Jali: The Short Story Collection
6 Original Sci Fi Short Stories
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About this listen
Written for audio format, this collection of six science fiction stories draw on themes of arrival, discovery and destination. Commissioned especially for Audible, and narrated by outstanding performers, these stories evoke the traditional storytelling of West African Jali as the unknown and distant are brought to life for audiences.
In this collection Chris Beckett and An Owomoyela use the theme of 'discovery' to shape tales of searching; Nikesh Shukla and Lauren Beukes consider 'destination' in stories of finding a home; and Ken Liu and Paul Cornell each discuss 'arrival'.
Jali is one of three short story collections written by our favourite best-selling novelists and emerging authors, and curated based on the themes of arrival, discovery and destination. Bard collates contemporary fiction while Skald features six crime stories.
This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 6 episodes to your Library now.
©2018 Audible, Ltd. (P)2018 Audible, Ltd.Critic reviews
"The ancient art of storytelling, updated." (Glamour)
"Beautifully read by well-chosen voices." (Sunday Times)
"Intelligent literary dramas." (The Times)
"Skald brings together a gripping collection of chilling crime-thrillers, Jali is a compilation of smart and surreal sci-fi on the bleeding edge of literary innovation, and Bard celebrates the beauty of language with intelligent literary dramas and inspired fictional narratives." (Grazia)
"As a listener to this station, you'll be familiar with the idea of an audiobook, but now that traditional format has been give a make-over in the form of works written specifcally for audio." (BBC Radio 4, The World Tonight - interview with Joanne Harris)
What listeners say about Jali: The Short Story Collection
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Chinara
- 28-09-20
Some good, some average stories
Except 1st story and the story by Ken Liu, the rest of the stories are average.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Alan Evans
- 20-02-19
Glad it was free....
I like Sci-fi and I like short stories. Unfortunately, there's not much to recommend here. The stories are tedious and drawn out, and about as exciting or interesting as listening to your next door neighbor reading out her shopping list.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Paul Hough
- 17-01-20
Poor collect of stories with no satisfying endings
A very poor collection of stories, most start with an interesting premise but none seem to have any interesting development or stratifying endings. The performances are fine but I started losing interest in the stories half way though the collection. I will have to be more careful will my selection next time
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 18-07-21
Thoughtful set of stories
Interesting and thought provoking set of stories. Good performances that bring the stories to life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- NJ
- 27-02-20
A great selection of stories.
This collection has been fantastic on several levels. The variety of stories themselves mean that I have been introduced to new authors; some really deep philosophical questions are raised so as well as being entertaining, they are also thought-provoking; and they are very well read by the narrators. An absolute joy!
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Fiaz A.
- 25-10-19
parts aren't really scifi
parts shouldn't be included in a sci-fi book, full chapters, but other parts are good
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Simon
- 02-05-18
It's Jali Good
I'm not usually keen on the short story format but while I waited for the brave Audible support team to wrestle my latest pre-order from the cantankerous beast that is their database I thought I'd give it a try. It's actually not bad at all which even for free content is important because after all there is little more valuable than your time.
I particularly enjoyed the first two which were both stories of humanity trying desperately to find a new home but each took a very different approach to the theme. When Will We Get There felt like a complete character's story and The Star That Sings in Darkness seemed more of an episode about a character and a situation that I would happily hear more about. The idea of one woman alone searching the stars in a tiny rig definitely smelled of further possibilities.
Juraj was very short and felt akin to an excerpt from a Luke Smitherd novel but at just 27 minutes didn't feel greatly satisfying, I wanted to discover more about Juraj and how his abilities would be exploited. Internal Architecture was the only one where I didn't enjoy the narration as much as the others but is one of the most complete stories. The aftermath of a disastrous collision for the Earth which impacted on South Africa.
Finishing off were the near fable-like The Magic Flute and naturally "A Conclusion". Jali is a nice little package and while to be fair I am definitely no expert in short stories it kept me entertained well enough while I awaited that pre-order, and given how impatient I was for that particular book Jali did a fine job of keeping me distracted.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 26-09-19
Definitely worth downloading
I was looking for something to bridge the gap while I wait for credit day. So pleased with this series. Strong short stories and really engaging; I recommend downloading if you're looking to scratch that story itch.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ronald
- 04-05-21
For a nice collection
It was very interesting and I very much enjoyed the all of them I do hope you can give us more.
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