I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of science fiction stories; Hurley masterfully creates these fully realized and wonderful and horrible worlds and the complicated people that inhabit them. Although the different short stories feature on different protagonists in different futures, they often explore war, sacrifice, autonomy, colonialism love, grief, and gender in interesting ways. I particularly liked that our point of view characters were not always who we may see as the "good guys" and the ways the stories would deconstruct the notions of "good" and "bad" either way. I'm very interested in reading more of Kameron Hurley's works after this collection.

Some of my favorite stories were "Elephants and Corpses", "Tumbledown", and "The Light Brigade".

This is one of the most interesting collections of short stories with a very interesting premise tied to each. Many of the stories are very unexpected and intense and not quite what I had expected. This is such a weird collection of stories, you have to read it to understand it.

Kameron Hurley's world building is fascinating, and so are her characters. These short stories will give you something to talk about for sure, my only problem was not having anyone around to discuss them with (but that's not a bad thing with the online community).

I did not finish this short story collection. I would say it would be generous to admit that I read half, but truthfully, Meet Me in the Future was a bit of a slough to get through. The writing isn't bad, but the stories don't differ enough to stand out in my mind, and by the time I reached the "tipping point" so to speak, I felt like I'd only read one big story,

If you're going to put a collection together, even if the theme is all the same, at least throw in a few stories to give your readers a palette cleanser.

"But you have to bend to order. If you won't bend, it'll break you."


2.5- I initially requested this one because I enjoyed Hurley's 2019 standalone, The Light Brigade, but sadly found this anthology to be quite weak overall (though there were a few I really loved).


Meet Me in the Future is a collection of stories that transports readers to a future that is both wondrous and dystopian, promising new worlds, lives and places we can only imagine, yet constantly reminding us of all that can go wrong, and quickly shatter that dream of utopia. A common thread throughout this collection is war- its terrible cost on both the individual and societal level. In Hurley's vision of the future, war only becomes more terrible, exacerbated and prolonged by horrible technologies abused by those in power. The characters in these stories reflect that, living either in the midst of war, or in its long and grim shadow.


That being said, though I loved the themes present, I just couldn't get into a lot of these stories. While some were wholly enthralling, the majority fell flat and lacked the full development needed to be great. I do think that many of these would have been better if they were written as full-length novels- either for the sake of just telling the story, or because I really wanted to know more about the characters and worlds present in them. There are a few little nods to key events/features throughout the collection, which makes me wonder if they're all meant to subtly intertwine to tell one story of the future (or maybe that was stated somewhere and I missed it lol).


One last thing that I want to mention is the excellent LGBTQ+ representation in this book. Hurley's characters repeatedly defy the gender binary and range across the sexuality spectrum, a rarity in the sci-fi genre.


Overall, despite its promise, this collection falls flat in its execution, and I would've preferred to read just a few of these stories in novel format over anthology format. Hurley does continue to make the somewhat repetitive genre of sci-fi new, however, through her characters and concepts.



ARC provided by Tachyon via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This science fiction short story collection is strange, thought-provoking, and original. Each story is different, but some themes run throughout, such as war, gender, colonialism, and race. I will say that this book is not for the squeamish, as there is some gore and body horror. While I did not love every story, each one explores fascinating ideas about the future: organic spaceships, multigender societies, cruel matriarchies, and using bodies as archives, to name a few.

I loved that each story is almost a snapshot of a different world. It left a lot to the imagination because there is not much room for world-building in short stories, and in this instance, I thought that worked well. The collection also includes diverse representation, including queer romances, gender nonconformity, and disability representation. Hurley is not creating utopias for these characters, but weaving stories within societies that have different rules and expectations than our own.

It is definitely a bizarre reading experience, but I recommend it for fans of surreal and explorative science fiction. The introduction is interesting, but I actually recommend reading it after instead of before the stories. It sheds light on some of her inspiration and themes, and I felt it made more sense after reading the collection. It was my first time reading this author’s work, but I will definitely look for more by her…in the future.

I love weird stories. These are fantastic- a little brutal, a little wistful, all weirdly wonderful. I'll read anything she writes.

This is a fantastic set of stories from Kameron Hurley. Stories are set in a wide variety of futuristic worlds which often have a bleakness, darkness, or dystopian bend to them. Life is often hard in these various worlds, and there isn’t always a thread of hope to be found here. Many of the same themes her novels usually touch on are explored here as well such as gender or war. What comes after the adventure is always paramount to the story, and combined with Hurley’s ever-beautiful, striking prose, these tales certainly pack a punch.

Hurley might have more novel length works than short stories, but she’s just at deft at weaving shorter takes as she is longer ones. This collection is definitely recommended for anyone looking to see what Hurley’s writing might be like before dedicating themselves to a whole series.

Hurley is a fun writer. I did not have time to finish reading this before it was released but what I read was very enjoyable.

Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to read this ARC prior to the book's publication, but we did end up buying it for our library collection.

Inventive. Subversive. Visceral. Darkly funny. Meet Me in the Future is a really great collection of science fiction stories from an author whose work just keeps getting better and better.

A well written and interesting collection of short stories from Hurley, although she definitely writes better when she has a higher word count. A nice edition to her bibliography but nothing ground breaking so a middle of the road 3\5 stars

This was a page-turner, interesting anthology. The stories were very original and I could not put it down.

I surely will want to read more books by this author in the near future.

Here are my impressions about each short story:

Elephants and Corpses- One of the stories with a "body-hopping" mercenary. I would like to read a whole novel with Nev.

When We Fall- This is a very touching story about loneliness and the search for connection and how this can be found even in the face of death. The story world with its organic ships and non-human avatars was amazing too.

The Red Secretary- Very interesting story about an religious culture that *spoiler alert* incinerates who commits violence and the role/importance of dogs.

The Sinners and the Sea- Interesting story world that I would like to hear more about, as it was it was uncertain what would happen to the main character.

The Women Of Our Occupation- Scary story about a domination of women, bordering on magical realism.

The Fisherman and the Pig- Another lovely story with the "body-hopping" mercenary.

Garda- It felt a bit rushed-up for me, would gladly hear more about it. In some ways it felt like a continuation of "The Women Of Our Occupation" many centuries later, in a reality where men still were seen as "non-people".

The Plague Givers- Interesting story world, but I got a bit lost when it came to character motivations.

Tumbledown- An awesome story about the fight for survival in an extremely inhospitable planet. One of my favorites in this collection!

Warped Passages- Again a story where you keep later wondering about the future fate of its protagonist and you wished there would be a follow up to the story.

Our Faces, Radiant Sisters,... Quite touching story about women fighting and 'persisting' to fight never dying monsters.

Enyo-Enyo- It was quite confusing for me, I needed more context to grasp the story/world/characters and situation better. *spoiler alert* It also felt for me like a continuation to "Warped Passages" with its prisoner enveloped in (the ship organic tissue?) and embedded in a ship who feed/fueled on its crew?

The Corpse Archives- This was very original, I wished to know more about the Keepers and why they created that whole world.

The War of Heroes- Beautiful story about clash of cultures and choices.

The Light Brigade- Interesting story, I was only confused about the mentioning of "San Paulo". Did the author meant "Sao Paulo" in Brazil, or an imaginary city with a name derived from that or she mean the city would in the future be called by a Spanish derived name due to merging of cultures in South America?

The Improbably War- A poetic ending for the short story collection.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

A really interesting mix of stories here. While I felt like the worldbuilding for a few of them was a little slippery, they almost always came around to an interesting and stunning point. The ideas fleshed out and explored here (like the story about the recurring war where, at the moment peace is signed, everyone who shed blood agrees to be put to death) are ones that need to be mulled over, something that sits in the back of your head that you take out like an uneasy fidget spinner on a sleepless night, or while waiting for the world to happen.

Hurley has a gift for vivid imagery, and I enjoy her brittle, hard-edged, messy, complicated characters a lot. And if she slides a little too far into the kind of obsessive body horror that is uncomfortable to read, it's never not without its point.

Kameron Hurley has not so quietly become one of the major voices in speculative fiction. Her particular science fiction blends the natural with the unnatural creating an organic technology for her host of myriad near future and far future worlds. In Meet Me in the Future, Hurley gives us her first short story collection made up primarily of the stories she first offered up to fans through her Patreon account (a service allowing creatives to connect directly with fans to support their work).

As always, two themes dominate Hurley’s stories—war and the body. In each of the tales, we encounter individuals having to make deeply intimate and emotional choices whose immediacy always revolves around some existential threat to themselves as well as the world they are immersed. Readers do more than sympathize with these characters; they are drawn into their inner lives in a profoundly empathetic manner coming to realize “There was no greater sin than touching a piece of a world that wasn’t yours.” Hurley makes us complicit in touching her worlds, the worlds of these characters, and such a transgressive framing makes each story feel urgent, timely, and utterly estranged. It is a delightful collection which will challenge and grip readers.

The stories were interesting. Not all to my taste, but all nice enough to read and a bit disturbing, which is something I like.

Kameron Hurley has this incredible ability to occupy the spaces known to the science fiction canon but somehow occupy them subversively. Just like the novels I've read by her, the stories are violent and gritty, and not always hopeful.

Some favorites:

*Elephants and Corpses* could live in the universe of Altered Carbon but with a twist.

*The Plague Givers* deals with a fallout of a relationship that might have the power to destroy the world.

*Tumbledown* features a paraplegic warrior on a frozen planet.

4.5 stars. Very solid collection with some satisfying threads that connect the various stories. Will definitely check out one of her novels now.

A really strong short story collection by the always awesome Kameron Hurley, filled with difficult women, body horror, and a man who can't die.

My favourites were:
Elephants and Corpses
The Red Secretary
The Fisherman and the Pig
The Plague Givers
Tumbledown
The Corpse Archives
The Light Brigade (which became the fantastic novel that was released earlier this year).

I felt both the Plague Givers and Tumbledown could be novel length, as the characters and the setting were so evocative. However, all the stories were good, and the collection is well worth your time.