(2.5 Stars)

This was just ok... I guess it just didn't grab me. ( )

Disappointing and annoying. I don’t know what this short story is trying to do.

Is it “if you are caught between two cultures, you will always lose?” (Not true, imo.) Is it “Look, a terrorist! No, no, these are freedom fighters?” Is it “let’s make white people and their colonialism into conquering aliens, so that *the stupid readers will get the message*?”

There is also cultural appropriation standing in the corner, with a sign around its neck “I am cultural appropriation, a bad bad thing”. Just in case the reader has been living under a rock, you know.

Poor Ira the protagonist has less personality than my laptop. Also, the ending is incredibly anticlimactic. ( )

The writing quality is quite good for this story, but I didn't like much of the content. I didn't connect with any of the characters and I didn't like the direction the plot went. It started good: I was curious about the world building and the setting. But about mid-way through the book it took a turn and I didn't care for the rest of the story. The ending wasn't surprising, but wasn't to my liking either. ( )

Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse is the third selection in the Far Reaches collection published by Amazon. Unlike some of the other short stories in the collection, Falling Bodies focuses more on what it means to be human in a universe filled with aliens. In particular, it raises the question of whether being human is an identity that only comes with being born on Earth or simply by your DNA. The ending of Falling Bodies may be triggering for some readers, but it is an ending that emphasizes the question of what makes a human a human. Falling Bodies is the type of story that haunts you long after you finish it. ( )

Another short story in the Far Reaches collection from Amazon. Roanhorse is author I wasn't familiar with, but I liked this story. This wasn't so much a space travel story, but more of a political and family dynamics story. One where one of our alien overlords adopts a little Earth boy, and what happens when he grows up and tries to find himself. Is he beholden to his home planet that he's never lived on, or the only Father he's ever known. ( )