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naysh's review against another edition
3.0
A strong collection of fun sci-fi stories, which tends to prioritize good language and evocative writing over particularly compelling ideas. Nine stories in this collection that stood out to me:
1. "A Series of Steaks" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad ~ An odd premise, filled with fun dialogue and casually clever prose.
2. "Every Hour of Light and Dark" by Nancy Kress ~ Art theft in an interesting direction.
3. "Shikasta" by Vandana Singh ~ An excellent story with an interesting emotional angle.
4. "Wind Will Rove" by Sarah Pinsker ~ A simple but impactful story, which contemplates the conflict between preserving old knowledge and creating new ideas.
5. "The Martian Obelisk" by Linda Nagata ~ A story mired in despair, with a strong beginning and end.
6. "Shadows of Eternity" by Gregory Benford ~ Creative use of language. The plot itself is not very thoroughly developed in this short story.
7. "A Catalogue of Sunlight at the End of the World" by A.C. Wise ~ Good emotional storytelling.
8. "Death on Mars" by Madeline Ashby ~ Similar in themes to #7.
9. "The Secret Life of Bots" by Suzanne Palmer ~ Robots given good voices.
1. "A Series of Steaks" by Vina Jie-Min Prasad ~ An odd premise, filled with fun dialogue and casually clever prose.
2. "Every Hour of Light and Dark" by Nancy Kress ~ Art theft in an interesting direction.
3. "Shikasta" by Vandana Singh ~ An excellent story with an interesting emotional angle.
4. "Wind Will Rove" by Sarah Pinsker ~ A simple but impactful story, which contemplates the conflict between preserving old knowledge and creating new ideas.
5. "The Martian Obelisk" by Linda Nagata ~ A story mired in despair, with a strong beginning and end.
6. "Shadows of Eternity" by Gregory Benford ~ Creative use of language. The plot itself is not very thoroughly developed in this short story.
7. "A Catalogue of Sunlight at the End of the World" by A.C. Wise ~ Good emotional storytelling.
8. "Death on Mars" by Madeline Ashby ~ Similar in themes to #7.
9. "The Secret Life of Bots" by Suzanne Palmer ~ Robots given good voices.
zu_reviews's review
3.0
This is just a huge anthology and by it's very nature you won't like everything in it.
I can't say I read every story, but I gave everyone a shot. I liked a lot of the stories, mostly those that were more of a snapshot. I wasn't a fan of many with an intergalactic military setting. They felt very predictable and un-interesting. Many were charming though!
I can't say I read every story, but I gave everyone a shot. I liked a lot of the stories, mostly those that were more of a snapshot. I wasn't a fan of many with an intergalactic military setting. They felt very predictable and un-interesting. Many were charming though!
qalminator's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, most of the stories in this are quite good. Standouts for me were Holdfast, Shikasta, Extracurricular Activity, and In Everlasting Wisdom, but I enjoyed all but a very few of them. Of those I didn't enjoy, one was just so over-the-top that I couldn't relate to it in any way, one just never drew me in enough to do more than skim, and one made me want to punch the author (but was probably included for a fascinating sentient race). As a whole, I recommend the collection. Read down for more specifics about individual stories.
A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, January 2017) {4 stars} - Well-written caper, about forging T-Bone steaks from a cellular printer. It reminded me of The Emperor's Soul, both because of the forgery theme, and because of the intensity of the project. Aside: reading this made me hungry, and I don't even like steak.
Holdfast by Alastair Reynolds (Extrasolar, edited by Nick Gevers) {5 stars} - Wow. At first, I wasn't expecting much. Yeah, yeah, last survivors of warships trying to kill one another, but then it turned into something beautiful.
Every Hour of Light and Dark by Nancy Kress (Omni, Winter 2017) {3 stars} - Well-written and interesting concept, but just didn't really grab me. I liked the idea behind the story better than the story.
The Last Novelist, or a Dead Lizard in the Yard by Matthew Kressel (Tor.com, March 2017) {3.5 stars} - Well written, but very odd. It felt more literary than SF, though it certainly contained obvious SF elements.
Shikasta by Vandana Singh (Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities, edited by Ed Finn and Joey Eschrich) {5 stars} - Another "wow" one. Absolutely lovely, from the idea of a crowd-funded space probe, to the perspectives of the scientists, each from a different culture/ethnicity. Breathtaking.
Wind Will Rove by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s Science Fiction, September/October 2017) {4 stars} - Story about the importance of paying attention to the past while looking to the future, and findind your own place in the present, through the lens of a musician on a generational ship.
Focus by Gord Sellar (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May/June 2017) {3 stars} - I wanted to like this more than I did. I feel like I'm missing some cultural detail that would make it make more sense to me. As is, I felt like it ended too soon and was in need of more ... something. Near-future piece where companies and schools expect employees/students to use a drug called "Focus".
The Martian Obelisk by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 2017) - {3 stars} While I like the idea behind this one, the execution felt really heavy-handed. I have a sneaking suspicion it was written for a themed anthology ... er, no, it was first published on Tor.com. There goes that theory. Still, it feels a bit forced to me, though there's nothing specific I can point at for why it feels that way. ETA: It might have felt less forced if. Not sure.
Shadows of Eternity by Gregory Benford (Extrasolar, edited by Nick Gevers) {3.5 stars} - would be 4 or even 5 stars, but there are a few bizarre turns of phrase that feel utterly out of place in the setting (using "Great Balls of Fire" without establishing that the character likes old music; female character comparing a landscape shape to feminine curves, with no other indication she might be gay, odd interpolation of Shakespeare quotes...). With tighter editing, this would have been excellent. As is, there's an excellent story with unnecessary trappings.
The Worldless by Indrapramit Das (Lightspeed, March 2017) {4 stars} - Hopeful far future story, about outcasts finding a way to freedom. Hopefully. I like the sense of a near-alien perspective, in the off-spellings and the sole use of "they" pronouns.
Regarding the Robot Raccoons Attached to the Hull of My Ship by Rachael K. Jones and Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali (Diabolical Plots, June 2017) {2 stars} - Well, this is the first of these I've actively disliked. As a comedy piece, it kind of works. As anything else, not so much. I don't relate to the over-the-top sisterly banter, at all. YMMV
Belly Up by Maggie Clark (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2017) {3.5 stars} - With a less ambiguous ending, I probably would have given this one 4 stars. The idea of making violence-prone people's bodies unable to produce adrenaline and other mood-altering chemicals is interesting, as is the underdog fighting the big empire. The end was a bit of a letdown, though.
Uncanny Valley by Greg Egan (Tor.com, August 2017) {3.5 stars} - Another 4 star story with a few issues dragging my rating down. The first issue is the beginning. I tried to start reading this several times, before deciding I just wasn't getting through section 1, and moving onto section 2, to see if that would draw me in. It did. And most of the rest is a fascinating look at a rich, dying eccentric creating an AI robot of himself. Of course, the old man had his secrets...
We Who Live in the Heart by Kelly Robson (Clarkesworld, May 2017) {3.5 stars} - a fascinating idea stuck in a mediocre story. If the ending had actually been an interesting discovery, rather than a pointless accident, I would have enjoyed this one a lot more.
A Catalogue of Sunlight at the End of the World by A.C. Wise (Sunvault, edited by Phoebe Wagner and Bronte Christopher Wieland) {4 stars} - 5 star writing, but too bittersweet for me to give it five stars. As a (the?) colony ship leaves earth for the stars, someone staying behind reflects on the sun they'll leave behind.
Meridian by Karin Lowachee (Where the Stars Rise, edited by Lucas K. Law and Derwin Mak) {3 stars} - Well-crafted, but bleak. Orphan winds up in the interstellar drug trade, discovers his brother might also have survived.
The Tale of the Alcubierre Horse by Kathleen Ann Goonan (Extrasolar, edited by Nick Gevers) {2 stars?} - This one never drew me in. I wound up skimming to make it through. There were occasional lovely, fascinating passages, with a bunch uninteresting stuff in between. I think it would have worked better if it had stuck with the fairy-tale framing, with a lot less nitty-gritty stuff from the "real" story. I liked the idea of navigating the universe being tied to Polynesian way-finding. I found the story seed implausible (though more might have been explained in the stuff I skimmed past) : wouldn't kids that gifted have figured out that the ship hadn't sailed yet because it was not ready to sail??? So, yeah. Didn't work for me. YMMV.
Extracurricular Activities by Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com, February 2017) {5 stars} Breath of fresh air after the last one. And one of Lee's best short stories (especially if you already enjoy Jedao from the MoE trilogy). I'd read this one before on Tor.com (and it was one of the reasons I bought this collection when it was on deal). Loved it then, still love it now.
In Everlasting Wisdom by Aliette de Bodard (Infinity Wars, edited by Jonathan Strahan) {5 stars} - Beautifully written, and a fascinating idea: an empire held together by people who bond with telepathic aliens to broadcast, er, correct thought. Of course, nothing "good" lasts forever...
The Last Boat-Builder in Ballyvoloon by Finbarr O’Reilly (Clarkesworld, October 2017) {4 stars} Missed Lovecraftian opportunity, imo, but this one grounds itself more in nostalgia than dread (though I think there was a lot of room for dread). The plastic-eating-squid-that-replicate would make for a good Lovecraftian horror, but here they're just a foil for the boatbuilder. Still lovely, with gorgeous writing, but not quite what I wanted out of it.
The Speed of Belief by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Science Fiction, January/February 2017){1 star} - Well, this is the first of these I've genuinely regretted finishing. There are some interesting creatures (sentient "rivers"), but the plot is utter dreck. Nasty, small-minded mortal pulls it over on too-rational, immortal machines. I would guess the author was going for "rationality and optimism only get you so far," but that could have been done without a loathsome protagonist, and without the objectification of the female "machine". Yikes. Give this one a miss, unless you just skim through for the depictions of the river-creatures. Don't bother with anything else.
Death on Mars by Madeline Ashby (Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities, edited by Ed Finn and Joey Eschrich) {4 stars} - Debated between 3 and 4 stars on this, but the writing is 4 stars, so I settled on 4. It just wasn't a plot that strongly interested me. Proto-expedition to Mars has to deal with one of their own having a terminal illness. Nicely written, and manages to be optimistic despite the grim subject matter.
An Evening with Severyn Grimes by Rich Larson (Asimov’s Science Fiction, July/August 2017) {4 stars} - Good use of a cyberpunk setting, with fascinating and believable characters. It's noir enough that it's unclear if you actually want to root for anyone (maybe the bodyguard?), but the characters are still sympathetic enough to feel for. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy well-done cyberpunk.
ZeroS by Peter Watts (Infinity Wars, edited by Jonathan Strahan) {3.25 stars} - Interesting extrapolation from the fact that decisions are made in the brain before we become consciously aware of making those decisions. Unfortunately, it wasn't a plot that actually interested me. Army creates bio-engineered "zombies" (conscious mind not in control) to combat an emergent threat:. The nature of the threat took it out of, "ZOMG! Inappropriate use of military force!" territory, at least.
The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017) {4 stars} Rather cute, and a lot of fun. When bots decide to take matters into their own manipulators. Reminds me of the servitors in the Jedao books.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell (Cosmic Powers, edited by John Joseph Adams) {3.5 stars} Bit odd, but enjoyable. Former human who has adopted an immortal robot form gets the better of CEO bigoted against robots, in space. The mystical robot confessional seemed like an unnecessary contrivance to me, though.
A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, January 2017) {4 stars} - Well-written caper, about forging T-Bone steaks from a cellular printer. It reminded me of The Emperor's Soul, both because of the forgery theme, and because of the intensity of the project. Aside: reading this made me hungry, and I don't even like steak.
Holdfast by Alastair Reynolds (Extrasolar, edited by Nick Gevers) {5 stars} - Wow. At first, I wasn't expecting much. Yeah, yeah, last survivors of warships trying to kill one another, but then it turned into something beautiful.
Every Hour of Light and Dark by Nancy Kress (Omni, Winter 2017) {3 stars} - Well-written and interesting concept, but just didn't really grab me. I liked the idea behind the story better than the story.
The Last Novelist, or a Dead Lizard in the Yard by Matthew Kressel (Tor.com, March 2017) {3.5 stars} - Well written, but very odd. It felt more literary than SF, though it certainly contained obvious SF elements.
Shikasta by Vandana Singh (Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities, edited by Ed Finn and Joey Eschrich) {5 stars} - Another "wow" one. Absolutely lovely, from the idea of a crowd-funded space probe, to the perspectives of the scientists, each from a different culture/ethnicity. Breathtaking.
Wind Will Rove by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s Science Fiction, September/October 2017) {4 stars} - Story about the importance of paying attention to the past while looking to the future, and findind your own place in the present, through the lens of a musician on a generational ship.
Focus by Gord Sellar (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May/June 2017) {3 stars} - I wanted to like this more than I did. I feel like I'm missing some cultural detail that would make it make more sense to me. As is, I felt like it ended too soon and was in need of more ... something. Near-future piece where companies and schools expect employees/students to use a drug called "Focus".
The Martian Obelisk by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 2017) - {3 stars} While I like the idea behind this one, the execution felt really heavy-handed. I have a sneaking suspicion it was written for a themed anthology ... er, no, it was first published on Tor.com. There goes that theory. Still, it feels a bit forced to me, though there's nothing specific I can point at for why it feels that way. ETA: It might have felt less forced if
Spoiler
there had been more than one single family as survivorsShadows of Eternity by Gregory Benford (Extrasolar, edited by Nick Gevers) {3.5 stars} - would be 4 or even 5 stars, but there are a few bizarre turns of phrase that feel utterly out of place in the setting (using "Great Balls of Fire" without establishing that the character likes old music; female character comparing a landscape shape to feminine curves, with no other indication she might be gay, odd interpolation of Shakespeare quotes...). With tighter editing, this would have been excellent. As is, there's an excellent story with unnecessary trappings.
The Worldless by Indrapramit Das (Lightspeed, March 2017) {4 stars} - Hopeful far future story, about outcasts finding a way to freedom. Hopefully. I like the sense of a near-alien perspective, in the off-spellings and the sole use of "they" pronouns.
Regarding the Robot Raccoons Attached to the Hull of My Ship by Rachael K. Jones and Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali (Diabolical Plots, June 2017) {2 stars} - Well, this is the first of these I've actively disliked. As a comedy piece, it kind of works. As anything else, not so much. I don't relate to the over-the-top sisterly banter, at all. YMMV
Belly Up by Maggie Clark (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2017) {3.5 stars} - With a less ambiguous ending, I probably would have given this one 4 stars. The idea of making violence-prone people's bodies unable to produce adrenaline and other mood-altering chemicals is interesting, as is the underdog fighting the big empire. The end was a bit of a letdown, though.
Uncanny Valley by Greg Egan (Tor.com, August 2017) {3.5 stars} - Another 4 star story with a few issues dragging my rating down. The first issue is the beginning. I tried to start reading this several times, before deciding I just wasn't getting through section 1, and moving onto section 2, to see if that would draw me in. It did. And most of the rest is a fascinating look at a rich, dying eccentric creating an AI robot of himself. Of course, the old man had his secrets...
We Who Live in the Heart by Kelly Robson (Clarkesworld, May 2017) {3.5 stars} - a fascinating idea stuck in a mediocre story. If the ending had actually been an interesting discovery, rather than a pointless accident, I would have enjoyed this one a lot more.
Spoiler
It all felt like it was leading up to a big discovery about the "whales", then ... nope, nevermind, we'll just accidentally kill a few and the others will move. Also, there was no good reason for the POV character's rant about calling them "whales", when she herself used the term in her own thoughts. Delete delete delete, and fix the ending, and this would be quite good.A Catalogue of Sunlight at the End of the World by A.C. Wise (Sunvault, edited by Phoebe Wagner and Bronte Christopher Wieland) {4 stars} - 5 star writing, but too bittersweet for me to give it five stars. As a (the?) colony ship leaves earth for the stars, someone staying behind reflects on the sun they'll leave behind.
Meridian by Karin Lowachee (Where the Stars Rise, edited by Lucas K. Law and Derwin Mak) {3 stars} - Well-crafted, but bleak. Orphan winds up in the interstellar drug trade, discovers his brother might also have survived.
The Tale of the Alcubierre Horse by Kathleen Ann Goonan (Extrasolar, edited by Nick Gevers) {2 stars?} - This one never drew me in. I wound up skimming to make it through. There were occasional lovely, fascinating passages, with a bunch uninteresting stuff in between. I think it would have worked better if it had stuck with the fairy-tale framing, with a lot less nitty-gritty stuff from the "real" story. I liked the idea of navigating the universe being tied to Polynesian way-finding. I found the story seed implausible (though more might have been explained in the stuff I skimmed past) : wouldn't kids that gifted have figured out that the ship hadn't sailed yet because it was not ready to sail??? So, yeah. Didn't work for me. YMMV.
Spoiler
I also can't help but wonder if the kids taking off isn't what eventually led to the nuclear war that destroyed earth. I don't think that was the intent, but it certainly can be read that way.Extracurricular Activities by Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com, February 2017) {5 stars} Breath of fresh air after the last one. And one of Lee's best short stories (especially if you already enjoy Jedao from the MoE trilogy). I'd read this one before on Tor.com (and it was one of the reasons I bought this collection when it was on deal). Loved it then, still love it now.
In Everlasting Wisdom by Aliette de Bodard (Infinity Wars, edited by Jonathan Strahan) {5 stars} - Beautifully written, and a fascinating idea: an empire held together by people who bond with telepathic aliens to broadcast, er, correct thought. Of course, nothing "good" lasts forever...
The Last Boat-Builder in Ballyvoloon by Finbarr O’Reilly (Clarkesworld, October 2017) {4 stars} Missed Lovecraftian opportunity, imo, but this one grounds itself more in nostalgia than dread (though I think there was a lot of room for dread). The plastic-eating-squid-that-replicate would make for a good Lovecraftian horror, but here they're just a foil for the boatbuilder. Still lovely, with gorgeous writing, but not quite what I wanted out of it.
The Speed of Belief by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Science Fiction, January/February 2017){1 star} - Well, this is the first of these I've genuinely regretted finishing. There are some interesting creatures (sentient "rivers"), but the plot is utter dreck. Nasty, small-minded mortal pulls it over on too-rational, immortal machines. I would guess the author was going for "rationality and optimism only get you so far," but that could have been done without a loathsome protagonist, and without the objectification of the female "machine". Yikes. Give this one a miss, unless you just skim through for the depictions of the river-creatures. Don't bother with anything else.
Spoiler
It's also rather difficult to believe that these immortal, once-human machines have never, over millions of years, dealt with duplicitous races on first-contact. Really? Only the unmodified human would have seen that coming? Really?!??! SMH.Death on Mars by Madeline Ashby (Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities, edited by Ed Finn and Joey Eschrich) {4 stars} - Debated between 3 and 4 stars on this, but the writing is 4 stars, so I settled on 4. It just wasn't a plot that strongly interested me. Proto-expedition to Mars has to deal with one of their own having a terminal illness. Nicely written, and manages to be optimistic despite the grim subject matter.
An Evening with Severyn Grimes by Rich Larson (Asimov’s Science Fiction, July/August 2017) {4 stars} - Good use of a cyberpunk setting, with fascinating and believable characters. It's noir enough that it's unclear if you actually want to root for anyone (maybe the bodyguard?), but the characters are still sympathetic enough to feel for. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy well-done cyberpunk.
ZeroS by Peter Watts (Infinity Wars, edited by Jonathan Strahan) {3.25 stars} - Interesting extrapolation from the fact that decisions are made in the brain before we become consciously aware of making those decisions. Unfortunately, it wasn't a plot that actually interested me. Army creates bio-engineered "zombies" (conscious mind not in control) to combat an emergent threat:
Spoiler
emergent child-zombiesThe Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017) {4 stars} Rather cute, and a lot of fun. When bots decide to take matters into their own manipulators. Reminds me of the servitors in the Jedao books.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell (Cosmic Powers, edited by John Joseph Adams) {3.5 stars} Bit odd, but enjoyable. Former human who has adopted an immortal robot form gets the better of CEO bigoted against robots, in space. The mystical robot confessional seemed like an unnecessary contrivance to me, though.
zoes_human's review against another edition
2.0
The good stories in here are great; however, the majority range from meh to DNF.
pearseanderson's review against another edition
3.0
This book took me a long, long time to read, and I think I skipped over some of maybe the best stories—I fear that because the book was so long and I jumped around that A Series of Steaks and the Yoon Ha Lee piece and others might've been missed, but again because it was so long and took half the year, with many stories and novellas falling short on catching me and pulling me in, I think it's another sign that this series doesn't click with what I want out of sci-fi. I am about to start Carmen Maria Machado's guest edited antho for 2019 and assume that will be more in line, especially because it covers fantasy and slipstream and such. 6/10 because of how many were duds in my read.
Connection: I went to Shared Worlds and was instructed by some of these authors in one way or another.
Connection: I went to Shared Worlds and was instructed by some of these authors in one way or another.
jaedoodly's review
5.0
What a lovely collection! So many wonderful portals into speculative realities that really touch on humanity, relationships and agency.
Favs:
A Series of Steaks - Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Holdfast - Alastair Reynolds
Regarding the Robot Racoons Attached to the Hull of my Ship - Rachael K Jones & Khaalidah Muhammad-Adli
Uncanny Valley - Greg Egan
The Last Boat Builder in Ballyvoon - Finnbarr O'Reilly
The Secret Life of Bots - Suzanne Palmer
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - Tobias S. Buckell
Favs:
A Series of Steaks - Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Holdfast - Alastair Reynolds
Regarding the Robot Racoons Attached to the Hull of my Ship - Rachael K Jones & Khaalidah Muhammad-Adli
Uncanny Valley - Greg Egan
The Last Boat Builder in Ballyvoon - Finnbarr O'Reilly
The Secret Life of Bots - Suzanne Palmer
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - Tobias S. Buckell
More...