While We Dream

by Mark Le Dain

“I can’t stop thinking about the uniquely sinister stories in  While We Dream .”
A world dealing with overpopulation forces half the citizens into a deep sleep to conserve resources.
The training required for professions has become so onerous that the path of a child's life is decided at the age of fifteen, during one month of trials.
Clones have become the best way for the wealthy to expand their personal empire, but the clones of the extremely self-interested bear that same dangerous characteristic.
These are some of the stories contained in this collection by Mark Le Dain.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

153 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 6, 2016

About the author

Mark Le Dain currently works as Director, Strategy at an AI company. He has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) from Queen’s University and attended the Rouen School of Business in France. He is a proud volunteer with Social Venture Partners.

Reviews

[Andrew Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. The ideas were both thought provoking and original and the stories were easy and enjoyable to read. Each of the chapters is a self-contained narrative, set in the future. The future worlds have a bleak, dystopian quality, but, in general, the characters themselves are ordinary people who are not especially good or evil. Le Dain asks us to imagine how regular people would react in strange, Kafkaesque circumstances, and also, perhaps, how such circumstances come into being in the first place as a result of the actions of regular people in the aggregate. Le Dain is a talented writer and I would definitely read his work again and would recommend him to others.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a fun read. Each short story read like individual Twilight Zone episodes, taking the reader in completely different directions. I was disappointed that some of the stories ended so quickly; I felted invested in the characters and wanted to know more. I hope the author branches out into full-size novels. I would enjoy more character development and seeing how far his stories will take me.

[Renea Greathouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of science fiction short stories was both thought provoking and titillating. The editor needs to be fired though, a decent editor would make this good book, Great! I still gave it 4 stars.

[shannon Stubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sci fi twilight zone

The stories reminds me of the Twilight Zone. Most of them have a little creep factor to them. I enjoyed reading them just to see how it ends. There is something for everyone: digital humans, people sleeping in pods, and painful goals.

[Lisselot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Food for thoughts

Great short stories, liked the book
They make you think and they are entertaining.
Ideal reading for before going to bed!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories. I would love to see the first short story made into a short novel. That was by far the strongest one in the book and very captivating.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Best collection I have ever read.

[Jennifer Barstad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book of short stories. Some were pretty good but most not so much.

[Seth Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ender's Game meets Black Mirror. Each short-story is thought provoking, fast-paced and entertaining. Le Dain masterfully displays a deep understanding of the human condition, which is stress tested in the new worlds that he creates. Full of complex characters, humour, and just the right amount of darkness, "While We Dream" will expand your mind and entertain you until the end. Highly recommend!

[Daniella Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just before the holidays, I broke one of my own rules about making requests on NetGalley. Generally, I avoid requesting self-published novels. I don’t believe that everything self-published is bad, but I also haven’t read any self-published books that I’ve enjoyed either. For that reason, I avoid reading them to spare myself an unpleasant experience and to avoid giving scathing reviews.

I came across While We Dream and my self-made rule went out the window. While I did have some problems with it, I also actually enjoyed this short story collection.

While We Dream is a collection filled with short and speculative tales of science fiction. Many of the stories within had unique enough concepts that I’ve never before encountered them anywhere else. Le Dain’s writing is fairly to the point, with no unnecessary flourishes of prose to pad out the tales. Within these pages you’ll find tales of clones, ghosts, murder, and dictatorship. You’ll be entering worlds where doppelgangers roam free and your fate is decided by a series of pre-determined tests.

The story for which the title was named was perhaps the least original of the bunch, but also had the most emotional impact

My imagination was captured by many of the stories, but there was one important factor that stopped me from totally enjoying this book.

The dialogue was awful.

Whenever people spoke aloud they sounded completely unnatural. Except for in one instance, there are absolutely no contractions used in this book, even when conversations are casual or when children are speaking.

Though I did like the stories, I thought that this book fell short where most self-published novels do: the editing. Given a good edit with an eye for dialogue, I could easily see this finding its way to my bookshelf and those of my friends. Some of the stories within also seemed cut short before their full idea came through, and thus their full potential was never reached. A good editor could also go over this with the author to give him a sense of what to expand upon.

I’m not sorry I broke my own rule by reading this book, and I will certainly seek out Le Dain again should he self-publish or traditionally publish any other work. I do hope that before then, he finds an editor who can help him reach his full potential.

(Were it not for the poor dialogue I would give this 4 stars)

[Lucy Saint-smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating is probably closer to a 2.5 stars. I am reviewing an ARC provided by Netgalley. This collection of stories contained some really interesting ideas that were well plotted and showed promise. However the writing was terrible. The dialogue was stilted and unrealistic and the overall impression was of a book that had been simplified for children with SEN (not that those books are bad at all - just that the writing style is not what I wanted in this context). I would be really interested in seeing these stories re-written after the author has developed his writing a bit, or in collaboration with someone else.

[Laura Newsholme · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the ideas in these stories are really original and very compelling. There is a sense of menace in many and others are more light-hearted. My issue comes with the execution. The author is clearly at the start of his writing career. Some of the stories seem very rushed and the dialogue is universally bad. What I would say, however, is that he really shows promise in terms of creativity and concept. He just needs to continue writing to hone his craft and improve his prose style. I will look out for him in future.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like it.

I was not happy that the short stories ended without really giving you a sense of what would happen next. I suppose that's probably what was meant to happen. I enjoyed mostly all the short stories, and would recommend it for younger readers. I myself love sci-fi books.

[Lisa Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful and captivatig

Every story is a complete shining jewel. Engaging and entertaining on one level. Deeply thought provoking on another level. Well worth your time.