The sampler provides a compelling introduction to three debut YA sci-fi novels, each with unique speculative visions and richly imagined settings. Readers appreciate the substantial excerpts that allow engagement with each story's atmosphere, characters, and stakes, highlighting the sampler's success in sparking curiosity and emotional investment.
The "Imagined Futures Sampler" offers a diverse range of voices and themes within YA sci-fi, from bioengineering and societal control to psychological suspense and ethical quandaries. Readers praise the sampler for its substantial excerpts, which allow for a deep engagement with each story's atmosphere, characters, and stakes. The sampler is celebrated for sparking curiosity and emotional investment, with particular recommendations for "Augmented" and "Things I Learned While I Was Dead" for their originality and narrative depth. The world-building in "iNSiDE" is also noted for its ambition and thought-provoking nature. Overall, the sampler is seen as an exciting contribution to YA speculative fiction, heralding promising new authors who address urgent questions about the future with nuance and creativity.
Quick quotes
The "Imagined Futures Sampler" presents a compelling introduction to three debut YA sci-fi novels by Kenechi Udogu, S.A. Gales, and Kathryn Clark, each offering unique speculative visions set against richly imagined near-future or dystopian backdrops.
This sampler includes the first couple chapters for Augmented by Kenechi Udogu, iNSiDE by S. A. Gales and Things I Learned While I Was Dead by Kathryn Clark.
The story follows sisters Calico and Asha, moving between past and present, primarily from Calico's point of view, while Asha's perspective feels more dreamlike.