As I was reading, I wrote mini reviews of each story. Because that's the issue with reading short stories: each one kind of has to be taken separately - especially when they're by multiple authors. I'll admit, I was most excited to see familiar names: Hurley, Kingfisher, Jemisin. But I also discovered new-to-me authors whose other works I really want to check out, like Broaddus, Canto, and Van Eekhout.

There were a couple of weird things with the ordering. Namely that the first two stories had to do with midwifery in a collection that had no alignment with midwifery at all. But also that stories in the second half seemed more geared towards a younger audience (themes, style, less cursing, ages of protagonists, etc).

Not all short stories are created equal. And in fact, I was struggling through the first half of the collection because the stories felt incomplete or without a driving force. That was then corrected in the latter half, but I kept wondering: at what cost?

{Thank you Titan Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review; all thoughts are my own}

Here is the breakdown of my reviews of each individual story (by author name):

-Kameron Hurley story - Hurley's writing always makes me feel a little bit stupid, like it exists on a higher plane that I can't quite reach. This one is relatively straight-forward, with an uncomplicated goal. But we end feeling unresolved and that doesn't really sit well with me. Asa, our narrator, asks a moral question that should be at the center of the story and it's brushed aside. 3/5⭐️
-T Kingfisher story - Okay, I'll admit I wasn't expecting two midwifery stories in a row. While there is Kingfisher's token humor (in the form of a machine constantly interrupting for clarity of random things), it again felt kinda like "why do we care?" I guess I'm just used to Kingfisher being scary and very "in your head" but this one didn't give me that at all. 2/5⭐️
-Tim Pratt story - so much talking and almost nothing happening... Basically an Anastasia retelling but modern and kinda boring because we don't get to see any real opulence; instead we get an info-dump in the form of chat-over-a-bad-diner-meal. And another unsatisfactory "the adventure is just beginning" ending... 2/5⭐️
-Ken Liu story - I've never read Liu before, so this was an introduction to his work. I'm not gonna lie, for a story that was theoretically supposed to be geared towards children, there was a lot of jargon. Like, unnecessary jargon. I really loved the central thread of the family but most of the sections about other species just felt like filler. 3/5⭐️
-Sarah Gailey story - I'm all for a story about personal growth and self-confidence. I'm also all for people turning into tigers. But what gets me is that... he didn't really win. Like, this can't just be how that ends because he hasn't done anything? Like... If you're gonna be a lawyer, be a lawyer and beat the bad guy. You can't just eat him and say you've won? 3/5⭐️
-Mur Lafferty story - Okay, this was probably my favorite of the bunch so far and I think I'm going to have to bump Six Wakes up on my TBR because I'm very intrigued by this world. We're left with kind of a cliffhanger, but I feel like we accomplished what we set out to and my guess is it ties in directly with Six Wakes in some way. 3.5/5⭐️
-John Scalzi story - Kinda dumb but also kinda fun: just a series of independent monologues as people describe amusing encounters with various alien animals. Not anything to write home about, but Scalzi really encapsulates the tone of these random impromptu interviews - 3.5/5⭐️
-Beth Cato story - I love when stories (be they short, novellas, novels, whatever) twist the lines between genres. Here we have a character who is obsessed with and deeply connected to fairy tales, oral tradition, and mythology in a distinctly futuristic setting with aliens also contributing to the mix of folklore - 4/5⭐️
-Maurice Broaddus story - a world so like our own (but farther down in a spiral of destruction), from the perspective of someone who many wouldn't consider: an ex-con, an addict. The prose is poignant and clear, with every sentence precise and nothing wasted. I need to go find more of Broaddus's work because he killed it 4.5/5⭐️
-Mary Robinette Kowal story - I guess they saved the best stories for the second half because they've been getting much better. Heartwarming tale of a kid and her (alien) pet - the determination and self-sufficiency needed to acquire and care for said pet. Even when it's a little... Strange. Very much had the feeling of a children's story, so it didn't really fit with everything else but still good - 4/5⭐️
-Tobias Buckell story - I'm always curious about how people view the age of AI/machines. But what about a post-human future? Buckell creates exactly the sort of totally human but also distinctly robotic question: bring back the humans and risk destruction / becoming monsters for the sake of preservation/restoration or just let them rot? 4/5⭐️
-Cory Doctorow story - why is there always that one story that's like 3x longer than every other story in a collection? Sometimes they throw in a novella for good measure. This one had rather dry writing and was, again, rather a "younger" story than most of the others. It took some getting into, but not bad for my first Doctorow - 3.5/5⭐️
-Greg Van Eekhout story - I'm so down for this one! Generation ships are all well and good, but who pays for them and what privileges does the paying grant? Two kids from the failing Aft Hab discover just why there's such a power disparity and seek to correct it. Definitely going to look into Van Eekhout's other work - 4.5/5⭐️
-Tina Connolly story - I can't believe I had to wait 94% into this anthology before I got two queer girls kissing in space. Like... Isn't that the whole point of a scifi anthology? (No? Just me?) It was a little dorky (rewrite Wizard of Oz to foster "teamwork" or whatever) but the character's monologue was very relatable 3.5/5⭐️
-NK Jemisin story - What a way to end the collection: revolution and teamwork and standing up against oppression. Also dragons. Dragons are always a good move. And Jemisin is renowned for a reason: efficient prose and a tone that drapes one arm around you and welcomes you to the table. Now I want to know more about these dragons - 4/5⭐️