Sol's Children

by Jean Rabe, Martin H. Greenberg, Various (Editor)

No need to shoot for the stars when some of the greatest tales of the universe are right here in our very own solar system. Take a tour through these new, original stories with such acclaimed interplanetary guides as Timothy Zahn, Brian A. Hopkins, Jack Haldeman, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick, Roland Green, Michael A Stackpole, and others.

315 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

When I am not writing, I toss tennis balls to my cadre of dogs. My house is filled with books and dogs, you can smell both when you walk in the front door. It's a good smell.

I have 36 published novels and am currently writing in the mystery genre. My latest mystery, The Dead of Winter, was a finalist for the Claymore Award and is the first in the Piper Blackwell series.

I live in a tiny town in the middle of Illinois that has a Dollar General, a pizza place with exceedingly slow service, a veterinarian (good thing, eh?), and train tracks...lots of train tracks.

Reviews

[Steve Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The theme (gimmick?) of this anthology of commissioned stories is that all of the stories are set in the solar system. This isn't too much of a constraint: it just means none of the stories are set in interstellar space, or in distant star systems. The stories are set on a variety of planets, moons, rocks and ships.

The thematic touch is nice, but the problem with an anthology of all-new stories is that you get what what the authors delivered. The writers are writing on assignment, rather than from their heart. The main character in Brian M. Thomsen's "The Grand Tour" (a writer with a martyr complex) sums this up nicely: "I hadn't chosen this assignment. They were going to get what they paid for. No more. No less."

Overall, it was a reasonably entertaining collection, but not inspiring. I got what I paid for. No more, no less.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a collection of short sci-fi stories each about 15 pages long, and I'd say about half were decent. The rest weren't terrible but they made me impatient to get through them to reach a different (and hopefully better) tale. Over all, it was just okay but if you saw it in a used bookstore I wouldn't discourage you from picking it up.

[Mark Catalfano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked “Patience” by Donald J. Bingle and “Least of My Brethren” by Michael A. Stackpole

[Steven Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sol system, our solar system. 1 star, 9 planets (I'm Pro-Pluto!), over 200 moons & an asteroid belt.

Writer Jean Rabe & prolific anthologist Martin H. Greenberg have put together a book with 16 authors & their visions of what life would be like when Humans begin settling on or in orbit of the worlds beyond our own.


Old-Boy Network - Timothy Zahn: On Mars, a corporate oligarch & his corporate friends on Earth use telepaths to communicate & hide their crimes from the government. Good

Mirrors - Brian A. Hopkins: On the Jupiter moon of Io, a powerful observatory is under construction & an active mining operation related to it nearby. But there’s a problem in the mine with the "miners". So-So

In Finnegan’s Wake - Jack C. Haldeman II: A hotshot pilot down on his luck plans to tackle The Finnegan, a dangerous space race requiring contact with beacons in orbit of all nine planets in nine days for big money. (Can he also make the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs?) Good

Ghosts of Neptune - John Helfers: A relief crew for a science base on Neptune finds some of the base’s current crew dead, others missing & one changed. Good

Moments - Kristine Kathryn Rusch: A ship docked at a space station. A massacre inside. Suspect caught at the scene. Case closed? Nope…not that easy. Good

‘Roid - Jeff Crook: An asteroid hauler finds someone living on an asteroid. Dull/Bad

The Demons of Jupiter’s Moons - Mike Resnick & Mark M. Stafford: Scientists are working on a way to terraform Jupiter’s moon Europa into a permanent water world. The head of the project is being harassed by native "demons" that only she can see who oppose the project. Good

Ringflow - Tom Dupree: An astronaut takes in the beauty of Saturn & its rings in this doomed exploration mission. So-So

Martian Knights - Stephen D. Sullivan: Thought completely eliminated, some killer cyborgs from the Mars colony's "Cybowar" reactivate & become a threat to the population. (A great action story!) Good

Omega Time - Russell Davis: The Sun is changing…and Earth will be destroyed as a result. The last man to leave Earth plans on joining his wife. So-So

Son of a Belter Earl - Roland Green: A third-person stream of consciousness relating life as an asteroid miner. Dull/Bad

An Acceptable Risk - Ed Gibson: A former astronaut is dragged out of retirement for a manned flight to Venus. As his mission begins, his odds of success & surviving begin to fall…and an unusual discovery makes him feel it’s worth it. Good

Patience - Donald J. Bingle: A clever psychopath escapes from a prison on the Moon, forcing the detective who took him down to harass space agency employees & Moon personnel to find him. Good

A Coin for Charon - Janet Pack: A professional pissing match between 2 scientists on a Pluto research station’s project. It all ends very nasty. (Related mythological note: The Greeks & Romans buried the deceased with a coin placed in their mouth, the coin being "payment" for a ride on Charon's boat to Hades) Good

The Grand Tour - Brian M. Thomsen: A poet on space mission as the mission's recorder. The mission? To confirm all known data on the planets in the solar system before Mankind decides to cease space travel. Things change when a 10th planet is discovered. (Very political in the beginning) Dull/Bad

Least of My Brethren - Michael A. Stackpole: (Note: This story is part of a series by the author) A Human priest & an alien priest respond to a mining accident on an asteroid & a conundrum about Last Rites for a half-human/half-animal being. So-So


Overall opinion: Many good stories in this one. A few have good action to them. Some others are casual reads. Worth keeping this great collection to read again and again!

[Donald J. Bingle]

"Patience," my story in this anthology, has one of my favorite first lines for stuff I wrote: Clifford Hurling used more dental floss than anyone else on the Moon." Find out where the story goes from there.