TBR Pile Challenge - Geektastic

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with any collection of stories there are some that you really like and some you could have done without, this collection was no different.  While I didn't completely dislike any one story, there were a few that if they weren't in this collection would have made this a five star book.  Instead of talking about them and why I didn't like them I'm just going to talk about the three stories I liked the most.

Once You're a Jedi, You're a Jedi All the Way by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Imagine you are at a Con and when you wake up you realize you are not in your room.  (This is not always a bad thing.) Now imagine that you are a Klingon and you wake up next to a Jedi. (go ahead freak out for a moment I'll wait.)  That's the plot of this funny story.  After waking up together our Jedi and Klingon characters trying to rationalize their attraction to each other while balancing the demands of their chosen groups.  As you read, ask yourself "Who would win in a battle of Klingons and Jedis?"

One of Us by Tracy Lynn
In today's society things aren't always as simple as 'those who geek' and 'those who don't geek'.  With the blockbuster success of stories and characters that once belonged strictly to 'those who geek' there are those cool people who 'sometimes geek'.  This is the background to this story.  A girlfriend wanting to understand her boyfriends who is a 'sometimes geek'.  She turns to the group of 'those who geek' for help.   At it's core I felt like this was a humorous story about understanding the other side.

The Quiet Knight by Garth Nix
I don't LLARP but I have a friend who has tried it a few times.  From what I can tell it's serious business and the characters in this story are no different.  The Quiet Knight is silent for a reason, a childhood injury to his vocal cords has left him with a really gravely sounding voice.  He keeps himself separated from his family, classmates and his fellow LLARPers. That is until a pretty girl joins their group.  Following their first meeting The Quiet Knight sees her in trouble at school and must decided if he is just acting as a knight or if he is in fact a true knight.

In between each story is a wonderfully geeky cartoon. My favorite was Top Five Words or Phrases You Need to Know in Klingon




View all my reviews