This is another of Amazon’s themed short story collections by top authors. This time, the stories are all time travel themed and the authors are John Scalzi, R. F. Kuang, Peng Shepherd, Kaliane Bradley, Olivie Blake, and P. Djèlí Clark. This one was a real mixed bag for me. The Scalzi story was enjoyable and clever but with a lack of characterization - something I have come to expect from this author, and it didn’t hurt the story at all. The Kuang story was brutal and breathtaking and the protagonist made a particularly violent choice towards the end that made me dislike them intensely again, not a surprise from this author. And the Clark piece was haunting and sadly realistic. The real standout for me was the story by Peng - I’d never read anything by this author before and I will look out for them in the future. The other pieces were much, much weaker. I might’ve been happier skipping them entirely. I disliked the Bailey story almost as much as I disliked her debut novel (which was a lot). And the Blake story didn’t even feel like science fiction. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
