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!

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
[NetGalley URL]

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.