When in between books on my reading list, I’ve been taking a break to explore the works in the Amazon Forward Collection. So far I’ve read Summer Frost by Blake Crouch, which I really liked, and Randomize by Andy Weir, which was decent. For my next selection, I chose Emergency Skin by N. K. Jemisin.

On the whole, I really like the idea behind Amazon’s Forward Collection. I like how they’ve put together 6 science fiction short stories from 6 different emerging authors. The short story format is a great way to explore a topic in a concise format. You get to sample an author’s writing style. If you like it, you can choose to read their longer works. And when the stories are well written, they captivate you, stretch your imagination, and challenge your beliefs and assumptions about human nature and the world at large.

Emergency Skin is a story set at some point in the future where a being, for lack of a better word, is sent to Earth to complete a prescribed mission. What makes the story particularly interesting is the point of view it is written from. The narrator is the person from the originating planet that is controlling the person who’s been sent to Earth. The concept is well done, the writing is excellent, and the plot twists will keep you engaged.

The Forward Collection page has Emergency Skin listed as a 45-minute read, which is pretty accurate. If you end up as engaged as I was while reading it, you won’t even be aware of how long it takes to read. I found myself flipping pages before realizing I was finished.

I would classify Emergency Skin as Fun Read and highly recommend it. Of the three books I’ve read in the Forward Collection, it’s my second favorite. I would currently order them as Summer Frost, Emergency Skin, and Randomize. Given the quality of the stories I’ve read thus far, I’m looking forward to my next read from the collection.