I wanted to try short stories because I don't usually tend to gravitate towards them, and I was not disappointed with this book.
These stories were interesting, engaging, clever and above all surprising. Some of them made me think about the people and things we take for granted, without the stories ever trying to push a message.
I liked the different fantasy and sci-fi elements and the different storytelling techniques.
If this is how the author writes, I will definitely read more!

This was my first ever collection of sci-fi short stories and I enjoyed some of these more than others. But the one I liked I could tell about two page in. The others I admit is why it took me some time to read through either because the strange way the story developed through its plot and or the characters. But genuinely pleased with each stories ending because they were all weird enough but still made sense in there ending. Definitely a good collection for someone who doesn't read alien stories but wants something they can get through fairly easy.

This beautiful volume of short stories was wonderful. I loved every one of then.
I just reviewed Upon a Waking Dream by J. S. Bailey. #uponawakingdream #NetGalley
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I am not typically one who loves short stories, but these may have changed my mind a bit. They felt so cozy and whimsy, each one caught my attention at least a little bit. While I definitely enjoyed some more than others, it was a pretty solid collection and I would love to try more of the author’s work.

Short story collections can sometimes be hit and miss, but this one is all hits. They're all fun, light reads. "The Man of Her Dreams" was probably my favorite, probably because I'm a sucker for time-travel love stories. Really solid characters and well-done world building. A splendid book!

A great collection of short stories that feel reminiscent of Twilight Zone episodes. By the conclusion of each short story your mind will have you curiously wondering more about the world and universe as a whole.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

This was the first book I read from J.S. Bailey, and I really enjoyed it. All of the short stories were so fun to read and I loved all the different characters and worlds. The author is honestly so creative, this was the perfect mix of fantasy and sci-fi with some mystery elements. The story about the flatearther getting abducted by aliens was definitely my favorite!

I have mixed feelings about this book as it is a series of short stories. There are a few of the stories that I did really enjoy and whose concepts I really liked. At the same time, some of the stories did not have very much of a plot or meaning and I could not bring myself to feel anything for these stories.

While I don’t normally read this genre, I was interested to read due to it being a collection of short stories.

Letter from Glocusent - written very well and told a funny story of an accidental human becoming alien to another planet due to a curious nature. The irony of him trying to convince his new fiancée that other worlds exist, after being a flat-Earth believer, is not lost on me, and sends the main character on an existential crisis.

The Man of Her Dreams - very interesting and cute story of time travel as well as a warning to be careful what you wish for.

Jay - another interesting tale to make you think and feel conscious of what you would see looking into yourself. The truth always comes out.

Daily Log from Outpost # 602 - truly a short tale and the layout really flows.

The other stories were short and simple, good reads but not my cup of tea. I really love the Twilight Zone and was getting a feel of that from some of these, so I’m glad I reading this book. Thanks NetGalley.

ARC from NetGalley

A really fun read!
Just what I needed to get myself out of a minor reading slump.
None of the stories take themselves too seriously and J. S. Bailey is not afraid to lean into some tropes of the genre!
I really enjoyed each story and was definitely left wishing the book was longer by the end.

Upon a Waking Dream is a book of 12 short stories, all in the sci-fi genre. the longest story is about a hour and a half long and the shortest is 5-7 minutes and they all range from aliens and outer space to technology and time travel so it’s so much fun to read through! some of the stories are a bit more serious touching on ideas of what humankind would be life if we solved the cure for death, to sillier stories like my favorite, the former flat earther who falls in love with an alien on another planet who believes her planet is flat and gaslights him into thinking Earth is fake lmao. i really enjoyed reading these stories and loved waiting for the other shoe to drop in each one. each story gave me a sort of The Twilight Zone vibe and i am so into that.
3.75/5 for me but thats just because of personal preferences, nothing to do with the quality of the writing.

What happens when a flat-earther ends up on another planet? What about a planet of people who can never die? Or a man who exposes your deepest secrets? This collection of short stories embraces some of the weirdest ideas.

Some of these stories were so good I could have used a full-length novel on them. Some of them were hilariously weird. All of them were super intriguing and made me think of so many questions. Set up in easy-to-digest chunks this collection is easy to read and enjoyable.

This collection of short stories has a lot of interesting concepts, but overall not as engaging as I was expecting. Fun reads.

So glad that Jessica doesn't like anthologies. This was great!! I had a fun time reading all of the stories. And getting to know each characters.

Upon a Waking Dream by J.S. Bailey
Rating: 3.3⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Upon A Waking Dream is a collection of 12 sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian short stories, including an accidental alien abduction of a Flat-Earther, a creation of a universe via time-travel to meet a favorite actor, an immortal planet, a magical pen, and an egg heist.

Those were the five stories that were my favorite, but I think I just need to accept that collections of short stories are not for me. When I read short stories, I’m not invested in the stories and come to either question the point of them or just simply don’t care what happens. The five stories that I really enjoyed, though, were the perfect snap shots that left me satisfied, especially the story, Inheritance, about the magical pen. There were 3 stories that I just absolutely did not enjoy and could have been left out.

Overall, if you enjoy short stories about aliens, magical pens and houses, and people randomly telling the truth around a particular man, then give this a try.

This collection of short stories was surprisingly fun.
I am not normally one to enjoy short stories, I usually have a hard time finishing them but this collection was funny and captivating.
I think because they leaned towards science fiction, I enjoyed them more. Unlike my normal reads.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-galley of this book, all opinions are my own.

Do you ever read a book, and then look at the title and think: ah, yes, that title is really fitting. Because that is precisely how I looked at this book after I finished the last short story.

Sci-fi is one of those genres where I want to read more of, but also don't know where to start, and this book would be a good introduction into the genre. Some of the stories lean more fantasy than sci-fi, and some cross into both genres, but the stories and enjoyable all the same. The author even made a note at the beginning that he knows not all of the stories would fit into one genre, but they found them fitting for the book as a whole. And I agree!

The stories are all very unique and stand out in their own way. Some of them are long, and some are only a couple pages in length, but all in all this is a fairly quick read. I mean, there are 12 stories, so technically you could read one a day if you wanted to space it out, but I enjoyed reading them in chunks where I could.

With short story collections there are usually one or two that I truly love, and maybe one or two I didn't like, with the rest being stuck in the middle, but I did not find that to be the case with this book. I loved two of the stories (Inheritance and The House With an Inside but No Outside), and the rest were interesting enough or made me sit and think for a few minutes after reading them. Some of the stories sounded like something that could happen in real life, and the author did a good job fleshing out the possibilities is X event happened.

Plus, with this being a sci-fi collection, there is a very real possibility that all these stories take place in the same universe, despite none of the stories connecting.

So, overall, this was a refreshing short story collection and I enjoyed it. "Inheritance" definitely made me cry, several stories got me thinking, and the story "The Last to Pass" had me concerned about it being a very real thing that could happen in society. The stories are wild and out of this world, but also incredibly easy to understand - even if you are not a major sci-fi reader. If you have a chance to pick up this short story collection, I say do it!

Content Warnings(across the book as a whole): accidental pregnancy, violence, blood, murder, infidelity, child death, child abuse, homophobia, abortion (mention), grief, kidnapping, suicidal intent, forced sterilization

Enjoyable, clever tales. I suspect the novels/series by this author include intriguing worlds and characters.

📚 𝙐𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝘼 𝙒𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢
✍️ J.S. Bailey
💬 English

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was sent a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is my first short stories collection I had read in 2023. For this, I don't mind to go back to February and read this for the first time again.

I like the writing. Each story had their own unique idea. There were topics about aliens and flat-earth community, time-travel with some romance spices, imaginary friend, magic and many more. The main reason for 4 stars of mine was because I couldn't enjoy nor understand some of the stories. Those stories seemed like being there as filler with no meaning.

Nevertheless, I still could find the rest of the book enjoyable and page turner. My favourite were The House With An Inside but No Outside and In The Man of Her Dreams. The House With An Inside but No Outside was a heartwarming, magical and philosophical story. While In The Man of Her Dreams was more like a sci-fi, dramatic-lengthy love story. Both were good in their own way and left me nostalgic for no reason. I love that feeling tho.

Thank you NetGalley, J.S. Bailey and the publisher for the book.

I've published the review on Goodreads and Twitter

Thank you to NetGalley and JS Bailey for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Upon a Waking Dream is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy short story collection. The stories range from a flat earther adapting to life on an alien planet, to magic pens, to time traveling to meet your favorite actor, to duck guns.

Overall I enjoyed these short stories, though, of course, I enjoyed some of them more than others. The author has a really beautiful way with words and humor that drew me into each story rather quickly. Though I'm not someone who likes short stories very often, these were very enjoyable and interesting to read. One short story, in fact, was particularly impactful. I don't typically cry at books, but one of the short stories brought me to tears with how beautiful it was. I'd love to see a full book of the magic pen story *hint hint nudge nudge*

I think this is a great collection for anyone who wants to read fantasy/sci-fi but without heavily investing in characters, world-building, or plot.

You will like this if you like: short story collections, aliens, humor, and sci-fi/fantasy.

Review to be posted on Instagram on 3/7/23 (link will be updated in this review). Storygraph review to be posted tonight!