mizar's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A science fiction anthology that for my tastes was a bit hit and miss. The fact that this was marketed as 'hard sci-fi' did not help with my expectations, as I found that most stories included did not live up to the label.
russk's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleased with the variety of stories in this collection. You've got aliens, robots, time-travel, all the main sci-fi tropes are hit upon at one point or another. I got this as a gift from someone who knew I like Gaiman and Dick, and I hadn't heard of any of these authors so I wasn't really sure what to expect. The opener, "Malak" by Peter Watts is a great story looking into the mind of a machine. "Walls of Flesh, Bar of Bone" by Damien Broderick and Barbara Lamar was another one of my favorites, and one of those stories where you can't tell which "type" of story it is until you're already invested in the characters. Like you're halfway through this character's short adventure and you suddenly go, "Oh, so THIS is what this story is going to be about."
Honestly there were a couple I didn't finish all the way through. I couldn't get into Charles Stross's "Bit Rot," even though on the front and back cover he's one of the top-billed writers. But as I read some of the other stories I realized, maybe I'm just not into the space stories right now. And that's okay. Some people are really into complex world-building, I'm into characters and more realism (if that makes sense in sci-fi). Now this just means I can put this on my shelf and re-read them another time.
Honestly there were a couple I didn't finish all the way through. I couldn't get into Charles Stross's "Bit Rot," even though on the front and back cover he's one of the top-billed writers. But as I read some of the other stories I realized, maybe I'm just not into the space stories right now. And that's okay. Some people are really into complex world-building, I'm into characters and more realism (if that makes sense in sci-fi). Now this just means I can put this on my shelf and re-read them another time.
ctopherrun's review against another edition
3.0
Good anthology. Three stars for the good stories, two stars off for the not so hot ones.
dancarey_404's review against another edition
3.0
This book bills itself as a collection of hard science fiction stories. Now, any collection is bound to be a little uneven. But some of the stories in here were in no way, shape, or fashion "hard" SF. And they weren't that good, either. But others particularly the first 2 and the last 1, had me thinking, "Yes! This is the stuff I fell in love with as a kid." So if you pick this book up, just know that you are in for some very disparate experiences.
jjwalter2001's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting mix of what I would generally consider 'hard science fiction' short stories. As with any compilation - there are some really good ones and some that I couldn't get into.
Some that were rather intriguing...
The Server and The Dragon - a different take on a 'computer virus.'
Watching the Music Dance - a look at the potential for psychological addiction to technology
The Invasion of Venus - it's not all about humanity
The Ki-anna - not quite sure how to summarize that one...
The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees - a very creative take on the theory of panspermia
Some that were rather intriguing...
The Server and The Dragon - a different take on a 'computer virus.'
Watching the Music Dance - a look at the potential for psychological addiction to technology
The Invasion of Venus - it's not all about humanity
The Ki-anna - not quite sure how to summarize that one...
The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees - a very creative take on the theory of panspermia
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
3.0
Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This review is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
To be safe, I won't be recording my review here until after the AA are over.
There were a few stories that were interesting here - more so than a few other anthologies I've read lately - but as a whole, quite boring
There were a few stories that were interesting here - more so than a few other anthologies I've read lately - but as a whole, quite boring
tlockney's review against another edition
3.0
A couple great stories, most pretty good, and a few I didn't finish.
colossal's review against another edition
4.0
I keep anthologies for reading on my phone because I'm not often without my eReader and the shorter stories are good for the short times where I only have my phone as a reading device. I've been reading this one off and on for the whole of December.
This isn't my first Infinity Project anthology; I actually started with the second one [b:Edge of Infinity|13547291|Edge of Infinity|Jonathan Strahan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1350927167s/13547291.jpg|19112431] because I wanted to read an award-winning novella from that collection. I'm actually glad that that was the way I started, because had I read this one first, I'm not sure I would have continued. There are a few good stories in this one, but overall I felt the quality was uneven and the theme to be lacking.
Standouts for me were [b:The Invasion of Venus|17211450|The Invasion of Venus|Stephen Baxter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|23693437] by [a:Stephen Baxter|20295|Stephen Baxter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391280682p2/20295.jpg] (I'm not normally a fan of his; now I'm wondering if I should check out more of his shorter works) and [b:The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|26615683|The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|John Barnes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|46652900] by [a:John Barnes|45596|John Barnes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1385398303p2/45596.jpg]. I also enjoyed the [a:Peter Watts|27167|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] story that kicks off the anthology ([b:Malak|26023594|Malak|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|45946700]), but it's just a riff on Watts' normal themes around humanity and inhumanity, which I personally love, but is far from everyone's taste.
From a negative point of view I found the [a:John C. Wright|58124|John C. Wright|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], [a:David Moles|941191|David Moles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Robert Reed|57814|Robert Reed|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1455117424p2/57814.jpg] stories nearly unreadable.
From a should-be-noted point of view this collection contains [b:Bit Rot|18078713|Bit Rot (Freyaverse #1.5)|Charles Stross|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|25385695] by [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg] which is a story between [b:Saturn's Children|2278387|Saturn's Children (Freyaverse #1)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348429796s/2278387.jpg|2284499] and [b:Neptune's Brood|15985402|Neptune's Brood (Freyaverse #2)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358215802s/15985402.jpg|21562011] in the Freyaverse books.
Read if you're a completist or a Stross fan, but this is a skippable volume in this series.
This isn't my first Infinity Project anthology; I actually started with the second one [b:Edge of Infinity|13547291|Edge of Infinity|Jonathan Strahan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1350927167s/13547291.jpg|19112431] because I wanted to read an award-winning novella from that collection. I'm actually glad that that was the way I started, because had I read this one first, I'm not sure I would have continued. There are a few good stories in this one, but overall I felt the quality was uneven and the theme to be lacking.
Standouts for me were [b:The Invasion of Venus|17211450|The Invasion of Venus|Stephen Baxter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|23693437] by [a:Stephen Baxter|20295|Stephen Baxter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391280682p2/20295.jpg] (I'm not normally a fan of his; now I'm wondering if I should check out more of his shorter works) and [b:The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|26615683|The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|John Barnes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|46652900] by [a:John Barnes|45596|John Barnes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1385398303p2/45596.jpg]. I also enjoyed the [a:Peter Watts|27167|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] story that kicks off the anthology ([b:Malak|26023594|Malak|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|45946700]), but it's just a riff on Watts' normal themes around humanity and inhumanity, which I personally love, but is far from everyone's taste.
From a negative point of view I found the [a:John C. Wright|58124|John C. Wright|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], [a:David Moles|941191|David Moles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Robert Reed|57814|Robert Reed|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1455117424p2/57814.jpg] stories nearly unreadable.
From a should-be-noted point of view this collection contains [b:Bit Rot|18078713|Bit Rot (Freyaverse #1.5)|Charles Stross|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|25385695] by [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg] which is a story between [b:Saturn's Children|2278387|Saturn's Children (Freyaverse #1)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348429796s/2278387.jpg|2284499] and [b:Neptune's Brood|15985402|Neptune's Brood (Freyaverse #2)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358215802s/15985402.jpg|21562011] in the Freyaverse books.
Read if you're a completist or a Stross fan, but this is a skippable volume in this series.