rotorguy64's review against another edition
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.
christine_d11's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
inferiorwit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
krakentamer's review against another edition
5.0
This is the 14th and final short story collection that I've read in 2018. There were a lot of great stories in here, and I'd actually thought that I'd given it my highest rating, but it's actually my third-highest, with a 4.54 that I'll round up to 5 stars.
The Things : 4 Stars
The Island : 4.5
The Second Coming of Jasmine Fitzgerald : 5
A Word for Heathens : 5
Home : 5
The Eyes of God : 5
Flesh Made Word : 5
Nimbus : 3
Mayfly (with Derryl Murphy) : 5
Ambassador : 3
Hillcrest v. Velikovsky : 5
Repeating the Past : 5
A Niche : 4.5
The Things : 4 Stars
The Island : 4.5
The Second Coming of Jasmine Fitzgerald : 5
A Word for Heathens : 5
Home : 5
The Eyes of God : 5
Flesh Made Word : 5
Nimbus : 3
Mayfly (with Derryl Murphy) : 5
Ambassador : 3
Hillcrest v. Velikovsky : 5
Repeating the Past : 5
A Niche : 4.5
kejadlen's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 - Mixed bag of short stories, which I liked for the most part, but I prefer Watts' long-form stuff.
lxndrw's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
harisadurrani's review against another edition
4.0
Peter Watts' collection of stories, BEYOND THE RIFT, lives up to its title -- its characters, its worlds, and its ideas hang on the edge of discourse, on the edge of civilization, and on the edge of reality -- challenging our conceptions of science, society, and philosophy. Watts has a particular knack (as evidenced with his brilliant novel BLINDSIGHT) for weaving charactered and thought-provoking stories about the Other, and this shines through here with "The Things," a fascinating take on what is familiar and unknown, and how we treat the latter, and "The Island," one of the most unique depictions of an alien I've read since his novel BLINDSIGHT and a stark rumination on the nature of Darwinian evolution and competition. "A Niche," which is also the first chapter of his excellent debut novel STARFISH (an NYT Notable Book of the Year), envelopes readers in the language of his world and characters with ease without sacrificing his expertise as a PhD in marine-mammal biology. Most of the other stories were not as top-notch, as even Watts even attests in his Afterward, "Outtro: En Route to Dystopia with the Angry Optimist." Because of the mediocrity of the other stories I'd normally give this 3 stars, but I'm opting for 3.7 based on the strength of the higher quality pieces and, most especially, on the highlight of the collection, Watts' Afterward.
The Afterward truly makes the book worthwhile. Watts is known for writing stories wrought with real or very close to real science without sacrificing excellent prose and characterization. Above all, he's notorious for his physically and existentially dark style, characters, and themes. As one critic wrote, "Whenever my will to live becomes too strong, I read Peter Watts." In the Afterward, Watts actually claims he is an optimist, not a misanthrope, and does not write dystopic fiction. He spends the rest of the essay ruminating on everything from the nature of antagonists/villains, to popular ignorance of science, to the oppressive roots of modern legal systems (he was arrested and unfairly convicted by US Border Patrol at the Canadian border), to the meaning of dystopic fiction in relation to the oppression wreaked by real world democracies/ capitalism. For me a lot of what he said relates to scholar Wael Hallaq's perspective on modernity: It seem extremely dark and jaded, like Watts' fiction seems at first glance, but beneath that surface-level analysis, that "pessimism" is only a reflection of the injustices of the modern era -- and it is precisely by voicing this pessimism, by believing that there can and should be something better, that one can more accurately fill the role of an optimist. "In an age of despair, optimism is the skeptic's crusade." We must come to terms with the dystopic nature of our own present, Watts seems to imply, in order to look toward a plausible, and more positive, future.
The Afterward truly makes the book worthwhile. Watts is known for writing stories wrought with real or very close to real science without sacrificing excellent prose and characterization. Above all, he's notorious for his physically and existentially dark style, characters, and themes. As one critic wrote, "Whenever my will to live becomes too strong, I read Peter Watts." In the Afterward, Watts actually claims he is an optimist, not a misanthrope, and does not write dystopic fiction. He spends the rest of the essay ruminating on everything from the nature of antagonists/villains, to popular ignorance of science, to the oppressive roots of modern legal systems (he was arrested and unfairly convicted by US Border Patrol at the Canadian border), to the meaning of dystopic fiction in relation to the oppression wreaked by real world democracies/ capitalism. For me a lot of what he said relates to scholar Wael Hallaq's perspective on modernity: It seem extremely dark and jaded, like Watts' fiction seems at first glance, but beneath that surface-level analysis, that "pessimism" is only a reflection of the injustices of the modern era -- and it is precisely by voicing this pessimism, by believing that there can and should be something better, that one can more accurately fill the role of an optimist. "In an age of despair, optimism is the skeptic's crusade." We must come to terms with the dystopic nature of our own present, Watts seems to imply, in order to look toward a plausible, and more positive, future.
jsilber42's review against another edition
4.0
A great introduction to Peter Watt's style of science fiction, "Beyond the Rift" showcases many of his typical themes and interests via short fiction. "The Island" and "Ambassador" offer unusual takes on alien contact (if you enjoy those, check out Watt's novel "Blindsight". "The Eyes of God" envisions the ultimate future of airport security. "Mayfly" looks at some ethical implications of cybernetic intelligence. "A Word For Heathens" imagines a world where through a biological quirk, religious zealots can truly "feel" the presence of God.
If you haven't read Peter Watts, and you are interested in dark, provocative, hard science fiction, this book is a reasonable place to start. If you are already a fan of Watts, you should enjoy this book, but be warned that a couple of the stories are basically excerpts from Watt's novel "Starfish" and therefore not really new material.
If you haven't read Peter Watts, and you are interested in dark, provocative, hard science fiction, this book is a reasonable place to start. If you are already a fan of Watts, you should enjoy this book, but be warned that a couple of the stories are basically excerpts from Watt's novel "Starfish" and therefore not really new material.
vornaskotti's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0