More Than a Few Days in 2056

One Day in 2056 & Other Stories by K.L. Dillon

Summary: “People just can’t die. There has to be consequences,” a grief-stricken Alex Pine says to Dr. Hailey Madison in “Come What May,” the first of six short stories. After his mother’s suicide, Alex’s life starts to spin out of control. Alone and desperate for answers, Alex pays his mother’s psychiatrist a visit, gun in hand. 

The collection’s title story, “One Day in 2056”, revolves around 14 year old Harold George Wells. In 2050, five billion people were mysteriously abducted and it may have something to do with the “UFO-looking ships” occupying the earth’s skies. However, out of the five billion that were taken, Harold only cares about two: his parents.

In “Nineteen,” aspiring writer and Hemingway enthusiast Jacob Fisher drops out of college to pursue his dream of becoming a novelist. But, after he’s disowned by his parents and kidnapped by a group of scientists, whose sole intention is to send him back in time to make a different choice, he begins to question his fate and destiny and whether or not everything’s not already written in stone.

Disclaimer: I received this book form the author in exchange for a review. 

Review: A mix of both good and meh short stories.

From the title, I thought the short stories in this collection would be science fiction. However, after reading the book, I would consider only one story to be science fiction with another story being close. While I was a little disappointed, I still did enjoy this book. My favorite out of this collection was “Moving On”. It was very poignant.  “Moving On” dealt with grief, the unreality of reality, and how quickly it is to lose oneself. “The Urn” was another story dealing with grief. It was quite eerie since you are not sure if it’s all in his head or something else entirely.

“Come What May” was tragic. I knew something bad would happen at the end, but I was hoping that someone would come in and save the day. The story certainly does a good job of reminding us to be grateful for what we have while we have it and never take it for granted. I always say I love you to my husband every time I leave for a reason. “One Day in 2056” had a big buildup, but the ending was a bit of a letdown. The story could easily be expanded into a full length novel.

I wasn’t sure what the point was of “Nineteen”. It was a fine story about a young man who dropped out of college. I was expecting something to happen to him that would either make him change his mind or make him realize he was meant to be a writer. Then it gets weird when he gets kidnapped by scientists to send him back in time. The ending made me wonder what the whole point of the story. “The Fourth Couple” was my least favorite. It was overly dramatic and ridiculous and felt like an excuse to put in violence and suicide in a story.   

Rating:

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to those that enjoy short stories.