New Skies: An Anthology of Today's Science Fiction

by Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Editor), Terry Bisson (Contributor), Greg Van Eekhout (Contributor)

A new generation of science fiction fans is at hand. A new generation that is curious, smart, audacious, and experimental. It is for them that Patrick Nielsen Hayden-winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology - has selected these stories from the thousands published by contemporary SF writers over the past two decades.

Here are writers such as Philip K. Dick, Orson Scott Card, Jane Yolen, Greg Bear, Kim Stanley Robinson, Steven Gould, Connie Willis, Spider Robinson, and many more. Here is a careening adventure along the outside of a tower looming miles above the ground, and a tale of desperate survival on the deadly surface of the Moon. Here is a world in which children divorce their parents, and the story of a four-dimensional boy in a three-dimensional world. Here are future young people rebuilding after terrible disasters, and here is a story of the future development of baseball-on Mars.

Nightmarish or whimsical, irreverent or swashbuckling, each of these stories is an adventure in imagination. Journey from the here and now into New Skies.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Patrick James Nielsen Hayden, often abbreviated as PNH, is an American science fiction editor, fan, fanzine publisher, essayist, reviewer, anthologist, teacher and blogger. He is a World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award winner (with nine nominations for the latter award), and is a Senior Editor and the Manager of Science Fiction at Tor Books. He changed his last name to "Nielsen Hayden" on his marriage to Teresa Nielsen (now Teresa Nielsen Hayden) in 1979.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

New Skies is an eclectic collection of science fiction short stories by various authors. Some of these authors are well known and others not so much. It is edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden. A list of the authors is as follows - Terry Bisson , Greg Van Eekhout , Jane Yolen , Greg Bear , Philip K. Dick ,Nancy Kress , Maureen F. McHugh , Kim Stanley Robinson , Orson Scott Card , Robert Charles Wilson , Geoffrey A. Landis , Steven Gould , Spider Robinson , Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald, Connie Willis , Will Shetterly , David Langford. I will not try to review each story but I will say that some are very good and others are just barely readable. Overall the book was worth reading.

[Nicole Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a dollar store paperback -- a worthwhile find.

Successful both as Young Adult and Science Fiction, NEW SKIES features seventeen short stories by various well-known writers in the genre. I'm fairly widely read, so I had actually read a few of this anthology's stories elsewhere before.

I peg the theme of this collection as "new perspectives" or "exploring what's real/normal". Both themes are sure to resonate with tween/teen readers, as they simultaneously think they know everything and voraciously seek new experiences "out there".

A few stories cleverly use the device of "the alien gaze" to examine humanity. What will aliens think of us if they're a superior species? Are we quaint? Absurd? Primitive? Savage?

What will aliens think of us if we treat them like we treat other minority populations currently in our midst?

What will "aliens" think of us if they're human in fact, but of an utterly different culture/history?

A few of these stories use dystopian futures or alternative histories to toy with the idea of what everyday life and human resourcefulness might look like if circumstances are radically different to what's familiar.

A couple of these stories were really very compelling. "A Walk in the Sun" by Geoffrey A. Landis was a marooned-in-space nail-biter with extensive internal monologue that reminded me a little of "The Martian". Stephen Gould's "Peaches for Mad Molly" featured some of the most unique, thought-provoking world building I've ever read in any story, let alone a short story. I sure wish it was a 1K+-page trilogy instead of a short story.

A couple of the stories were a bit twee or confusing, so I'm removing a single star. All in all this is a great quick read.

[Nicole Bunge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good collection of Hugo and Nebula award winners brought together for this YA anthology. Great stories all, good intro to young adults perspective in sci-fi.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen this marketed for young adults or teens, but this is pretty heavy stuff. I've recently been reading "older" sci-fi anthologies from the 1960s to the 2000s, and remembered this one. I'm surprised I haven't done a review of it yet for Goodreads (and if I did, it's disappeared). Anyway, gives me an excuse to read it again.

The book's print size and shape are easy on my old eyes. This means there isn't much text on each page, so the book is much shorter than it's official page length suggests.

Selections:

* "Introduction" by Our Editor. This intro is definitely for teens -- or people who wonder why anybody bothers to read sci-fi. Short and sweet.
* "They're Made Out of Meat" by Terry Bisson. Very short, sharp beginning story, told entirely as a dialogue.
* "A Walk in the Sun" by Geoffrey A. Landis. Justifiable winner of a Hugo in 1992 about the sole survivor of a trip to the Moon.
* "Peaches for Mad Molly" by Stephen Gould. This can be found in several anthologies, for good reason. Life finds a way to exist outside super-tall skyscrapers.
* "Serpents' Teeth" by Spider Robinson. And suddenly orphanages have gotten a hell of a lot more interesting.
* "Uncle Joshua and the Grooglemen" by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald. In the far future, strange monsters destroy homes, murder whole families, but sometimes kidnap good looking kids.
* "A Letter From the Clearys" by Connie Willis. This post nuclear war story set in Colorado won a Nebula in 1982. There are two dogs. WARNING: One dog is shot. What kills me is that this dog had the same name as my first dog, Rusty.
* "Brian and the Aliens" by Will Shetterly. A funny first contact story of a boy and his dog meeting aliens. Nice antidote to the preceeding story.
* "Different Kinds of Darkness" by David Langford. Winner of the Hugo in 2001. To children in future England, the world is all dark, for their own protection. Terrorists have learned that certain images are more deadly than bombs.
* "Will You Be an Astronaut?" By Greg Van Eekhout. A children's book from an alternative Earth, and one of the best parodies you'll ever read.
* "Cards of Grief" by Jane Yolen. On another world, grief rules every aspect of life ... as it should. It's told entirely as a monologue from the head griever.
* "Tangents" by Greg Bear. Winner of both the Nebula and Hugo in the late 1980s. A mathematician (based on Alan Turing) and a Korean boy make contact with beings living in the 4th dimension.
* "The Alien Mind" by Philip K. Dick. A human astronaut KILLS HIS CAT ... but aliens hear the cat die, and devise a punishment. One of Dick's shortest stories.
* "Out of All Them Bright Stars" by Nancy Kress. Winner of the Nebula in 1985. An alien walks into a racist's diner ... no, not a set up to a punchline, but a punch, nevertheless.
* "The Lincoln Train" by Maureen F. McHue. I keep bumping into this story in anthologies, too, but this is such a good, powerful and memorable story that I don't mind.
* "Arthur Sternbach Brings the Curveball to Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson. As the title suggests, this is about baseball on Mars. Although part of the author's series about life on Mars, this does work as a stand-alone story. You need to know the basics of baseball and baseball jargon to get this, though.
* "Salvage" by Orson Scott Card. This is one of the Folk of the Fringe stories. It's more about Mormonism than about life after the Apocalypse. A Cyndi Lauper song plays an important cameo, as well as an Atari video game.
* "The Great Goodbye" by Robert Charles Wilson. Appropriate story to end on. A grandson and grandfather, each members of a different human species, have to part forever.

[Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful collection of stories, Patrick Nielsen Hayden did a wonderful job of compiling stories. My favorite was A Letter from the Clearys . It's no wonder that A Letter from the Clearys has won so many awards. I was fascinated by it.

Authors in this book were well known in the Sci-Fi genre, authors like Phillip K. Dick and Orson Scott Card. It was lovely.

I took this with me on Labor Day, when my family went to climb a mountain in Colorado (thus A Letter from the Clearys was even more fitting). It was a ten hour car trip and along the road I read certain stories aloud.

The stories I actually read out loud were: A Letter from the Clearys, Peaches for Mad Molly, A Walk in the Sun, Salvage, and They're Made of Meat.

[Reet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a YA.
4 🌟 They're Made Out of Meat, by Terry Bisson
(The reason I checked out this book.)
4 🌟 A Walk in the Sun, by Geoffrey A. Landis
(I have read this at least 3 times.)
3 🌟 Peaches for Mad Molly, by Steven Gould
4 🌟 Serpent's Teeth, by Spider Robinson
2 🌟 Uncle Joshua and the Grooglemen, by Deborah Doyle and James D. MacDonald
2 🌟 A Letter from the Cleared, by Connie Willis
2 🌟 Brian and the Aliens, by Will Shetterly
2 🌟 Different Kinds of Darkness, by David Langford
2 🌟 Will You Be an Astronaut, by Greg van Eekhout
1 🌟 Cards of Grief, by Jane Yolen
4 🌟 Tangents, by Greg Bear
5 🌟 The Alien Mind, by Philip K. Dick
2 🌟 Out of All Them Bright Stars, by Nancy Kress
3 🌟 The Lincoln Train, by Maureen F. McHugh
3 🌟 Arthur SternbACH Brings the Curve Ball to Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
3 🌟 Salvage, Orson Scott Card
3 🌟 The Great Goodbye, by Robert Charles Wilson

[Darnoc Leadburger · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most anthologies, this dollar store book was a mixed bag. Worth reading in my opinion... It's not nearly as YA as the description suggests.

Some standouts are "They're Made Out of Meat," "Serpents' Teeth," and "Different Kinds of Darkness." While there are quite a few solid ones, there are also those that never grabbed my attention that I didn't really enjoy. Still, the pros outweigh the still readinle cons.

[Earl Truss · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories billed as "Young adult". Most of them were good.

[Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good stories, some so so stories. Overall worth the $1 I payed for it.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

PNH is talented at shifting the gold from the dross: his collections are always better than the generally crap anthologies usually produced.
A personal favorite is Terry Bisson's "They're Made Out of Meat," in which aliens about to make First Contact with us are horrified by what they find. Sci fi short stories are much more likely to have a surprise one-two punch at the end, one that warps assumptions made during the story. This anthology has some great ones: Spider Robinson's "Serpents' Teeth," Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald's "Uncle Joshua and the Grooglemen," and Robert Charles Wilson's "The Great Goodbye." Two other standouts are David Langford's "Different Kinds of Darkness" (I just love this type of school story, which for some reason reminded me of that story where there's only one day every 7 years where you can go outside on Mars, and one little girl is really excited about it but the other kids lock her in a closet so she misses it. It's actually a really dark children's story that always made me angry but thirteen years later, I still remember it.) and Greg van Eekhout's "Will You Be an Astronaut?" which reads like a very creepy children's story. I should mention that Jane Yolen's "Cards of Grief" is a pointless meander of a story that is clearly *supposed* to have a shocking ending but is instead very obvious, Kim Stanley Robinson's "Arthur Sternbach Brings the Curveball to Mars" is a boring sports story with no point at all, and Orson Scott Card's "Salvage" is a story about Mormons post-apocalypse, and though narrated by a non-Mormon it made me uncomfortable.

[Res · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again aimed at teens; again with the whiny people with trivial problems.

Has Terry Bisson's "They're Made Out Of Meat," for which alone it would be worth the cover price.

Other terrific stories:

Geoffrey Landis' "A Walk in the Sun" (about a teen stranded on the moon, and hey! her problems are not trivial!)

Spider Robinson's "Serpents' Teeth" (about a world where kids can divorce their parents)

Debra Doyla and James D. Macdonald's "Uncle Joshua and the Grooglemen" (a post-plague story that starts out sounding like fantasy)

Greg van Eekhout's "Will You Be an Astronaut?" (shaped like a kids' book and very very impressive)

Nancy Kress's "Out of All Them Bright Stars" (which almost reads like non-SF, like a realist short story, except for having an alien in it).

[Sparrow .]

It's an anthology of science fiction, that's all been written since 1981. The book came out in 2003. If you thought science fiction was dead -- as I certainly did -- (or had forgotten that it existed), this book grabs you by your shoelaces and ties them onto a nearby gremulon (a 26th Century streetcar). I just made that up, but you start to love inventing the falsely futurist. Too bad that a nuclear war has occurred in nearly every story. What's up with that? Can't we envision something nice, like giant fields of strawberries, tended by happy Saturnian elves?

And it has Philip K. Dick!

[Emily Reitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is some real gold inside of this anthology. Some of the writing I thought was targeted toward a younger audience. I enjoyed the sensible science fiction though. Nothing was over-the-top ridiculus or confusing or over-detailed like some sci fi writers out there. As a reader, I felt I was given choice selected samples of sci fi stories. Even if I didn't like one short story, I had another chance in a few pages to read one I did like. The stories are diverse and individually worthy for the attention of a large audience.

[Tina Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually big on short stories, but I really enjoyed this collection. The editor did an excellent job of gathering several different sub-sets in the genre of science fiction. The stories range from comedic to dark to entertaining. I really liked reading short stories by different well known sci-fi authors, such as Philip Dick and Orson Scott Card. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys sci-fi.

[martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

YA scifi short story collection. Totally enjoyable. Includes stories by Philip K. Dick, Orson Scott Kard, Jane Yolen, Spider Robinson, Maureen McHugh...

My favorite was "Arthur Sternbach Brings the Curveball to Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson. Some fairly straightforward stories, but some with particularly cool concepts.

[Illyria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great compilation of inspiring SF short stories, many of them winners of Hugo and Nebula awards from authors such as Connie Willis, Philp K. Dick, Greg Bear and Orson Scott Card. The length of the works compiled here, plus the variety of theme (adventure, coming of age, tolerance, etc) make this an excellent read for young people.

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good mix of sci-fi. I think a few of them I read before, one made me laugh out loud, one or two I think I could read to my 5yr old or have him read them to himself. Was a good book to have on the train to read in short bursts.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to SF for younger adult readers, but if you've read a lot of SF in the shorter form, you will most likely get a huge case of Deja Vu - too many stories have appeared in too many other collections....

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not usually a fan of short story anthologies, but this one was fabulous. The first three stories in the book were just riveting. The stories really run the gamut of the SciFi genre, which was fun.

[Ander · Rating 3 out of 5]

While some stories leave you lost, others are pretty brilliant, like a story about a group of kids training themselves to handle brain-killing math problems.

[Jeff Youngstrom]

My review from December 5, 2004