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Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep Peter Öberg Andreas Raninger 9789187585319 Books

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Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep Peter Öberg Andreas Raninger 9789187585319 Books

A short story compilation is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna find, and you will like some more than others. If "Waiting for the machines to fall asleep" regroups a very large amount of stories, they are fortunately almost all of very high quality, with the very rare exception of a couple of stories that are a bit more on the expected side.

Scandinavian writers tend to have a dark and twisted side that they show mostly in crime novels, but I was happy to find these tortured characters and worlds in more sci-fi/cyberpunk genres as well in this compilation, with some stories that managed to make me check my door locks twice at night before going to sleep.

All in all a highly recommended book if you're not afraid of dark, slightly twisted and unexpected stories.


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Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep Peter Öberg Andreas Raninger 9789187585319 Books Reviews

Note - I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes.

First, I have to say...for the lay reader (like me), there's a certain hipster-niche in the phrase "Swedish Science Fiction." And if that dissuades anyone from looking at this anthology, then that's a shame. This is a darned fine collection of thought provoking short stories...starting off very strongly with Melody of the Yellow Bard and a solid followup with The Rats. I think my favorite is the semi-titular "Keep Fighting Until the Machines Fall Asleep," which neatly incorporates themes of humanity and automation. Quite a few of these stories have twist endings, and more than a few are dystopian (some more than others), but all of them are very interesting reads.

It also bears mentioning that the text and editing of this anthology are first-rate.

This is an enjoyable volume of hard-core sci fi. I really enjoyed reading it.
Peter Oberg wrote to me and asked me if I would be interested in reviewing this anthology. I wrote back and said that I was, as this concept of Swedish authors and speculative fiction really intrigued me. I'm a sucker for good short stories anyway, I love science-fiction more than any other genre, and I was only too pleased to agree. So to be clear, I received an editorial review copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I wondered if the authors would really have good English skills. Meaning commonly accepted US English. I had nothing to worry about, the authors uniformly in this work had EXCELLENT English, including grammar, syntax, punctuation, appropriate use of language, and credit to Peter and his team, the editing was OUTSTANDING.
I really, really enjoyed this book.
There is a huge panoply of writing and stories to excite, to frighten, to ponder upon, and to be impacted by. Lots and lots to think about.
Some of these stories were scary enough that I was sleeping with the lights on for a couple of nights. All of them were extremely well written, and represent a great diversity of views and perspectives from persons of different ages, experiences and most definitely cultures.
I have traveled in Sweden, and while I only have a few words of Swedish to struggle through with, I have worked with persons from Stockholm and from Gothenburg, and I have to say that these authors were really uniformly excellent in my opinion, and if you had not been TOLD that they were from Sweden you would not have known. That they are, or that they are ex-Pats or from other countries living in Sweden is interesting and adds some mystique to the anthology, but I don't think it has bearing directly on the writing.
Let me say it again I loved this book. I enjoyed it immensely. The topics were fascinating, and as both Forrest Gump and other reviewers have mentioned, this anthology was like a box of chocolates You didn't know what you were going to get until you picked one up and bit into it.
If you were to buy this book, I would say that the stories will be enjoyed long after the small price is forgotten.
I would unhesitatingly recommend this book. A proviso that it is not for children or young teens as some of the images and descriptions are graphic and disturbing.
While there is a time and a place of classic science-fiction, for speculative fiction, for hard science-fiction and space opera, for fantasy and steam-punk, I would classify this anthology as speculative being the closest fit. It is refreshing! It is different! It is new! It is engrossing!
For me, the measure of the book is did I enjoy it, did I stay up too late reading (more than once), did I think about it at work and look forward to coming home and reading more, did I excitedly look forward to the next story, and was it a can't-put-it-down-gripper-of-a-page-turner?
YES. Across the board. So it gets five stars.
These authors should all be enjoyed and savored, and you should read more of them.
One small criticism that I had was that the formatting plunged you IMMEDIATELY into the next story without so much as a half page break between; and I would rather that the background of the authors immediately follow the stories instead of grouping them at the end of the book. Peter, that's just my personal preference a la Sam Peralta Chronicle style.
Also, having a blurb either at the beginning or just before the story, not more than a paragraph about what the story is about would be great.
Here's the list of stories and authors included, though others have included them, it gives you an idea as to the scope of this book
This anthology contains the following stories

- Melody of the Yellow Bard by Hans Olsson
- The Rats by Boel Bermann
- Getting to the End by Erik Odeldahl
- Vegatropolis - City of the Beautiful by Ingrid Remvall
- Jump to the Left, Jump to the Right by Love Kölle
- The Order of Things by Lupina Ojala
- To Presever Humankind by Christina Nordlander
- The Thirteenth Tower by Pia Lindestrand
- Punch Card Horses by Jonas Larsson
- The Philosopher's Stone by Tora Greve
- A Sense of Foul Play by Andrew Coulthard
- Waste of Time by Alexandra Nero
- The Damien Factor by Johannes Pinter
- Wishmaster by Andrea Grave-Müller
- Quadrillennium by AR Yngve
- Mission Accomplished by My Bergström
- The Road by Anders Blixt
- Lost and Found by Maria Haskins
- The Publisher's Reader by Patrik Centerwall
- Stories from the Box by Björn Engström
- The Membranes in the Centering Horn by KG Johansson
- One Last Kiss Goodbye by Oskar Källner
- The Mirror Talks by Sara Kopljar
- Keep Fighting Until the Machines Fall Asleep by Eva Holmquist
- Outpost Eleven by Markus Sköld
- Messiah by Anna Jakobsson Lund

I am not going to rate them individually as others have done; I take this as a gestalt. I'd read all of the authors again, and they should really be given a lot of credit for their excellent work. No, let me word that stronger - I will be keeping my eye out for each of these authors. I'd enjoy reading them again.
The last bit I want to just mention is that I found that this book really got my creative juices flowing. I'm an author myself, and I found myself really pondering, what if he did it THIS way, or I wonder if a story could be written from THAT perspective. Folks, when I book makes me want to sit down and write - There is no higher accolade I can give.
Don't miss this one.
When people think of Sweden a number of cliche thoughts and preconceived notions come to mind. When they think of Swedish authors, they are likely two that come to mind Stieg Larsson of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and John Ajvide Lindqvist of Let the Right One In. One is a thriller writer, the other horror, but what about speculative fiction?

In Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep readers get to experience the genres of science fiction and fantasy in this fascinating anthology from the land of the midnight sun. 26 stories (some quite long) cover the gamut of the genres, with plenty of dystopian worlds spelling doom and gloom. Others will take you to other worlds, others to the future, and others to a very familiar place where things just aren’t quite right.

“Melody of the Yellow Bard” is an unusual story about wormholes and how what you find on the other side isn’t always that great. “The Thirteenth Tower” is a moving tale set in a destroyed world where those within it learn of how good times were before. “The Road” is of an alternate world featuring a female marshall employed by the Road Council, charged with keeping everything in order.

While the dystopian future is a common theme with a few of the stories, there are many others on diverse and unusual subjects, some short some long, providing a great smorgasbord (sorry, I had to) of stories for interested readers.

Originally written on July 9, 2015 ©Alex C. Telander.
Excellent collection!
In my ongoing search for hard SF, I bought this on a recommendation. Others may like it but I ended up skipping over several of the stories - lack of interest.
A short story compilation is like a box of chocolates you never know what you're gonna find, and you will like some more than others. If "Waiting for the machines to fall asleep" regroups a very large amount of stories, they are fortunately almost all of very high quality, with the very rare exception of a couple of stories that are a bit more on the expected side.

Scandinavian writers tend to have a dark and twisted side that they show mostly in crime novels, but I was happy to find these tortured characters and worlds in more sci-fi/cyberpunk genres as well in this compilation, with some stories that managed to make me check my door locks twice at night before going to sleep.

All in all a highly recommended book if you're not afraid of dark, slightly twisted and unexpected stories.