What’s more frightening: Not knowing who you are? Or finding out? A Bram Stoker Award–winning author explores the answer in a chilling story about identity and human consciousness.

Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?

This is the last story from the Forward collection I had left, so I was excited to get to it. Since it is so short I don’t want to say much about it since it would likely be a spoiler. This was my first experience with Paul Tremblay’s writing though I’ve heard tons of great things about it in the past so I was eager to see if I liked it. I did really enjoy the writing and the language used – plus the twist at the end was really good and surprising. The story itself speaks to a number of things regarding science, morals and the lengths that people will go to. I felt that the story could have been much longer and kinda wished it was, but I still really enjoyed it.

Happy reading!

Nature or nurture? Neither. Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.

When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.

This one was probably my least favorite of the Forward series so far, but I didn’t dislike it. It certainly has a valid discussion regarding genetic manipulation and just what corporations may be doing (or may do in the future) with genetic material they receive from individuals; however, I feel it could have benefited from being a little more fleshed out and longer.

The writing was interesting and compelling, which I really enjoyed and the characters had true personalities, but the main character’s decisions were sometimes not truly explained or perhaps a little unbelievable. Still, when he was talking with other characters, or talking to those at Vitek, the internal dialogue he has with himself was engaging and some of the best parts of the story.

Overall it was still a valuable premise and conversation to have and if it were a little longer and more fleshed out I think it would have had a much higher star rating.

Happy reading!

What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy.

An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out eons ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.

Well this one was quite a ride! It hit really close to home considering the current state of our planet both climate wise and economically. It discusses earth and what could happen if people cared more about others and the planet then their own gain.

This story follows a ‘being’ who’s been promised skin in exchange for a supposedly dangerous mission of going back to Earth to get something their superior society needs. What they find surprises both them and the AI that is within them to keep them in check. What follows is a tale of dual perspectives, deception and important lessons about humankind in general.

Happy reading!

On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.

It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond.

Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection. As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.

Ark is another installment in Amazon’s Forward series where we’re facing the end of earth. In this one, a asteroid is about to hit earth and destroy life as we know it. Those that are left on earth are scientists who are frantically working to catalog as much flora and fauna as they can before they leave a couple days before it hits.

Since this is a really short story I’m not going to say much about it because pretty much anything would be a spoiler, but this is an interesting perspective on the different decisions people may make if they know the world is ending. The main character we follow is Samantha, whose perspective and feelings change based on things she discovers and people she talks to.

It’s a great look at what different people may do when facing the destruction of everything they know. I’m eager to read the rest of the collection and see what other stories these authors have come up with.

Happy reading!