The Vintage Egg (Postcards From Tomorrow #1) by A.C. Flory
What Amazon says
Six short stories. Six sneak peeks into the lives of people living in Australia at the end of the 21st century. Six postcards from the future.
Although each one of these science fiction stories stands alone, together they tell a story about a time and a world very different to our own.
Like the present, the future will be a mix of good and bad, but to the people living in it, the late 21st century will just be ‘now’. What they make of it is up to them. However our now is up to us. We are the ones who will decide, in a million little ways, whether their future comes true or not.
My review
This is the first book by A.C. Flory I have read and I will definitely be reading more. Originality and uniqueness rate highly on my rating list for a book, and these six science fiction stories certainly meet that criteria. The stories are all well written and easy to read, which makes this book a great choice for most readers.
All of the stories assume a futurist world after an undisclosed event or series of events which turn Earth into a hot and arid desert. The surviving people of the world are forced to live in underground cities. Food sources have changed and meat is scarce and expensive. The population, forced to live this unnatural life, are kept entertained with digital games which are so realistic they are almost life experiences. There is, however, a limit on gaming time to prevent people from starving to death while playing. These are indications of how the unnatural lifestyle is impacting on people.
The Vintage Egg and The Egg Run are interlinked stories, with the former presenting the beginning and the later the ending, of one story idea. Both stories are complete and can be enjoyed as standalone reads. This is the tale of an elderly man’s dream of finding a way of exploring the ruined Earth above ground through the restoration of a vintage machine he acquires. He involves and interests his young grandson in his project and it becomes something they do together. The Egg Run depicts stage 2 of the project through the eyes of the grandson.
The Gamer and Brehak are another pair of stories, each told from a different characters point of view. This story is fascinating as it explores the lack of reality and truth presented in digital worlds and how both of the participants in this ‘life like’ game are totally deceived by the other’s digital avatar and how this lack of truth impacts on their lives.
The To-Do-List is an interesting peak into the differences between older and younger people when it comes to adapting to fast changing technologies. It is an entertaining, but frighteningly realistic, look, at the older generations determination to hold on to the past and they world they knew when they were younger, versus the younger generations easy ability to adapt to change.
The Christmas Roast was truly horrifying for me. The concepts explored in this short story about a world where food is short and improvisations have become the normal, was quite overwhelming for someone like me who has always bought milk in a bottle [does it really come from a cow?] and meat neatly packaged with few reminder that it was one a living, breathing creature.
A great book of short stories and one I have unhesitatingly given a 5-star rating.
Purchase The Vintage Egg (Postcards From Tomorrow #1) by A.C. Flory
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/acflory/e/B00B1M04JI
You can find out more about A.C. Flory on her lovely blog here: https://acflory.wordpress.com/about/
Frugal Seeds Christmas Edition: 101 Ways to Celebrate the Holiday Season on a Budget by Charlie Lee Austin
What Amazon says
The holiday season can be such a busy and expensive time of year. This book provides you with ideas for celebrating the season on a budget.
My review
This little book is packed with fun and economical ways of celebrating Christmas with children, friends and family. It has a strong Christian orientation and some of the activities relating to the Bible, but there are many other ideas that can be enjoyed by people of any religious orientation.
Reading the ideas presented in this book reminded me of two of my favourite childhood books. Little Women when the girls decide to play a variation of pilgrims progress and also when they celebrate Christmas without their father, who is fighting in the war, and all decide what gifts to buy their Marmee. I was also taken back to the glorious days when I read What Katy Did for the first time. My favourite scenes in this book are when Katy decides to make all sorts of Christmas gifts for her siblings and best friend. She creates a Christmas tree decorated with home-made decorations like popcorn strings and they children have a poetry reading evening where they all read a poem they have written.
The suggestions in this book are simple and yet so much fun to make. The ideas include making a pinata from clay pots and paper mache, making Christmas crackers from toilet roll innards, and making Christmas candles.
A great book of activity ideas to entertain young young children over the holiday period.
Purchase Frugal Seeds Christmas Edition: 101 Ways to Celebrate the Holiday Season on a Budget
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Lee-Austin/e/B07SHK48ZR
You can find out more about Charlie Lee Austin on her interesting blog here: https://simplychronicallyill.com/about/
roberta-writes.com 
Terrific reviews as always Robbie and will share The Vintage Egg in one of the Christmas Book Fairs as Meeks is in the cafe…hugs
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That’s great, Sally. I really enjoyed this book of hers.
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Hi Sally! -hugs-
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Two fabulous reviews. “The To Do List” from Flory’s collection and Austin’s book both have a retro vibe and sound appealing to me.
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Austin’s book has some lovely ideas for doing things and making things with children. Flory’s stories are sci fi with a very creepy undertone. They give you the chills.
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Interesting timing for “The Vintage Egg.” One of my current writing students is doing his term paper on the joys and benefits of role-playing video games. Perhaps he should read the book?
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I thought those two stories were insightful in this regard. It is short book and clever. There are some sexual innuendos though.
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Good to know.
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Hi Liz. I don’t know what age your student is but I’d only let him read the two Egg stories and the Christmas Roast. As Robbie said, there are sexual…mentions? themes? in the other three. None of them are erotica! But…they definitely weren’t written with children in mind.
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p.s. sorry my brain hasn’t woken up yet. I can send you a PDF or Word file of the three suitable stories if that helps.
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My student is an adult–but if there sexual situations, I don’t recommend the stories to him. Coming from his teacher, that would be weird. 🙂
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Yes, that is why I mentioned it. Have a great Thanksgiving, Liz.
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Thank you on both counts, Robbie!
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Oh, very weird. I see your point entirely.
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🙂
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Nice 👍
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Thank you
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Very cool. I’m certainly intrigued by your review, Robbie. Best to the authors. Hugs all around.
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Thank you, Teagan. Hugs and happy Thanksgiving.
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I am BEYOND grateful Roberta!!!! Seriously……your words brought me to tears, thank you so very, very much.
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I am glad you like my review, Wendi. I am going to make the Christmas crackers and use them for a Christmas post I am writing for my monthly column over at Writing to be Read blog. I’ll include a link to this book for that post too. Have a wonderful day.
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I am so deeply humbled by your kindness Roberta, thank you so very much!!!!
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This seems like a plausible, if depressing and frightening, future world. Hopefully humans will do better than that. (K)
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Hi Kerfe, the idea of living underground with only technologically stimulated entertainment is pretty grim, but there is hope and innovation in at least three of these stories.
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I think and hope that will always be true of humans–they don’t give up.
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I think it depends on the person, Kerfe. There are lots who won’t ever give up, enough to keep our species going.
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Thanks, Robbie. Great reviews. Two very different books and both very appealing. I have read some fabulous books set in Australia and I love Little Women as well, so I’m sure I’d also feel the appeal. Congratulations to the authors.
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Hi Olga, thank you for visiting and commenting. These books are both very different and have their own unique appeal. If you like sci-fi and a peep into the possible outcomes of climate change and a fully automated society, you will love The Vintage Egg.
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Thank you, Robbie. Your review of The Egg was a truly unexpected gift to start my day. You got ‘it’. You got all of it, and that is a joy all writers will understand. And thank you for something else as well. Little Women has been a favourite of mine for decades, but I’d totally forgotten how much I liked What Katy Did, and I believe there was another one…What Katy did Next? Thank you for the reminder. I’m going to see if I can dig both books up online. -huge hugs- Meeks. 🙂
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My pleasure, Meeks. I was really delighted by you stories and will certainly read more of your work. I was astonished to see how similarly our minds work and that is always a wonderful discovery for me. I am glad I reminded you of Little Women and What Katy Did. There are three What Katy Did stories including What Katy Did at School. My favourite Louise May Alcott book is An Old Fashioned Girl. If you haven’t read it, you really should: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Old-Fashioned_Girl
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Oh! I haven’t read that one. Just followed the link and the storyline doesn’t ring any bells at all. Will investigate further. 😀
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What Katy Did it has been a while since I read those books… A very insightful review on the Vintage Egg both books have piqued my interest.. Great reviews as always, Robbie x
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Thank you, Carol. What Katy Did was my artistic inspiration. I have made Christmas trees covered in home made gifts for my family and even teachers. I extended that to the Christmas wreaths I make and also my homemade Christmas crackers. I enjoyed Charlies ideas.
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It does seem so…I have done the same in the past..not so much here as Christmas is not really celebrated and the gloss has worn off somewhat after all these years of being here…I still stick with the tradition of cakes, pies and puddings just not so much with the other things 🙂 xx
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Ooo The Vintage Egg looks right up my alley!!! Better check that one out. Thanks for the tip, Robbie 🙂
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Hi Jessica, Meeks is also Australian and I think you will really enjoy this book. Clever with sinister and creepy undertones.
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My type of book 😁
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What fun reviews, Robbie. I enjoyed the Vintage Egg too. And if you want to read more of Andrea’s work, I highly recommend her Innerspace trilogy. It’s my favorite of her work. And thanks for introducing me to the Frugal Seeds Christmas Edition. I’m always looking for fun ideas for the family. Just on time!
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I read your review of The Vintage Egg, Diana, and it’s what prompted me to read it. I will definitely read more of Meeks’ works.
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