A review by rotorguy64
Beyond the Rift by Peter Watts

4.0

I've read The Island shortly after finishing [b:Blindsight|48484|Blindsight (Firefall, #1)|Peter Watts|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924412s/48484.jpg|47428] and some other short stories from Watts. It's everything you'd expect from him: Immersive, strange, and thought-provoking. Not quite the best in any of these regards, and I think most of the themes have been explored better in other works. Intelligence implies malevolence, for example, was a major theme in both [b:Blindsight|48484|Blindsight (Firefall, #1)|Peter Watts|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924412s/48484.jpg|47428] and The Ambassador. The Island sadly didn't make much more of it than a bleak twist. Still, it's a good short story that captures Watts' essence very well, and a worthy contribution to the genre that more than holds up to the competition.