Old Venus

by George R.R. Martin (Editor), Gardner Dozois (Editor)

Sixteen all-new stories by science fiction’s top talents, collected by bestselling author George R. R. Martin and multiple-award-winning editor Gardner Dozois   From pulp adventures such as Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Carson of Venus to classic short stories such as Ray Bradbury’s “The Long Rain” to visionary novels such as C. S. Lewis’s Perelandra, the planet Venus has loomed almost as large in the imaginations of science fiction writers as Earth’s next-nearest neighbor, Mars. But while the Red Planet conjured up in Golden Age science fiction stories was a place of vast deserts and ruined cities, bright blue Venus was its polar a steamy, swampy jungle world with strange creatures lurking amidst the dripping vegetation. Alas, just as the last century’s space probes exploded our dreams of Mars, so, too, did they shatter our romantic visions of Venus, revealing, instead of a lush paradise, a hellish world inimical to all life.   But don’t despair! This new anthology of sixteen original stories by some of science fiction’s best writers—edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois—turns back the clock to that more innocent time, before the hard-won knowledge of science vanquished the infinite possibilities of the imagination.   Join our cast of award-winning contributors—including Elizabeth Bear, David Brin, Joe Haldeman, Gwyneth Jones, Mike Resnick, Eleanor Arnason, Allen M. Steele, and more—as we travel back in time to a planet that never was but should have a young, rain-drenched world of fabulous monsters and seductive mysteries.   FEATURING ALL-NEW STORIES BY   Eleanor Arnason • Elizabeth Bear • David Brin • Tobias S. Buckell • Michael Cassutt • Joe Haldeman • Matthew Hughes • Gwyneth Jones • Joe R. Lansdale • Stephen Leigh • Paul McAuley • Ian McDonald • Garth Nix • Mike Resnick • Allen M. Steele • Lavie Tidhar   And an Introduction by Gardner Dozois

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

609 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

George Raymond Richard "R.R." Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.

Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.

In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.

As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.

In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.

Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.

Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...

Reviews

[Kevin Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

At one point in history, Venus was a mysterious, clouded planet. Scientist, and Science Fiction writers pictured it as a hot, rainy, jungle planet teaming with dangerous flora and fauna. Venus was second only to Mars as a setting for the planetary romance novels of the 1930’s to the 1950’s. Dinosaur-like creatures roamed its forests and swamps and sentient creatures of all shapes and sizes inhabited the planet. Then one day in 1962, the Mariner 2 probe showed that the planet was much too hot to sustain any life. Russia also launched a probe that confirmed that no plant or animal life existed on Venus. Eventually, Venus largely disappeared as a setting from most science fiction, other than the occasional story set in the distant past or the far future.

Well George R. R. Martin and Garner Dozois staged a return to the dangerous and romantic setting of ‘Old Venus’ by pulling together sixteen short stories from a variety of science fiction authors written in 2015. While there were a couple of stories, I found unreadable, I very much enjoyed most of the short stories in the collection. I think I really got into about 12 of the 16 stories. A few of my favorites:

"Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele – under the backdrop of a failing Russian settlement, a PI must go deep into the underbelly of Venus to find a missing person and ultimately uncover man’s dark impact on everything he touches.

“Pale Blue Memories” By Tobias S. Buckell – by far the most thematic and powerful stories in the book. Buckell, a native of the Caribbean, tells an alternate history tale where WWII has led to a space race and ends in racism, slavery, and torture on Venus.

“The Wizard of the Trees” By Joe R. Lansdale – This one reminded me a great deal of Burrough’s Barsoom series due to the mechanics of the hero’s arrival and the adventure he finds.

“The Godstone of Venus” by Mike Resnick – This one almost read as ‘film noir’ to me, except exchange a detective with a hardnosed adventurer named Scopio and replace the blond dame with an attractive, but deadly, blue skinned Venusian female.

This book was a hefty 600 pages of old-school science fiction goodness and I very much enjoyed most of the steamy, vine covered, mold infested, mysteries of Old Venus!

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduction: Return to Venusport by Gardner Dozois

*** "Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele
Reminded me quite a lot of Phyllis Gotlieb's 'Lyhhrt' trilogy, with its amphibious aliens as enslaved workers, and the human investigator that gets involved - but this is a much simpler and more conventional story.

*** "The Drowned Celestial" by Lavie Tidhar
Tidhar took the theme of this anthology seriously. This is an homage to the old pulp adventure stories, and a faithful re-creation of one. It might even pass as one, if not for the many, many call-outs to authors and tales from those days. (I 'got' a lot of them; but I'm sure that there were more that I missed, as well.)
An adventurer and gambling man gets involved in a shootout on Venus - and before he knows it, finds himself shanghaied into a treasure hunt at the site of a ruined temple of an ancient god...

*** "Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley
A Russian scientist assigned to a Naval, military team isn't getting much respect, regardless of her expertise in exobiology. The captain in charge is convinced that everything that goes wrong - and then some - must be the fault of those dastardly Americans who are competing with them for resources and territory on Venus. But when a distress call comes in, screaming something about being 'attacked by monsters' - she might be the only one who can figure out what's actually happening.

** "Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes
This is a case of humor not hitting its mark, with me. If you are tickled up front by the idea of a butler named Greeves and a character named Slithey Tove-Whippley then you may get more of a kick out of this than I. On Venus, a herpetologist who's studied all there is to study regarding newts develops a consuming obsession with a newt-like species - particularly one specific female of the species. Is the happy matrimony he envisions in his future?

**** "A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones
This one does a great job updating some of the old tropes with new life. A rough-and-tumble billionaire adventurer, sick to death of how Earth is being destroyed environmentally and tamed socially, volunteers for an experimental time-travel/teleportation experiment to visit Venus' past. Once there, he nearly dies, but is rescued and nursed back to health by an alien but oddly alluring woman... Of course, our protagonist makes any number of assumptions about the situation - which we, as readers, might also make. But there's more to come in this story...
My one complaint is that the ending (although I loved what happened) felt a bit too abrupt.

*** "Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman
Good, old-fashioned action story. After a solar flare on Venus, a solo pilot must go on a daring mission to rescue a team from the wreckage of a downed space elevator. Technological malfunctions and inimical fauna must be battled to complete the job - which will culminate in the discovery of something weirder than anyone guessed.

***** "Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" by Stephen Leigh
A man returns to Venus to find his ex-lover, whom he's heard is planning another attempt at the expedition they previously assayed together. She's one of those people who's always been driven to conquer unconquered peaks - and in this, case, the unplumbed depths. A rift under the seas of Venus has deep ritual significance to the native Venusians, and it's usually off limits to humans. A special permit has been granted for this expedition. But last time, our protagonist nearly didn't return. Are the stories told of this mystery mere superstition - or something more?
Loved this one - I thought the characters, the relationship, and the situation were all beautifully done.
_____
March 2016: Nominated for Hugo.

**** "Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason
Since all of Earth's megafauna are extinct, National Geographic now has to go farther afield for their stories. A Venusian colony founded by Russia is ailing, and when NatGeo arrives wanting to hire locals, they don't have any trouble getting them to agree. It only makes sense that local commercial photographer Ash would recommend her friend Arkady, who runs tourist safaris. But Arkady seems to have his own agenda, as he leads the team into an area marked as off-limits by the American CIA. There are some humorous jabs here at a variety of targets, but first and foremost this is just a good story.

*** "The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin
An entry into the "they've been isolated for so long that they forgot to check the weather outside" subgenre. The isolation here takes the form of colonies established in naturally-occurring bubbles, far beneath the surface of the Venusian sea. But now, the bubbles are reaching the end of their natural 'lifespan,' beginning to shake loose or 'pop' - with devastating results. Will one young couple find a solution to the impending disaster?
The story is entertaining and very accessibly written, but suffers from a repeated use of: "Well, the plot calls for some kind of new gadget here. Good thing my character happens to just have invented that gadget!" I also didn't feel that the characters' behaviors necessarily matched the social system that's described, and their attitude at the very end of the story is inexplicable, given the circumstances.

*** "By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix
Sci-fi adventure in the classic vein. The military pulls a couple of former soldiers out of retirement and sends them on a mission - straight into one of the raging permanent storms of Venus to find a downed spaceship with some VIP kids aboard. But not all might be on the up-and-up.
The fun here is really in the fungus-y, clone-y details.

*** "The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt
Earthmen have received permission to build a giant lens on Venus that, when completed, will facilitate travel between the two planets. But , citing seemingly religio-mythic stories of an upcoming geological shift, all the native residents are busy not building, but utterly dismantling their cities and monuments. Nevertheless, the Earth's project proceeds apace, run by a hard-drinking anti-social exile (like many of those who have transplanted themselves to Venus) with a lovely - but enigmatic - Venusian girlfriend.

**** "Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell
This piece took a little while to win me over, but, oh lord, but the ending's a kicker.
In an alternate history, the US and the Nazis are in a space race out to the solar system. Marooned on Venus, an American military team is taken captive and enslaved by Venusians who have no idea that their captives are anything but members of an obscure tribe. The narrator is better versed in the ways of slavery than his colleagues: his mixed-race heritage has led him to know more than a bit about the injustices and horrors of the African slave trade. Will his knowledge help him survive?

*** "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear
I'm not getting the connection to the David Bowie song referenced in the title...
Other than that, this is a pretty good sci-fi adventure. An exo-archaeologist goes on a dangerous solo mission in an attempt to find a lost city: and, in the process, 'prove' herself to her over-achieving lover. A fight with alien megafauna features prominently. I loved all the details here - the setting, the 'throwaway' details about technology, future social attitudes, plant and animal life. However, the central psychodrama involving the main character and her lover didn't really grab me.

*** "The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale
Just like a classic 'Flash Gordon' adventure! A 'Buffalo Soldier' heading back to America goes down with the Titanic - but wakes up in a Venusian swamp. Soon, he finds himself joining a beautiful warrior in a fight against attacking bird-men, and joins her quest to retrieve a legendary talisman and preserve peace for her people. Great fun!

*** "The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick
A treasure hunter and a mysterious alien woman hire a couple of hard-living mercenaries to guide them on a dangerous mission to locate the "godstone" - an artifact which the woman claims is infinitely valuable and legendary - but which neither of the hired men (well, one is a man) have ever heard of. It's clear from the start that some kind of double-cross is being planned - but debts and curiosity keep them going (good thing, too, or there wouldn't be much of a story to tell).

***** "Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald
Ian McDonald has been very hit-or-miss for me. Some of his works I've loved; others have left me cold. But - this one's a hit! A well-known & wealthy artist has embarked on a tour of Venus with her dear companion, ostensibly with the goal of creating artworks inspired by the alien flora. But it gradually becomes clear that the Countess has another agenda: she's trying to find her long-lost brother. Against a fascinating but seemingly-innocent background of lovely flowers emerges a welter of conflicts involving jewel thefts, dynastic marriages, bloody conflicts, power struggles, and the fomenting of revolution. The richly detailed and gorgeous worldbuilding and the compelling characters made me completely forgive the unanswered question the reader's left with.
_____
March 2016: Nominated for Hugo.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology, co-edited by the late Gardner Dozois as well as the Game of Thrones guy who is certainly working very hard to finish that series, updates the idea of "planetary fiction" or in other words the pulp-era idea of habitable planets in our solar system, a sequel of sorts to the anthology Old Mars. Unfortunately, the authors seem to have been given direction to spend a lot of time describing life on this imaginary Venus and not so much time worrying about interesting stories. There are a couple of gems in the collection, and a whole bunch of forgettable filler. Ratings for each story are below along with, as usual, song lyrics that you may find interesting or helpful, or not.

- Frogheads by Allen M. Steele - 3/5 - it's not easy bein' green
- The Drowned Celestial by Lavie Tidhar - 3/5 - ooh you're my best friend
- Planet of Fear by Paul McAuley - 3/5 - I think you know what time it is, it's time to get ill
- Greeves and the Evening Star by Matthew Hughes - 3/5 - if I could fly like birds on high, then straight to her arms
- A Planet Called Desire by Gwyneth Jones - 3/5 - and the fever, gettin' higher, desire
- Living Hell by Joe Haldeman - 3/5 - bang bang, shoot 'em up, bang bang, blow you away
- Bones of Air, Bones of Stone by Stephen Leigh - 3/5 - you can't always get what you want
- Ruins by Eleanor Arnason - 3/5 - where did you come from, where did you go?
- The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss by David Brin -3/5 - darling it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me
- By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers by Garth Nix - 4/5 - the kids are alright
- The Sunset of Time by Michael Cassutt - 2/5 - done, done and I'm on to the next one
- Pale Blue Memories by Tobias S. Buckell - 4/5 - I broke the chains, so let me be, I've gotta be free
- The Heart’s Filthy Lesson by Elizabeth Bear - 2/5 - don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them alive
- The Wizard of the Trees by Joe R. Lansdale - 4/5 - there is unrest in the forest
- The Godstone of Venus by Mike Resnick - 3/5 - the girl was never there, it's always the same
- Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan by Ian McDonald -2/5 - the sun goes down I feel the light betray me

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall impressions: There were some real gems in here that made it worth listening to. Unfortunately, there were some real stinkers, too. Not a great job of editing.

Venus is the morning/evening star, the brightest object in the night sky save for Luna, so it has fired our imaginations throughout history. For most of that time, Venus was associated with a goddess of love from Ishtar to Aphrodite/Venus. From about 1930 to the mid 1960's, Venus was the home of some rollicking adventures written by masters of SF: Heinlein, Bradbury, Asimov, ERB. In December of 1962, the Mariner II space probe put an end to romantic speculation with the hot facts that it was pure hell - an atmosphere as dense as the bottom of our terrestrial oceans made of almost pure carbon dioxide & spiced with sulfuric acid. Roger Zelazny wrote one of the last Venus adventure stories in 1964(?) called The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth. Since then, Venus has been treated scientifically. Martin & Dozois decided it was time for a return to the SF roots, so asked some of the best SF authors to come up with some new adventures.

Each story is read by a different person which added to the uneven quality. Many of the stories were far too long for me to consider them 'short' stories. Some seemed to be close to novella in length, but some of that could have been the reader.

The files were not sync'd to the stories. Since this was a file-only version, the publisher should make each story a file or two. They should NEVER have two stories in the same file. It makes navigating stories very difficult. It would be really great if the introductions were separate files so I could have skipped them. Typical of Dozois, there is a long foreword before every story that not only gives a brief sketch of the author but seems to list everything they've ever written. Yuck. A few would be plenty.

Details:
Introduction by Gardner Dozois - points out the first paragraph above. Well done, if a bit long winded. I didn't care for the reader, an old man voice that didn't help the content. Dozois is long on words & needs to be read by someone more upbeat.

"Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele: 4 stars - a couple of excellent themes, kind of a dark detective story. Very well read.

"The Drowned Celestrial" by Lavie Tidhar: 2 stars. It was read by the same reader as the Intro, but his voice worked better in this context. The story was a true pulp adventure - fun, but not long on logic. Required a huge suspension of disbelief.

"Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley: 2 stars, partially because of the reader, Tish somebody. Her high voice didn't help the story even though the main character was a female. The Cold War paranoia was overdone to make the schism between scientist & military. I didn't care for the sudden time leap at the end, either.

"Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes: 3 stars. If you like P.G. Wodehouse, it's Jeeves & Barty doing Venus. Well read & fun.

"A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones: 2 stars. Well read, just not a very good story. There were some obvious holes that ruined the logic & one thing that seemed to be tossed in just for shock value which I detest. I don't mind when an author gets nasty if it helps the story, but this was just a cheap shot.

"Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman: 4 stars. Well read, although I think it was the old man from the Intro. His voice worked very well in this story. Haldeman was at the top of his game, too. Great characters & I didn't see the twists coming. Loved them.

"Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" by Stephen Leigh: 3.5 stars, well read & a good, poignant point. Interesting world & characters.

"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason: 2 stars, barely. The reading was OK, but the story relied too much on Cold War paranoia & not enough on logic again. I lived through the end of the Cold War. It might seem stupid today, but there was a paranoid logic at work. This author, like McCauley, seemed to forget the logic & rely just on paranoia. That doesn't work. Also, somehow the author forgot to make the main character part of the story - she was completely unnecessary. How is that even possible? Loved her pet, the best part of the story.

"The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin: 3 stars. There's a lot more to the story which made it more intriguing. It was pretty long & reminded me somewhat of a story I read many years ago, "Surface Tension" by James Blish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_...
Blish did it better & far more economically, but this wasn't bad.

"By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix: 3.5 stars. A real space opera fun time. Perfectly read with a great ending.

"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt: 1.5 stars. The reading was good, but the story the 'science' & logic was awful. It could have been poignant if there was any sense to it, as it was the logic errors just ruined it.

"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell: 1 star. The tone of the reading was just as depressing as the story - fit it well. With a setting & plot lifted straight out of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels (cross any Barsoom/Venus/Pellucidar novel with The Land That Time Forgot) this could have been a good story if the author had focused on the current situation & a decent main character. Far from heroic - although he was meant to be - this main character wallowed in wrongs generations past & used them to justify his awful actions. The whole Nazi thing that ERB used well felt tacked on in this story. It was unnecessary, just detracted from the story while bumping up the word count & pointing out the obvious. Basically, the whole story felt like the author was leveraging political correctness to get a place in the anthology. Yuck & fail.

"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear: 2 stars. The living suit was really awesome as was the wild life, but that was it. I didn't like the reader's voice much which didn't help. The self-esteem theme was better suited to a YA novel & was so overdone that I felt bludgeoned by it. It just wound up detracting from the world which had a lot of promise, but was never well developed. The unspecific/choice/both sex thing just came off as same-sex. Did they use the trees for anything? What about the aborigines? Again, too much undeveloped, words wasted on a teen problem in a supposedly mature scientist, so it didn't really work for me.

"The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale: 1 star since it was basically stolen from Edgar Rice Burroughs & then poorly done, somehow. I'm not sure if the reader just read in a choppy manner or if it was written that way. In any case, it didn't work well, although the voice was good. The hero an Indian-Black guy (rather than a white guy that ERB would have used) which didn't make any difference except that he got to chose which one to call himself to fit the moment to satisfy the PC crowd. So I wound up listening to a stolen story that was poorly executed. Yuck.

"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick: 2.5 stars. Well read & really interesting setting & characters. I would have marked it higher, but the ending was particularly unsatisfying. I just didn't get it. Up until then, I really liked it, though. If anyone wants to discuss the end of this in the comments, I'd love to. Please use spoiler tags.

"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald: 5 stars. Read by Diana Riggs (Mrs. Peel from the 60's version of the Avengers.) I LOVE her!!! Great voice that's perfect for the lady telling this story. It's almost Victorian in form, something I normally dislike, but really working for me this time. I can't place the paper cut intros of each chapter, but they seem really familiar. (Possibly the One Hundred Views Of Mount Fuji?) The story itself was an updated version of Beau Geste overall & from a different angle. Part way through the story, the spoiler becomes a good possibility, but finding that out is a lot of the fun. Great story. My favorite in the collection.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contents:

xi - INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
3 - FROGHEADS, by Allen M. Steele
37 -THE DROWNED CELESTRIAL, by Lavie Tidhar
71 - PLANET OF FEAR, by Paul McAuley
103 - GREEVES AND THE EVENING STAR, by Matthew Hughes
135 - A PLANET CALLED DESIRE, by Gwyneth Jones
169 - LIVING HELL, by Joe Haldeman
191 - BONES OF AIR, BONES OF STONE, by Stephen Leigh
223 - RUINS, by Eleanor Arnason
265 - THE TUMBLEDOWNS OF CLEOPATRA ABYSS, by David Brin
309 - BY FROGSLED AND LIZARDBACK TO OUTCAST VENUSIAN LEPERS, by Garth Nix
357 - THE SUNSET OF TIME, by Michael Cassutt
397 - PALE BLUE MEMORIES, by Tobias S. Buckell
431 - THE HEART'S FILTHY LESSON, by Elizabeth Bear
461 - THE WIZARD OF THE TREES, by Joe R. Lansdale
503 - THE GODSTONE OF VENUS, by Mike Resnick
543 - BOTANICA VENERIS: THIRTEEN PAPERCUTS BY IDA COUNTESS RATHANGAN, by Ian McDonald
587 - About the Editors
589 - About the type

I purchase these books mainly for the Joe R. Lansdale stories and the Matthew Hughes (which has been getting a lot of good bu) stories, "Old Mars", "Rouges", "Songs of the Dying Earth" - the Jack Vance tribute book, "Warriors" and for the most part usually find other good stories. This particular book I felt was not quite as enjoyable as "Old Mars" . I also quite enjoyed the Buckell story and the Bear story, but then again it's all a matter of taste.

[Ints · Rating 4 out of 5]

Izcila stāstu antoloģija, kas veltīta Venērai. Tagad, kad zinām, ka Venēra ir vulkāniska elle, zem sērskābes mākoņiem, Venēra ir mums zudusi, kā zinātniskās fantastikas un fantāzijas iedvesmas avots. Šis tas ir uzrakstīts arī balstoties uz šiem zināmajiem faktiem, bet Venēra žanrā nomira 1970. gada 15. decembrī, kad uz tās virsmas nosēdās Venera 7 un atsūtīja pāris bildes. Šī grāmata ir mēģinājums atgriezties pie zudušā, laika, kad uz Venēras autoru prāt bija purvi un mūžīgi mākoņi, kad pa to ložņāja dinozauriem līdzīgas būtnes, kad tā bija vieta uz kuras viss iespējams. Es lieku 9 no 10ballēm.

"Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele par trako Miķeli un komunistu uzbūvēto Venēras koloniju, nebija peļams, diezgan labi iekļāvās grāmatas uzstādījumā atriezt Venēru tā it kā mēs būtu piecdesmitajos un nezinātu, ka mākoņi ir no sērskābes un virsma izkusis akmens. Te visa planēta ir okeāns un Froghedi ir iezemieši. Cilvēks paliek cilvēks ekspluatē resursus uz nebēdu, var teikt pa šokolādes tāfelīti.

"The Drowned Celestrial" by Lavie Tidhar - zemes cilvēki nav pirmie, kas iekarojuši kosmosu, ne saules sistēmā un pat ne no planētas Zeme. Bet nu ir viņu lielā diena un iespēja dominēt. Venēra gan ir tāds pamests purvains nostūris, kur pat vietējiem nerūp nekas vairāk kā iedzert. vienas šādas iedzeršanas laikā sākas Tempļa dārgumu meklēšana. Labs Indiana Džonss spinofs, lai ar ne innovatīvs, bet pietiekoši aizraujošs.

"Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley - par Venēru cīnās krievi un anglosakši un jebkāds iemesls var būt derīgs jauna kara sākumam. Kādās krievu raktuvēs pazūd 26 cilvēki uz turieni tiek nosūtīts ekranoplāns, bet vainīgie jau sen ir noskaidroti. Labs stāsts par zoonotiskajām infekcijām.

"Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes - stāsta galvenais varonis pamostas ar galvassāpēm un uz Venēras. Viņa čoms izcils tritonu pētnieks ir paķēris šo līdzi uz Venēru. Jo viņam vajag ādu kas paslavētu viņu izredzētās priekšā. Izredzētā izrādās no sirēnu dzimtas un ar tādām ir pilni dīķi!

"A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones - vēl viens stāsts par mīlestību, tāds džungļu piedzīvojums, kur galvenais varonis bēg no ekoloģiski sagandētās zemes uz tālu pagātni, kad Venēra vēl bija apdzīvojama un atklāj, ka Venēra jau pati nepārvērtās sērskābes mākoņos. Interesants lasāmais, sižet varbūt pārāk izplūdis, bet visādi citādi labs.

"Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman - labs vecmeistara stāsts, par cilvēka cīņu ar "Venēru"un negaidīto tās atrisinājumu. Venēras vētras nav joka lieta un ja vēl tās džungļi ir pilni ar dažādiem mošķiem, kuri lielākoties mēģina tevi apēst, tad arī labā dienā tur nav ko meklēt. Galvenajam varonim nav palaimējies viņam jālido glābt no ārpasaules atgrieztas televīzijas zvaigznes. Nu un, protams, par mīlestību caur asimilāciju

"Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" Stephen Leigh -labs stāsts, Venēras iezemiešiem ir no svara vai viņa kauli ir viegli vai smagi. Vieglie kauli netiek uzņemti pēcnāvē, viņu miesas pēc nāves netiek atgrieztas Tumšaja dzīlē. To gastrolīti neatgriežas uz piekrastes klintīm, kur tos nodod nākamajām paaudzēm. Tā vietā viņi sapūst vulkāna krāterī. Cilvēkus tas viss neinteresē. Viņus interesē kaut kur būt pirmajiem.

"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason - PSRS uz Zemes jau ir beidzis savu pastāvēšanu, bet uz venēras vēl spītīgi revolūcijas idejas aizstāv Petrograda. Cīņa nav viegla, jo kapitālisms un tā Venusport aizvilina cilvēku. Bet National Geografic komandas ierašanās un megafaunas meklēšana visu izmaina.

"The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin -dzīve uz Venēras ar katru paaudzi paliek arvien grūtāka, komētas krīt aizvien neregulārāk un dzīvojamās sfēras aizvien biežāk atraujas no kanjona malas un uzkrīt augšā. Foršs stāsts par avantūrismu un laimi nelaimē.

"By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix - labs stāstiņš par glābšanas operāciju uz Venēras. Viss klasiskais salikts iekšā nelielā formātā. Venēras purvi, dīvainā flora un fauna. Kosmisko lielvaru sazvērestība, protams, kosmosa kuģi un kloni.

"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt - cilvēki uz Venēras būvē lēcu, kas ļaus teleportēties no Zemes visiem interesentiem. Venēras pamatiedzīvotāji ir skeptisko, viņi paši dekonstruē visu savu civilizācijas radīto, jo tuvojas Saulriets. Jauks stāsts, par kultūru sadursmi, vieni kuri īpaši neiedziļinoties paplašina savu ietekmi un otri, kuri nesaprot atnācēju aprobežotību.

"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell - uz Venēras izrādās ir augsti attīstīta civilizācija ar dirižabļiem un verdzību. amaerikāņu raķetes ekipāza to atklā nejauši, bet tas neliedz viņiem izbaudīt civilizāciju uz savas ādas. Autors labi atainojis verdzību, kā ciklu kura varu var deldēt vien laiks. Nelīdz ne labi vergu līderi nedz pārdrošas bēgšanas. Atliek vien atmiņas par zilām debesīm.

"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear - stāsts par kādu zinātnes personu, kas mūždien jūtas abižota. nesankcionēta ekspedīcija Venēras džungļos, lai atklātu vecās Venēras civilizācijas pēdas. Tāda skriešana pa džungļiem kā Arnolda skrējiens Plēsoņā.

"The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale - šis ir kaut kas vecā labā Edgar Rice Burroughs MArsa princešu stilā, tikai te ir Venēras princese. Stāsts vecs kā pasaule, divas naidīgas ciltis, talismans, kas garantē mieru. Ļaundari, cenšas izjaukt pasaules kārtību. Ierodas Zemes cilvēks un cenšas visu vērst par labu. Seksa nav, jo džentlmeņi par to nerunā pat savos memuāros, bet dvēsele traucas kā vanags debesīs.

"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick – Venēru cilvēki ir apguvuši tikai daļēji, te nav viena vien civilizācija. Algotņiem un piedzīvojumu meklētājiem darba vēl ir atliku likām. Mūsu galvenajam varonim un viņa pāriniekam (pārošanās sezona uz Venēras beigusies) ir iespēja nopelnīt pamatīgu kāpostu. Darījums gan ir šaubīgs, cik nu tas var būt šaubīgs ar cilvēku, kuru kontrolē telepātiski kāda no Venēras civilizācijas pārstāvēm. Labs piedzīvojums, pēc kura labāk ir aizlidot uz Marsu, tālāk no sekām.

"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald – tāds aristokrātiska tipa vēstījums, par sevu noziegumu, kas licis kādam augstmaņu dzimtas pārstāvim, bēgt uz Venēru. Ir pagājis laiks un viņa māsa dodas brāli uzmeklēt. Pa ceļam uzzinām šī dēkaiņa dzīvestāstu un visu par Venēras floru un faunu.

[Sophie Narey (Bookreview- aholic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published: 06/03/2015
Author: George R.R. Martin
Recomended for: fans of sci-fi novels

I won this book through the GoodReads FirstReads competitions. I love George R.R. Martin books his writing style is amazing and when I sat that this book was edited by him I just knew I had to read it and so I was thrilled when I found out that I had won it.
This book is one of the best books I have read this year, this is a book that is full short stories, there wasn't one that I thought was bad they were all very good and they all gripped hold of the readers attention, the amount of description that was packed into the stories were outstanding they really expanded your mind and imagination letting it wonder into the weird and wonderful worlds the authors had created.
After reading this book I found my self with many more favourite authors, i think it would definately be suited for ages 13 and up. I would most certainly recommend giving this book a try even if you dont enjoy all of the stories I am sure there will be atleast one that you do really enjoy.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois have previously edited an anthology titled Old Mars, of stories written in the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury. Of Planetary Romance before the robotic explorers started showing us what the planets really looked like, and in the case of Mars we get a dry, red planet of canals and dead alien cities.

Old Venus is the same idea, but with Venus instead. A Venus of rain, jungles, and dinosaurs like the stories of Leigh Brackett and C.L. Moore. Some of the stories deliberately imitate the same plots and styles of Planetary Romance, while most of them just use the basic inspiration and go for something more original.

"Frogheads" by Allen Steele. The first entry in the anthology follows a private investigator hired by a wealthy family to find a missing heir. It's a somewhat dark story exposing the seedy underbelly of the illegal Venusian drug trade. Nothing to write home about, but enjoyable enough.

"The Drowned Celestial" by Lavie Tidhar. This is kind of an odd story about a human and a native Venusian who get involved with evil men, gods, and mysticism in the deep jungle. It's technically well written, but I never really connected with it.

"Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley. Standard strange planet mystery story. Russian miners send a distress signal and when the military investigates they find the crew dead or missing. The Russian distrust concerning Americans and science borders on cliche. It's a fairly decent sci-fi story, not especially good, but not especially bad either.

"Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes. I had a rough start with this one trying to get a handle on the names and setting, but once I did I quite enjoyed it. Victorian explorers come to Venus for adventure and to study native newts, however, the Venusian species are considerably more dangerous than their Earthly ones. It's a straightforward alien monster story, but it helps that it's also something of a comedy so it's more enjoyable than you would think.

"A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones. This is the first piece of fiction by this author that I've read. It's also the first story in the collection that deliberately follows the same style of Planetary Romance as Edgar Rice Burroughs. The main character uses some weird, inexplicable interplanetary mechanism to travel to Ancient Venus and has myriad adventures there with the native people, especially one woman in particular. Rather forgettable actually.

"Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman. Another monster story of a pilot trying to rescue some crash-landed scientists from the hostile jungle and learning a truth about Venus in the process. Nothing particularly noteworthy, but it is written by Joe Haldeman after all so it's quite good.

"Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" by Stephen Leigh. A man, crippled in an accident, attempts to reconnect with hi/s former girlfriend, an adventurer who plans to dive down a deep hole in Venus's ocean after a previously failed attempt. This story has a little bit of emotional change, a little bit of adventure, and a little bit of native mystery, but not much is really done with any of it. Decent enough story, though I could have done with a bit more resolution.

"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason. Locals are hired to guide a National Geographic team for a wildlife safari into the Jungles, but wind up with clashing with the CIA over alien ruins. This is obstentiously a "into the jungle" story, which has some interesting stuff, but the bulk of it is really a political story about interference by America and the CIA. It's a fairly good story if you don't mind a little preaching.

"The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin. Brin's story is quite good, though it doesn't quite fit the theme of the anthology as it's set on a Venus more like the real one. Earth had started terraforming Venus when it was attacked by a hostile alien species. Survivors took refuge in habitats at the bottom of Venus's newly formed ocean and are now eking out a meager existence. Still, it's a pretty good story about hope and the future, and certainly worth reading.

"By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix. Like "Ruins", this is another political story, about the American military experiments coming to light. It doesn't follow the previous story point-for-point, and it does its own stuff, but it is similar. That being said, it's still an interesting story.

"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt. I have to be honest, I've never cared for Cassutt's fiction and this story isn't any different. It's about an engineer building a wormhole-like device on Venus, while the native Venusian population is preparing for some kind of apocalyptic event. What really jerked me out of the story though was the planet's day. As most fans of astronomy know, Venus has one of the strangest rotation periods in the solar system, and while all of the other stories in the anthology have days that reflect that of the real Venus or one more like Earth's, Cassutt's Venus is tidally locked with the sun like Earth and the Moon. It's really strange.

"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell. Set during the 60s and 70s where the space race never cooled down and now the race is on for Venus. The Americans get there first only to crash-land and be enslaved by the natives. A sad, but well written story about how some evils are not limited to one world and that the struggle always goes on.

"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear. A scientist has a fight with her wife and runs off into the jungle alone to prove herself by finding alien ruins. Another "into the jungle" story, but it's really about how people, especially those who sometimes have big egos, relate and get along with each other. A pretty decent story.

"The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale. Like the Jones story, Lansdale copies the old style Burroughs, but is even more "faithful" and absurd, right down to the ridiculous plots and corny dialogue. Good grief, the author could tried for something more original. I haven't enjoyed any of Lansdale's work in the past and this one is no exception.

"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick. This one is actually a sequel to Resnick's short in Old Mars, though each story stands alone. Reappearing are the two main characters: Scipio, kind of a mercenary/adventurer, and Merlin, an intelligent, telepathic, Venusian beast. The plot is a straightforward treasure hunt into the jungle, but it's quite good and I enjoyed it. Made me wonder if Resnick will write any more stories with these two characters.

"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald. This story is perhaps the most creative and imaginative in the whole anthology. McDonald pulls out all the stops to create a truly unique alternate history Venus with multiple races and humans, with politics, war, and class struggle, all as the backdrop for a Victorian widow researching Venusian flowers as a pretext for searching for her long-lost brother. It reminded me a lot of Howard Waldrop and how he can create a truly unique story. Absolutely fascinating and probably the best in the anthology.

As with any anthology there are bound to be a few stinkers that a reader can't get into, but get past that and you'll find a good and interesting anthology with Old Venus. Recommended for something a little different with a touch of nostalgia.

Rating: 8/10.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last novella in the collection is superb. Recommended.

[A~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Representation matters.
I think this more than anything sets this book apart from all the old silver and gold age stories this book was meant to pay homage to.
There was trans men, there were non bi-nary genders. There were stories where the lead was female. We had stories where the main character was the ancestor of a slave and it tied perfectly to what was going on in the story. There was the half black half Native american child who really put the "White man" tames the wild country on it's head.
There is even one story where the main bad guy is not killed by the hero of the story but by the female co-protagonist without him helping.
I loved this book if only for these reasons.
But there were so many great stories in it.

[Andrew Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old Venus.

It's amazing (to someone of my generation) to think that until 1962 most people assumed that Venus was a potentially viable planet for life. It was thought to be an extremely wet, swampy, humid, rain drench and cloud covered Earth. As a result the Golden ages (1936- 1959 ish) of SF had all manor of rocket ships going, colonies based, and swashbuckling adventures had there. After 1962 this became rarer and rarer. This anthology asks contemporary authors to reimagine the classic Venus Story. Although, inevitably there are a couple of miss fires here, (see below) I feel the overall anthology is stunning and utterly enjoyable, the editors have done a superb job in putting it together.

Frogheads by Allen M. Steele, is a great twisting mystery that reminded me in places of Vance's inter-planet detective, Magnus Ridolph. It's fast paced and examines the ethics of colonisation, race and drug-use. It has some nice characterisation, there is a fair bit of light and shade and a 'weird pulp' conclusion.4/5

The Drowned Celestial by Lavie Tidhar, is a classic bit of SF a rip roaring 'buddy' adventure. Good fun and fast paced. Nice and 'pulpy'. 3/5

Planet of Fear by Paul McAuley, is beautiful story with some great characterisation and fabulous biology. It is unusual in a short story for me (not part of an established series ) to care so deeply about the characters, I did. I loved the paranoid suspicions of Captain Chernov, the strength and feistiness of Katya Ignatova, the international tensions and the brooding horror. My only sadness of the story is its abrupt conclusion. 4/5

Greeves and the Evening Star by Matthew Hughes. I starting reading this and seriously thought about skipping over it when I realised (within two sentences) that this was a SF Jeeves and Wooster! I love P.G. Wodehouse and didn't like the idea of a mash up at all. It Just felt all wrong. But I kept going I am so glad I did! Nothing makes me laugh like Bertie Wooster, except now perhaps Bartie Gloster. (... See what he did there?) Not only did I hurt myself laughing and brought on an asthma attack but I throughly enjoyed the story. It is immensely well written, exciting and perhaps the funniest short story I have read in the last ten years. 5/5

A Planet Called Desire by Gwyneth Jones. A very pleasant inter-species (or at least race) love story. Very well done, not cheesy nor over-played. I thoroughly enjoyed the politics and the relationships of the story the dialogue was subtle, smart and in my mind had a number of Jack Vance overtones. 4/5

Living Hell by Joe Haldeman is an adventure, a race to rescue a number of female scientists from Venus' equator, enjoyable classic science fiction with a great finale. 3.5/5

Bones of Air, Bones of Stone by Stephen Leigh is a cracking exploration of the anthropology (if that is the right term for the study of the Venusian race) it's religion and customs. Seen through the lens of a daring expedition and unrequited love. I thought the characters were very interesting well fleshed out and the science fiction fascinating. 3.5/5

Ruins by Eleanor Arnason is an interesting "slow dive" into the Politics of a Venus colonised by the Russians, who won the Venusian space race and the ensuing crippling debt it brought, and the CIA the "most powerful organisation in the Solar System". The adventure takes place in a Venusian Jurassic Park amidst the ruins of perhaps the first inhabitants of Venus. Fascinating story with lots of great ideas but sadly the whole is slightly less than the sum of its parts. 3/5

The Tumbledowns of Celeopatra Abyss by David Brin. I absolutely loved this story, and didn't want it to end. I enjoyed Jonah, his resourcefulness, his courage and his thoughts on the world in which he finds himself. A very satisfying story set in a string of underwater towns and farms where most certainly Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Brilliant! 4.5/5

By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers by Garth Nix is a second fast pace rescue mission. I loved the world that Nix wrote of, interesting deep characters and a fabulous space opera feel with a tension that had me racing through, a very strong story. Absolutely superb. 5/5

The Sunset of Time by Michael Cassutt. A 'Venerian' pre-apocalyptic story, exploring some interesting themes of religion, exile and science. 3/5

Pale Blue Memories by Tobias S. Buckell. An Edgar Rice Burroughs type story complete with an inter-planet continuation of World War Two, German Nazis, US Marines and "First Contact" with Venusians. It explores interspecies love, loss and slavery, both in American's past, nazi ideology and as worked out on Venus. With so many great ideas, and an ERB take this story should have been an absolute corker, sadly it just didn't come off to my mind. I guess I just couldn't 'get' the irony of a classic heroic tale told from the view point of a less than heroic, uninspiring, (to my mind), central character and ultimately found the story fairly depressing. 2/5

The Heart's Filthy Lesson by Elizabeth Bear. There are some nice ideas here, I loved the suit, but found the actual story fairly hard going, I wasn't gripped by the story or the plot, sadly, it was a slog to the finish. 2/5

The Wizard of the Trees by Joe R. Lansdale is just perfect pulp classic sci-fi, and I utterly loved it. It's a classic Edgar Rice Burrows type story, with shades of the "30's Flash Gordon" film serial, which, perhaps at least in my mind, out strips the master! Our hero, tempered by his experiences serving as a US army "Buffalo soldier" and member of Buffalo Bill's travelling show finds himself stranded on Venus. It has occasional similarities to "Pale Blue Memories" in that our hero is black (with some Cherokee Indian heritage too), however, the questions of race and colour are done, in my view, much more subtlety and with greater effect. The whole story, the battles, the plot and of course the love interest who happen to be a Venusian princess (what else could she be in this kind of story) is incredibly pleasing. 5/5

"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick is a superb SF noir story. The tough old trouble-shooter with his fascinating and extremely well written partner embark on a mysterious mission in to the Venusian Marshes with a beautiful blue Venusian a dodgy gambler and a stolen vehicle what's not to like? Brilliant short story! 5/5

Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan by Ian McDonald. A superbly told story, told by an aristocratic Irish Countess. It's a jules Vern travelogue adventure across Venus, with cracking language and vocabulary. Each part of the story is introduced by a particular genus of Venusian flora of which our Countess describes and 'papercuts'. A wonderful tale filled with some fascinating characters. It a very strong finish to what has been a superb anthology! 5/5

I loved this book and look forward to reading Old Mars!

[Murphy C]

I got out over my proverbial skis with the audiobooks lately (and this is a loooooong one), so I only listened to a few of the stories. Good, old-fashioned pulpy fun, they were! I'll probably return to the volume some day, but for now...

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Companion collection to OLD MARS, a selection of contemporary short stories based on the "old school" view of Venus before we discovered that it was actually a toxic hellhole. Because of the heavy cloud cover, people used to believe that our neighboring planet had a huge amount of water. These stories are set on a Venus that has a breathable atmosphere, is either mostly ocean or mostly jungle and swamp, and is subject to constant rain and storms. Unlike the Mars of OLD MARS, Venus doesn't always have intelligent natives, but does have large amounts of life (often dangerous) - giant sea creatures, dinosaur-like reptiles, huge plants, and fungi. Conflict between the US and Russia is a common theme in a number of these stories. Some of the authors from OLD MARS are also in this collection, although only one story ("The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick) has the same characters. Mostly good stories (no real duds). I especially liked "Planet of Fear," "Greeves and the Evening Star," "Frogheads," and "The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss." Solid 3 stars.

[Baz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old Venus is great to keep beside the bed to chip away at.
Some wonderful fantastical tales from a far off and obscure place. The short stories collated in this are unique to one another but bring together that vintage idea of Venus as a bizarre world full of humidity, jungles and strange beasts.

[Morgan Dhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

What delight! An entire anthology devoted to modern reimaginings of those glorious old school planetary romances, set on that long-lost imaginary planet of fetid swamps and humid jungles, of thickly overcast skies dripping hot rains, of slimy and slithery things that flourish in the warm, damp dimness, of scaled and webbed amphibious denizens of vast blood-hot oceans, and the ruins of ancient decadent civilisations overrun by thick, lush vegetation - the Venus of my youth, destroyed forever by the flyby of Mariner 2. Yes, I'm talking about George R. R. Martin and Garner Dozois' collaborative editorial effort, Old Venus.

It's a wonderful homage to the great pulp writers of planetary adventure, from Edgar Rice Burroughs and Otis Adelbert Kline to Leigh Brackett and C. L. Moore, a collection of stories with all the fast-paced action, adventure, and even at times terror of the originals, but infused with a modern, often post-colonial awareness. In many of these stories, lurking in the shadows behind the hard-boiled adventurer's narrative lies an acknowledgement of damage done by the bold colonising Earthmen, the exploitation of Venusian wealth and peoples, the question of who is the monster - the indigenous, adapted life form, or the alien writing the story. And in some, there is awareness of the hubris of the explorer, the belief that the indigenous peoples can not be as knowledgeable, even of the nature and history of their own world, as the ones who "discover" them. This is planetary romance, all grown up.

While all the stories have something to recommend them, I particularly enjoyed "Bones of Air, Bones of Stone," by Stephen Leigh, "Ruins," by Eleanor Arnason, "The Sunset of Time," by Michael Cassutt, "Pale Blue Memories," by Tobias S. Buckell, and "The Heart's Filthy Lesson," by Elizabeth Bear.


* This anthology contains 16 stories, 13 of which are written by men, and three of which are written by women

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of sixteen stories set on Venus, but the Venus of classic science fiction, not the Venus that we now know it to be. There are even Venus fly-traps on the cover! It's a companion volume to a previous book that Dozois and Martin produced, Old Mars. I believe I liked the first volume better, but that may just be because of the subject. My favorite story was the first one, Frogheads by Allen M. Steele, a fine pulpish mystery adventure. I didn't much care for the Lavie Tidhar story but liked the Rhysling reference. Planet of Fear by Paul McAuley is a very good political story that would have fit right in Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction in the 1950's. The Matthew Hughes story is a humorous story of the old English aristocracy that didn't hold my interest. A Planet Called Desire by Gwyneth Jones is a nice Burroughs-influenced romance, though the society wasn't entirely coherent. Living Hell by Joe Haldeman is another good old-fashioned Astounding-style rescue story; I wished it were a little longer and further developed. I enjoyed the Stephen Leigh story very much, it presents a nice Venus and civilization and examines loss and grief quite effectively, though I didn't see the characters' attraction to one another. Ruins by Eleanor Aronson was another of my favorites, dealing with a National Geographic exploratory expedition and a nice alternate Venus and politics. The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss (one of the best titles!) by David Brin is a another story I wish had been longer; it had the most innovative environment and complex society and I hope he revisits it someday, because I'd like to know how the characters fared after the end of the current tale. It has nice references to historic sf, too, and is an interesting thematic counterpoint to Heinlein's Universe. The very best title is By Frogshead and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers by Garth Nix; that's a title that would have been a standout in Planet Stories in 1947. It's a terrific military adventure on a moist and moldy Venus that I thought struck the theme of the book the closest. I was not fond of an apocalyptic Michael Cassutt story, which was sort of confused and lacked character. I did like Pale Blue Memories by Tobias S. Buckell, a good (though very dark) story with thoughtful messages about racism and slavery. The Elizabeth Bear story is interesting, a nice and challenging (if slightly confusing) post-humanist romance on another good classic version of Venus. The Joe R. Lansdale story is another ERB-centric story, this one focusing on a former Buffalo Soldier and former member of the Buffalo Bill traveling show who sinks on The Titanic and wakes up on Venus; it was quite fun. Mike Resnick's story featured Scorpio and Merlin, the duo that also starred in his story in Old Mars, and is an amusing quest/procedural with zesty snark and snip. The final story, by Ian McDonald is a kind of stilted and fragmentary piece with a Victorian tone that didn't engage me. Overall it's a very good and well-balanced collection of stories that serves as a good companion piece to Old Mars; it's a shame they didn't move on to the rest of the System!

[Cheryl]

Impulse at library. I skipped many stories because too many were like Burroughs and I'm not a fan.

However, based on story by David Brin, maybe I should finally get around to trying more of his work. It was unintentionally sexist in its reversal of gender roles, but interesting nonetheless.

I also enjoyed *Ruins* by Eleanor Arnason, though my favorite words from it are a bit earnest: "Education is always good. The ruling class denies it to workers because it's dangerous to them. As a rule, one should always do what the ruling class finds dangerous."

Very mixed bag, of course, can't rate at all.
November 2024

[Dustin M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Endstand: 35%
Ich gebe auf. Die Grundidee dieser Sammlung ist super interessant, aber die meisten der Geschichten sind wirklich eine Qual.
Interessante World Building Ideen und gute Atmosphäre, aber die eigentlich Plots sind entweder platt und vorhersehbar oder versuchen "clever" zu sein und scheitern daran.
Die beste Geschichte, von denen, die ich gelesen habe, war "Greeves and the Evening Star". Zum totlachen. Aber dafür allein lohnt dieses Buch sich nicht.

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foarte atrăgătoare ideea care a stat la baza acestei colecții de proză scurtă SF despre planeta Venus: la un moment dat, 16 autori au fost invitați de Dozois și/sau de Martin să scrie o scurtă poveste a cărei acțiune să fie plasată pe "vechea" planetă - cea despre care se credea la începutul secolului XX că este acoperită de nori, plină deci de jungle și de mlaștini fetide, populată probabil de dinozauri imenși și de băștinași reptilieni sumar îmbrăcați. Cu alte cuvinte, să fie inspirați de literatura pulp de prin anii '30-'40. Autorii, dintre care cel puțin 4 sunt arhi-cunoscuți, au fost mai mult sau mai puțin cuprinși de nostalgie despre conceptele învechite și complet spulberate ulterior de sondele americane și sovietice care ne-au transmis o imagine mai veridică dar și mai deprimantă a Luceafărului: un pustiu cu temperaturi infernale și cu ploi de acid sulfuric. Rezultatul final este un exemplu clasic de "produsul este mai mare decât suma părților componente".
Astfel, celebra pereche de editori au ieșit pe piață în 2015 cu această colecție în care detectivii particulari caută persoane dispărute în jungla venusiană, comuniștii sovietici investighează avanposturi părăsite, domnul și majordomul credincios încearcă să facă o "lipeală" unei cunoștințe, călătorii în timp se întorc să viziteze Venus pe vremea dinozaurilor, flora extraterestră copiază oamenii, scafandrii trăiesc pe fundul oceanului veneric etc etc.
Și așa cum am zis mai sus, dacă am face media calității poveștilor ne-ar rezulta probabil un 3*, dar care se augmentează cu cel puțin încă una pentru idee, concepte și realizare: o foarte confortabilă, călduroasă și melancolică pătură literară.

[Craig Childs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This uneven collection of original short stories are all set on the planet Venus. Not the Venus we know today, with its backwards rotational spin and oppressive greenhouse gases, but rather the tropical jungle planet full of prehistoric wonders that was a mainstay of sci-fi magazines of the 1930's, 40's, and 50's. Many authors choose to work communist Russians into their stories, to round out the retro feeling.

I listened to the audiobook. Here are my individual story reviews, ordered from most to least liked:

"Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" by Stephen Leigh -- Fifteen years after losing both his legs and his girlfriend in a diving accident, Tomio returns to Venus for one last chance at finding what lies at the bottom of the Great Darkness. This story does an excellent job establishing the lifecycle of the sreeliala aliens, a complex process involving stomach stones and a parasitic life form known as Lights-in-Water. There are enough unanswered questions that I hope the writer delivers a sequel.

"Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes -- Two clueless British aristocrats are targeted by a newt-like siren for a violent mating ritual. Only the unflappable valet Greeves can save them from their own idiocy. A sly, darkly funny and exciting homage to P.G. Wodehouse's character Jeeves. This is read by Stephen Fry who famously played Jeeves on British television for many years.

"The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abysee" by David Brin -- The surface of the planet gets bombarded by comet strikes nearly every day. Human colonists have been driven to the bottom of the ocean to live in bubbles of thin, transparent volcanic rock. Jonah is an algae farmer who has only ever known life below the sea. He lacks the funds to buy a wedding present to lure a wife. However, as the intensity of the comet strikes unravels the fabric of his society, he finds unexpected opportunities to prosper. This story features excellent world-building. The author builds a society with intricate economic, political, and familial traditions and strictures. Read by Will Wheaton, of Star Trek fame.

"Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele -- A detective arrives at the Russian colony looking for a rich American teenager who has gone missing. With the aid of the indigenous water folk, aka frogheads, he tracks his target into the dark underbelly of a dope smuggling operation. An effective sci-fi noir. I would read more stories set in this world.

"The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale -- An Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired tale in which a drowning passenger from the Titanic is inexplicably transported to Venus, here depicted as a steamy jungle planet full of intrigue between warring savage tribes. At its best moments, this story evokes the spirit of classic pulp fiction from masters like Burroughs, Howard, and Silverberg. This story is expertly read by Michael Dorn who is best known for playing the iconic character Worf on various Star Trek shows.

"By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix -- Kelvin and his clone sister are recalled by the military to lead a team into the Roar (a permanent storm system in the heart of the Venusian badlands) in search of the crew of a downed ship. A fun adventure featuring paired telepathic twins, giant frogs, killer fungi, and plenty of duplicitous humans.

"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald -- A widowed Irish aristocrat tracks her wayward missing brother across the planet. Along the way she hears tales of his exploits from a cross-section of people who have encountered him over the last fifteen years. At turns funny, violent, and exciting. Expertly narrated by the incomparable Diana Rigg.

"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick -- Scorpio and his telepathic partner Merlyn are hired to find a lost jewel. The only problems are 1) the jewel does not exist; it is the fabrication of a mysterious new alien race, and 2) the client is planning to kill them when the job is done. A rousing throwback sword and planet adventure.

"A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones -- Wealthy adventurer John Forrest travels back in time to ancient Venus, before its crust sealed and made the planet too hot to sustain life. He helps a beautiful lizard-woman reclaim the body of her dead son, sees the genesis of the first spark of life on Earth, and engages in some memorable human-lizard sex.

"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt -- An engineer navigates love, terrorism, and cultural misunderstandings in Venusport. The completion of his project is endangered because the indigenous peoples believe they must dismantle all signs of civilization at the sunset of time, which occurs every 10,000 years. What this story lacks in interesting characters, it tries to make up for with unique world building. A critical plot point is that scientists do not believe Venus rotates. (In fact, we now know it rotates every 243 days.)

"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell -- In this alternate history, WWII has spread to the stars. After Nazis shoot down his rocket ship, the Black pilot Shep and the rest of his white crew are captured by cruel Venusian overlords. This story begins as a pulp adventure but becomes a mediation on colonialism and slavery.

"The Drowned Celestrial" by Lavie Tidhar -- Colt is an gambler and gunfighter on the Venusian frontier. The world may be becoming more modern, but when a dying man crawls into the saloon where Colt is losing at poker, it is a chance for a new adventure. This one involves a witch who speaks for the dead, an army of genetically modified ants, a phoenix-like creature known as a Sun Eater, and the mysterious Roog.

"Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman -- A rescue pilot races to the aid of a team of female researchers on the equator. However, after his ship crashes, the pilot finds he is the one needing to be saved. This story is rather pedestrian. It abruptly ends just as after an unexpected plot twist starts to make it really interesting...

"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason -- Ash, who lives on the American colony, accepts a commission to take three National Geographic correspondents to search for charismatic megafauna. She recruits a wildlife guide and a cook/gunner from the Russian colony. Their trip involves run-ins with dinosaurs, abandoned alien temples, and CIA agents who use roboticized scorpions to wage their version of the Cold War. This premise could have yielded a great pulp adventure story, but it was overly long and anticlimactic.

"Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley -- A researcher tries to figure out what killed a group of Russian miners. Tonally, this story veers between horror and hard sci-fi. It does not work for me. It needs a really clever resolution based on bizarre symbiotic alien life forms and/or biological processes much different than our own.
 
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear -- An archaeologist searches for signs of an ancient civilization near the Cytherean poles, all the while questioning the trajectory of her lesbian love affair. This is an insipid tale highlighted by a fight scene with tigers in a tree.

[Matt Braymiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading short stories for Libriviox.org. Most of the stories I find are from the old pulp magazines, many of which can be found in online archives.

This collection of modern pulp stories revolves around the early science fiction tropes involving the planet Venus. Prior to discovering that Venus is unlike anything it was imagined to be, Venus was a rich source of weird tales.

Many of the stories contained in this collection read like those stories from the 1920's. They feature over the top action, bizarre aliens and critters, and that most intrepid of all action heroes, the man who stares at newts.

In other words, don't come to this collection expecting hard sci-fi. Set the bar lower and you'll enjoy this retro read.

[Samara Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine life on Venus, a tourist attraction planet with unending rain forests. Old Venus is a collection of short stories written by established and award-winning authors from around the world. Each author gives their interpretation of what it would be like to in a (usually human) populated Venusian planet. I really liked this book because you get to see the different thoughts of authors ad get to read the stories through different point of views which to me is a refreshing style to read in. I overall thought it was a great book and I was a big fan of the format the book was written in.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great selection of recently-written stories in the old style, this time based on Venus. If you enjoyed Old Mars, you'll enjoy Old Venus, and vice versa.

As with all anthologies, some stories are better than others, but all are readable, and some are excellent.

[Sigrid Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be a niche, but it's a niche I like. I *especially* liked Tobias Bucknell's piece, and Elizabeth Bear's. Nice job, folks.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as 'Old Mars,' but it was still interesting to revisit the idea of a life-filled Venus.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele (***)

• this first story was ok. It didn't wow me or get me excited for the rest. Kind of a weak story to put first in the collection.

"The Drowned Celestrial" by Lavie Tidhar (**)

• This one wasn't awful but the author often did not separate dialogue into paragraphs and it got confusing who was speaking at times and it ended up being really annoying and distracting me from the story.

"Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley (**)

• I barely remember this one. Kinda meh.

"Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes (*)

• The only one I DNF. It was just trying too hard to be funny and was just awful and annoying.

"A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones (**)

• I feel like this story really needed more time to explore the alien culture. The ending felt rushed and was a little hard to follow.

"Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman (**)

• The only author in the collection I've actually read some of their work. The story started out ok but then too much seemed to happen at the end that was a little rushed.

"Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" by Stephen Leigh (*****)

• My favourite in the collection. There's just something endearing about a guy collecting rocks from significant places in his life and polishing them to see the hidden beauty, even if the event that happened at that particular place was painful.

"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason (****)

• The main character had a talking pet dinosaur. Enough said.

"The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin (***)

• I really loved the whole humans escaping alien invaders by hiding at the bottom of a Venusian ocean.

"By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix (****)

• I loved the interaction between the sibling clones and the little glimpse of life on Venus and the wider Solar System.

"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt (**)

• Found this one quite boring.

"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell (****)

• This story was a sad and intense one. The pov character was a mixed race astronaut who remembers the stories his father and grandfather told him of their family's enslavement. A faraway concept until he crash lands on Venus and becomes a slave himself. There's no happy ending in this story, just a lingering sense of hope and the promise to remember where you came from.

"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear (***)

• There was some aspects of this story I liked  (f/f romance and interaction between the two) but the main character was really annoying and the scene with the tiger things really dragged on.

"The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale (*)

• The style this was written in was really boring and I couldn't get into the plot. It felt like a really bad attempt at a sword fighting fantasy mini epic.

"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick (****)

• A super intriguing plot and an ending that made me wish for more.

"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald (***)

• This one had a bit of a different format to the rest. The story was okay.

[Leigh Kimmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with the stories of the old Solar System from before the first interplanetary probes destroyed the dreams of finding new life and new civilizations right in our astronomical backyard. The worlds where Mars was home to an older and wiser civilization, where Venus was a swampy world of monsters and beautiful people. Where action and adventure was only a few weeks or months away, rather than a centuries-long journey to another star. In our small-town library, books stayed on the shelves until they began to disintegrate, so the classics of SF didn't disappear simply because they had become dated.

And this anthology was like going back down memory lane. I really loved the story that was openly set in the world of CL Moore's Northwest Smith stories, which have fallen into the public domain because of the rules at the time about renewal of copyright. There were other stories that had the flavor of various major authors, from Heinlein's First Future History version of Venus to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Carson of Venus novels, without actually using any copyrighted IP. Other stories gave a nod to the New Venus. In one story, the protagonist travels not only through space, but also through time to a past when Venus was still a lush and dangerous water world. In another, the characters live in a far future when Venus has been terraformed, rather like David Drake's Seas of Venus novels. And the final one seemed to be a retelling of the old action-adventure stories of travel to distant and exotic lands, the sort that are now condemned as Orientalizing and exoticizing -- but since Venusians manifestly do not exist, it's able to fly under the watchful eye of the SJW moral watchdogs.

There was only one story I truly Did Not Like. That's the Bernie Wooster pastiche, which grated on my nerves. By the time I got through it, I was thoroughly sick of all the "right ho" and "what ho" and quite glad to be done with it. However, that's probably more of a personal taste thing, and someone who's a Bernie Wooster fan and also loves stories of the Old Solar System of the pre-spaceflight pulps would probably get a real kick out of it.

[Jeff Frane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never expect to give five stars to an anthology because there will inevitably be a few stories included that I actively dislike or found to be poorly written. This is an amazingly good, consistently entertaining collection of stories that lovingly recreates what Gardner Dozois calls Planetary Romance, set on a Venus as it was fancifully envisioned before science spoiled everything by establishing what a totally hostile, unlivable hellhole the planet actually is.

The stories actually share some elements, which isn't surprising given how Venus was always imagined in the pages of the pulps but the only real consistency is the quality of the storytelling. The editors did a heck of a job recruiting from a really diverse group of writers. Standouts for me include Joe Haldeman, Eleanor Arnason, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Joe R. Lansdale and Ian McDonald, but the most amusing story was a Jeeves & Wooster pastiche by Matthew Hughes.

I could be wrong, but I've always assumed that Gardner Dozois did the heavy lifting on the many anthologies edited by him and George R R Martin. He has, over the years, had a huge impact on sf/f, particularly on short fiction and he will be missed profoundly.

[David Critchfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like its companion anthology, OLD MARS (2013 by the same team of Martin and Dozois), this book’s new stories are of the planet that we’d like to exist, not the one that actually exists. As Dozois explains in the book’s introduction, before 1962 all we had to go on was information obtained from telescopes and so our imaginations ran wild. Beneath that shroud of clouds, anything was possible. Venus could be an ocean world. Where there are clouds there must be water, and perhaps monstrous sea creatures. Or perhaps the world was a hot rain forest. All this was fertile ground for Science Fiction writers and readers!

Then in 1962, American probes crushed those dreams. That cloud cover was composed of sulfuric acid, not water vapor. And with a surface temperature of over 800 degrees, making it hotter than even Mercury, life could not exist.

The stories in this collection ignore those facts and allow us to dream.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2016, Old Venus is an anthology of 16 SF short stories by some of the finest current writers of hard SF, all in the style of the old stories of Venus that used to be so common before the 1960's findings by radio telescopes and space probes dispelled a lot of old theories. These stories tended to regard Venus as being covered in either tropical rain forest, or oceans, or both, beneath perpetually cloudy rainy skies - a perfect setting for a lot of early space romances. The reality of clouds of sulphuric acid, a surface temperature hot enough to melt lead, and atmospheric pressure higher than the bottom of the deepest Earth ocean put paid to that. Nevertheless, the authors have all had a pretty good tab at it, although my personal favourite was David Brin's 'The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss'. Enjoyable.