October 20, 2014
Choi (Far Orbit) and Bova (Transhuman) successfully recapture the feel of classic hard SF, presenting 17 stories in which science and technology are truly essential to the plot. The most enjoyable is Liu Cixin’s nifty “The Circle” (translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu), in which the fundamental concepts of computer science are developed in the court of King Zheng of Qin in the second century B.C.E. Another standout is Leah Petersen and Gabrielle Harbowy’s “Skin Deep,” featuring a mix of biology, personalized medicine, and some nasty twists. Daniel H. Wilson’s “The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever” is a touching and short tale of a father who learns about Earth’s doom minutes before everyone else. There are also solid contributions from Aliette de Bodard, Gregory Benford, and Jack McDevitt. The occasional miss—such as Doug Beason’s dull and predictable “Thunderwell,” a story that recalls weak 1950s SF in which broadly archetypical characters shout about science and politics—is easy to skip, and most of the works thoroughly explore both their characters’ lives and the implications of technological developments in the best hard SF tradition.
October 15, 2014
A science-fiction anthology that strikes a balance between radical scientific ideas and grounded human emotion. Editors Bova and Choi aim to "follow the classic definition of hard SF, in which some element of science or technology is so central to the plot that there would be no story if that element were removed." Unfortunately, a couple of their selections take that mission a little too far, becoming more idea than story. But most of the stories here are very good, and several are great, combining intriguing new ideas with satisfying old emotions like love, regret, jealousy and grief. The best take their near- or distant-future settings for granted, indicating the ways our world has changed with light touches-like the "sweet and salted insect finger food" served at a garden party in Gregory Benford's "Lady With Fox"-in order to prove that people are people, even when they're outrunning a black hole or mining for water on one of Jupiter's moons. Kate Story's "The Yoke of Inauspicious Stars" makes an old, familiar love story feel new again and not just because of the cryopods; Nancy Fulda's "Recollection" and Daniel H. Wilson's "The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever" bring a laserlike focus to pure, powerful moments of human connection. One of the collection's most memorable characters, in David DeGraff's "SIREN of Titan," isn't human at all, but she'll still break your heart. The few misses in this collection are more than made up for by the strength of the hits. Hard-core sci-fi fans will gobble this up, and readers newer to the genre should give it a chance, too.
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November 15, 2014
Compiled by Bova, a six-time Hugo Award winner, and Choi, a rising star of the short form, these 17 stories, all original to this collection, are considered "hard" sf. As Choi explains in his introduction, hard sf is the "literature of change," interested in the effects of science and technology on society, while still telling human stories. This is a solid anthology, with only a few missteps; some of the best selections include Doug Beason's "Thunderwell," a tense tale of efforts to save a human mission to Mars; "Skin Deep" by Leah Peterson and Gabrielle Harbowy, about a lawyer who confronts a company that makes medical tattoos; and David DeGraff's "SIREN of Titan" in which an artificially intelligent rover on the surface of Saturn's Titan moon decides to go off-mission and explore, much to the consternation of her handlers back on Earth. VERDICT A pleasing sampling of stories, all showing the range found even within a subgenre like hard sf. Well-known novelists such as Gregory Benford appear alongside Aliette de Bodard and other top writers of the short form, plus some talented newcomers are featured.
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