Scan barcode
roytoo's review
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Good blend of stories around the theme is galactic empire.
bosermoki's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I enjoyed this collection. I think that particular theme doesn't lend itself as well to short fiction. But I thought the stories "All the painted stars", "Firstborn", and "Seven Years from Home" were real standouts
yoshi83's review
3.0
Short story/novella collections are generally hit or miss with me. The following authors' stories resonated with me right away and never stopped:
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Robert Reed
John G. Hemry (Jack Campbell)
Brandon Sanderson
Their stuff is all at least four-star quality, but I rounded down to three because there were a lot of stories that I just did not care for or about.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Robert Reed
John G. Hemry (Jack Campbell)
Brandon Sanderson
Their stuff is all at least four-star quality, but I rounded down to three because there were a lot of stories that I just did not care for or about.
elusivity's review
2.0
1. The Demon Trap - TWO STARS
A standard police procedural with an unremarkable heroine -- despite being beautiful and supposedly unrelentingly persistent, but didn't really come alive in the story as such -- and meandering plot. People popped from this city to that on rapid transport, genetic manipulation a fact of life, death no longer death, and plenty of mind-bending ideas -- wrapped in one bland package.
2. Owner Space - ONE STAR
The villain here -- an entire societal order -- is so one-dimensionally horrible, so without any subtlety or remorse, that I found it impossible to stop rolling my eyes. All the problems are then resolved by an all-powerful figure who is completely incomprehensible, represents no moral stance, and yet easily dispatches everything to its rightful place according to who-knows-what reasons of his own. Well, how profound.
3. The Man with the Golden Balloon - ONE STAR
Another story set on Robert Reed's ship-that-is-the-size-of-a-world. A couple goes exploring into an unmapped area, and once there, were told a story by an ancient, pan-galactic being. This story was told seemingly for a specific reason, as completion to some kind of a vast plan. What that plan could be is anyone's guess. Once again, Reed gives us vague hints about the nature of the Ship. Some of his Ship stories reach operatic proportions as the nearly-immortal inhabitants traverse through time and space; this is not one of those times.
4. The Six Directions of Space - FOUR STARS
A fascinating story exploring what worlds vastly divergent in time and history may look like, and the prospect of traveling among their different timelines.
5. The Seer and the Silverman - THREE STARS
An excellent story involving some truly alien aliens who do not understand human psychology in the least. However, the science upon which many plot-points hung were virtual gobbledeegook to me -- so, minus ONE STAR for the author's failure to compensate for my lack of erudition in astrophysics.
A standard police procedural with an unremarkable heroine -- despite being beautiful and supposedly unrelentingly persistent, but didn't really come alive in the story as such -- and meandering plot. People popped from this city to that on rapid transport, genetic manipulation a fact of life, death no longer death, and plenty of mind-bending ideas -- wrapped in one bland package.
2. Owner Space - ONE STAR
The villain here -- an entire societal order -- is so one-dimensionally horrible, so without any subtlety or remorse, that I found it impossible to stop rolling my eyes. All the problems are then resolved by an all-powerful figure who is completely incomprehensible, represents no moral stance, and yet easily dispatches everything to its rightful place according to who-knows-what reasons of his own. Well, how profound.
3. The Man with the Golden Balloon - ONE STAR
Another story set on Robert Reed's ship-that-is-the-size-of-a-world. A couple goes exploring into an unmapped area, and once there, were told a story by an ancient, pan-galactic being. This story was told seemingly for a specific reason, as completion to some kind of a vast plan. What that plan could be is anyone's guess. Once again, Reed gives us vague hints about the nature of the Ship. Some of his Ship stories reach operatic proportions as the nearly-immortal inhabitants traverse through time and space; this is not one of those times.
4. The Six Directions of Space - FOUR STARS
A fascinating story exploring what worlds vastly divergent in time and history may look like, and the prospect of traveling among their different timelines.
5. The Seer and the Silverman - THREE STARS
An excellent story involving some truly alien aliens who do not understand human psychology in the least. However, the science upon which many plot-points hung were virtual gobbledeegook to me -- so, minus ONE STAR for the author's failure to compensate for my lack of erudition in astrophysics.
davidscrimshaw's review
4.0
I didn't love every story in this collection, but I loved a lot of them.
And if you're serious about science fiction, many of the stories are by authors on your must-read list. Of course, you might have read the stories elsewhere, but it's probably easier to get this book from the library and read the stories than to look up all the stories first and verify that you've read them elsewhere.
And if you're serious about science fiction, many of the stories are by authors on your must-read list. Of course, you might have read the stories elsewhere, but it's probably easier to get this book from the library and read the stories than to look up all the stories first and verify that you've read them elsewhere.
tundragirl's review
4.0
A massive book all about empire. Some of the stories were fantastic. None were terrible!
More...