probably will. But jumping through the hoops to read it on this app is awkward and frustrating.
And the stories are decent. I know, I read them for free on his website years ago. They range from cute to pretty good to, in the case of "The Egg," excellent. I can't tell you how good the story "Yuri Gargarin Saves the Galaxy" is, though, as that's the only new story here and the book is only available on the Tapas app, which locks most of the content and requires keys to open it. Keys can be earned by watching ads and answering marketing questions to earn coins, or you can buy them outright. Different books on Tapas have different pricing and key payouts. The problem here is that to read the whole book will cost you 5,040 coins to buy keys. Coins come in batches of 5,000 ($3.99), 10,500 ($7.99) and more. So to read the entire book, you'll need to pay eight bucks and have keys left over, or $3.99 and watch a lot of ads to make up the difference. If you plan to read a lot on this app you'll need the extra keys.
I don't have a problem paying for the book. I probably will. But jumping through the hoops to read it on this app is awkward and frustrating.
August 30, 2016
Short shorts shorting the brain. An enjoyable read, but with a couple of uneven stories.
September 30, 2019
A bunch of cheesy but entertaining stories that are reminiscent of O. Henry with their twist endings.
September 8, 2016
A very, very short collection of very, very short flash fiction from Andy Weir. Most of these were pretty bad, but "The Egg" was fantastic and "The Real Deal" was clever.
Access: 3/5
Annie's Day: 3/5
Antihypnoxiant: 2/5
Meeting Sarah: 2/5
Midtown Butcher: 1/5
The Chef: 1/5
The Egg: 5/5
The Real Deal: 4/5
Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy: 3/5
Access: 3/5
Annie's Day: 3/5
Antihypnoxiant: 2/5
Meeting Sarah: 2/5
Midtown Butcher: 1/5
The Chef: 1/5
The Egg: 5/5
The Real Deal: 4/5
Yuri Gagarin Saves the Galaxy: 3/5
September 15, 2016
Really liked! It got 4 stars (instead of 5) just because some of the stories were extremely foregone... but the others!!! So mindblowing!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews