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Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories
From award-winning author Lynda Clark come 16 engrossing stories weaving together elements of folklore, fantasy and speculative fiction, all of them in Clark’s darkly humorous style. In "Ghillie’s Mum," shortlisted for the BBC Short Story Award, a shape-shifting mother needs to decide whether to compromise and stay in her human form, or lose her son. In "Total Transparency," the protagonist is learning how to live with a gradually disappearing wife. In "Blanks," people are paying to create clones of themselves so they will never die. And in "Dreaming in Quantum," there’s a murder to be solved which echoes through dimensions only accessible in dreams.
192 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 10, 2021
Ah. Perfect. Quantum Dreams are made of this and who are we to disagree. This was an absolutely excellent collection of genre hopping short fiction. From science fiction to literary scares and more to just plain oddness…this relatively slender collection provides a terrific span of speculative fiction done in the finest literary style.
Mostly I suppose it can all go under an umbrella of magic realism. And magic realism is tough to do, because it seems like an oxymoron of a genre, each of the components seemingly too contradictory for each other to amount to a cohesive total and yet, in a kismet style of attracting opposites, when it works it is magic indeed, a real, realistic kind. And the author seems to excel at level and balanced depiction of strikingly bizarre scenarios.
Clark plays with familiar genre concepts, but be it zombies, vampires, ghosts, shapeshifters, clones or something completely other, each take is completely original, singular and fresh. It’s all so imaginative, so clever, so fun…you won’t want to put the book down and since it clocks in at just under 200 pages you won’t have to. Just dive right in. The water is…welcomingly strange or strangely welcoming. And sure there may be fins, but with this book you’ll never know who they might belong to and what their story is.
I loved this collection with a passion I normally reserve for fresh fruit and baked goods. Such an awesome, enormously enjoyable read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
Mostly I suppose it can all go under an umbrella of magic realism. And magic realism is tough to do, because it seems like an oxymoron of a genre, each of the components seemingly too contradictory for each other to amount to a cohesive total and yet, in a kismet style of attracting opposites, when it works it is magic indeed, a real, realistic kind. And the author seems to excel at level and balanced depiction of strikingly bizarre scenarios.
Clark plays with familiar genre concepts, but be it zombies, vampires, ghosts, shapeshifters, clones or something completely other, each take is completely original, singular and fresh. It’s all so imaginative, so clever, so fun…you won’t want to put the book down and since it clocks in at just under 200 pages you won’t have to. Just dive right in. The water is…welcomingly strange or strangely welcoming. And sure there may be fins, but with this book you’ll never know who they might belong to and what their story is.
I loved this collection with a passion I normally reserve for fresh fruit and baked goods. Such an awesome, enormously enjoyable read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
May 10, 2021
Thank you @fairlightbooks for the opportunity to review this book. Publication day is the 20th of May 🎉
This is a quirky little book filled with unique and captivating short stories. It’s the perfect book to keep in your handbag for when you have ten minutes to wait.
I really enjoyed the dark, old folktales vibes from the book, however it spins a modern twist within the stories that made it truly unique. The stories only lasted literally a couple of pages but left you wanting more (in the best possible way).
This is a quirky little book filled with unique and captivating short stories. It’s the perfect book to keep in your handbag for when you have ten minutes to wait.
I really enjoyed the dark, old folktales vibes from the book, however it spins a modern twist within the stories that made it truly unique. The stories only lasted literally a couple of pages but left you wanting more (in the best possible way).
January 31, 2022
*2.5
Thank you to Fairlight Books for sending me a proof copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I struggled to get into it, so many apologies for a very delayed review.
I think the main reason I didn't gel with this book is my own personal taste - I just dont think short stories are for me? They are always over too quickly, but not in a good way. A cool concept only spanning a few pages, like a taster of a book. My star rating is based on the average ratings of all short stories.
Despite this, I can appreciate that the book was well written, and the ideas for most of the stories were original and captivating. Some were just strange and just really not my cup of tea.
My two favourites were probably Dreaming in Quantum and Transparent.
Thank you to Fairlight Books for sending me a proof copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I struggled to get into it, so many apologies for a very delayed review.
I think the main reason I didn't gel with this book is my own personal taste - I just dont think short stories are for me? They are always over too quickly, but not in a good way. A cool concept only spanning a few pages, like a taster of a book. My star rating is based on the average ratings of all short stories.
Despite this, I can appreciate that the book was well written, and the ideas for most of the stories were original and captivating. Some were just strange and just really not my cup of tea.
My two favourites were probably Dreaming in Quantum and Transparent.
May 23, 2021
I really enjoyed this little book of short stories, Lynda Clark is now definitely an autobuy author for me. Each of these stories was beautiful, magical, or scary on their own but my favourites were Clockwork Men And Clockwork Dogs And Frogs, and Dreaming In Quantum. I would love to read full book version of those two short stories in particular.
May 21, 2021
Thank you to @fairlight books for sending me a proof copy. Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories by Lynda Clark is our May 20th (UK).
I really enjoyed reading this book. I don’t read short stories normally, so it was something new and I’m so glad I did because now it’s made me want to read more short stories in the future. This is the perfect book to slip into your back pocket or handbag if you don’t have much time to read, because each story is only a few pages long and they’re all different! What I found fascinating was how some stories actually related to others, featuring some of the same aspects and elements. The book is quirky yet wonderfully weird. At the end of each story, it leaves you wanting more and some are incredibly eye-opening - they make you think hard about the possibilities of life.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I don’t read short stories normally, so it was something new and I’m so glad I did because now it’s made me want to read more short stories in the future. This is the perfect book to slip into your back pocket or handbag if you don’t have much time to read, because each story is only a few pages long and they’re all different! What I found fascinating was how some stories actually related to others, featuring some of the same aspects and elements. The book is quirky yet wonderfully weird. At the end of each story, it leaves you wanting more and some are incredibly eye-opening - they make you think hard about the possibilities of life.
March 18, 2021
Extremely cool and superbly written collection of short stories that range from horror, mythology, speculative fiction, folklore and fantasy. Lynda Clark is an extremely versatile writer, able to create poignant moments as in ‘Ghillie’s Mum’, ‘Mrs Sunderland’s Arms’ and ‘Total Transparency’, perverse and darkly humorous tales such as ‘Shorty’ and ‘Grandma’s Feast Day’, and more philosophical stories like ‘Dreaming in Quantum’ and ‘Blanks’. With intriguing and provocative premises, unexpected twists, destabilising points of view, dark humour, sensibility, and a touch of weirdness, Dreaming in Quantum keeps you hooked and makes you lean in for more.
March 8, 2021
I really enjoyed this collection of short stories! The author's voice is distinct and visceral. A lot of the stories are very open ended and built for discussion. There's absolutely something here for everyone, regardless of your typical genres.
These stories are quirky, filled with dark humor and unique world building, all while including important messaging and themes that give you a ton of food for thought. Some of the standouts to me were 'The Whisky Situation', 'Total Transparency', and 'This Time, Forever'.
Rating Breakdown:
Sidhe Wood - 5 stars
Ghillie's Mum - 4 stars
Dreaming in Quantum - 3 stars
Frozen - 5 stars
Shorty - 2 stars
Dead Men Don't Count - 3 stars
Grandma's Feast Day - 3 stars
Blanks - 5 stars
Mrs Sutherland's Arms - 3 stars
A Winter Crossing - 2 stars
Something or Nothing - 3 stars
Clockwork Men and Clockwork Dogs and Frogs - 4 stars
The Whisky Situation - 5 stars
Total Transparency - 5 stars
This Time, Forever - 5 stars
Phoenix - 5 stars
Overall: 4 stars
Thank you to Fairlight Books and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
These stories are quirky, filled with dark humor and unique world building, all while including important messaging and themes that give you a ton of food for thought. Some of the standouts to me were 'The Whisky Situation', 'Total Transparency', and 'This Time, Forever'.
Rating Breakdown:
Sidhe Wood - 5 stars
Ghillie's Mum - 4 stars
Dreaming in Quantum - 3 stars
Frozen - 5 stars
Shorty - 2 stars
Dead Men Don't Count - 3 stars
Grandma's Feast Day - 3 stars
Blanks - 5 stars
Mrs Sutherland's Arms - 3 stars
A Winter Crossing - 2 stars
Something or Nothing - 3 stars
Clockwork Men and Clockwork Dogs and Frogs - 4 stars
The Whisky Situation - 5 stars
Total Transparency - 5 stars
This Time, Forever - 5 stars
Phoenix - 5 stars
Overall: 4 stars
Thank you to Fairlight Books and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 3, 2021
First, thanks Lynda Clark, Fairlight Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this anthology.
Sidhe Wood: This story was without an ending. It's about That's it. There's not much of a story there. Not a promising start, but let's carry on.
Ghillie's Mum: This was an interesting one, about shapeshifters and prejudice in what seems to be modern times. Not great, but good.
Dreaming in Quantum: I really liked this alternate realities story, except that it doesn't have much of an ending. Maybe it could be expanded into a novel or at least a novella and we can find out what happened to .
Frozen: A cute little story about children who lost a mitten, which incorporates the Greek myth of the labyrinth and the Minotaur.
Shorty: A creepy story about a protective dog and a condescending family. I enjoy some dark humour.
Dead Men Don't Count: This story doesn't really count either (except for how many stars this book is losing). It's a short, kind of pointless look into some kind of post apocalyptic world where the undead seem common.
Grandma's Feast Day: With lines like, "It'd be just like her fool sister to trip on a tree root and break her neck and let herself spoil out there in the woods until she was no good to anyone", this one is also a creepy story. A world of common cannibalism isn't just gross, it's depressing. It's interesting how this story is written from the point of view of the reader. Oddly, the ending is cute.
Blanks: Also written from the point of view of the reader, this is a story about connection, and why you shouldn't clone people.
Mrs Sutherland's Arms: An ok story. Another one with kids, but this time, one realizes her father will be .
A Winter Crossing: A shipmate seems to have turned into a monster, and . Another one that isn't much of a story.
Something or Nothing: Wild dogs and an exorcism of a parasite. Not really my thing, but it's ok for a very short story.
Clockwork Men and Clockwork Dogs And Frogs: A weird morbid tale about photographic taxidermy has living people being photographed with the bodies of dead loved ones.
The Whisky Situation: An ok story of an illegal cloned whisky factory. Nano-walls are a cool touch.
Total Transparency: A wife and dog slowly go invisible, as the husband deals with the difficulty in finding them. What a strange, yet interesting story.
This Time, Forever: Almost out of place in this book, this romance is only made fantasy with the mention of immortality. It's not really my thing.
Pheonix: The book began with a story that had no real ending, and it ends in the same way. Romantic loss and magic is interesting, but because this ends abruptly, with no resolution of anything, the three stars I may have given this book will have to be two.
Sidhe Wood: This story was without an ending. It's about That's it. There's not much of a story there. Not a promising start, but let's carry on.
Ghillie's Mum: This was an interesting one, about shapeshifters and prejudice in what seems to be modern times. Not great, but good.
Dreaming in Quantum: I really liked this alternate realities story, except that it doesn't have much of an ending. Maybe it could be expanded into a novel or at least a novella and we can find out what happened to .
Frozen: A cute little story about children who lost a mitten, which incorporates the Greek myth of the labyrinth and the Minotaur.
Shorty: A creepy story about a protective dog and a condescending family. I enjoy some dark humour.
Dead Men Don't Count: This story doesn't really count either (except for how many stars this book is losing). It's a short, kind of pointless look into some kind of post apocalyptic world where the undead seem common.
Grandma's Feast Day: With lines like, "It'd be just like her fool sister to trip on a tree root and break her neck and let herself spoil out there in the woods until she was no good to anyone", this one is also a creepy story. A world of common cannibalism isn't just gross, it's depressing. It's interesting how this story is written from the point of view of the reader. Oddly, the ending is cute.
Blanks: Also written from the point of view of the reader, this is a story about connection, and why you shouldn't clone people.
Mrs Sutherland's Arms: An ok story. Another one with kids, but this time, one realizes her father will be .
A Winter Crossing: A shipmate seems to have turned into a monster, and . Another one that isn't much of a story.
Something or Nothing: Wild dogs and an exorcism of a parasite. Not really my thing, but it's ok for a very short story.
Clockwork Men and Clockwork Dogs And Frogs: A weird morbid tale about photographic taxidermy has living people being photographed with the bodies of dead loved ones.
The Whisky Situation: An ok story of an illegal cloned whisky factory. Nano-walls are a cool touch.
Total Transparency: A wife and dog slowly go invisible, as the husband deals with the difficulty in finding them. What a strange, yet interesting story.
This Time, Forever: Almost out of place in this book, this romance is only made fantasy with the mention of immortality. It's not really my thing.
Pheonix: The book began with a story that had no real ending, and it ends in the same way. Romantic loss and magic is interesting, but because this ends abruptly, with no resolution of anything, the three stars I may have given this book will have to be two.
April 9, 2021
**A huge thank you to NetGalley and Fairlight Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback!**
I have never read anything by Lynda Clark but was intrigued by the synopsis of this collection. The first two stories had me immediately thinking that this book wasn't my cup of tea. VERY short short stories that leaned more towards folklore/fae vibes than anything else.
Things turned around quickly as the stories took a more sci-fi turn. I found myself really enjoying the majority of the stories, and am pretty impressed with what felt like a lot of genre crossing in a short amount of time. It was a little bit jarring to go from story to story as they were all VERY different, but by picking this up and reading a tale or two at a time I didn't feel that it took anything away from my reading experience.
All in all, I was really impressed with a lot of the stories in this collection and will definitely check out more of Lynda Clark to see what else she has to say! This collection definitely gave some insight into her range and I can imagine that she has some other really interesting ideas. I recommend this book if you like quick reads, short story collections, stories that lean towards the ~weird~ and science fiction. Definitely interested to see what other people had to say about this one!
I have never read anything by Lynda Clark but was intrigued by the synopsis of this collection. The first two stories had me immediately thinking that this book wasn't my cup of tea. VERY short short stories that leaned more towards folklore/fae vibes than anything else.
Things turned around quickly as the stories took a more sci-fi turn. I found myself really enjoying the majority of the stories, and am pretty impressed with what felt like a lot of genre crossing in a short amount of time. It was a little bit jarring to go from story to story as they were all VERY different, but by picking this up and reading a tale or two at a time I didn't feel that it took anything away from my reading experience.
All in all, I was really impressed with a lot of the stories in this collection and will definitely check out more of Lynda Clark to see what else she has to say! This collection definitely gave some insight into her range and I can imagine that she has some other really interesting ideas. I recommend this book if you like quick reads, short story collections, stories that lean towards the ~weird~ and science fiction. Definitely interested to see what other people had to say about this one!
June 26, 2022
Stories from Granta, BBC, TSS publishing, etc. There's an interesting contents page, which I tried to understand, and I was sometimes confused by the endings. There are lots of dogs and severed arms. She likes withholding information - no blatent info-dumps. The life/non-life boundary interests her - cloning, bionics, taxidermy.
"Dead men don't count" was among my favourites. It's a 5 page piece with several unknowns - why is there no more electricity? What is The Registry and The Home? It works for me though. I like "Mrs Sutherland's arms" too. The story does well with 9 pages - the excellent realism grounds it. In "Clockwork men and clockwork dogs and frogs" I don't get the ostrich and peacock mentions, or the need for the frog to be feed with worms (it adds magic to what could be realism) - throughout the book the proportions of Sci-Fi, Realism, Magic, etc vary and don't always suit me.
A story-by-story write-up is on litrefsreviews
"Dead men don't count" was among my favourites. It's a 5 page piece with several unknowns - why is there no more electricity? What is The Registry and The Home? It works for me though. I like "Mrs Sutherland's arms" too. The story does well with 9 pages - the excellent realism grounds it. In "Clockwork men and clockwork dogs and frogs" I don't get the ostrich and peacock mentions, or the need for the frog to be feed with worms (it adds magic to what could be realism) - throughout the book the proportions of Sci-Fi, Realism, Magic, etc vary and don't always suit me.
A story-by-story write-up is on litrefsreviews
April 6, 2021
I read an arc of this short story collection
as someone who doesn't traditionally like short stories at all there were some in here I really enjoyed! I loved the length - which sounds weird to say - but they were ACTUALLY SHORT like only a few pages. enjoyed the speculative fiction.
(there were some questionable words/phrases that I would love to see reviewers who were not white touch upon because I was pretty sure they weren't okay but I also don't know enough to comment on fully)
as someone who doesn't traditionally like short stories at all there were some in here I really enjoyed! I loved the length - which sounds weird to say - but they were ACTUALLY SHORT like only a few pages. enjoyed the speculative fiction.
(there were some questionable words/phrases that I would love to see reviewers who were not white touch upon because I was pretty sure they weren't okay but I also don't know enough to comment on fully)
February 27, 2021
I liked it for being different and that’s why I am giving it 5*. My favourite story „Shorty”.
January 14, 2022
Fantastic collection of thought provoking and just enjoyable stories. Writing is engrossing and I felt satisfied with how the stories ended, always wanting to read the next. Solid recommendation.
April 27, 2022
Brilliant !
I so want Quantum Dream Theory to be a thing ...
📚❤📚❤📚❤
I so want Quantum Dream Theory to be a thing ...
📚❤📚❤📚❤
October 23, 2025
Generally very original stories, some SF and some more along the fantasy line, all entertaining.
May 31, 2021
This book is full of quirky short stories, perfect for a quick read! I would read one in my lunch break or just before bed for my reading fix. The stories are so unique and weird but I absolutely loved them 😄 my favourite being Blanks!
4/5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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4/5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#books #reading #bookworm #booklover #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookdragon #booklove #bookreview #thereisalwaystimeforbooks #booknerd #ukbookstagram #ukbookstagrammer #shortstories #quirkystory #dreaminginquantum #lyndaclark
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