New Solaris

The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction; George Mann (editor) (Solaris; 2007; ISBN 978-1-84416-448-6; cover by Stephen Martiniere).

I seem to be blessed recently at my local Big Box bookstore. While the science fiction shelves are shrinking, I have noticed that the books being stocked are getting slightly more diverse. I've seen editions from Pyr, Night Shade Books (Clark Ashton Smith, forsooth!) and now Solaris there.

In fact, I spotted several volumes from Solaris and picked up two in an annual series while marking four others for possible future purchase. The author selection in the anthologies seemed decent, a nice mix of names I recognize wtih new or relatively unfamiliar names.

Introduction (George Mann): Hey, he said whilst! Really! Whilst!

In His Sights (Jeffrey Thomas): Thomas is a new author to me, but both a friend and another site have been impressed with his Punktown stories (free novel here, by the way). The story was a mix, for me. His descriptions of burned-out soldiers have been done before...and much better...by folks such as David Drake. The story is a precursor to the Punktown tales, an origin, tale, so I'd be interested in seeing more of the setting, the background to the war, the main character shared by this story and the novels. But...the kicker. One character shoots another character. Using an energy weapon. Shooting through a videophone in his car, and into the other character's apartment. Through the screen of the videophone. I'm sorry...but my suspension of disbelief, already tested by a mutation that allows a human to face-shift, by a war fought in another dimension, etc., just absolutely fell apart at that point. Would somebody really manufacture a videophone that would allow the transmission of the energy bolts from a weapon? Ummm...sorry, but the story was killed for me at that point!

Made up of: Introduction (George Mann); In His Sights (Jeffrey Thomas); Bioship (Neal Asher); C-Rock City (Jay Lake & Greg van Eekhout); The Bowdler Strain (James Lovegrove); Personal Jesus (Paul Di Filippo); If At First... (Peter F. Hamilton); A Distillation of Grace (Adam Roberts); Last Contact (Stephen Baxter); Cages (Ian Watson); Jellyfish (Mike Resnick & David Gerrold); Zora an dthe Land of Ethic Nomads (Mary A. Turzillo); Four Ladies of the Apocalypse (Brian Aldiss); The Accord (Keith Brooke); The Wedding Party (Simon Ings); Third Person (Tony Ballantyne): The Farewell Party (Eric Brown).

Counts as 2 entries in the 2008 Year in Shorts.