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liacooper's review against another edition
4.0
ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review. Full review coming soon.
Average rating 4.1*
Very cohesive, thoughtful, diverse collection. Compulsively readable, disturbingly relevant stories that I and would highly rec this to sci fi (especially military scifi) fans.
Individual Story Ratings w/ my initial thoughts:
Evening of the Span of Their Days, Carrie Vaughn *4 (good little story)
The Last Broadcasts, An Owomoyela *3.75 (interesting neuro atypical character)
Faceless Soldiers, Patchwork Ship, Caroline M Yoachim *3.75 (character motivations seemed rushed but whoa boy talk about some body horror)
Dear Sarah, Nancy Kress *3.75 (Abrupt ending, but interesting ideas, v relavent. not sure if souther portrayel was a bit too cliche?)
The Moon is Not a Battlefield, Indrapramit Das *5 (made me tear up, so much character and feeling, how things stay the same)
Perfect Gun, Elizabeth Bear *3.5 (it was committed to what it was doing but it read hyper-masculine which wasn't to my taste)
Oracle, Dominica Phettaplace *4.25 (really interesting, chilling, i could have done without the vapid millenial-esque dig at the end though)
In Everlasting Wisdom, Aliette deBodard *3.75 ( yay more aliens. Some thoughts on home deprivations caused by war)
Command and Control, David D. Levine *4 (ending was a little abrupt but overall interesting. lots of court martials in this collection)
Conversations with an Armory, Garth Nix *5 (I want more of this!)
Overburden, Genevieve Valentine *4 (*3 for the protagonist, *4 for the themes and ideas)
Heavies, Rich Larson *4.5 (love a bit of SF detective stuff. this felt almost noir even though it's not grim per se. good idea for a film that i would TOTALLY WATCH!)
Weather Girl, E.J. Swift *4 (I was really with this one up until the final paragraph which felt forced. Otherwise scary relevant)
Mines, Eleanor Arnason *3.75 ( abrupt but some interesting thoughts and great abandonment scifi)
ZeroS, Peter Watts *4.5 (chilling, fucking chilling)
Average rating 4.1*
Very cohesive, thoughtful, diverse collection. Compulsively readable, disturbingly relevant stories that I and would highly rec this to sci fi (especially military scifi) fans.
Individual Story Ratings w/ my initial thoughts:
Evening of the Span of Their Days, Carrie Vaughn *4 (good little story)
The Last Broadcasts, An Owomoyela *3.75 (interesting neuro atypical character)
Faceless Soldiers, Patchwork Ship, Caroline M Yoachim *3.75 (character motivations seemed rushed but whoa boy talk about some body horror)
Dear Sarah, Nancy Kress *3.75 (Abrupt ending, but interesting ideas, v relavent. not sure if souther portrayel was a bit too cliche?)
The Moon is Not a Battlefield, Indrapramit Das *5 (made me tear up, so much character and feeling, how things stay the same)
Perfect Gun, Elizabeth Bear *3.5 (it was committed to what it was doing but it read hyper-masculine which wasn't to my taste)
Oracle, Dominica Phettaplace *4.25 (really interesting, chilling, i could have done without the vapid millenial-esque dig at the end though)
In Everlasting Wisdom, Aliette deBodard *3.75 ( yay more aliens. Some thoughts on home deprivations caused by war)
Command and Control, David D. Levine *4 (ending was a little abrupt but overall interesting. lots of court martials in this collection)
Conversations with an Armory, Garth Nix *5 (I want more of this!)
Overburden, Genevieve Valentine *4 (*3 for the protagonist, *4 for the themes and ideas)
Heavies, Rich Larson *4.5 (love a bit of SF detective stuff. this felt almost noir even though it's not grim per se. good idea for a film that i would TOTALLY WATCH!)
Weather Girl, E.J. Swift *4 (I was really with this one up until the final paragraph which felt forced. Otherwise scary relevant)
Mines, Eleanor Arnason *3.75 ( abrupt but some interesting thoughts and great abandonment scifi)
ZeroS, Peter Watts *4.5 (chilling, fucking chilling)
colossal's review against another edition
4.0
The inherent problem with a serious anthology of military science fiction is that a lot of the fun of that genre is in the mindless jingoism of humans beating up implacable aliens or what's essentially Hornblower-in-space fan-fiction. If you don't want to indulge in those more entertaining elements of military SF, what's left tends to be all fairly grim.
Notable exceptions for me in the "hell of war" atmosphere were what I felt to be some of the best pieces in this collection. These include:
"Faceless Soldiers, Patchwork Ship" by [a:Caroline M. Yoachim|4412920|Caroline M. Yoachim|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1454339768p2/4412920.jpg] - A federation of species including humans are at war with a collective borg-like species. The sister of one of the human soldiers is recruited for a special mission for which she is uniquely suited and discovers that the enemy are maybe not so straightforwardly painted as such.
"Dear Sarah" by [a:Nancy Kress|21158|Nancy Kress|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232323985p2/21158.jpg] - A soldier writes a long letter to her younger sister talking about why she joined up and explaining her actions since. A reflection on why soldiers join the army and a commentary on the modern reality that most recruits are from disadvantaged parts of society.
"Conversations with an Armory" by [a:Garth Nix|8347|Garth Nix|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207583754p2/8347.jpg] - Veterans onboard a mothballed ship try to access an armory controlled by an hibernating AI. A very short story for this collection, but quickly builds appreciation for all the people involved, including the Armory itself. Great in a "one last mission" way.
Finally, one of the grimmer stories really stood out for me as well, "Everlasting Wisdom" by the always great [a:Aliette de Bodard|2918731|Aliette de Bodard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261567215p2/2918731.jpg]. An occupied population of humans controlled by humans who are host to alien parasites (symbiotes?) are on the losing side of a war. A look at human costs, desperation and collaboration and humanizing the enemy. Great piece.
Overall I felt it was a good collection but a tad inconsistent. Even the stories I didn't care for are clearly of quality though, and your tastes in fiction may not be mine. Recommended, as are most in the Infinity series.
Notable exceptions for me in the "hell of war" atmosphere were what I felt to be some of the best pieces in this collection. These include:
"Faceless Soldiers, Patchwork Ship" by [a:Caroline M. Yoachim|4412920|Caroline M. Yoachim|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1454339768p2/4412920.jpg] - A federation of species including humans are at war with a collective borg-like species. The sister of one of the human soldiers is recruited for a special mission for which she is uniquely suited and discovers that the enemy are maybe not so straightforwardly painted as such.
"Dear Sarah" by [a:Nancy Kress|21158|Nancy Kress|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232323985p2/21158.jpg] - A soldier writes a long letter to her younger sister talking about why she joined up and explaining her actions since. A reflection on why soldiers join the army and a commentary on the modern reality that most recruits are from disadvantaged parts of society.
"Conversations with an Armory" by [a:Garth Nix|8347|Garth Nix|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207583754p2/8347.jpg] - Veterans onboard a mothballed ship try to access an armory controlled by an hibernating AI. A very short story for this collection, but quickly builds appreciation for all the people involved, including the Armory itself. Great in a "one last mission" way.
Finally, one of the grimmer stories really stood out for me as well, "Everlasting Wisdom" by the always great [a:Aliette de Bodard|2918731|Aliette de Bodard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261567215p2/2918731.jpg]. An occupied population of humans controlled by humans who are host to alien parasites (symbiotes?) are on the losing side of a war. A look at human costs, desperation and collaboration and humanizing the enemy. Great piece.
Overall I felt it was a good collection but a tad inconsistent. Even the stories I didn't care for are clearly of quality though, and your tastes in fiction may not be mine. Recommended, as are most in the Infinity series.
sbisson's review against another edition
4.0
Recent Reads: Infinity Wars. The latest in Jonathan Strahan's Infinity Project anthologies offers a sideways take on military SF. This is not the usual suspects, and so goes in very different directions. A recommended read.
milos_dumbraci's review against another edition
1.0
very lame and generic stories.
not really military scifi, either.
not really military scifi, either.
utopiastateofmind's review against another edition
4.0
So the four star is my average rating for all the stories. I rated each individually and then averaged them for that total. All in all, what blew me away, without dwelling on particular stories, was the overall intellectual nuance and intelligence regarding their descriptions of war and our society. Each story had a different angle and it had a fabulous mix of perspectives and settings. Strahan did a phenomenal job curating and ordering this anthology, sometimes I feel like they lull in the middle, but there was always another story to bring the momentum up. If you are at all interested in the ways war is discussed in any aspect - really - then check this out.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.
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