We Dare

An Anthology of Augmented Humanity

By: Chris Kennedy, Jamie Ibson, Christopher Woods, Kevin Steverson, J.F. Holmes, Quincy J. Allen, Philip Wohlrab, Rob Howell, Luke R.J. Maynard, Jason Cordova, Jack Clemons, Kevin Ikenberry, Robert E. Hampson, Marisa Wolf, Kacey Ezell

Narrated by: KC Johnston

Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Fifteen outstanding authors. Fifteen stories of augmented humanity!

All I need is an edge! As long as humans have competed with each other (for food, profit, and love), people have looked for ways to get an edge on the competition - how to be better, faster, and smarter than the opposition. 

With better science and technology, many things are now possible, and there will be many more in the future! Gene splicing will augment your abilities. Implants will make you smarter. Cybernetic systems will make you stronger.

Edited by Jamie Ibson and Chris Kennedy, We Dare is a collection of 15 all-new stories that explores the use of augmented humanity in the near future. From getting a new personality loaded with the skills you need for a mission to nanobots that keep you from being killed to creating an indestructible tank, anything is possible!

But just because we can augment humanity doesn’t necessarily mean we should, and there are cautionary tales inside, as well. Along with the “good” that might be possible, there is also the potential for augmentation to be used for more...nefarious...ends. Will augmentation make better criminals? What happens when someone with implants has their mind taken over? One thing is certain, though. People will dare to augment themselves to get an edge. 

Our authors dared to write these stories of augmented humanity. Will you now dare to listen to them?

Inside, you’ll find:

• Preface by Chris Kennedy
• "Kade" by Christopher Woods
• "Taming the Beast" by Kevin Steverson
• "Tank" by J.F. Holmes
• "Cradle and All" by Quincy J. Allen
• "Do or Die" by Jamie Ibson
• "Yellow in the Night" by Philip Wohlrab
• "The Chaos of Well-Seeming Forms" by Rob Howell
• "Forty Acres and a Mule" by Luke R. J. Maynard
• "Imperfect Mind" by Jason Cordova
• "Bag Man" by Jack Clemons
• "Come Up Screaming" by Kevin Ikenberry
• "Angel" by Robert E. Hampson
• "To Dust" by Marisa Wolf
• "Now You See Me" by Kacey Ezell
• "Now You Don’t" by Josh Hayes

The full list of authors includes: Chris Kennedy, Jamie Ibson, Christopher Woods, Kevin Steverson, J.F. Holmes, Quincy J. Allen, Philip Wohlrab, Rob Howell, Luke R. J. Maynard, Jason Cordova, Jack Clemons, Kevin Ikenberry, Robert E. Hampson, Marisa Wolf, Kacey Ezell, and Josh Hayes.

©2019 Chris Kennedy (P)2020 Chris Kennedy

A Rollicking Good Anthology!

In this great anthology, classic tropes rub shoulders with modern sensibilities and deep interpersonal understanding. Each story is a vignette, fully fleshed out in and of itself. And each has its strengths ad flaws, its joys and its sorrows. I found the world building of the story 'Taming the Beast', 'Tank' and the tied stories 'Now you See Me' and 'Now You Don't'. The connections and emotional motivations in 'Taming the Beast' were beautifully realized. The child of veterans myself, I felt a happy lump in my throat at the rough-edged comradeship and honorable care shown to old soldiers. I also appreciated the energetic fun in a lot of stories, which hits a sweet spot for fans of classic, gritty SF. It's a classic collection.

Some stories, including 'To Dust' wander a little over that line and into tropey boredom, but the collection as a whole has a lot of charm. Since each story is done by a different author, the style changes often, but the collection is in the whole strong and well-curated, from the witty one-liners of Kade to the genius strangeness of Now You See Me. It's great stuff.

Anthologies are always great!

I already read several of these authors from different book series, but found a couple more to seek out!

The one by Rob Howell was INCREDIBLE! Really makes one think.

My only complaint is that the recording in a couple of stories got "glitchy" At first I thought it was a signal issue but it happened again when I was stationary.

some good some bad

Some of the stories were really good unfortunately a lot of them were sub par. I usually only write reviews of books that were in my opinion good. I never liked negative critics and rarely let them influence me. So take this with a grain of salt.

good

this has a collection of short stories. if that is your thing ypu may like this book. i like the over arching them of the stories but hearing credits for each story throws me off a little

Missed my Mark Boyett as Kade

There is only one Mathew Kade narrator, and it' s not KC Johnston . You couldn't diffrentiate his male voices clearly
in the Kade story. Besides you couldn't tell you were listening to a 90 something year old man, because here was no inflection changes. I hope Christopher Woods plan to release a Mark Boyett version of Kade because I'm wating to hear the Bastion and Warlord stories.
I otherwise enjoyed the rest of the anthology. The stories were fresh and new to me .