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Charlie Jane Anders

Author of All the Birds in the Sky

72+ Works 6,110 Members 328 Reviews 10 Favorited

About the Author

Series

Works by Charlie Jane Anders

All the Birds in the Sky (2016) — Author — 2,846 copies
Victories Greater Than Death (2021) 447 copies
Nevertheless She Persisted: Flash Fiction Project (2020) — Contributor — 151 copies
Never Say You Can't Survive (2021) 147 copies
Even Greater Mistakes (2021) 130 copies
Six Months, Three Days (2011) 101 copies
Choir Boy (2005) 87 copies
The Lazy Crossdresser (2002) 65 copies
Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow (2019) — Contributor — 58 copies
Rock Manning Goes for Broke (2018) 58 copies
As Good As New (2014) 38 copies
Clover (2016) 26 copies
If You Take My Meaning (2020) 21 copies
Intestate (2012) 10 copies
NEW MUTANTS LETHAL LEGION (2024) 8 copies
Women of Marvel #1 (2022) (2022) 3 copies
Gökteki Bütün Kuslar (2018) 2 copies
Source Decay 2 copies
Margot and Rosalind (2017) 2 copies
Suicide Drive 2 copies

Associated Works

The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) — Afterword, some editions — 15,840 copies
The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales (2016) — Contributor — 330 copies
The End Is Nigh (2014) — Contributor — 275 copies
Press Start to Play (2015) — Contributor — 256 copies
Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future (2014) — Contributor — 241 copies
Cursed: An Anthology of Dark Fairy Tales (2020) — Contributor — 198 copies
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 (2018) — Contributor — 173 copies
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016 (2016) — Contributor — 167 copies
Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2014 Edition (2015) — Contributor — 153 copies
The End Is Now (2014) — Contributor — 151 copies
Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016 Edition (2017) — Contributor — 134 copies
Fourteen Days: A Collaborative Novel (2022) — Contributor — 130 copies
The End Has Come (2015) — Contributor — 129 copies
Year's Best SF 17 (2012) — Contributor — 127 copies
Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction (2018) — Contributor — 124 copies
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 (2020) — Contributor — 109 copies
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2011 Edition (2011) — Contributor — 93 copies
Wastelands: The New Apocalypse (2019) — Contributor — 88 copies
Drowned Worlds (2016) — Contributor — 85 copies
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2015 Edition (2015) — Contributor — 73 copies
Time Travel: Recent Trips (2014) — Contributor — 71 copies
Cosmic Powers: The Saga Anthology of Far-Away Galaxies (2017) — Contributor — 71 copies
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2009 Edition (2010) — Contributor — 68 copies
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2017 Edition (2017) — Contributor — 65 copies
Bridging Infinity (1783) — Contributor — 61 copies
Resist: Tales from a Future Worth Fighting Against (2018) — Contributor — 56 copies
The Best of Uncanny (2019) — Contributor — 54 copies
Nebula Awards Showcase 2018 (2018) — Contributor — 48 copies
Far Out: Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy (2021) — Contributor — 44 copies
The Year's Best Military SF & Space Opera (2015) — Contributor — 43 copies
Out of the Ruins: The Apocalyptic Anthology (2021) — Contributor — 40 copies
The Stories: Five Years of Original Fiction on tor.com (2013) — Contributor — 38 copies
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2018 Edition (2018) — Contributor — 35 copies
Best Bisexual Erotica, Volume 2 (2002) — Contributor — 35 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 27 • August 2012 (2012) — Contributor — 34 copies
Global Dystopias (Boston Review / Forum) (2017) — Contributor — 29 copies
Best Lesbian Erotica 2010 (2009) — Contributor — 27 copies
Fucking Daphne: Mostly True Stories and Fictions (2008) — Contributor — 25 copies
It Gets Even Better: Stories of Queer Possibility (2021) — Contributor — 23 copies
We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020 (2021) — Contributor — 21 copies
Love Hurts: A Speculative Fiction Anthology (1656) — Contributor — 20 copies
Futures & Fantasies (2018) — Contributor — 20 copies
The Urban Bizarre (2004) — Contributor — 20 copies
Multiverses: An anthology of alternate realities (2023) — Contributor — 19 copies
Uncanny Magazine Issue 5: July/August 2015 (2015) — Contributor — 17 copies
Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination (2022) — Interviewee — 14 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 72 • May 2016 (2016) — Contributor — 13 copies
Pwning Tomorrow (2015) — Contributor — 11 copies
Some of the Best from Tor.com: 15th Anniversary Edition (2023) — Contributor — 10 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 100 • September 2018 (2018) — Contributor — 9 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 46 • March 2014 (2014) — some editions — 9 copies
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet No. 22 (2008) — Contributor — 8 copies
As Time Goes By (2015) — Contributor — 8 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 76 • September 2016 (2016) — Contributor — 7 copies
Tor.com Short Fiction: Winter 2020 (2020) — Contributor — 7 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 90 • November 2017 (2017) — Contributor — 7 copies
Apex Magazine 51 (August 2013) (2013) — Contributor — 7 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 67 • December 2015 (2015) — Contributor — 7 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 106 • March 2019 (2019) — Contributor — 6 copies
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 91 • December 2017 (2017) — Contributor — 5 copies

Tagged

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Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Blood, grief and loss depiction, death of a father in the past and a friend, dead bodies, genocide, earthquake, emesis, bullying and murder mentioned, physical assault and injury, fire, military violence and war themes
Score: Five points out of ten.

One year ago, I read the first instalment of the Unstoppable trilogy: Victories Greater Than Death--a massive disappointment. One year later, it was time to read the second part of the series: Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak. Unfortunately, when I picked it up, read and finished it, it was equally underwhelming. No library has the third part, Promises Stronger Than Darkness, but I won't read that; I'm done with this author.

It starts (more like continues) with the characters that need no introduction: Tina, Elza and Rachel, all living separate lives but none of them are on Earth anymore. Elza desires to be the first human to enter The Palace of Scented Tears, while Rachel can't draw after encountering an alien artefact and Tina seizes an opportunity to study at the Royal Space Academy but unexpectedly does not fulfil others' expectations there. Sounds disjointed? It sure is. It was a struggle to read each individual narrative. Splitting the book into three parts each starring a protagonist would be better; not to mention I couldn't connect or relate to any of them in the first place. The character soup didn't help either, as there were so many non-human people I had to meet that I couldn't remember or keep track of them. Rachel goes to a black hole to attempt to restore her artistic abilities, and Elza meets the antagonist from Victories Greater Than Death, Marrant, all while Tina stumbles upon the Bereavement. Nothing much happened in the first 300 pages. Damina, Kez and Yiwei were predominantly in the background. However, the last 100 quickened the pace to its detriment as I couldn't comprehend all the events that occurred. The malicious organisation, the Compassion, returns to execute their vitriolic plan to extinguish entire species by inserting black holes that eat suns from the inside, slowly destroying civilisations. Which is what happened to the Irriyaians and why most of them are dead now, including another person, Yatto. Tina also ceased to exist during the disordered pandemonium when she transformed into captain Thaoh Argentian, which concluded Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak on a low note.
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Flagged
Law_Books600 | 5 other reviews | Feb 26, 2024 |
A magic tree and a networked artificial intelligence have sex to save humanity, and it's sort of amusing.
 
Flagged
lelandleslie | 175 other reviews | Feb 24, 2024 |
Quite an interesting premise, and the world feels very well-realized and thought out. The characters veer cliché territory at times, making them feel a bit caricature-ish, but that adds sort of a "moral of the story/Aesops fables" feel to the whole thing, which is further emphasized by the ending, so it kind of works? Again, interesting, yet not terribly unique.
 
Flagged
deborahee | Feb 23, 2024 |
I'm not going to finish this book. I started back in February and I've picked it up multiple times since then but just can't seem to get past the 55/60% point. Anders writing style is solid, but the plot is all over the place and the characters seem very distant to me. I really enjoyed the first couple chapters (there was a real Terry Pratchett-y feel throughout them) but then all my interest was lost. It's been over three years since I've started a book and haven't finished it, so that says something for me.

I'd be tempted to pick up something else by Anders and try reading it, but this particular novel just isn't for me. Honestly, I'd rather just set this aside indefinitely and focus on reading the books I'm more interested in.

I'm rating this book on this 60% or so that I read of it.
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Flagged
deborahee | 175 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |

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Annalee Newitz Editor, Contributor
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Simone Dudnik Contributor
Roopa Ramamoorthi Contributor
Wendy Seltzer Contributor
Thida Cornes Contributor
Carle Ralston Contributor
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Elisabeth Severson Contributor
Jenn Shreve Contributor
Morgan Romine Contributor
Paula Gaetos Contributor
Quinn Norton Contributor
Mara Paulsen Contributor
Diana Husmann Contributor
Violet Blue Contributor
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Ellen Spertus Contributor
Devin Grayson Contributor
Kory Wells Contributor
Seanan McGuire Contributor
Alyssa Wong Contributor
Amal El-Mohtar Contributor
Nisi Shawl Contributor
Kameron Hurley Contributor
Carrie Vaughn Contributor
Brooke Bolander Contributor
Jo Walton Contributor
Joey Eschrich Contributor
Mark Stasenko Contributor
Meg Elison Contributor
Paolo Bacigalupi Contributor
Lee Konstantinou Contributor
Mark Oshiro Contributor
Andrés Martínez Contributor
Hannu Rajaniemi Contributor
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Madeline Ashby Contributor
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Yuko Shimizu Cover artist
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Julia LLoyd Designer
Mark Smith Cover artist
Jamie Stafford-Hill Cover designer
Lesley Worrell Cover designer
Liana Krissoff Copy editor
Razaras Cover artist
Richard Anderson Cover artist
Victo Ngai Cover artist

Statistics

Works
72
Also by
86
Members
6,110
Popularity
#4,031
Rating
3.9
Reviews
328
ISBNs
98
Languages
9
Favorited
10

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