Doomsday and Other Tours: Nine Stories

by Michael Andre-Driussi

A collection of nine stories originally published from 1987 to 2015, in such venues as "Tomorrow SF," "Pirate Writings," "Air Fish" (anthology), and "Perihelion SF."

"The Science Fiction Encyclopedia" says of Michael Andre-Driussi's fiction: "his parodies of what might be called pulp Scientific Romance idioms are exact and arousing."

Michael Andre-Driussi has seen 32 of his stories published to date, but the nine gathered here were the hardest to find as each lacked an enduring online presence.

*"White Japan" tells of an American tourist having visions in the Land of the Rising Sun.

*"The Ragnarockenroll Overture" gives the strange history of a mutated Asia. Ann Vandermeer reprinted it in her magazine "The Silver Web."

*"Mad Dogs Raid Mars" shows a daring commando strike against a cyber-theocracy on the Red Planet.

*"The Slushpile Surfer" paddles out to catch the next wave.

*"Doomsday Tours" has a zeppelin full of tourists visiting historical sad spots across a Europe that is in the process of buckling after the withdrawal of American forces. (Originally published as a cover story in 1996, the background setting seems disturbingly current in 2016.)

*"Tex of the Dobermans" gives the weird history of a feral boy in a mutated California. (This is the story "The Science Fiction Encyclopedia" was referencing by name immediately prior to the quote above.)

*"Aliens with Candy" is a sad little tale.

*"Mentally Gifted Mutants" tells about a government program to identify and train psionic children.

*"It's a Long Road to the Sky Train" is about a woman who goes on a big trip across a strange landscape. Lois Tilton called it "An entertaining, if gruesome, read, with the imaginative characters that populate the absurdly dystopian setting, and of course Marika [the heroine]" in "Locus Online Reviews," February 2015.

These stories amount to 37,000 words of content, which is the size of a long novella, or just short of a novel (at 40,000 words).

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fantasy

132 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2018

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A collection of nine stories set in various places, including Mars.

Some of them are really weird.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this ebook through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

3.5 stars rounded up.

The first two stories had me doubting this collection...if these were the type of stories throughout I would have abandoned it. However, after the first two, the tone and writing changed (matured?). The rest of the stories within were thoughtful and interesting. The characters a bit shallow, but the storytelling was good. I think it was a mistake to put the first two stories at the beginning of the book...it can dissuade readers from continuing and missing out on a pretty decent collection of sci-fi short stories.

[Peter Tillman]

Progress report:
Bounced off the first two stories. May not be for me?
OK, lots of others don't like the first 2 either. Odd way to start an anthology. I'll try the 3rd....

OK, here it is 15 months later, and I've never gone back to it. Which will tell you something. Me anyway. I have a $2 Kindle copy (I think), so if I ever get really, really low on stuff to read?

Ain't gonna happen. Closed out as DNF, left unrated.

Many of this author's stories are available online:
http://www.siriusfiction.com/MADBIB.html
FWTW.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not sure what I expected when I entered the Goodreads Giveaway for this book, but it wasn’t this. The very first story in the book was written in a such a way that I found it impossible to follow or even understand what it was supposed to be about.
Maybe the cover art is what drew me to enter. I do love the looks of the cover.

[Hikes in Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this ebook through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

Wasn't expecting the odd and unusual themes of this collection of stories. I understood from the description that I was in for something out of the ordinary, but I was taken aback on some of them. Not a problem, I like being taken by surprise with a good story, and in this little book, every one of them did that. No two are the same, they're all different, but they're all mind benders and hard to find. Highly recommend.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free Kindle copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.

This collection of 9 SciFi short stories that was certainly different. I really liked Aliens with Candy a lot (disturbing! weird! sticks with you!). But, I really had a hard time getting through the first two stories (that seems to be the consensus here), and I thought the rest were just okay. I'd probably up it to 2.5 stars if possible because of AwC. That said, I'm always up for an interesting collection of short stories and this book was definitively that.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, with a few ideas that don’t quite come together

This collection of short stories has a unique combination of science fictional concepts with bizarre pop cultural references and frequent doses of twisted humor. Emphasis on “bizarre” and “twisted.” Ha! I didn’t always grasp what was going on or why, but it was a heck of a ride. My favorite story was “Aliens with Candy.”

[Kirk Weikart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would classify these stories as experimental. Part science fiction, part apocalyptic, part just plain weird. The author seems to drop the reader into the middle of a story and then parachute the reader out before it is resolved. I often found myself wondering about the context of the situations being faced by the characters and feeling that I did not have enough background to decode the entire plot.

[Read Ng · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a GoodReads giveaway win of a Kindle ebook.

Not to my tastes. I got to the three quarters point and decided to just give up, of it is now in my DNF stack. I do like short stories and one or two were okay for me, but I tend to have better enjoyment of ironic twist endings, especially in my short stories. Overall, I did not find it worth the effort.

Have a GoodReads.

[Sherrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***

These aren't stories. These are ideas that could have been turned into stories. I'm not sure if the author is just lazy and didn't develop his ideas or if he's trying to be clever and failing. Either way, this was a major disappointment. Do not recommend.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting collection of science fiction short stories. I really enjoyed this collection. The stories were unique and very creatively done.
I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway but the opinions expressed are solely my own.

[Casarah Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of stories, each being a unique take on the what comes after. I enjoyed show different each story was. !y favorite of the lot was Doomsday Tours, next favorite was Its a long road to the sky train. I really did find the variety and possibilities fascinating.

[Joshua Blum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers, the author, and GoodReads for the giveaway.

I just couldn’t get into it. Just as I got used to a storyline and the world and the characters, the story ended. It was frankly a slog for me to adapt for each story.

[Ashley Nycz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like most of these stories. They were all over the place and hard to follow or very interesting. I thought it would be more like end of the world kind of stories with the title of the book being what it is

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept my interest throughout

[Megan Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I was very skeptical of this book at first. The first part is definitely slow, but give it a chance and you’ll be hooked!

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover inspired me to want to read this book. I'm not sure what some of the stories were about but it was an interesting read.

[Candra Hodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were good but some of them- I didn't even know what I was reading about. Some of the stories are in the same Doomsday and some aren't.
I won this through a goodreads.com giveaway

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's the germ of a lot of good ideas in here, none of which really grow into a decent story.

[Annalise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this in a Kindle Giveaway and it started out strong. There were a couple good stories but way more almost unreadable ones that ruined the collection.

[Theresa Materazzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. Sorry, obviously because of the length of time it took to read it was just not anything that caught and kept my attention.
Low 3 stars, sorry

[M.B. Bartkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that some of these stories were over my head. Right out of the gate I struggled to understand White Japan and The Ragnarockenroll Overture. Perhaps their meaning will come to me in time. The anthology built up momentum for me, though, as I stuck with it. Doomsday Tours was an interesting tale and I found the most engaging writing in Mentally Gifted Mutants.

[Tomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads Giveaway Win

Upon reading the 1st 2 stories, I was hessiten to continue reading the rest because the writer is all over the place and I didn't really understand what was going on. It's not until you get to the 3rd story when things take a turn and the stories made sense and got better.

[Tomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the 1st 2 stories I was ready to stop reading the rest of the book. The writer is all over the place and I didn't understand what was going on. It's not until you get to the 3rd story and the writer takes a turn and things start making sense.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with most of the other review; very odd stories. I found some of them easy to understand but there was too much that pointed to a future that no one would want to be part of. Those that are the underdogs having to barter with those with more power and sometimes the fees are too high.

[Lavender]

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I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways.