Azu is Reading — Upon a Waking Dream by J.S. Bailey

Open these pages and delve into new worlds where…

-A Flat Earther gets abducted by aliens.
-A college dropout gets by with a little help from her imaginary friend.
-A woman obsessed with her favorite actor creates a new universe just to meet him.
-A magic pen bridges the gap between generations.
-Thirteen isn’t an unlucky number…or is it?

Upon a Waking Dream contains twelve science fiction and fantasy tales from the mind of J. S. Bailey, ten of them never before published.

Review

I was lucky, I won a giveaway on StoryGraph and received this book in my inbox and, well, I said to myself that I had to read it before its release date, but you’re reading this review because I wanted to write it.

You should know by now that this is a collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories, and this is what I have to say about each one of them:

The first was unbelievable… The nerve of the people- or maybe is the hypocrisy? It’s just… You still find this kind of person anywhere. And I liked how the mind can expand due to knowledge, but… Agh, I say that it was karma. I can’t say anything more without spoiling.

The second was… infuriating. Yeah. The protagonist had the thing that wanted most and was unhappy! Does it surprise me? No! People never are happy when they have what they want and seeing this happening when they were having a pretty beautiful outcome brought out the worst in me. I don’t remember feeling that annoyed 😂 I find funny how mad I felt with this. If it hadn’t had a happy ending, I wouldn’t find it that funny…

The third was… a fresh breeze. While reading, I had the same conclusion the author shares in her notes at the end and I had the “AHA! I knew it!” moment. Though what happens in the story is a bit very much intense. I think that has the most action of all the stories. But I loved it. What if…?

I still feel bad for the luck of the dudes on the fourth one, I wanted them –or at least one of them– to go on with their lives and do all the things they wanted to, but… I think this was the story that grounded me the most because… no matter how dumbfounded you are with the occurrences, that’s life… And I will not deepen more on this because I will sadden myself and no thank you.

The fifth one was… the poor guy. What would your life be like if you were living like that? For no good reason on top of that. I don’t know, it seems unlikely (to be able to live) for me, but he’s doing a great job. Goddess bless his reflex sometimes.

In the sixth, I saw so much stubbornness and boldness that I almost wasn’t able to believe it! It was ridiculous! Well, at least to me. This story helped me to remember the length the human being goes to when we’re mentally set on things… There’s nothing that can change our minds, uh?

I share the author’s opinion (on her notes) about the seventh one. I don’t understand, it doesn’t make sense. But what is worse is that… well, this story moved things inside me and wasn’t really positive. I was repulsed by how things were there and I will be happy if I’m able to forget it someday.

Did you have an imaginary friend when you were little? I did! His name was Leo, short of I-no-longer-remember-what-was-his-name. But this eighth story is about them and what could happen if they [Redacted] and [Redacted]… Yeah, right, no spoiler 😂

I don’t want to know what could happen if each and every one of us were right about what gives luck and what does not, even- no, especially if we contradict each other. I think something very close to the ninth story. I understand the lady’s thought, but I wanted to know!

The tenth story goes around an object I didn’t know I needed until I found it there! And I LOVED its use. It was like… it can bring two people that are very far away, pretty close… And I really liked it.

The eleventh one was bittersweet. If you don’t think TOO much about it, you probably will like it. I liked it… until I get too drawn to the depths of it and I start feeling bad. But it’s a great story, just be a bit cautious, your mental health will appreciate it.

I’m finishing now, I swear. I found the last one sad in a nostalgic way, but it was a beautiful story nonetheless. I can say a lot of things about that one, but then you probably wouldn’t find the beauty of it on your own way, so let’s leave it til here ^^

It was a journey I loved, upon a waking dream.

Phrases that I liked so much that I marked them while reading

«This collection is dedicated to G. S. Jennsen, whose stories helped me dream again.»
— Dedication.

«No wonder these folks seemed so peaceful. Ordinary aliens probably would have vaporized me already.»
— Letter from Glomsuet.

«Chloe staggered back a step and must have had some gaping look on her face, for when Tom swept into the restaurant lobby, he grinned at her and said, “You don’t have to act so surprised. I don’t have that bad of a reputation, do I?”
“I — I’ve heard things,” Chloe said. “People talk.”
“People are full of shit. Table for two, please!”»
— The Man of Her Dreams.

«He didn’t cower under her scrutiny, for he feared nothing, especially not her.»
— Jay.

«“So, you’re leaving?”
“That’s right. I wanted to thank you again for your kindness — it means a lot. Please, never change that about yourself.”»
— Jay.

«“Here, read this and tell me what you think.”
Paulo took the folded black paper from him and read it. “I think they don’t know how to spell, and English isn’t even my first language.”»
— How to Make Money Fast.

«“Let me get this straight,” he said. “Someone stole something from you, and you want me to steal it back from them.”
“You understand, then.”
“Will this involve breaking and entering?”
“Yes. Possibly. There’s no guarantee.”
“And you want me to do it because you’d rather I got caught than you.”
“Getting caught would be most disastrous for us. You wouldn’t understand.”»
— How to Make Money Fast.

«If angels exist — and they must, for Larry is here, isn’t he? — then they hail from a higher dimension than we do. For whatever reason, Larry has descended into our mere three-dimensional space to befriend me. Or annoy me, or whatever.»
— Larry.

«“If you ask me, all numbers are just numbers.”»
— Thirteen.

«“Maybe we should go that way,” Francis said, pointing toward a park bench in the distance.
“Why that way?”
“Because I’m learning to make independent decisions in uncertain situations.”»
— The Last to Pass.

«“Food and Coffee,” read a sign over one storefront. “Haircuts,” read another.
“I think I might know why it seems a little weird here,” Frances said as he spotted another storefront sign that read, “Liquor.”
“What’s that?” Tanvi asked, squinting upward as she took in the sights.
“The people here don’t have any imagination. That’s why the only thing in the park was a bench, and why the stores on this street make me want to fall asleep looking at them.”
“That’s an interesting assessment to make about an entire culture, given that we’ve only seen half a kilometer of it. And that music was imaginative.”
Francis shrugged. “Maybe. But mostly it sounded sad.”
“I never pegged you as someone who pays attention to aesthetics.”
“I studied art in college.” Francis felt his face flush. “The department head told me his guinea pig could draw better than me.”
“Sorry to hear that.” Tanvi planted her hands on her hips as she continued to survey the area. “I wanted to be a psychologist, but apparently you have to be nice.”»
— The Last to Pass.

«“Sometimes I forget there’s other people out there, living their own lives.” He tilted his head toward the sky, blinked, and shook his head.»
— The Last to Pass.

«Of all the millions of planets they could have made an emergency landing on, they’d had to pick the most antisocial one in the galaxy, hadn’t they?»
— The Last to Pass.

«“So I’ll have to ask you again — where did you get the tiara?”
“It was a present from — ”
“Izzy and Grandma Esther. So you’ve said. Now you need to tell me the truth.”
Kenzie stared helplessly up at her mother. What did she want her to say? Kenzie was telling the truth, and saying anything else would be a lie.»
— The House with an Inside but No Outside.

«Yet already, Kenzie felt sad as if a burning bright light above her had gone out for good.»
— The House with an Inside but No Outside.

«Have you ever wondered what might happen if Jesus showed up at church? Me too.»
— Story Notes — Jay.

«People might be surprised to learn that I did, in fact, have a normal childhood. Whether or not this means I was a normal child is another question entirely.»
— Story Notes — The House with an Inside but No Outside.