Translated by: Antonia Lloyd-Jones
I read this book a few months ago but with the reviewing break, I took, its review got pushed. I then wanted to talk about each short story briefly to give a better picture of the entire collection (as I usually do). This time, however, there was the slight issue that the stories were not hyperlinked in my review copy and I did not take notes. This late in the game, it would take me forever to produce the kind of review I was hoping to do. That is not to say that I have not tried. After a few attempts and a delay of yet another month, I realised I am not doing the book justice and decided to put forward the best compilation review I can.
I am not a big Sci-fi fan. I have read a few, even the older ones and the ones I like, I really enjoy. It thrills me to see that over decades and even a century, before the advent of science as we know it, people from all across the world were thinking along certain lines (with a few deviations) of what it would mean to have interplanetary movement or have scientific exploration be the centre of everything. How new improved inventions would control us (in myriad ways) is also a very well-explored territory. This book was fascinating for all the above reasons. I am rating it at a 3 because once again I really enjoyed one half and the other I struggled with. Not all the stories are of the same ilk but taken for the time they were written, and the translation being top-notch helps bring the excitement of it forward.
Each story tackles a different aspect of the Sci-fi genre. Many of them come under the broad strokes I mentioned in my brief summary above. The stories range from those written in 1950 to something closer. The foreword (as with books like these), provides a lot of information to put the entire future reading experience into perspective. I strongly encourage that it be read in its entirety before stepping into the actual book (in case one is not in the habit of doing so).
These stories stir a lot of talking/debating points and even if they took a while to get through, I am glad I gave them a shot. It widened my horizons in this genre. I would recommend it to fans of this genre who are yet to pick up anything written by the author.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.
Superfluous Reading 