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Forward Collection #5
The Last Conversation
What’s more frightening: Not knowing who you are? Or finding out? A Bram Stoker Award–winning author explores the answer in a chilling story about identity and human consciousness.
Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?
Paul Tremblay’s The Last Conversationis part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?
Paul Tremblay’s The Last Conversationis part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
2 pages, Audible Audio
First published September 17, 2019
About the author
Paul Tremblay
118 books10.7k followersPaul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of The Pallbearers Club (coming 2022), Survivor Song, Growing Things, The Cabin at the End of the World, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His essays and short fiction have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly online, and numerous year’s-best anthologies. He has a master’s degree in mathematics and lives outside Boston with his family. He is represented by Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,698 reviews
September 9, 2020
This is the spookiest, eeriest, most haunted, horrifying, chilling story of the Forward series. I know my husband is gonna get crazy when he realizes the increasing zeros at our electric bill because I will turn on the lights again as soon as he sleeps tonight. (Actually I plan to turn on entire lights of the house just in case not screaming after seeing something shapeless, spooky –like my sister in law who visits only for one week, stays in the guest room, don’t tell I called her shapeless, she may glue my books’ pages to avenge me!)
So what’s so terrifying about this book? Let’s summarize:
Ominous second person narration made you feel like you’re the MC of this book. YES!
Dark, suspicious, questioning, mysterious, nerve-bending atmosphere made you not to know more about the main predicament of the guy and conclusion of the story. YES!
Does it remind you of some weirdest Twilight Zone and Creepshow episodes! Hell YES! Nanananana!
Is ending remarkable? Not exactly, it’s shaking, shocking but there are still unanswered ethical questions fly in the air. If it isn’t a short story, you may be really pissed off because of too much repeats slow the pace at some parts.
As a summary: I think “Emergency Skin” is still my favorite of the series. But this book is fast pacing, intriguing, innovative, interesting, entertainingly terrifying so I really liked it. (I know something is wrong with me! I enjoy dark and mind bending story. Like Leonard Cohen’s song lyrics: I want it darker and I kill the flame –but still sleeping with lights on)
So what’s so terrifying about this book? Let’s summarize:
Ominous second person narration made you feel like you’re the MC of this book. YES!
Dark, suspicious, questioning, mysterious, nerve-bending atmosphere made you not to know more about the main predicament of the guy and conclusion of the story. YES!
Does it remind you of some weirdest Twilight Zone and Creepshow episodes! Hell YES! Nanananana!
Is ending remarkable? Not exactly, it’s shaking, shocking but there are still unanswered ethical questions fly in the air. If it isn’t a short story, you may be really pissed off because of too much repeats slow the pace at some parts.
As a summary: I think “Emergency Skin” is still my favorite of the series. But this book is fast pacing, intriguing, innovative, interesting, entertainingly terrifying so I really liked it. (I know something is wrong with me! I enjoy dark and mind bending story. Like Leonard Cohen’s song lyrics: I want it darker and I kill the flame –but still sleeping with lights on)
December 22, 2019
The Last Conversation was the most "horror" of the Forward collection stories, which I guess is not surprising when you look at who the author is. It's an eerie tale that keeps us in the dark for most of the book, wondering what is going on, but knowing that something is definitely not right.
The second person narration somehow makes it even creepier and more unsettling. I want to liken this story to a well-known movie, but that would give away a major spoiler. So let me just say: what goes on in this book is a nightmare. Not just what the MC discovers about his immediate predicament but what the ending implies for the future.
Randomize by Andy Weir - ⭑☆☆☆☆
Ark by Veronica Roth - ⭑⭑⭑☆☆
Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin - ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles - ⭑⭑⭑⭑☆
Summer Frost by Blake Crouch - ⭑⭑⭑⭑☆
The second person narration somehow makes it even creepier and more unsettling. I want to liken this story to a well-known movie, but that would give away a major spoiler. So let me just say: what goes on in this book is a nightmare. Not just what the MC discovers about his immediate predicament but what the ending implies for the future.
Randomize by Andy Weir - ⭑☆☆☆☆
Ark by Veronica Roth - ⭑⭑⭑☆☆
Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin - ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles - ⭑⭑⭑⭑☆
Summer Frost by Blake Crouch - ⭑⭑⭑⭑☆
September 9, 2020
What a bizarre and frightening novella! Who is this man obviously having come back from a coma and taught living again? Who is Anne Kuhn? What about this pandemic that killed so many people? What about cloning? Many crucial subjects are mentioned directly or indirectly in this fantastic and weird story. It was a bit confusing but the atmosphere was very dark. Sometimes it reminded me on Matheson and I am Legend, I also had to think about the novel Birdbox. The characters in Tremblay's novella seem to be in a kind of post apocalyptic world. Great stuff that sent shivers down my spine. Once there was The Last Supper, now we have The Last Conversation. Highly recommended!
October 1, 2019
This might be my favorite work of Tremblay so far.
January 31, 2021
The beginning had some potential but the ending didn't do it for me.
October 23, 2019
3.5 stars. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
A person — whose name and gender are never specified, because that person is “you” — wakes up, alone in a room. You’re blind and in intense pain, and at first you remember nothing at all of your past. You only hear one person, Dr. Anne Kuhn, who instructs you through a speaker: testing you mentally, badgering you to exercise, and, little by little, giving you bits of information about your past life and about why you are where you are now. Gradually it becomes clear that something disastrous has happened.
The Last Conversation is an odd but compelling and ominous science fiction novella from Paul Tremblay. It’s reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode: strange, somber and slightly horrific in a slow-burn way, with a surprising reveal at the end (or perhaps not so surprising to a perceptive reader; there are some clues as to where this story is heading, though I didn’t guess it myself).
Telling a story in second person — presumably to increase readers’ perception that they’re in the place of the main character — is a tricky thing to pull off well. Combined with the fact that the main character’s name is never given and there’s just a blank line in the text every time Anne speaks their name, it added to the general sense of unease. Perhaps that was intentional on Tremblay’s part; in which case, mission accomplished.
The Last Conversation is a slower-paced work that steadily and inexorably moves toward its disturbing conclusion. Given the main character’s lack of memory and needing to relearn many physical and manual skills from scratch, Tremblay’s approach does make some sense, and the pacing didn’t drag enough to bother me because this was such a quick read. Still, it’s a good thing this is a short novella; if it were longer I think it would have collapsed under its own weight.
The ending was a decent payoff, although it raised several unanswered questions. Anne’s motivations for their final, key conversation are somewhat murky, and the underlying science that is critical to the plot is extremely hand-wavey.
The Last Conversation is part of the FORWARD collection proposed and curated by Blake Crouch. It’s a set of six stand-alone novellas, each by a different author, that explore the “effects of a pivotal technological moment.” The authors are Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Veronica Roth, Amor Towles, Tremblay and Andy Weir. The individual novellas are reasonably priced and available in ebook and audio form individually or as a set.
Note: Some of the GR reviews give away the twist, so if you're planning to read this, you may want to avoid the reviews until you're done.
A person — whose name and gender are never specified, because that person is “you” — wakes up, alone in a room. You’re blind and in intense pain, and at first you remember nothing at all of your past. You only hear one person, Dr. Anne Kuhn, who instructs you through a speaker: testing you mentally, badgering you to exercise, and, little by little, giving you bits of information about your past life and about why you are where you are now. Gradually it becomes clear that something disastrous has happened.
The Last Conversation is an odd but compelling and ominous science fiction novella from Paul Tremblay. It’s reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode: strange, somber and slightly horrific in a slow-burn way, with a surprising reveal at the end (or perhaps not so surprising to a perceptive reader; there are some clues as to where this story is heading, though I didn’t guess it myself).
Telling a story in second person — presumably to increase readers’ perception that they’re in the place of the main character — is a tricky thing to pull off well. Combined with the fact that the main character’s name is never given and there’s just a blank line in the text every time Anne speaks their name, it added to the general sense of unease. Perhaps that was intentional on Tremblay’s part; in which case, mission accomplished.
The Last Conversation is a slower-paced work that steadily and inexorably moves toward its disturbing conclusion. Given the main character’s lack of memory and needing to relearn many physical and manual skills from scratch, Tremblay’s approach does make some sense, and the pacing didn’t drag enough to bother me because this was such a quick read. Still, it’s a good thing this is a short novella; if it were longer I think it would have collapsed under its own weight.
The ending was a decent payoff, although it raised several unanswered questions. Anne’s motivations for their final, key conversation are somewhat murky, and the underlying science that is critical to the plot is extremely hand-wavey.
The Last Conversation is part of the FORWARD collection proposed and curated by Blake Crouch. It’s a set of six stand-alone novellas, each by a different author, that explore the “effects of a pivotal technological moment.” The authors are Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Veronica Roth, Amor Towles, Tremblay and Andy Weir. The individual novellas are reasonably priced and available in ebook and audio form individually or as a set.
Note: Some of the GR reviews give away the twist, so if you're planning to read this, you may want to avoid the reviews until you're done.
April 11, 2020
BEWARE OF SPOILERS!
And, obviously, the DNA sequences drawn on the cover are not a spoiler for most of readers, as I just found out. For me, it was and I sort of felt I was aware from the start what would happen later on. Well, anyway, if you are scared of spoilers just stay away from this review :) And from the book cover :)
This wasn't too innovative or striking or anything.
So, this gal's a scientist and the guy's a part of a long chain of something. Striking? No.
They have this plague and she needs the fence and it's all nearing to an end and, wow! it's not all ethical. The ground's still not shaking, though.
And, obviously, the DNA sequences drawn on the cover are not a spoiler for most of readers, as I just found out. For me, it was and I sort of felt I was aware from the start what would happen later on. Well, anyway, if you are scared of spoilers just stay away from this review :) And from the book cover :)
This wasn't too innovative or striking or anything.
So, this gal's a scientist and the guy's a part of a long chain of something. Striking? No.
They have this plague and she needs the fence and it's all nearing to an end and, wow! it's not all ethical. The ground's still not shaking, though.
August 29, 2020
“To forget is to lose something that was once yours, that was once of yourself. But how could one lose something as expansive as an ocean in a dusty corner of one’s mind? What if, instead, to forget is to open a door to a void; the memory is not retrievable because it is not there, was never there.”The loss of memory and identity is a terrifying concept. What makes you - *you*? Suddenly not having that you-ness and knowing that someone else has the keys to it, to your very self - but chooses to dole it out in the way that suits them and their yet unclear purpose - while all you have is loneliness and helplessness and suspicion that what you are doled out bears only some resemblance to the truth - that’s a form of torture, no doubt.
“You’ve been awake and not-awake for days, maybe weeks, perhaps longer. You do not know where you were then, or before then. You are here now. A significant amount of time has passed, but from what beginning you do not know. You consider the origin of this time during which you’ve been awake and not-awake and conclude it is, for the moment, unknowable.”‘The Last Conversation’ by Paul Tremblay packs enough punch in its short length. I found it eerie and unsettling, and quite well-done, with the second-person narration adding very well to that immediate feeling of unease. And even though I had a pretty good hunch about where it was all headed, it still did not lessen the impact. It’s like being trapped in a slightly surreal nightmare with all that it implies not just for the unnamed protagonist but also for everyone else.
4 stars. Time to read more by Tremblay.
“How many of us said yes?”
“None of you. Not a single fucking one of you.”
—————————
The Forward Collection, in the order read:
‘Emergency Skin’ by N.K. Jemisin: Lovely. 5 stars.
‘Randomize’ by Andy Weir: Meh. 2 stars.
‘The Last Conversation’ by Paul Tremblay: Eerie. 4 stars.
‘You Have Arrived at Your Destination’ by Amor Towles: Perfectly adequate. 3 stars.
‘Summer Frost’ by Blake Crouch: Very intelligent (artificially?). 4.5 stars.
‘Ark’ by Veronica Roth: Underwhelming melancholy. 2.5 stars.
October 18, 2024
I didn't love it, didn't hate it, but also didn't get the point of it.
Or, I guess that's not right.
I got the point, but it didn't wow or horrify me.
A person wakes up on a table and can't see. They can't remember...anything. For most of the rest of the book, a voice from another room instructs them in activities that will hopefully bring their mind and body to a state of health.
The first few pages were interesting but I ended up thinking that it was ultimately kind of long and drawn out for what seemed to me to be a pretty foreseeable ending.
Meh.
Or, I guess that's not right.
I got the point, but it didn't wow or horrify me.
A person wakes up on a table and can't see. They can't remember...anything. For most of the rest of the book, a voice from another room instructs them in activities that will hopefully bring their mind and body to a state of health.
The first few pages were interesting but I ended up thinking that it was ultimately kind of long and drawn out for what seemed to me to be a pretty foreseeable ending.
Meh.
January 6, 2020
Brilliant play on real versus replica and the authenticity of memory and identity
To forget is to lose something that was once yours, that was once of yourself.
An eerie and well build up story, centered around the the experience of someone waking up in a dark room, without memories, only being talked to by a mysterious doctor through an intercom.
The start point is more often seen (it made me think of More Than This, Slated, The Raw Shark Texts and a Haruki Murakami novel I don't quite remember the name of anymore) and it is quite hard to keep up momentum and not making the reveal feel disappointing versus what the reader imagined while "in the dark".
A short story is thus great for applying this trope and Paul Tremblay plays it excellently. In the later parts of the story it felt a bit like Oryx and Crake of Margaret Atwood, and that is meant as a compliment since it is one of my favourite books.
Overall The Last Conversation absolutely sucked me in and felt very cinematic.
My most favourite one yet of the Forward Story Collection, 4 stars.
To forget is to lose something that was once yours, that was once of yourself.
An eerie and well build up story, centered around the the experience of someone waking up in a dark room, without memories, only being talked to by a mysterious doctor through an intercom.
The start point is more often seen (it made me think of More Than This, Slated, The Raw Shark Texts and a Haruki Murakami novel I don't quite remember the name of anymore) and it is quite hard to keep up momentum and not making the reveal feel disappointing versus what the reader imagined while "in the dark".
A short story is thus great for applying this trope and Paul Tremblay plays it excellently. In the later parts of the story it felt a bit like Oryx and Crake of Margaret Atwood, and that is meant as a compliment since it is one of my favourite books.
Overall The Last Conversation absolutely sucked me in and felt very cinematic.
My most favourite one yet of the Forward Story Collection, 4 stars.
September 16, 2020
3 to 3.5 stars
I have to be honest and say that approached this short story with trepidation. My open-mindedness to review this was tainted. I have read two Paul Tremblay novels and didn't like either of them - REALLY didn't like either of them (1 and 2 star reviews). Of all the Forward stories, this is the only one I really didn't want to listen to.
So, today I decided to just rip off the band-aid and jump in feet first. At least it was only an hour and forty five minutes on audio so I knew if I didn't like it, I didn't have to commit too much of my time.
But, in the end, it was pretty good - definitely the best Tremblay I have read so far. It was a unique story of a post-apocalyptic world - one in which you really are not quite sure what is happening (but you can tell something is happening) for most of the story. I won't say too much more to avoid spoilers, but I will give you a hint by saying that even the last sentence of the story adds to the evolution of the plot.
The Last Conversation is a worthy entry in the Forward series and may have re-established some of my faith in Tremblay's writing . . . just a little! 🙂
I have to be honest and say that approached this short story with trepidation. My open-mindedness to review this was tainted. I have read two Paul Tremblay novels and didn't like either of them - REALLY didn't like either of them (1 and 2 star reviews). Of all the Forward stories, this is the only one I really didn't want to listen to.
So, today I decided to just rip off the band-aid and jump in feet first. At least it was only an hour and forty five minutes on audio so I knew if I didn't like it, I didn't have to commit too much of my time.
But, in the end, it was pretty good - definitely the best Tremblay I have read so far. It was a unique story of a post-apocalyptic world - one in which you really are not quite sure what is happening (but you can tell something is happening) for most of the story. I won't say too much more to avoid spoilers, but I will give you a hint by saying that even the last sentence of the story adds to the evolution of the plot.
The Last Conversation is a worthy entry in the Forward series and may have re-established some of my faith in Tremblay's writing . . . just a little! 🙂
November 30, 2021
A person wakes up in a dark room not knowing where they are or who they are. They only have a voice coming from another room (Dr. Kuhn/Anne) to try and get answers from. This was a really boring short story filled with tedious and repetitive conversations between two unrelatable (and in Anne’s case, annoying as well) characters. The story seemed to be biding its time without much happening just to lead up to the big reveal/twist at the end.
October 17, 2019
THE LAST CONVERSATION is my second read in the Forward series from Amazon, curated by Blake Crouch.
I'm familiar with the works of Paul Tremblay and just read his latest collection GROWING THINGS a few months back. I felt that this story was a bit of a departure from his horror works and it was a change that I enjoyed. Being more of a mystery/science fiction tale, I found the end to be an unexpected surprise- and I love to be surprised!
Thanks to Amazon/Audible for the free reads and the original premises upon which these stories are based!
I'm familiar with the works of Paul Tremblay and just read his latest collection GROWING THINGS a few months back. I felt that this story was a bit of a departure from his horror works and it was a change that I enjoyed. Being more of a mystery/science fiction tale, I found the end to be an unexpected surprise- and I love to be surprised!
Thanks to Amazon/Audible for the free reads and the original premises upon which these stories are based!
October 16, 2019
"Dear" Paul Tremblay,
I've just finished THE LAST CONVERSATION. I loathe second-person narration...so chest-pokey, so accusatory...but this story made me leak tears and gasp for breath and I do not ever want to be that lonely and how did you do that in spite of thumping my nose for 60 pages?
Five stars. Bastard.
Cheers
RMD
expendablemudge.blogspot.com
I've just finished THE LAST CONVERSATION. I loathe second-person narration...so chest-pokey, so accusatory...but this story made me leak tears and gasp for breath and I do not ever want to be that lonely and how did you do that in spite of thumping my nose for 60 pages?
Five stars. Bastard.
Cheers
RMD
expendablemudge.blogspot.com
October 11, 2019
This story is part of the FORWARD collection and a great addition to the series. The first book I read from this author was THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD which was an intense horror novel.
This short story is different but as deeply scary and creepy as the novel I mentioned. Imagine you wake up in a dark room, very dark. You can't see anything at all and you don't know if it's because the room is dark or if it's because you're blind. But worst of all is realizing you don't know who you are or why you're there. Take it from there.
The story was absolutely captivating and suspenseful. I loved it, and recommend it to readers of science fiction.
This short story is different but as deeply scary and creepy as the novel I mentioned. Imagine you wake up in a dark room, very dark. You can't see anything at all and you don't know if it's because the room is dark or if it's because you're blind. But worst of all is realizing you don't know who you are or why you're there. Take it from there.
The story was absolutely captivating and suspenseful. I loved it, and recommend it to readers of science fiction.
September 28, 2019
Creepy, chilling, unsettling and bleak....
August 15, 2024
Creepier by the Minute
This was a really scary story, but you go back and forth as to whether or not you should be scared. You wake up in a room in complete darkness unable to do anything, and then this voice who claims to be there to help you tells you to do things that hurts. You aren’t sure the voice is really trying to help at all as it helps you to remember things that you aren’t sure happened. Then it gets really creepy…
This was a really scary story, but you go back and forth as to whether or not you should be scared. You wake up in a room in complete darkness unable to do anything, and then this voice who claims to be there to help you tells you to do things that hurts. You aren’t sure the voice is really trying to help at all as it helps you to remember things that you aren’t sure happened. Then it gets really creepy…
January 20, 2024
“To forget is to lose something that was once yours, that was once of yourself. But how could one lose something as expansive as the ocean in a dusty corner of one’s mind? What if, instead, to forget is to open a door to a void; the memory is not retrievable because it is not there, was never there.”
so this short story follows the main character “x”, who wakes up in a room with no memory and only the disconnected voice of a caretaker named Dr.Kuhn. the story is written in 2nd person (which i hate), so the main character is technically the reader. i consider Paul Tremblay my enemy😂, so i was expecting to be a hater.. but i actually liked the way the story progressed and the ending was pretty good. this one honestly kinda reminded me a little of Iain Reid’s Foe.
➝ short story #5 of amazon’s Forward collection👥.
so this short story follows the main character “x”, who wakes up in a room with no memory and only the disconnected voice of a caretaker named Dr.Kuhn. the story is written in 2nd person (which i hate), so the main character is technically the reader. i consider Paul Tremblay my enemy😂, so i was expecting to be a hater.. but i actually liked the way the story progressed and the ending was pretty good. this one honestly kinda reminded me a little of Iain Reid’s Foe.
➝ short story #5 of amazon’s Forward collection👥.
March 9, 2022
The Last Conversation a Novella by Paul Tremblay is the second story I have read from the Blake Crouch created, The Forward Collection. The first story I read was written by the magnificent Amor Towles. This offering by Tremblay is equally as good – but alas, I can’t really write too much about this one as it’ll give the game away.
What I can say is, the The Last Conversation is written in the second person. I don’t come across this technique too much, but I like it as we – the reader – are thrown right into the middle of the drama. We’re even told what we’re thinking, I usually don’t like being told what to think, but in this case it’s great because if I would’ve been in this situation, I would have spent the entire time going “What?” - and no reader would enjoy this numbat stumbling around confused.
So, what I’ll say is:
• There’s a virus, pandemic involved
• Science abounds
• It starts with the reader having no idea where we are or what we’re doing
• This is a mystery
• We increasingly become more aware of who and what we are – well kind of
That’s it for this one – apart from (a) I LOVE this collection and (b) this one is a CRACKER!!
4-Stars
What I can say is, the The Last Conversation is written in the second person. I don’t come across this technique too much, but I like it as we – the reader – are thrown right into the middle of the drama. We’re even told what we’re thinking, I usually don’t like being told what to think, but in this case it’s great because if I would’ve been in this situation, I would have spent the entire time going “What?” - and no reader would enjoy this numbat stumbling around confused.
So, what I’ll say is:
• There’s a virus, pandemic involved
• Science abounds
• It starts with the reader having no idea where we are or what we’re doing
• This is a mystery
• We increasingly become more aware of who and what we are – well kind of
That’s it for this one – apart from (a) I LOVE this collection and (b) this one is a CRACKER!!
4-Stars
January 10, 2021
This 54 page short story is part of the Forward Collection which was curated by Blake Crouch which at time of posting is available on Kindle Unlimited.
Our protagonist is nameless and wakes up in a dark room and has to relearn their past. It took me a while to figure out what was going on here and I thought this one was fine. I didn't enjoy it as much as I have the others in this collection.
Our protagonist is nameless and wakes up in a dark room and has to relearn their past. It took me a while to figure out what was going on here and I thought this one was fine. I didn't enjoy it as much as I have the others in this collection.
September 16, 2022
Who are you and do you truly want to know? Good short story of the Forward collection. I listened as an Audio book free for prime members. Recommend to sci-fi readers who enjoy one possible outcome in the future.
December 31, 2019
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Genre:
Science Fiction
If you love Paul Tremblay's writing style you will like this book. He has his writing style all over it. It is creepy, mysterious and has a strange feeling to it! Even the narration itself where the main character is being addressed as "You" to the reader makes everything spooky. So when you wake up, you are blind and isolated alone in a room, completely unaware of everything else!
Usually, this kind of narration style can be a hit or a miss. In this case, I would say it worked quite very well. It puts the pressure on you as a reader. The author has made you in the spotlight. You are the hero of this mysterious story. You are a character in the author's story and your destiny is written! You just need to read it!
This is the 5th book in this highly entertaining series (The Forward Collection). All the stories have this strange feeling to them but each one has its own identity given to it by its author.
March 10, 2021
I will read anything and everything by Paul Tremblay. He is one of those authors that aims for your secret, undisclosed fears--some of which you don't even know about into you're knee-deep into one of his novels and plain scared out of your mind by some fresh horror you wish didn't exist.
This short story, THE LAST CONVERSATION, tapped a new fear for me. The narrative resembles an omniscient 2nd person POV, employing YOU to play the role of the main character.
YOU wake up in a strange room feeling disoriented and unsure of who you are or what you're doing in this laboratory-like environment. A woman initiates a conversation with you through a speaker in the room.
From this point on, Paul Tremblay stitches together a strange and subtly unsettling story piece by piece as "you" slowly start to remember the events leading up to your present-day situation. As I was reading it, I felt like I was involved in a Black Mirror episode--an unwavering sense of dread as I drew closer and closer to the conclusion.
I absolutely love this story.
This short story, THE LAST CONVERSATION, tapped a new fear for me. The narrative resembles an omniscient 2nd person POV, employing YOU to play the role of the main character.
YOU wake up in a strange room feeling disoriented and unsure of who you are or what you're doing in this laboratory-like environment. A woman initiates a conversation with you through a speaker in the room.
From this point on, Paul Tremblay stitches together a strange and subtly unsettling story piece by piece as "you" slowly start to remember the events leading up to your present-day situation. As I was reading it, I felt like I was involved in a Black Mirror episode--an unwavering sense of dread as I drew closer and closer to the conclusion.
I absolutely love this story.
November 28, 2019
No spoilers, but this one is easily the creepiest of the Forward collection.
It's definitely a White Room mystery. :)
Well worth the read and very possibly the best Paul Tremblay I've read.
It's definitely a White Room mystery. :)
Well worth the read and very possibly the best Paul Tremblay I've read.
March 7, 2023
Sci Fi
Another look into the future. This kept me interested and the end was quite good. I’m enjoying short stories I will find another one to read!
Another look into the future. This kept me interested and the end was quite good. I’m enjoying short stories I will find another one to read!
December 5, 2020
4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Well, this short story in the Forward series was rather uncomfortable and bleak!
I enjoyed The Last Conversation as much as can be expected.
It’s a rather twisty, dark and fascinating plot once you get an idea of what’s happening with our patient. This lightbulb moment doesn’t happen until the end and the ending is a nice bit of horror and unease. It made me feel super uncomfortable!
Well done Paul Tremblay on writing something that I hope never happens to me!!
Well, this short story in the Forward series was rather uncomfortable and bleak!
I enjoyed The Last Conversation as much as can be expected.
It’s a rather twisty, dark and fascinating plot once you get an idea of what’s happening with our patient. This lightbulb moment doesn’t happen until the end and the ending is a nice bit of horror and unease. It made me feel super uncomfortable!
Well done Paul Tremblay on writing something that I hope never happens to me!!
October 4, 2019
You’re awash in the sun’s fusion-powered glare and you close your eyes, cover your face with shaking hands. You listen to the wind echoing in the bowls of your ears. The smell of the air and how it feels on your skin, on your lips, and inside your lungs are beyond your abilities of description.
March 8, 2023
I am reading, or rather listening to, Amazon’s Forward series, which is a curated set of sci-fi stories or novelettes. I have never been much of a sci-fi fan, but I am now wondering if it has to do with length of the narrative. Perhaps a novel is too long a format for my sci-fi taste. I say this because I am really enjoying the stories in this series.
The first one I listened to was by Amor Towles (You Have Arrived at Your Destination) about genetic tweaking of a father’s offspring, and it was great! You can probably find my short review of that one.
The Last Conversation was written by Paul Tremblay and it is about a cloned man waking into consciousness. How would you feel if you had gone to sleep and awakened to be a clone of yourself? Would you really be you?
Once again, eerily plausible and fascinating to ponder. Like the old Twilight Zone TV show, you might just imagine a Rod Serling giving an introduction and a closure to each story. The Twilight Zone was successful because it presented stories that could actually happen — they seemed close to reality. These stories do the same thing and that’s what makes them attractive and scary at the same time.
4.5 stars rounded down to 4, because Towles set a pretty high bar. Meanwhile, I am moving on to the next one.
Just a final thought — I find that short works are readily enjoyable as audiobooks. These stories seem to run about 1.5 hours so far, so they do not take a huge time commitment. Two or three commutes seem to work for me. And the stories are free right now to Amazon Prime members, in Kindle or Audible formats. You might consider tuning in.
The first one I listened to was by Amor Towles (You Have Arrived at Your Destination) about genetic tweaking of a father’s offspring, and it was great! You can probably find my short review of that one.
The Last Conversation was written by Paul Tremblay and it is about a cloned man waking into consciousness. How would you feel if you had gone to sleep and awakened to be a clone of yourself? Would you really be you?
Once again, eerily plausible and fascinating to ponder. Like the old Twilight Zone TV show, you might just imagine a Rod Serling giving an introduction and a closure to each story. The Twilight Zone was successful because it presented stories that could actually happen — they seemed close to reality. These stories do the same thing and that’s what makes them attractive and scary at the same time.
4.5 stars rounded down to 4, because Towles set a pretty high bar. Meanwhile, I am moving on to the next one.
Just a final thought — I find that short works are readily enjoyable as audiobooks. These stories seem to run about 1.5 hours so far, so they do not take a huge time commitment. Two or three commutes seem to work for me. And the stories are free right now to Amazon Prime members, in Kindle or Audible formats. You might consider tuning in.
September 24, 2019
This was one delightfully creepy story. I'm still feeling the chill of this slow buildup and utterly fitting use of second person POV.
October 17, 2019
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Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
★ I am on the fence about this one! I did not know the author prior to reading this one, I am not a fan of horror so I probably would have never have been exposed to his works.
★ That of course, does not mean that I wanted to dislike this or skip it, I wanted to like it but the author kept it very vague and the scientist kept saying maybe and you will understand later and I can't tell much. And since this is written in 2nd person POV, it felt like she was talking to us as readers!
★ For a story of 50 pages, it should not have been so confusing! I understood what was he trying to do at the end. I understood the story too but I think the way it was written did more damage than good. Still delivered a chilling ending but I would have done things differently.
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Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
★ I am on the fence about this one! I did not know the author prior to reading this one, I am not a fan of horror so I probably would have never have been exposed to his works.
★ That of course, does not mean that I wanted to dislike this or skip it, I wanted to like it but the author kept it very vague and the scientist kept saying maybe and you will understand later and I can't tell much. And since this is written in 2nd person POV, it felt like she was talking to us as readers!
★ For a story of 50 pages, it should not have been so confusing! I understood what was he trying to do at the end. I understood the story too but I think the way it was written did more damage than good. Still delivered a chilling ending but I would have done things differently.
You can get more books from Book Depository
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