This collection of weird science fiction stories certainly lived up to its ‘promise’. Every story was strange, unsettling and had interesting commentary on what it is to be human… or not human, as the case may be! Most of the stories were first published elsewhere but a few are new to this collection.

For concepts, this book gets full marks. There are original (as far as I can ascertain) and memorable ideas, within the themes of body transformation, robots, time travel and unusual family bonds. I have to admit that none of the stories had the wow factor I look for in a short story collection. The ideas were great, but I didn’t find the voices compelling and the endings were vague. Several times I was surprised to reach the end of a story which seemed like it ought to have continued. They were sketches, rather than complete stories. The marketing compares the author to Ray Bradbury and I can see that his ideas might have been an influence, but Nogle’s writing style is nothing like him. There is also the inevitable comparison to Black Mirror, but I’m not sure that’s quite right, as the sci-fi element in the show can be quite subtle and moreover the stories are not particularly weird.

In summary, if you’re looking for something weird to read, check out Promise, but be aware that some of the stories don’t have proper endings.

[Review to be on my blog, 29th August]

I’ll be honest that I’m writing this review having read about 3/4 of the book - I’ll absolutely be finishing it, maybe just not very quickly.

This is a really, really good scifi short story collection and so many of them have fascinating premises. The writing is excellent and I’d definitely recommend it.

The thing that doesn’t quite work for me, and the reason I think it might take me a while to finish it, is that I find myself wishing the stories or characters were more fleshed out. That said, this is more my preference for longer novels where I can really get sucked into the plot and care about the characters rather than a criticism of this book. Maybe I just need to read more short stories!

In any case, I’ve really enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to reading the last few stories in this.

I’ve yet to be disappointed by a series of short stories on here! Each of them kept my attention and weren’t too long and had creepy endings in some of them!

This is a great collection of short stories from Christi Nogle. I don’t often see a lot of science fiction short stories, so I was really looking forward to this book! Some of the stories were a little reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, just strange enough to make you uncomfortable. I will definitely be revisiting some of these stories!

I was so amazed to know that only one author wrote all the stories they are very short but very complete stories that are written by someone who obviously has a great imagination from a story about an epidemic called Cocooning, A girl whose fondest memories are of helping her mom build a type of android called Finishers, to many others that were just as interesting there’s one about time travel after death a man who falls in love with this AI after his son programs it to look like his deceased wife all the way to the title story Promise. It is rare to get a collection of stories especially by the same author that are as varied and truly interesting like the short stories in Christie Nockles Collection Promise. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for anything of the weird and obscure. I want to thank Flametree press and Net Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I really enjoyed this sci-fi short story collection and I can’t wait to read more from this author. I especially enjoyed the variety in length of stories, I thought the collection was organised in a way that made it very readable and not clunky.
My favourite story was the one about Subjective Time in which the main character enters a sort of alternate reality where time runs differently, for example a week might be only a few minutes. It’s a spiralling into madness sort of story and I thought it was fantastic!

An eclectic and engaging collection of strange science fiction stories that all show the alluring and terrifying promises that the future holds. From uncomfortable possible technological advances, to sci-fi fantasies and terrifying possibilities, every single short story has its own oddly compelling points, but they’re all deeply descriptive and rich, and full of emotions.

One of my personal favourites was just a few pages long but explored an amazing new technology that allowed us to speak to our dogs, share their dreams and communicate like never before — but we also follow stories about the salespeople promoting chameleonic foils that can hover and shift, strange online connections to hell, strange infections with beastly side effects, and a clinic that allows us to fall into a timeless space for when we need time off from our regular lives.

This was such a strong collection that inspired both wonder and terror about the path the future could take, and while it’s definitely a mixed bag with some titles I adored and some I didn’t overly care for with somewhat fractured storytelling styles - it’s definitely a must-read for any lovers of speculative or science fiction.

As someone trying to get into more science fiction, i thought this collection of short stories would be a perfect dip into the genre. It was ...weird and I admit there were times were I had no idea what was going on, but I enjoyed the mysterious vibe that I felt from reading this book.

A thank you to Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Promise by Christi Noble is a collection of weird, science fiction short stories that are reminiscent of The Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone. Many are focused on futuristic technologies, or bizarre body tales. One example is a device where you can communicate with your dog, another is a story about two people that "feed" off from others.

What worked: The author did a good job of eliciting the bizarre factor, and some stories were interesting concepts.

What didn't work: Some of the stories were confusing, and I had difficulty imaging what the author was trying to portray. Also, most were written in first person voice, which got tiring after a while. Better character development would have been nice, as these are short stories and it's even more important to draw the reader in .

I am giving this three out of five stars.

Really enjoyed this short story collection of creepy black mirror-esque stories from a not so distant future.

I'd never heard of Nogle but I gave this a shot because Andrew F. Sullivan mentioned reading the ARC on his Twitter and the cover was beautiful and intriguing.

As someone who tends to like softer sci-fi this felt right up my alley. Finisher and Flexible Off-Time were my two personal favourites but there were so many others I found touching or creepy or sad or made me reflective. There were a lot of parent/child relationships threaded in the stories I found them all intriguing and different.

My one complaint was sometimes I wanted to stay in the world of the story only to have it end.

Thanks for the ARC

Promise is an amazing collection of short stories that needs an adventurous reader to unlock its full potential. The stories, with their first-person narratives, ambiguous endings, and personal settings, may seem simple while reading, but a deeper look reveals several hidden layers.

Whether you are a seasoned aficionado of speculative fiction or a newcomer eager to explore the wonders of the genre, this collection promises a great reading experience. Nogle's unique blend of intricate world-building, emotionally resonant characters, and thought-provoking themes will keep you enthralled from the very first page to the last. Not all stories here are equally engaging, but such is the nature of collections.

Short stories are one of my favourite sub sections of literature. I have devoured every kind of genre of short story, but Science Fiction comes out as the reigning monarch of the short stories in our time. There are so many collections, so many writers and so many magazines. So I have read a lot of them and I was excited to read this collection, by an up and coming author. However, I was quickly disappointed. Short story anthologies should be an eclectic collections, however, the majority of these stories use the first person perspective.
There is something I like about short story collections, that they may not all be for you, but normally there will be something in there! So you didn’t like the first story? Go to the second one and so on. However, I felt as though all the stories in this collection were similar, either first person, or even present tense. I did not get the range of style from this collection that I often looked forward to.
In addition, short stories should hook you from the very first sentence, but the majority did not do that for me. Maybe this was due to first person fatigue, but there was one story which stood out to me, “A Fully Chameleonic Foil”. I thought there was something to that story, but the writer did not take it far enough. It was an interesting idea, but it lacked full flavour. I was disappointed and however much I wanted to like this collection, sadly I did not.
This is an already decorated writer, who has been successful with more than several magazines. Just because they do not appeal to me, does not mean they won’t to you. I hope this writer gets every chance to succeed, and improve their craft. The beauty of short stories is, the writer can put forward so many ideas, and although this collection was not to my taste, I am sure the writer will write something in the future, which will be. When that day comes, I’ll be the first one to shout about that great story!