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Subterfuge
Tales of manipulation and subtlety, of misdirection and Neal Asher, Tony Ballantyne, Pat Cadigan, Gary Couzens, Jaine Fenn, Dave Hutchison, Tanith Lee, Steve Longworth, Una McCormack, Juliet McKenna, John Meaney, Nik Ravenscroft, Sarah Singelton, Neil Williamson, Nick Wood
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 25, 2022
A mixed bag of short SF and fantasy stories. probably worth 3 stars as a whole but gave it an extra star as it contained one of the best short SF stories I've read in a while - The God Particle by Steve Longworth.
For me there were too many fantasy stories that centered around ghosts, ghost ships, and the supernatural. These weren't all bad but just not my cup of tea.
There's a solid offering by Neal Asher, based in his Polity world (The Rhine's World Incident, featuring one of our favourite alien monsters) and the other highlights were 'Time, like an Ever-Rolling Stream' (a time travel story by Nik Ranenscroft), Underbrain (Tony Ballantyne) and Multitude (Dave Hutchinson). The rest were a mixture of OK and meh, just not really SF.
For me there were too many fantasy stories that centered around ghosts, ghost ships, and the supernatural. These weren't all bad but just not my cup of tea.
There's a solid offering by Neal Asher, based in his Polity world (The Rhine's World Incident, featuring one of our favourite alien monsters) and the other highlights were 'Time, like an Ever-Rolling Stream' (a time travel story by Nik Ranenscroft), Underbrain (Tony Ballantyne) and Multitude (Dave Hutchinson). The rest were a mixture of OK and meh, just not really SF.
December 26, 2012
All anthologies inevitably vary in quality and even though I've rated this one five star, there were a few stories I didn't like, but for some reason the theme of subterfuge really works well.
Certainly, the contributors interpreted the theme quite broadly, judging by the variety of the stories. Some barely qualifying to be called SF at all in my opinion, occasionally crossing over into fantasy and horror, though not lacking for quality. Tanith Lee's "Underfog (The Wreckers)" being a case in point. And Dave Hutchinson's "Multitude" found one of the most unusual ways to combine science and fantasy I have ever encountered. Others, on the other hand, were firmly planted on familiar SF ground (though not lacking in imaginative power), such as John Meaney's "Emptier than Void" and Neal Asher's "The Rhine's World Incident".
Among my favourite stories in here I should definitely mention Tony Ballantyne's "Underbrain", Juliet McKenna's "Noble Deceit" and Nik Ravenscroft's "Time, Like an Ever-Rolling Stream".
I would love to see Ian Whates revisit this theme, perhaps with a "Future Subterfuge" anthology? ~nudge, nudge~
Certainly, the contributors interpreted the theme quite broadly, judging by the variety of the stories. Some barely qualifying to be called SF at all in my opinion, occasionally crossing over into fantasy and horror, though not lacking for quality. Tanith Lee's "Underfog (The Wreckers)" being a case in point. And Dave Hutchinson's "Multitude" found one of the most unusual ways to combine science and fantasy I have ever encountered. Others, on the other hand, were firmly planted on familiar SF ground (though not lacking in imaginative power), such as John Meaney's "Emptier than Void" and Neal Asher's "The Rhine's World Incident".
Among my favourite stories in here I should definitely mention Tony Ballantyne's "Underbrain", Juliet McKenna's "Noble Deceit" and Nik Ravenscroft's "Time, Like an Ever-Rolling Stream".
I would love to see Ian Whates revisit this theme, perhaps with a "Future Subterfuge" anthology? ~nudge, nudge~
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews