I haven't read a lot of short story collections like this beyond just anthologies, and even those I hadn't read a lot of. I've definitely read very few sci-fi short stories, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going into this. I was drawn in by the gender diversity this issue focused on (only stories written by women, non-binary, and trans authors!), and was so happy that it fully delivered on this front as well.

The biggest stand out aspect of this collection has to be the diversity. The stories are rich with many levels of diversity, and I especially enjoyed seeing so many gender queer characters. Sci-fi, and fantasy, are genres that have long been dominated by cis white men, and while we see more and more books in both genres written by marginalized authors, it never quite seems to be enough. This collection was a breath of fresh air in that regard, and I definitely want to try more issues of Planet Scumm to see if they're just as diverse as this issue was.

I also thought the individual stories were extremely impressive as well. I sometimes struggle with short stories, often feeling like it's just quite enough space to fully develop an interesting world, but I didn't have that issue here at all. Every story felt like a small piece of a larger world, while still giving enough of a picture of that world as to not leave readers lost and confused. They all drew me in quickly and left me wanting more, in a good way this time!

Overall, I highly recommend Snake Eyes, and can't wait to read more issues!