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!

I don't usually read short stories, but I am glad I gave this collection a shot. The stories were very creative and showed the range the author has. However, I felt as though some of the stories fell short and ended almost abruptly. Overall, this collection is perfect for those who love the fantasy/sci-fi genre and like books they can finish in one sitting. This book is also perfect for those trying to get into reading and need something to begin with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this collection of short science fiction stories. They would make me sit and think, which is what I like most about these types of tellings. This book contained 12 short stories and each one had interesting concepts. There were even a couple I would have read as a novel.

1. Letter from Glomsuet - 4 stars
• This one was such a fun point of view. The idea of an abducted Flat Earther having to come to terms that he was indeed wrong and now writing a letter to his old Earth sweetheart, was just too funny IMHO. The end had me think ‘wtf?’ but also get a good chuckle in.
2. The Man of Her Dreams – 3.75 stars
• I like a good time travel story. The concept for this one was interesting, but its execution fell somewhat flat. I understood the message it was conveying but I guess I just wanted more from a celebrity type romance.
3. Jay - 4 stars
• A serial killer on the loose when a strange kind man appears in this town. This was fairly well done.
4. Daily Log from Outpost #602 - 4.25 stars
• This made me laugh out loud at the end. I was so tickled by the outcome of this story. I suppose I have a weird sense of humor.
5. No Good Reason - 3 stars
• What the heck? Seriously, what on earth? Haha. I just felt bad for the guy. In the notes, I like where the author drew inspiration for this.
6. How to Make Money Fast - 4 stars
• Both terrifying and well…awwwwwwwww. Let’s just say, family is important. You might think you’re on a game show…but then again, maybe you’re not.
7. The Family Name - 4 stars
• This was an excellent story. Really makes you think and genuinely think why our society has had this mentality.
8. Larry - 3.75 stars
• Cute story.
9. Thirteen - 3.5 stars
• This one was a fun debate.
10. Inheritance - 5 stars
• Oh, now this one was my absolute favorite. I cried. What an amazing concept. I’d love to have this kind of pen pal. So sweet.
11. The Last to Pass - 3.75 stars
• Spaceship breaks down and lands on a planet with a secret. It was a very interesting story and I think it could be extended into a full-length novel. I would have liked to know more of the planet and maybe more of some of the natives’ experiences with the issue at hand. So much potential with this one.
12. The House with an Inside but No Outside - 4 stars
• I love stories that have children with wild imaginations, but it is really their reality.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Upon a Waking Dream is an apt name for this book. I absolutely loved reading these short stories. Some I loved more than others and there were a few that I really didn’t want to end. I read this in one sitting and overall found this a really enjoyable reading experience.

Some things are better kept short but sweet. This anthology of short stories did exactly that!

A fantasy lover looking for a brief escape from being heavily emotionally invested in a five-part novel should read these short stories.

I gave this 4/5 because there was no clear theme to this collection and a few of the stories stuck out like a sore thumb.

All in all a fun read and like you are putting your hand in a jar of candy, not sure what you will get each time.

This book was provided as an ARC from NetGalley.

This collection of stories were somewhat of a world I do not often dive in, but decided to give this a try. I do not often read short stories but these were fun and cool, since I do enjoy fantasy and sometimes science fiction as well. Some of them, however, felt like it ended abruptly even though they are short stories. Despite that, I cannot deny that these are quite creative!

I recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy, science fiction, and short stories.

This was my first time reading a book of short stories, I now know they are not for me. All of the stories were enjoyable to read I just wanted more, some of them would be great expanded into a full length book. A lot of them kept me thinking for awhile which was fun. If you like short stories this is definitely a good one to read.

A varied, thought-provoking, and sometimes funny collection of short stories. I don’t read in this style of book very often, but I loved all of these. Some were only tangentially science fiction or fantasy based, but all had that aura of mystery and unintended consequences, as many good short stories do. I loved the simplicity of the words that managed to convey heft and nuance. And in the story Larry, one of the early lines from the main character Molly reminded me of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. A few of the darker tales reminded me a bit of that old TV show “Unsolved Mysteries,” or even “The Twilight Zone.” Overall, these were fun and a little dark and a lot interesting.

This short story collection was full of really fun and creative ideas, many of which I thought were really interesting and cool, the downside was in the execution. While the ideas were great, it felt as though they weren't written to their full potential. Many of the stories felt oddly short and as if they stopped suddenly right as they were starting to get interesting and about to pick up, they went by so fast that to me it felt as though I just breezed through an outline and not the actual story. While the concepts were genuinely really fun and highlighted the creativity of the author the execution didn't really do the ideas justice. I think I would have preferred if the book contained half the amount of short stories but have them be double the length they were so that the concept could be fully explored and realized and so that the characters felt a bit more rounded. The author clearly has a lot of potential because the idea is there, I just think that next time I would love to see her explore these ideas more to create a more engaging narrative and also flesh out the characters a bit since in most of the stories they were pretty one note and ended up falling flat due to the limiting length. This was a very quick read but I think I ended up enjoying the concepts more than the execution, that being said I would still give this author another chance since it's clear she has a lot of fun ideas that she enjoys exploring which I would love to see more of.

This book was offered from NetGallery for an honest review.

An interesting collection of short stories. I downloaded this book thinking it would be more like the authors other books. I was sadly disappointed, they were solid stories just not to my liking.

I hope that others enjoy this collection of sci-fi short stories.

ARC provided to me by NetGalley!!

This is a really great collection of short sci-fi stories. Unlike a lot of sci-fi things, these stories were easy to follow and not at all dense. If you’re the type of reader who loves open ended stories, and you enjoy short stories, give this a shot! It was really enjoyable to read and I definitely recommend it

My personal favorite out of this collection would have to be “Jay” - here’s my review on that: A strange man arrives in town with piercing eyes. Something about him sets everyone uneasy. A very vague (in an intriguing way) story. I love the way this showed the different ways people might react to this sort of situation, and how quickly people judge and form their own judgments without knowing anything at all- 4 stars

My second favorite would have to be “Inheritance” but I’ll let you read the book to find out more on that.

I felt an immediate connection with this author as I read the forward. When they explained that Anne McCaffrey, Madeline L’Engle, and the deleted Star Wars EU had inspired these stories, I thought of how much I loved those stories as a young reader.

This collection feels a bit like episodes of The Twilight Zone, in a good way. Each short story builds up a premise. By the conclusion, the main character begins to doubt their understanding of reality or change their perspective. There isn’t always a “twist” per se, but each conclusion feels like the story took a turn that leaves readers considering its possibilities.

I’d consider using some of these short stories in my high school literature lessons. They make some connections to our modern culture that I think students would find interesting. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy through NetGalley.