Miniatures

The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi

De: John Scalzi

Narrado por: Khristine Hvam, Peter Ganim, Luke Daniels, John Scalzi, Greg Cope White, Fred Berman

The ex-planet Pluto has a few choice words about being thrown out of the solar system. A listing of alternate histories tells you all the various ways Hitler has died. A lawyer sues an interplanetary union for dangerous working conditions. And four artificial intelligences explain, in increasingly worrying detail, how they plan not to destroy humanity. Welcome to Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi.

These four stories, along with 14 other pieces, have one thing in common: They're short, sharp, and to the point - science fiction in miniature, with none of the stories longer than 2,300 words. But in that short space exist entire universes, absurd situations, and the sort of futuristic humor that propelled Scalzi to a Hugo with his novel Redshirts. Not to mention yogurt taking over the world (as it would).

Spanning the years from 1991 to 2016, this collection is a quarter century of Scalzi at his briefest and best and features four never-before-published stories exclusive to this collection: "Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth", "Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back", "Important Holidays on Gronghu", and "The AI Are Absolutely Positively Without a Doubt Not Here to End Humanity, Honest".

John Scalzi is the New York Times best-selling author of Old Man's War, Lock In, and Redshirts, among others. His work has won the Hugo and Locus Awards and been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell Awards. He lives in Ohio and online. He enjoys pie.

Full cast of narrators includes Oliver Wyman, Dina Pearlman, and Allyson Johnson.

©2016 John Scalzi (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The production includes six narrators, including Scalzi, with each taking on two or more stories. This proves a smart choice.... Between the narrators and the stories, this collection proves to be a perfect introduction for listeners wanting to get a comprehensive sense of Scalzi's style." ( AudioFile)

Great variety of stories, with intros by author.

What did you love best about Miniatures?

Most of the stories made me laugh out loud! And since I listened to it in the car, I got some really funny looks. (Which, in my opinion, makes it just that much more fun!)

What was one of the most memorable moments of Miniatures?

Hard to choose because each of the stories is so unique. My favorite is 'Denise Jones, Superbooker'. OMG!! So hilarious! The last 'story', though, is a poem he wrote to Penelope (wife of Odysseus), which is extremely sweet. Very touching.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

So many characters, so many voices.... The kids in the Lemonade story had the perfect whiny tones. Ha!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessary because the stories are so short, but I did want to because it was so entertaining.

Any additional comments?

Could not have asked for a more enjoyable two+ hours of entertainment. If you like Scalzi's work, this is a must-have.

A wonderful humorous collection of short stories!

This is the second anthology of short stories by John Scalzi that I have read, and I definitely enjoyed them. Not only has Scalzi included a wonderful collection of short stories here, but each one comes with an introduction in which the author provides the reader with a little bit of information about the short story in question.

Among my favorites in this collection were "To Sue the World" due to its connection to Redshirts, which I loved when I read it, "How I Keep Myself Amused on Long Flights" and "How I Keep Myself Amused on Long Flights, Part II," "When the Yogurt Took Over" for its sheer craziness, and "Missives from Possible Futures #1," which had my husband and me laughing out loud while listening.

I definitely recommend listening to this anthology. The different stories have different narrators, all of which did great jobs with their assigned short stories. Of the various narrators, I had only listened to one of them previously - Luke Daniels - though I do have a few audiobooks in my TBR list with one of the other narrators, and I am now looking forward to listening to those books even more.

witty with a surprise ending!

these are delightful. and the poem...
I do not know if in your writers mind's eye, you pictured someone waiting a love ptsd has made distant & ultimately impossible. however, intended. you nailed it.
definitely telling my vet group.
I know a bit about both sides of the ptsd equation.
I''m a vietnam vet. (21 months) and yes, I Saw combat.

A Gem

Imaginative writing by John Scalzi. very enjoyable. Mostly humor, and all good reads. Highly recommended.

Greatshort stories of each authors - Great!

Loved every Stories of each authors and each of their uniquely contrived characters & their activities & backgrounds !!! I therefore I was very happy how all the characters are & the fantastic storylines too !!!!!!!!

Entertaining if not essential

Hardly essential, but definitely entertaining for the erstwhile Scalzi fan. Very funny stuff.

4.5 stars

Scalzi, always genius

This is a bit of everything that makes him an amazing author. I'd def pay for a field trip to his mind any day.

Small doses of "Scalzian" humor

If you answer yes to any of these next question you should totally get this audiobook:

1) Do you like short and "laugh out loud" science fiction?

2) Do you wonder what human interaction with aliens on a daily basis in school or in the workplace would be like?

3) Do you find the idea of human annihilation by AI or an intelligent Randian Yogurt possibly funny?

4) Does the idea of security risk assessment regarding spaceship travels or super heroes/villains amuse you?

5) All of the above?

Obs: if you like this, get "Redshirts" and/or "Fuzzy Nation"

FUNNY

What made the experience of listening to Miniatures the most enjoyable?

VERY FUNNY

What was one of the most memorable moments of Miniatures?

The shower head complaining force me to stop my car..LOL so hard was going to crash..

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

not possible to many short stories, but the book is a great compilation..

Alien Human Encounters Far Beyond First Contact

Forget first contact stories. John Scalzi brings you a bunch of bite-sized comedies that deal with human and alien contact a trillion times after the initial meeting, with the results often being amusing.

The best of the bunch is the initial story -- Alien Animal Encounters -- in which we hear about several bizarre, ridiculous, yet hilarious ways humans and aliens have encountered each other. Some of the stories are told in tweets, some are written and presented as if by a roundtable of AIs right before they take over the world, and the full cast recording Audible assembled really plays to these stories strengths.

The worst of the bunch is the romantic poem Scalzi wrote to a girlfriend before they broke up. That's just an odd way to close out a collection of humorous stories, and it's unclear whether or not this poem caused the break up? Actually, I take it back. That might make publishing this story in Miniatures pretty hilarious (even if it was unintentional).

The humor in most of the stories isn't complex, but silly (I mean that as a compliment). If you enjoy Scalzi's brand of humor and storytelling, you'll probably enjoy this too.