Title: Six Months, Three Days
Author: Charlie Jane Anders
First published May 31, 2011
27 pages, ebook
ISBN: 9781429940825 (ISBN10: 1429940824)
Rating: 3.68
Overview
Introducing the Hugo Award-winning book “Six Months, Three Days” by Charlie Jane Anders. Meet Doug and Judy, two individuals with extraordinary abilities.
Judy can see all possible futures, creating a web of infinite possibilities branching out from each moment. On the other hand, Doug’s future vision is different; he sees a single sequence of predetermined events.
Despite their different perspectives, they always seem to be right. But can they both be right?
Dive into this captivating novel and join Doug and Judy on their journey of self-discovery and understanding of their unique powers.
About the Author
I am excited to share that my latest book, Victories Greater Than Death, will be released in August. Additionally, my upcoming book, Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get Through Hard Times By Making Up Stories, will also be available soon.
I have previously published All the Birds in the Sky, The City in the Middle of the Night, and a short story collection called Six Months, Three Days, Five Others. Even Greater Mistakes, a short story collection, and an adult novel are also in the works.
I used to write for io9.com and now contribute to various publications. My work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Emperor Norton Award, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, William H.
Crawford Award, Theodore Sturgeon Award, Locus Award, and Lambda Literary Award.
My writing has been featured in Wired Magazine, the Boston Review, Conjunctions, Tin House, Slate, MIT Technology Review, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, Tor.com, Lightspeed Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, ZYZZYVA, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, 3 AM Magazine, Flurb.net, Monkey Bicycle, Pindeldyboz, and many anthologies.
I am the organizer of Writers With Drinks, a monthly reading series in San Francisco that blends various genres, and co-host the Hugo Award-winning podcast, Our Opinions Are Correct, with Annalee Newitz.
In 2007, Annalee and I released She’s Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology and Other Nerdy Stuff, a collection of first-person stories by female geeks. We also created a print magazine called other, which explored pop culture, politics, and general weirdness for those who don’t fit into other categories.
To raise money for other magazine, we even put on unique events like a Ballerina Pie Fight and a sexy show in a hair salon.
Fun facts about me include that I lived in a Buddhist nunnery as a teenager, love karaoke, eat too much spicy food, hug trees, pat stone lions for luck, and talk to myself when I’m working on a story.
Editoral Review
Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders is a science fiction novella published on May 31, 2011. The book explores the complexities of a relationship between two people with supernatural abilities that allow them to see into the future.
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, Anders presents a thought-provoking tale that captures the reader’s attention from the first page. The story centers on Doug and Judy, two people with the ability to know the future.
Doug can only see exactly six months ahead, but Judy can see all possible futures for the next three days. The book starts with a chance encounter at a science fiction convention, leading them into a friendship and eventually romance.
The couple presumes their future together due to their abilities, but as they navigate their relationship, their powers become more complicated and unpredictable. As the story progresses, they face increasingly difficult situations and must confront the question of whether they can change the future they foretell.
Anders presents a fresh take on the science fiction genre with an emphasis on human relationships rather than world-building. To her credit, the author weaves a complex web of time-travel paradoxes without causing confusion.
The writing flows smoothly and is easy to follow, making it easy for the reader to become engrossed in the narrative. Character development is another strength of Six Months, Three Days.
Doug and Judy are both fully-realized and engaging characters who feel like real people, largely due to the realistic dialogues and the way they grapple with their powers. Their personalities are well fleshed out, and their interactions reveal their insecurities, hopes, and fears.
The book’s pacing is perfect, and the tension builds gradually as the story unfolds. The plot structure is tight, and the author never loses sight of its overarching theme, which is the unpredictable nature of our future.
The book explores the idea that even if we could see the future, the choices we make can still change what will happen. One criticism of Six Months, Three Days is that it is only a novella, with a relatively brief story.
The author could have expanded the world-building and provided more context for the world in which the characters reside. Additionally, the ending feels somewhat abrupt, leaving the reader wanting more.
However, these are minor quibbles and don’t detract from the overall quality of the book. Six Months, Three Days is a remarkable work of science fiction that appeals to a broad audience, from casual readers to hardcore fans of the genre.
Fans of the Netflix show Black Mirror and books like The Time Traveler’s Wife would enjoy this. It’s a perfect read for a rainy day or a long flight.
Overall, my rating for Six Months, Three Days is a solid 4.5/5 stars. It is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.
