This collection of short stories was good and kept me interested. I liked that it has some funny stories in it, but a few with more serious tones. The author touches on what the world would look like if humans had the solution, for example, to cure death. With some quotes, it really makes you stop and think. I did like it and I think anyone who likes sci-fi will enjoy it.

Upon A Waking Dream reads exactly how the title describes. This book is a series of short sci-fi/fantasy stories that were grounded in reality and each one was intricately woven to make the reader believe they are viewing someone’s dreams. It gives the feeling of stories that would be retold time and time again while sitting at a bonfire with your family.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC! I really enjoyed this anthology of short stories. Some leaned more in the direction if sci-fi, some were more fantasy.
All of them had some really unique concepts. While some were just humourous and entertaining, others explored morals and made you think. So, it was a fine mix of stories. I'd suggest this to anyone who enjoys anthologies and little worlds they offer within!
Really love the cover of book!

This collection was delightful. I liked some more than others, which is unavoidable with collections, and I so wish some were infintely longer, but overall the stories were consistenly well done. Bailey does a great job with taking normal people and putting them in unique and fantastic circumstances. I really enjoyed some of the settings for the fantastical pieces and overall it was such an enjoyable read and quick to work through!

What a weird little book

A collection of stories that all feature some sort of supernatural/extraterrestrial bent.

They vary in length and depth. Some are bizarre, some weirdly hilarious.

Overall, I enjoyed this anthology / short story collection. I'm not sure I love JS Bailey's writing style, but the stories themselves were good.

I'm rating it 3 stars (rounded up to a 3.5), not because it was bad, but because I can't say I loved everything or that it's a new favourite. I enjoyed some stories, didn't like or understand others, so the 3 stars feels like a good average.

I really did love how the author included a short section at the end, talking about the inspiration for each of the stories in the collection. Some of them ended up helping me understand a story I hadn't enjoyed or didn't understand the point of.

Here are my mini reviews from the individual stories, including some of the author's notes:

LETTER FROM GLOMSUET:
A flat earther gets accidentally kidnapped by alien botanists.
Definitely enjoyable, and I would love to read a longer version of this. Emilio was an interesting character, quickly accepting he was wrong and learning to adapt to a different way of life.
Favourite Quote: "I'm like an alien on Earth trying to learn Welsh"

MAN OF HER DREAMS:
Obsessive stalker fan gets into a romance with her favourite movie star, but add a dash of time travel and a moral teaching at the end.
Not my favourite, but it was okay

JAY:
A stranger shows up in town, with the ability to make people remember wrongdoings and admit them aloud. There's also a murder mystery aspect with someone slashing the throats of young boys.
For a story with so much reference to the age of the characters, it took a while for me to figure out how old some of them were. Strange story, not sure if I liked it or not
Author's Note: "Have you ever wondered what might happen if Jesus showed up at church?"
That note made me understand the story and enjoy it a lot more.

DAILY LOG FROM OUTPOST #602:
Well, that ending was... weird
A very short story told through the daily logs of someone sent to a radio outpost in space to listen for alien messages from deep space.
Author's Note: originally written for a random word generation writing exercise.

NO GOOD REASON:
I don't quite get this one - maybe there just isn't anything to get?
It's a short story about a guy coming into a coffee shop during a storm and telling the somewhat bored barista his life story. That's it.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FAST:
In short? By taking part in a heist.
A fun fantasy heist story, though the MC's absolute belief in the mundane got a little tiring after a few pages. Like come on, Kyle, just admit that there are weird things going on.

THE FAMILY NAME:
All about patriarchy and how boys carry on the "strong noble family name" from the view of a 12 year old boy with only two girls per grade in school.
Heavy handed in the morals, but still a good point to make

LARRY:
A story featuring an imaginary friend / guardian angel named Larry who speaks in an English accent and wears a Greek / Roman toga and bunny slippers
I actually enjoyed this one, and I think with a bit more of a final conflict, could become a really interesting novella - I wanted more of Larry and Molly's begrudging friendship

THIRTEEN:
A seemingly pointless story about unlucky numbers, in which the conflict doesn't get resolved, but just disappears.

INHERITANCE:
A magic pen that allows communication across time! I loved this one!

THE LAST TO PASS:
A discussion of immortality and the downfalls of unintentional immortality.
I was very invested in this one and wanted more from it!

THE HOUSE WITH NO INSIDE BUT NO OUTSIDE:
"Once upon a time, there was a house in the woods that no one could see..."
This was a fun fairytale style story which includes a magical house. Of course I loved this one!

A fun and magical anthology full to the brim with fantasy and thought-provoking tales of wonder.
I Truely enjoyed each story for what they were, and they each brought something unique to the table.
The binding theme - magic in all its forms.

1.5⭐️ Sadly, I didn't enjoy this book. Most of the short stories were OK at best, but I like the ones at the ending better. Oddly enough, I feel like the short stories were too fast and hadn't had enough personality to them. Also, the writing style wasn't really it for me.

I liked the diversity of the stories in this one. I really enjoyed some of the more sci-fi ones, including the sort of flash fiction one with the alien encounter. My least favorite was probably the Tom Cruise but-not actually-Cruise one. I do want to check out some of Bailey's other works after reading this, though. I'm pretty curious.

I thoroughly enjoyed these short stories from an author that is new to me. I am a big fan of alien, sci fi and horror stories and this collection really offered some clever and intriguing pieces. I don't usually read short stories but very glad I ran across this one and will continue to look out for this authors new books.

This book was an absolute delight and had a little bit of everything! Magic, Sci-Fi, Fantasy spread over 12 short stories with each having a very unique storyline. If you want a change of pace from something you might normally read, this book is for you!

Thank you NetGalley and the author/publisher for the ARC!

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

A nice collection of stories. Some of them are excellent and well written. Others I didn't enjoy as much but this was purely down to personal preference.

This book contains 12 little stories that I really enjoyed! The ones I liked the most are the first one “Letter from Glomsuet” and the last one “The house with an inside but no outside”. While reading this book I felt like a kid again, when my grandmother used to read me short stories. It’s full of fantasy, but not the one we know as teenagers or adults, but the one we know as kids. If you ever find this book in front of you, get it!

This is a book of sci-fi and fantasy short stories by J.S. Bailey, an author I was not familiar with. I always enjoy sci-fi, the story premises were interesting, and there were some clever bits, but I didn’t read anything worth shouting about. Inheritance and The Last to Pass were pretty good. Some of the other stories were OK but there were things that rubbed me the wrong way about them (one I thought the ending was kind of stupid, and a couple more the endings just didn’t make sense.) I also had trouble suspending disbelief, but not about any of the sci-fi or fantasy elements, but in terms of people behaving or reacting in what I thought were unrealistic ways (which in my opinion is worse.)

Overall, this was an OK read, but I definitely don’t feel inspired to seek out the author’s other works.

Representation: POC characters

Upon a waking Dream by J.S. Bailey

I have never had the opportunity to pick up a collection of short stories. Granted, I have never read Sci-Fi novels, even though I grew up watching old Sci-Fi films and tv shows with my family. This collection of short stories was incredible! I couldn’t quite rate this a 5 star because there wasn’t a full complete story and novel to follow, but I think the author did an incredible job at capturing a lot of very interesting and compelling topics. Jay coming in as an outsider to the church and posing some important questions… that one will continue to sit with me.

I enjoyed all of these, but The Family Name and The Last to Pass were mind blowing and eye opening.

I highly recommend this collection of short stories for those who want to be introduced to sci-fi concepts and kinda dip their toe into this genre. It definitely opened my eyes to trying out a new genre and made me want to read more novels by this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of sci-fi and fantasy stories from author J.S. Bailey! Each story varies in topic and length, but they were well-written, frequently funny, and universally entertaining.

My personal favorites were the funny and ironic Letter from Glomsuet, the fresh take on an invisible friend in Larry, and the soft-hearted and beautifully written Inheritance and In The House with an Inside but No Outside. Honorable Mention goes to the quirky ending of Daily Log from Outpost #602, which made my Oregon heart happy 🙂

Fast-paced and fun to read, there is something for everyone in this collection. Once Upon a Waking Dream is out now and I’ll definitely be picking up a physical copy, the cover art and title pages are gorgeous!

Thank you to @netgalley and @jsbailey_author for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

#arc #netgalley #uponawakingdream #sff #scififantasy #bookreview #shortstories #storycollection #stephreads2023

Okay, I have mixed feelings about this book. The theme is interesting, plots imaginative. It started well as I really liked the first story. So intriguing and engrossing, however it ends rather abruptly. And it's the same for all the stories. The incomplete/abrupt/unsatisfying ending. Some stories are interesting, some not so interesting. There's too much telling, when it comes to writing style. So overall, it was an okay read, I'd say. The stories I enjoyed reading were: Letter from Glomsuet My favourite), The Man of Her Dreams, Jay, No Good Reason, Thirteen.

Upon a waking dream is a collection of sci-fi short reads that remind me of the left field vivid dreams some people have that last for seemingly hours and leave you wondering if you should set up a therapy appointment soon.
As usual in a short story, it is difficult to develop likable characters for the reader to connect to in a short span. Many of these stories just missed the mark for me.

Author: J.S. Bailey
Genre: Sy-Fy/Short Stories
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I have always been a fan of short stories, especially those with odd and original topics. Like what would happen if a whole planet was immortal or if a flat-earther was abducted? These questions are answered in this collection of short stories. They are charming, fun to read, and heartwarming. This is sy-fy without extensive world-building or excessive character descriptions. I enjoyed this collection, especially the stories "The Last to Pass" and "Inheritance."

📚Read if you like:
📘Short Stories
👽Aliens
⁉️Twilight Zone

Thank you NetGalley and J.S. Bailey for this free copy in exchange for an honest review. The book was published on March 7th, 2023, and is available now!