State of the Ark

In this collection of science fiction stories, a diverse array of Canadian authors including Spider Robinson, Elisabeth Vonarburg, Robert Sawyer, Terri Favro, and Jeremy Hull explore worlds of the future, where humans look and act differently – or perhaps they just look different and act the same as humans always have. They interact with alien beings, and they must learn to live with the other creatures that inhabit Earth. Sometimes funny, often poignant, frequently ingenious, and always thought-provoking, these works spark questions and challenge our ideas about how the future might look – and how creatures of every kind and species will live in it.

In the opening story, “Star Light, Star Bright,” by Robert Sawyer, a translator of ancient documents discovers children can see things in the sky that are not visible to him. What does this mean for their society, rebuilding after a long-ago war reduced humans to a primitive state? In “Hammerhead,” John Park’s protagonist, “tangled in the other branches” of his lives, must replay a horrific scenario in his head over and over to get at the uncomfortable truth, to find “the different here” that will help him in his “journeying.”

Julie Czerneda offers one possibility of what may happen when a grieving couple?s application to adopt a pet takes a surprising turn in “Foster Earth.” Spider Robinson?s parentless character has to choose between being threatened or thrilled when the colony he joins “jumps off the edge of the Solar System” in “Who is Joel Johnston?” And in the final story of the collection, a Nova Scotian rebel of the future hopes that humankind?s survival depends on a past event that almost no one noticed.

Evocative and engaging, these stories, told with vibrant engagement with “otherness” of one kind or another, offer readers the opportunity to be both entertained and enlightened.

State of the Ark is the long-awaited follow-up anthology to the 1992 landmark Canadian science fiction collection Ark of Ice.

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State of the Ark Book Review

State of the Ark is a collection of short stories. This book isn’t quite sci-fi in the way that it has things like space travel, aliens, and all that fun stuff. It’s a bit more specifically futurefiction, and through reading this book I figured out what that all means. I found it to be a little bit like predictions of the future, especially Canada’s future. One thing that I didn’t really like about this book is that it deals with a bit of politics. The writers have infused their stories with their predictions of the future due to things like climate change or the actions of the prime minister, that lead the Earth into a certain dystopian state. I didn’t really love this part, because it felt very opinionated and less like telling a regular story. I do understand that this was a book written for adults, though. So maybe this is what adult people like. I wouldn’t know.

Thankfully, not all of the short stories were like this, there were plenty that were actually stories that I liked. Short story collections are very interesting, it’s really a hit and miss thing. I suppose that’s also the fun part of short stories, where if you like it you can check out more of the author’s work, and if you don’t, then you never have to come across them again. Now, we are going to analyze every single short story that I found compelling and give a review on each and every one of them… because yes.

Star Light, Star Bright
Robert J. Sawyer
This story was so cute and so adorable. I loved how the world was set up, and that’s really one of the challenges with writing a fantasy short story, or a short story that’s set in some otherworldy place, or has non human characters. I think this story did that very well, and it was actually so wholesome. The ending was a little bit unexpected, but I think it was a very fitting ending. An individual rating of Star Light, Star Bright would be a solid 9/10.

Eternity Leave
Tim Wynne-Jones
Eternity Leave was interesting. It’s one of those stories that feel like a dream, and that’s one of the good things about short stories, you get a little taste of it and then it’s gone. A bit cruel, really, but that’s what it’s like. Eternity Leave is one of those stories. I liked the main concept of it. It’s a bit of a confusing story, you need to think about it a bit. Which I liked. I love good stories that encourage you to think critically about them a little bit.
7/10

Read-Only Memory
Julian Mortimer Smith
Such an interesting one. I wouldn’t quite say that I loved this one, but I feel like it had a lasting impression on me. I found the concept very interesting, and I can sort of see it happening in the real world. This story was just so captivating, and I felt that it was important enough to mention here. If you ever do end up reading State of the Ark, this is one of the stories to look forward to, in my humble little opinion.
8/10

Winter Pilgramage of the Storytellers
Terri Favro
Again, I’m not sure if I liked this one, but I thought it was funny. I think this one told a good story. I think the concept of Earth, and being in a magical place where storytellers have the upper hand is very inventive. I thought the ending a bit strange, it felt too open to me. The whole story was really just meeting a lover that was presumed lost, and then it ended. This one I didn’t really love, but I think it was good enough to give a mention in here.
6.5/7/10

Substance. Light
Casey June Wolf
This one is less of a story, and bit more like poetry. Although not written like a poem, we only focus one one person’s experiences, and it feels dreamy, but also sad. I suppose “melancholy” would be a better word for it, although I believe that it’s a story of life. It’s neat how some people can take life as it is, and turn it into a few colourful words, perfectly describing the essence of the cycle of life and death. That is what this story is to me.
9/10

“Side Effects May Include”
C.J. Lavigne
This one was probably one of the few that was actually telling a story. Like, this one felt like a book, and it felt like the opening to a story. “Side Effects May Include” could very well be continued on as a book on it’s own, because of the world and technology that it’s established. Not overly worldbuilt, of course, but I could definitely read more of this. I want more of this story, like where is the rest of it??
9/10

So, out of 17 stories, I really only found a handful of them that really spoke to me or left some sort of lasting impression on me. There are plenty of stories that I found weird in this book, but it’s not exactly that I didn’t like them. It’s like whiplash. You’ve just finished reading a short story, and you’re still thinking about it, but when you flip the page it’s already onto the next one. I don’t mind it, but when you combine many different authors writing from their imagination or predictions of Canada’s future, this is the result. Others will enjoy certain stories better than others, and there’s always going to be someone to like any book.

Just for some further clarification, there are a lot of stories that I enjoyed, but I feel like the book overall didn’t quite meet the 5-STAR ranking. I still found all of the stories interesting, but combined some “meh” stories, and some stories when I was like “:D”, this book gets 4 stars.

I would recommend this book to any who likes sci-fi, dystopian stories, and is a short story enjoyer!

I recommend this book.