Immunity to Strange Tales (edition 2012)

I have not received this book so that I could review it. I was supposed to receive it as a part of Library Thing's Early Reviewers group. --Update: I've received the ebook and will review it soon.

Immunity to Strange Tales is a compilation of, well yes, strange tales, but also very sad tales. A few stories early in the book aimed for surprise twist endings, but I saw them coming. Later in the book the stories became very well written and I did not know where they would end up. Unfortunately the stories became so sad that I found it harder and harder to return to the book until around halfway through I just had to stop.

Maybe I just get depressed too easily these days, but I prefer to have a bit of an uplifting ending. Suffering and angst are good for character development, but I like to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Your mileage may differ

I had to stop reading. The first story is obvious and depressing, the second one is gross and depressing, the third one is poignant and depressing (and I would have liked it if the first two hadn't been such downers), the fourth one I would actually recommend to anyone who enjoys chemistry humour, but by the time I got to the fifth, I just didn't have the stomach to read about incest, no matter how it was framed. Gross.

I may skip the rest of this story and pick it up again at the next one, but I don't have enough motivation to do so yet. ( )

Immunity to Strange Tales is a collection of twelve short stories, most of which could be considered Sci-Fi, most of which I enjoyed greatly.

Outstanding were the stories Back (about a Time Machine), The Right Chemistry (about Atoms), Tomorrow and Tomorrow (about what one is willing to do to ensure there is a tomorrow), Killing the Cat (about mind control) and Orange (about the end of the world). These stories were thought-provoking and after finishing these I had to pause and reflect about the message / morale contained within.

The other stories were also intriguing and thought provoking, but not as memorable as the ones mentioned above.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys sci-fi and short stories.

I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. ( )

A nice collection of short stories, varied in content and style, all skillfully written. Some I found more academic than anything else; others were truly touching and thought-provoking. ( )