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The Machineries of Empire #- The Chameleon's Gloves
Cosmic Powers: The Saga Anthology of Far-Away Galaxies
A collection of original, epic science fiction stories by some of today’s best writers—for fans who want a little less science and a lot more action—and edited by two-time Hugo Award winner John Joseph Adams.
Inspired by movies like The Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars, this anthology features brand-new stories from some of science fiction’s best authors including Dan Abnett, Jack Campbell, Linda Nagata, Seanan McGuire, Alan Dean Foster, Charlie Jane Anders, Kameron Hurley, and many others.
Compilation and introduction © 2017 by John Joseph Adams
“A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” © 2017 by Charlie Jane Anders.
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” © 2017 by Tobias S. Buckell
“The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts” © 2017 by Becky Chambers
“The Sighted Watchmaker” © 2011 by Vylar Kaftan. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Infinite Love Engine” © 2017 by Joseph Allen Hill. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Unfamiliar Gods” © 2017 by Adam-Troy Castro & Judi B. Castro
“Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World” © 2015 by Caroline M. Yoachim. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Our Specialty Is Xenogeology” © 2017 by Alan Dean Foster
“Golden Ring” © 2017 by Karl Schroeder
“Tomorrow When We See the Sun” © 2015 by A. Merc Rustad. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!” © 2017 by Seanan McGuire
“The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun” © 2017 by Aliette de Bodard.
“Diamond and the World Breaker” © 2017 by Linda Nagata
“The Chameleon’s Gloves” © 2017 by Yoon Ha Lee
“The Universe, Sung in Stars” © 2015 by Kat Howard. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Wakening Ouroboros” © 2017 by Jack Campbell
“Warped Passages” © 2017 by Kameron Hurley
“The Frost Giant’s Data” © 2017 by Dan Abnett.
Inspired by movies like The Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars, this anthology features brand-new stories from some of science fiction’s best authors including Dan Abnett, Jack Campbell, Linda Nagata, Seanan McGuire, Alan Dean Foster, Charlie Jane Anders, Kameron Hurley, and many others.
Compilation and introduction © 2017 by John Joseph Adams
“A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” © 2017 by Charlie Jane Anders.
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” © 2017 by Tobias S. Buckell
“The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts” © 2017 by Becky Chambers
“The Sighted Watchmaker” © 2011 by Vylar Kaftan. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Infinite Love Engine” © 2017 by Joseph Allen Hill. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Unfamiliar Gods” © 2017 by Adam-Troy Castro & Judi B. Castro
“Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World” © 2015 by Caroline M. Yoachim. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Our Specialty Is Xenogeology” © 2017 by Alan Dean Foster
“Golden Ring” © 2017 by Karl Schroeder
“Tomorrow When We See the Sun” © 2015 by A. Merc Rustad. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!” © 2017 by Seanan McGuire
“The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun” © 2017 by Aliette de Bodard.
“Diamond and the World Breaker” © 2017 by Linda Nagata
“The Chameleon’s Gloves” © 2017 by Yoon Ha Lee
“The Universe, Sung in Stars” © 2015 by Kat Howard. Originally published in Lightspeed
“Wakening Ouroboros” © 2017 by Jack Campbell
“Warped Passages” © 2017 by Kameron Hurley
“The Frost Giant’s Data” © 2017 by Dan Abnett.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 18, 2017
65 people are currently reading
1283 people want to read
About the author
John Joseph Adams
367 books982 followersJohn Joseph Adams is the series editor of BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. He is also the bestselling editor of many other anthologies, such as ROBOT UPRISINGS, DEAD MAN'S HAND, BRAVE NEW WORLDS,WASTELANDS, and THE LIVING DEAD. Recent and forthcoming books include WHAT THE #@&% IS THAT?, OPERATION ARCANA, PRESS START TO PLAY, LOOSED UPON THE WORLD, and THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH (consisting of THE END IS NIGH, THE END IS NOW, and THE END HAS COME). Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award (for which he has been nominated nine times), is a seven-time World Fantasy Award finalist, and served as a judge for the 2015 National Book Award. John is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines LIGHTSPEED and NIGHTMARE, and is a producer for Wired's THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY podcast. You can find him online at www.johnjosephadams.com and on Twitter @JohnJosephAdams.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
August 20, 2018
Overall this was just an OK collection for me. There were more stories that I didn't much care for than those I did. The ones I liked best were The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts; and The Chameleon's Gloves.
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders - This was OK, but I'm not really a fan of humorous or zany satirical SF.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Bucknell - This one I quite liked. A maintenance robot goes toe to toe with a snobby cybernetic preservationist human, with expected results.
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers - Nice! A chosen one story, but done Chambers-style.
The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan - A cosmic creator learns the ultimate lesson of parenting, and makes the final transition from child to parent itself.
Infinite Love Engine by Joseph Allen Hill - Weird SF, like a drink flavoured with Kool Aid, neither of which are really my thing to be honest.
Unfamiliar Gods by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro - The problem with all-powerful beings is that they can be very literal, and sometimes they give you exactly what you ask for.
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Carolyn M. Yoachim - Another circular exploration/creation type story. I admit these are really not my thing.
Our Specialty is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster - Meh. I liked the set up but (somewhat ironically) not the follow through: "...for a human, at least, the hardest thing to do was to confront a question and fear never being able to learn the answer."
Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder - "The rational actor chooses to maximize her own utility." Ugh. Economic theory in action in an SF story. Did not care for this one.
Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad - I didn’t love the story, which was very sad, but the writing was quite lyrical and poetic.
Your eyes, grace touched/forever refuge
We will live together
Tomorrow/when we see the sun
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire - A funny little story told in typical McGuire fashion.
The Dragon That Flew Out of The Sun by Aliette de Bodard - A sad story trying to make sense of war, where no real sense can be made.
Diamond and the World Breaker by Linda Nagata - A little chaos is required in order for people to be happy, and also provides a way for a mother and daughter to bond. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee - I really liked this one. A lot of character development and excitement packed into a very complete feeling story.
The Universe, Sung in Stars by Kat Howard - A nicely written story, although there isn't a lot to it.
Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell - Not bad; the last two immortal humans try to save their world and recapture their reason for living: "Too many people, too many memories. Nobody noticed. After a few million years, most days are pretty much the same."
Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley - An origin story for The Stars Are Legion. This would be useful backstory for anyone reading that book.
The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett - The idea was fine, a break-in to a giant data security vault, but the story was just OK for me.
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders - This was OK, but I'm not really a fan of humorous or zany satirical SF.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Bucknell - This one I quite liked. A maintenance robot goes toe to toe with a snobby cybernetic preservationist human, with expected results.
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers - Nice! A chosen one story, but done Chambers-style.
The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan - A cosmic creator learns the ultimate lesson of parenting, and makes the final transition from child to parent itself.
Infinite Love Engine by Joseph Allen Hill - Weird SF, like a drink flavoured with Kool Aid, neither of which are really my thing to be honest.
Unfamiliar Gods by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro - The problem with all-powerful beings is that they can be very literal, and sometimes they give you exactly what you ask for.
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Carolyn M. Yoachim - Another circular exploration/creation type story. I admit these are really not my thing.
Our Specialty is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster - Meh. I liked the set up but (somewhat ironically) not the follow through: "...for a human, at least, the hardest thing to do was to confront a question and fear never being able to learn the answer."
Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder - "The rational actor chooses to maximize her own utility." Ugh. Economic theory in action in an SF story. Did not care for this one.
Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad - I didn’t love the story, which was very sad, but the writing was quite lyrical and poetic.
Your eyes, grace touched/forever refuge
We will live together
Tomorrow/when we see the sun
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire - A funny little story told in typical McGuire fashion.
The Dragon That Flew Out of The Sun by Aliette de Bodard - A sad story trying to make sense of war, where no real sense can be made.
Diamond and the World Breaker by Linda Nagata - A little chaos is required in order for people to be happy, and also provides a way for a mother and daughter to bond. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee - I really liked this one. A lot of character development and excitement packed into a very complete feeling story.
The Universe, Sung in Stars by Kat Howard - A nicely written story, although there isn't a lot to it.
Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell - Not bad; the last two immortal humans try to save their world and recapture their reason for living: "Too many people, too many memories. Nobody noticed. After a few million years, most days are pretty much the same."
Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley - An origin story for The Stars Are Legion. This would be useful backstory for anyone reading that book.
The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett - The idea was fine, a break-in to a giant data security vault, but the story was just OK for me.
July 31, 2017
A wonderful anthology of science fiction and fantasy with a view towards the widest scopes. It's not all on a cosmic space or time scope, but it's definitely all playing to the theme. There's a wide range in tone as well, with some being very hard science fiction, a couple of laugh-out-loud funny stories and a few that are touching and sweet.
As with all anthologies, the quality is somewhat uneven and naturally subjective, but there were only a few stories I really didn't care for and some of the highlights are going to stick with me for a while. There are summaries of what I thought of each story in my updates for the book, but I'll give my highlights here and then list my ratings for individual stories.
"The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts" by Becky Chambers
Chambers seems to be a polarizing author. A lot of people don't seem to like SF stories that are light on SF but heavy on positivity. This story fits well into her wheel-house and as a fan of this author's novels this is more of what I love from her. It's structured as the journal of a self-effacing ordinary person who gets to be the chosen one in a plot that could have been lifted from an anime. When the deckhand realizes that her journal is being read by a censor she starts using it to engage in a one-sided conversation/confessional.
"Tomorrow When We See the Sun" by A. Merc Rustad
As I said in my update for this, it takes a lot to get me engaged in a post-singularity story as the concerns of such beings seem alien and largely irrelevant to anything meaningful for the reader, but this one pulls off the trick brilliantly. From the main character's odd way of talking (explained later in the piece), to its construction and purpose and its constant rebelling against the role it is forced to play ... I found in profoundly engaging. I think this author is one to watch.
There's also a few stories in here that are worth calling out because of how they play with the theme, including the hilarious "A Temporary Embarassment in Spactime" and "Infinite Love Engine". If you don't like humor in your SF, then I recommend skipping them, but if you do there's some fine work here. Also the story "The Universe, Sung in Stars" isn't at all science fiction, playing with the concept of keepers of universes, pocket galaxies and orreries of real stars. It's also really sweet.
Ranked
★★★★★
"The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts" by Becky Chambers
"Tomorrow When We See the Sun" by A. Merc Rustad
★★★★☆
"A Temporary Embarassment in Spactime" by Charlie Jane Anders
"Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance" by Tobias S. Buckell
"Infinite Love Engine" by Joseph Allen Hill
"The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun" by Aliette de Bodard
"The Universe, Sung in Stars" by Kat Howard
★★★☆☆
"Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World" by Caroline M. Yoachim
"Golden Ring" by Karl Schroeder
"Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!" by Seanan McGuire
"Diamond and the World Breaker" by Linda Nagata
"The Chameleon's Gloves" by Yoon Ha Lee
"Warped Passages" by Kameron Hurley
"The Frost Giant's Data" by Dan Abnett
"Wakening Ouroboros" by Jack Campbell
★★☆☆☆
"Our Speciality is Xenogeology" by Alan Dean Foster
★☆☆☆☆
"The Sighted Watchmaker" by Vylar Kaftan
"Unfamiliar Gods" by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro
As with all anthologies, the quality is somewhat uneven and naturally subjective, but there were only a few stories I really didn't care for and some of the highlights are going to stick with me for a while. There are summaries of what I thought of each story in my updates for the book, but I'll give my highlights here and then list my ratings for individual stories.
"The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts" by Becky Chambers
Chambers seems to be a polarizing author. A lot of people don't seem to like SF stories that are light on SF but heavy on positivity. This story fits well into her wheel-house and as a fan of this author's novels this is more of what I love from her. It's structured as the journal of a self-effacing ordinary person who gets to be the chosen one in a plot that could have been lifted from an anime. When the deckhand realizes that her journal is being read by a censor she starts using it to engage in a one-sided conversation/confessional.
"Tomorrow When We See the Sun" by A. Merc Rustad
As I said in my update for this, it takes a lot to get me engaged in a post-singularity story as the concerns of such beings seem alien and largely irrelevant to anything meaningful for the reader, but this one pulls off the trick brilliantly. From the main character's odd way of talking (explained later in the piece), to its construction and purpose and its constant rebelling against the role it is forced to play ... I found in profoundly engaging. I think this author is one to watch.
There's also a few stories in here that are worth calling out because of how they play with the theme, including the hilarious "A Temporary Embarassment in Spactime" and "Infinite Love Engine". If you don't like humor in your SF, then I recommend skipping them, but if you do there's some fine work here. Also the story "The Universe, Sung in Stars" isn't at all science fiction, playing with the concept of keepers of universes, pocket galaxies and orreries of real stars. It's also really sweet.
Ranked
★★★★★
"The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts" by Becky Chambers
"Tomorrow When We See the Sun" by A. Merc Rustad
★★★★☆
"A Temporary Embarassment in Spactime" by Charlie Jane Anders
"Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance" by Tobias S. Buckell
"Infinite Love Engine" by Joseph Allen Hill
"The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun" by Aliette de Bodard
"The Universe, Sung in Stars" by Kat Howard
★★★☆☆
"Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World" by Caroline M. Yoachim
"Golden Ring" by Karl Schroeder
"Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!" by Seanan McGuire
"Diamond and the World Breaker" by Linda Nagata
"The Chameleon's Gloves" by Yoon Ha Lee
"Warped Passages" by Kameron Hurley
"The Frost Giant's Data" by Dan Abnett
"Wakening Ouroboros" by Jack Campbell
★★☆☆☆
"Our Speciality is Xenogeology" by Alan Dean Foster
★☆☆☆☆
"The Sighted Watchmaker" by Vylar Kaftan
"Unfamiliar Gods" by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro
May 4, 2022
Interesting anthology of new, previously-unpublished stories. I liked some more than others. Overall, 3.3 stars?
For me, the standouts were:
* “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” by Tobias S. Buckell. Classic biter-bit tale, in a posthuman, post space-war setting. With one nasty throwback onscreen. Tasty stuff: 5 stars! Also available online at http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
Easily the best in the book!
* "The Chameleon's Gloves" by Yoon Ha Lee. An interrupted art-heist becomes a mission to save-the-universe from a prototype superweapon. Backstory is confusing, as are the names and personal pronouns, but the action is fast and furious. Set in the author’s "Ninefox Gambit" universe. Solid 4 stars. Online now, https://www.uncannymagazine.com/artic...
* “A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” by Charlie Jane Anders. Silly mock-space opera, subject to the usual humor caveat. I liked it. 3.8 stars. Online reprint: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
* "Wakening Ouroboros" by Jack Campbell. An old-fashioned heat-death of the universe space opera. The last two people alive are in a locked world…. 3.5 stars.
* "The Frost Giant's Data" by Dan Abnett. Over the top story about hacking into a world-size data-store. It gets personal. 3.3 Stars. Audio: http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2017...
*"Infinite Love Engine" by Joseph Allen Hill. Like, totally dope. Silly and confusing. 3 stars?
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
* "Tomorrow When We See the Sun" by A. Merc Rustad. I wanted to like this complex but confusing story, but gave up. DNF, unrated.
The Duds
"Unfamiliar Gods" by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro. 1 star, ghastly characters, horrible religion, hated it.
Mention should must be made of the, erm, very *colorful* cover art, by Chris Foss. Sort of a West Coast psychedelic version of a Baen cover, maybe a space fighter-bomber?? With what appears to be a CRT television, in track-mounted armor, on the port side. "Artist's concept".
For me, the standouts were:
* “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” by Tobias S. Buckell. Classic biter-bit tale, in a posthuman, post space-war setting. With one nasty throwback onscreen. Tasty stuff: 5 stars! Also available online at http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
Easily the best in the book!
* "The Chameleon's Gloves" by Yoon Ha Lee. An interrupted art-heist becomes a mission to save-the-universe from a prototype superweapon. Backstory is confusing, as are the names and personal pronouns, but the action is fast and furious. Set in the author’s "Ninefox Gambit" universe. Solid 4 stars. Online now, https://www.uncannymagazine.com/artic...
* “A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” by Charlie Jane Anders. Silly mock-space opera, subject to the usual humor caveat. I liked it. 3.8 stars. Online reprint: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
* "Wakening Ouroboros" by Jack Campbell. An old-fashioned heat-death of the universe space opera. The last two people alive are in a locked world…. 3.5 stars.
* "The Frost Giant's Data" by Dan Abnett. Over the top story about hacking into a world-size data-store. It gets personal. 3.3 Stars. Audio: http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2017...
*"Infinite Love Engine" by Joseph Allen Hill. Like, totally dope. Silly and confusing. 3 stars?
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
* "Tomorrow When We See the Sun" by A. Merc Rustad. I wanted to like this complex but confusing story, but gave up. DNF, unrated.
The Duds
"Unfamiliar Gods" by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro. 1 star, ghastly characters, horrible religion, hated it.
Mention should must be made of the, erm, very *colorful* cover art, by Chris Foss. Sort of a West Coast psychedelic version of a Baen cover, maybe a space fighter-bomber?? With what appears to be a CRT television, in track-mounted armor, on the port side. "Artist's concept".
August 7, 2017
Like all collections/anthologies this one has some winners and some losers but the good far outweighs the bad in this collection of stories from some very talented writers!
June 24, 2017
Some good stories but overall a bit underwhelming. 18 stories with a combined rating of 55 stars out of a possible 90 gave the average rating a 3.05. The following is the stories ranked from most liked to least liked:
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S Buckell - 5 Stars - Exquisite world building
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders - 5 Stars - Hilarious
Unfamiliar Gods by Adam Troy Castro & Judi B. Castro - 4 Stars - Hilarious and Unforgettable
The Deckhand, The Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers - 4 Stars - Log entries of an insecure prophecied one
Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley - 4 Stars - An engrossing prequel to The Stars are Legion
The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan - 3 Stars - A creator watches his creations on his planet, great idea.
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Caroline M. Yoachim - 3 Stars - Highly epic, spanning many millennia
Our Specialty is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster - 3 Stars - A good should they or shouldn't they first contact story without actual contact.
Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder - 3 Stars - A highly intelligent story missing an emotional element
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Travelling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire - 3 Stars - Great story but an abrupt ending
Diamond and the Wind Breaker by Linda Nagata - 3 Stars
Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell - 3 Stars - Good story
Infinite Love Engine by Joseph Allen Hill - 2 Stars
Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad - 2 Stars - Went way over my head but I could see shimmers of brilliance in it.
The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun by Aliette De Bodard - 2 Stars - No connection to the story
The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee - 2 Stars - Connected to his Empires of Machinery series but I had a hard time understanding it.
The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett - 1 Star - Didn't finish it. Probably has something to do with being the last story.
I think that more experienced sci-fi readers will like some of the stories I gave a 2 star rating to. Honestly, a few of those stories were just too complicated for me, and require a reread. The Rustad and Lee stories, in particular, were difficult reads for me. Good anthology overall.
3/5
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S Buckell - 5 Stars - Exquisite world building
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders - 5 Stars - Hilarious
Unfamiliar Gods by Adam Troy Castro & Judi B. Castro - 4 Stars - Hilarious and Unforgettable
The Deckhand, The Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers - 4 Stars - Log entries of an insecure prophecied one
Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley - 4 Stars - An engrossing prequel to The Stars are Legion
The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan - 3 Stars - A creator watches his creations on his planet, great idea.
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Caroline M. Yoachim - 3 Stars - Highly epic, spanning many millennia
Our Specialty is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster - 3 Stars - A good should they or shouldn't they first contact story without actual contact.
Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder - 3 Stars - A highly intelligent story missing an emotional element
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Travelling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire - 3 Stars - Great story but an abrupt ending
Diamond and the Wind Breaker by Linda Nagata - 3 Stars
Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell - 3 Stars - Good story
Infinite Love Engine by Joseph Allen Hill - 2 Stars
Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad - 2 Stars - Went way over my head but I could see shimmers of brilliance in it.
The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun by Aliette De Bodard - 2 Stars - No connection to the story
The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee - 2 Stars - Connected to his Empires of Machinery series but I had a hard time understanding it.
The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett - 1 Star - Didn't finish it. Probably has something to do with being the last story.
I think that more experienced sci-fi readers will like some of the stories I gave a 2 star rating to. Honestly, a few of those stories were just too complicated for me, and require a reread. The Rustad and Lee stories, in particular, were difficult reads for me. Good anthology overall.
3/5
April 29, 2017
This is just one kickass good anthology. Go buy a copy in your preferred format now.
Okay, okay, you want to know more.
Every one of these stories is, as advertised, far-future, galaxy-spanning, and involves people confronting huge problems caused by technology, in some cases so advanced as to be, as Arthur C. Clarke said, "indistinguishable from magic."
They vary wildly in tone, also.
Charlie Jan Anders' "A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime" is just really funny.
"The Chameleon's Gloves" by Yoon Ha Lee features an interstellar thief saddled with the unenviable job of committing one theft not for profit but to prevent the deaths of billions. I hadn't been attracted to what I've heard of Ninefox Gambit, but now I very much want to read it.
"Diamond and the Worldbreaker" by Linda Nagata gives us a twelve-year-old who just wanted a chance to be the bad guy for once, and her mother whose job it is to prevent the kind of chaos created by the kind of "bad guy" her daughter admires.
In Vylar Kaftan's "The Sighted Watchmaker," Umos has the responsibility of tending a planet through its evolution, and wishes he could have the guidance of the Makers. But who are the Makers? Meanwhile, Seanan McGuire's "Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair" is straight up adventure.
There's more variety and excellent storytelling in store as well.
It's rare that I've enjoyed an anthology so thoroughly, and Yoon Ha Lee isn't the only author represented here for whom I will be seeking out more work when I previously had my doubts.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
Okay, okay, you want to know more.
Every one of these stories is, as advertised, far-future, galaxy-spanning, and involves people confronting huge problems caused by technology, in some cases so advanced as to be, as Arthur C. Clarke said, "indistinguishable from magic."
They vary wildly in tone, also.
Charlie Jan Anders' "A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime" is just really funny.
"The Chameleon's Gloves" by Yoon Ha Lee features an interstellar thief saddled with the unenviable job of committing one theft not for profit but to prevent the deaths of billions. I hadn't been attracted to what I've heard of Ninefox Gambit, but now I very much want to read it.
"Diamond and the Worldbreaker" by Linda Nagata gives us a twelve-year-old who just wanted a chance to be the bad guy for once, and her mother whose job it is to prevent the kind of chaos created by the kind of "bad guy" her daughter admires.
In Vylar Kaftan's "The Sighted Watchmaker," Umos has the responsibility of tending a planet through its evolution, and wishes he could have the guidance of the Makers. But who are the Makers? Meanwhile, Seanan McGuire's "Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair" is straight up adventure.
There's more variety and excellent storytelling in store as well.
It's rare that I've enjoyed an anthology so thoroughly, and Yoon Ha Lee isn't the only author represented here for whom I will be seeking out more work when I previously had my doubts.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
March 14, 2020
Cosmic Powers is an anthology of sci-fi stories from 18 different authors; many of them were new to me.
I found it kind of disappointing: there were many stories I couldn't even get into; not all of them were necessarily bad, some were just really not my kind of sci-fi. On the other hand, the stories I was looking forward to were just as good as I expected.
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders: ★½ DNF
Charlie Jane Anders' writing really isn't for me, I already knew that because I tried her Nebula-winning novel All the Birds in the Sky and couldn't get past the first chapter, and I couldn't complete this story either: it's a space comedy set around an eldritch orbiting mass, and I get tired of comedy after a few pages. Not for me; I gave it one and a half stars because it had some genuinely funny moments.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell: ★★★★
While the worldbuilding was confusing at first, I loved the writing and the themes. This is a story of a crab-like maintenance form that contains a human mind and a human CEO who believes every mind who does not reside in a flesh-and-bone body is inferior. It's a fascinating far-future sci-fi story which raises some really interesting questions about what it means to be human.
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers: ★★★½
While the narration and the diary format were intriguing, the story itself was not: it's a chosen one narrative played straight, with no twists ever, which makes it quite predictable but also an easy read. I think that just like The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, this is supposed to be heartwarming and I just don't get why. It wasn't bad at all, the writing was fine and I liked the main character's voice, but it felt meaningless to me.
The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan: ★★½
I didn't get this one. I think it was meant to be a story about god and... sci-fi theology themes? Growing up as a species? Whether or not evolution can work if it's controlled by a god-like entity, maybe. I don't know, I found it quite confusing even if it had some interesting parts.
Infinite Love Engine by Violet Allen: ★ DNF
Really couldn't get into this. Comedy, again? I don't know, I felt like it was trying to be funny and failing.
Unfamiliar Gods by Adam Troy Castro and Judy B. Castro: ★ DNF
Another one I couldn't get into. Yes, there are many of them. The first pages of this were disturbing and not in a good way; again, I felt like the narration was trying to be funny and it didn't work.
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Caroline M. Yoachim: ★★★
It was too long and got confusing near the end; otherwise, this was a really interesting story. It follows Mei, a scientist who is dreaming of other worlds and wants to travel through space faster than light. It had beautiful descriptions: magical temples, spaceships, towers on the Europa moon.
Our Specialty Is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster: ★ DNF
I couldn't get into this one either, I tried multiple times, but I didn't like the writing and I couldn't make it past three pages. I also didn't care.
Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder: ★ DNF
A freezing world and a walking sun. Or so I think, because I understood nothing and what I understood wasn't that interesting anyway. Not my kind of sci-fi.
Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad: ★★★★¾
According to this story, space is non-binary and very pretty. I agree.
This follows a Wraith - an organic drone - who works as an executioner and is trying not to get its and the dead's memories erased. It took me some time to understand what was going on, but I didn't mind that because the descriptions were beautiful. Also, eel spaceships and so many non-binary characters.
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire: ★★★★½
A clone is fighting against her identical sister in a Dyson sphere, escaping with a scientist and trying to repair the gravity support. It was a fun, fast-paced story with a lot of action, and Seanan McGuire's writing is great as usual. I don't exactly understand what the title has to do with the story (yes, I know the main character has a traveling funfair, but it's not actually part of the story).
The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun by Aliette de Bodard: ★★★★¾
Another short story in the Xuya (Vietnamese-inspired space opera) universe, of course I loved it. This is about the aftermath of war, displacement, the lack of meaning of conflicts and what repercussions these have on the following generations and their myths. I love Aliette de Bodard's writing and the imagery of this story.
Diamond and the World Breaker by Linda Nagata: ★★★★¼
A story about a group of worlds who are trying not to become an utopian society to become a better society - which was an interesting concept and is less complicated than it sounds - and about a mother and a daughter who have to work together to avoid disaster, even though they're almost never on the same side. I really like mother-daughter stories and this was no exception.
The Chamaleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee: ★★★★★
This story is set in the Machineries of Empire universe and it's the main reason I bough the anthology. Of course, it didn't disappoint. Unlike the other two short stories I read from this universe, this didn't follow a character we know from the novels, but an alt (non-binary person in the Hexarchate) who has been exiled by the Kel (military faction) and is now an art thief to make a living—until the Kel claim to want them back. I love the themes of loyalty/betrayal that Lee's space stories often have, and the writing was as good as it usually is; also, it was really interesting to learn more about the Kel.
The Universe, Sung in Stars by Kat Howard: ★★★★★
This was as beautiful as it was short and now I want to read more by Kat Howard (I'll try to get to An Unkindness of Magicians this year). This story is about a world where people can wear galaxies in their hair and stars on their necks, where universes sing and the main character builds orreries to replicate them.
Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell: ★★
A story about choices set at the end of the world and told from the point of view of the two last humans. I mostly skimmed it, as I found it boring and didn't like the writing.
Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley: ★★★★★
This is a prequel story to one of my favorite sci-fi books, The Stars Are Legion. It follows two sisters (Kariz and Malati Bhavaja) who are trying to escape the legion, ships who have been trapped by an alien entity and whose engines don't work anymore. And now I think I know who built the Mokshi and what the ships are like (giant organs that were eaten by a weird cephalopod-like parasitic entity? It always gets weirder and I love it). Just like The Stars Are Legion, it's a story about agency/free will and family.
The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett: ★ DNF
Another I could not get into and another in which I didn't like the writing style.
I had never found another anthology in which I really didn't like this many short stories, but I also found some new favorites, so I'm not completely disappointed.
The average rating was 3.04
I found it kind of disappointing: there were many stories I couldn't even get into; not all of them were necessarily bad, some were just really not my kind of sci-fi. On the other hand, the stories I was looking forward to were just as good as I expected.
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders: ★½ DNF
Charlie Jane Anders' writing really isn't for me, I already knew that because I tried her Nebula-winning novel All the Birds in the Sky and couldn't get past the first chapter, and I couldn't complete this story either: it's a space comedy set around an eldritch orbiting mass, and I get tired of comedy after a few pages. Not for me; I gave it one and a half stars because it had some genuinely funny moments.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell: ★★★★
While the worldbuilding was confusing at first, I loved the writing and the themes. This is a story of a crab-like maintenance form that contains a human mind and a human CEO who believes every mind who does not reside in a flesh-and-bone body is inferior. It's a fascinating far-future sci-fi story which raises some really interesting questions about what it means to be human.
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers: ★★★½
While the narration and the diary format were intriguing, the story itself was not: it's a chosen one narrative played straight, with no twists ever, which makes it quite predictable but also an easy read. I think that just like The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, this is supposed to be heartwarming and I just don't get why. It wasn't bad at all, the writing was fine and I liked the main character's voice, but it felt meaningless to me.
The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan: ★★½
I didn't get this one. I think it was meant to be a story about god and... sci-fi theology themes? Growing up as a species? Whether or not evolution can work if it's controlled by a god-like entity, maybe. I don't know, I found it quite confusing even if it had some interesting parts.
Infinite Love Engine by Violet Allen: ★ DNF
Really couldn't get into this. Comedy, again? I don't know, I felt like it was trying to be funny and failing.
Unfamiliar Gods by Adam Troy Castro and Judy B. Castro: ★ DNF
Another one I couldn't get into. Yes, there are many of them. The first pages of this were disturbing and not in a good way; again, I felt like the narration was trying to be funny and it didn't work.
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Caroline M. Yoachim: ★★★
It was too long and got confusing near the end; otherwise, this was a really interesting story. It follows Mei, a scientist who is dreaming of other worlds and wants to travel through space faster than light. It had beautiful descriptions: magical temples, spaceships, towers on the Europa moon.
Our Specialty Is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster: ★ DNF
I couldn't get into this one either, I tried multiple times, but I didn't like the writing and I couldn't make it past three pages. I also didn't care.
Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder: ★ DNF
A freezing world and a walking sun. Or so I think, because I understood nothing and what I understood wasn't that interesting anyway. Not my kind of sci-fi.
Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad: ★★★★¾
According to this story, space is non-binary and very pretty. I agree.
This follows a Wraith - an organic drone - who works as an executioner and is trying not to get its and the dead's memories erased. It took me some time to understand what was going on, but I didn't mind that because the descriptions were beautiful. Also, eel spaceships and so many non-binary characters.
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire: ★★★★½
A clone is fighting against her identical sister in a Dyson sphere, escaping with a scientist and trying to repair the gravity support. It was a fun, fast-paced story with a lot of action, and Seanan McGuire's writing is great as usual. I don't exactly understand what the title has to do with the story (yes, I know the main character has a traveling funfair, but it's not actually part of the story).
The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun by Aliette de Bodard: ★★★★¾
Another short story in the Xuya (Vietnamese-inspired space opera) universe, of course I loved it. This is about the aftermath of war, displacement, the lack of meaning of conflicts and what repercussions these have on the following generations and their myths. I love Aliette de Bodard's writing and the imagery of this story.
Diamond and the World Breaker by Linda Nagata: ★★★★¼
A story about a group of worlds who are trying not to become an utopian society to become a better society - which was an interesting concept and is less complicated than it sounds - and about a mother and a daughter who have to work together to avoid disaster, even though they're almost never on the same side. I really like mother-daughter stories and this was no exception.
The Chamaleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee: ★★★★★
This story is set in the Machineries of Empire universe and it's the main reason I bough the anthology. Of course, it didn't disappoint. Unlike the other two short stories I read from this universe, this didn't follow a character we know from the novels, but an alt (non-binary person in the Hexarchate) who has been exiled by the Kel (military faction) and is now an art thief to make a living—until the Kel claim to want them back. I love the themes of loyalty/betrayal that Lee's space stories often have, and the writing was as good as it usually is; also, it was really interesting to learn more about the Kel.
The Universe, Sung in Stars by Kat Howard: ★★★★★
This was as beautiful as it was short and now I want to read more by Kat Howard (I'll try to get to An Unkindness of Magicians this year). This story is about a world where people can wear galaxies in their hair and stars on their necks, where universes sing and the main character builds orreries to replicate them.
Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell: ★★
A story about choices set at the end of the world and told from the point of view of the two last humans. I mostly skimmed it, as I found it boring and didn't like the writing.
Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley: ★★★★★
This is a prequel story to one of my favorite sci-fi books, The Stars Are Legion. It follows two sisters (Kariz and Malati Bhavaja) who are trying to escape the legion, ships who have been trapped by an alien entity and whose engines don't work anymore. And now I think I know who built the Mokshi and what the ships are like (giant organs that were eaten by a weird cephalopod-like parasitic entity? It always gets weirder and I love it). Just like The Stars Are Legion, it's a story about agency/free will and family.
The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett: ★ DNF
Another I could not get into and another in which I didn't like the writing style.
I had never found another anthology in which I really didn't like this many short stories, but I also found some new favorites, so I'm not completely disappointed.
The average rating was 3.04
August 4, 2018
Absolutely fantastic! A wonderful and deliciously rich story, from beginning to end. Buckell is sure to gift us some amazing ideas, and I very much look forward to reading more from him.
Read
June 14, 2018Ok, so I didn’t technically read all the stories. Which is silly, because I was really enjoying them, but it was due back at the library, and couldn’t be renewed, and I dunno, there’s so many other books to read! And I’d read the Becky Chambers story that has prompted me to get in the first place! That said, I enjoyed what I read very much, and if my path crosses it again I’ll finish it!
November 14, 2022
I didn't enjoy any of the stories in this anthology, but it was informative as to which sort of absurdities I can tolerate, let alone appreciate. The title was accurate. All of the stories either were at a cosmic scale. There were space ship fleets that had trillions of passenger or the story took place over the course of literally billions of years. There were also beings of cosmic power whether through planetary size, deific status, or technology. The foreword says the purpose was to instill a "sensawunda" (sense of wonder) in a similar way that the works of his childhood did.
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime - Charlie Jane Anders (2017)
This begins with an escape from a galactic cult of personality that's beyond caricature. It's supposed to comedic with its references and memes, but it was too ridiculous for me to handle. The other place they go is a libertine cult of the worst sort. The entire story is so gaudy and self-righteous.
Blah
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - Tobias S. Buckell (2017)
A former flesh form that exchanged free will for immortality as a spaceship hull maintenance bot ponders what to do about a flesh form CEO requesting aid following a battle between their space fleets that have trillions in population.
Ok
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - Becky Chambers (2017)
This is an epistolary story told through com logs in pen pal format without any response. A spaceship deckhand, basically a janitor, just wants to get high in peace and slack off. Much to their confusion and reluctance they become The Chosen One of The Thrice-Sung Texts who must wield The Nova Blade to defeat the evil space monsters that devour all. All of this is told rather than shown. It's a very flippant story, but not quite to the point of writing something like, "Dear diary, today I like totally became the savior of humanity and stuff. It was a real girl boss mood frfr. There I was vibing while SLAAAAYYING those omg cringe ngl monsters with the Nova Blade and the scruffy armory guy gave me such a thirsty look. He's so down bad for me. I had sex with him later. It was ok." I don't consider it that far off though, as the preceding text is an exaggeration rather than fabrication.
Meh
The Sighted Watchmaker - Vylar Kaftan (2011)
An entity oversees the eons-long process of creating new super intelligent life from nothingness through evolution.
Ok
Infinite Love Engine - Joseph Allen Hill (2017)
Imagine a person who was reading Golden Age SF, playing avant-garde videogames, watching strange cartoons/anime, scrolling through social media, then took a multitude of psychedelics and fell into a fever dream. This was really weird. The height of the weirdness was the induced menstruation as a form of communication with her superiors. Aria Astra the Spacetrotting Coolgal is on a mission to stop Zarzak the space monster who is currently living on a planet-sized cosmic being known as the Drowning King from taking over the universe with love.
Meh
Unfamiliar Gods - Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro (2017)
I can't accept thinking of this as anything other than taking superhero comic book nonsense and then trying to outdo it. Earth is assailed by a pantheon of cosmic beings far greater than their own cosmic beings and resorts to begging help from an unknown cosmic being at the risk of the possible destruction of all that there is. Then there's the weird engine sex stuff.
Blah
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World - Caroline M. Yoachim (2015)
A woman has contact with a being outside of time and space and begins her journey through billions of years in the form of several brief stories.
Meh
Our Specialty is Xenogeology - Alan Dean Foster (2017)
A group of xenogeologists come across an alien spacecraft and decide to explore. I had high hopes for this story because the premise is one that I quite enjoy. Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough to do much and is mostly a tease. Foster wrote some of the Alien novelizations, so it was interesting how this reminded me a bit of the movie, Prometheus (2012). If it were a short story that went entirely differently anyway.
Ok
Golden Ring - Karl Schroeder (2017)
The avatar of a sentient heliostat visits a world that she left to die. Everything in the story revolves around the assumption that almost all humans and AI would go insane when they learn a specific truth about the universe that only matters in the abstract and has no practical effect on their lives. This idea is known in our time, but apparently confirming it is just too much for almost anyone to handle. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that 99% of people who heard this truth today would just go, "Oh, ok" and walk off. I think the only people who would be concerned at all are the hardcore members of the Rationalist community who are especially adept at self-delusion.
Meh
Tomorrow When We See The Sun - A. Merc Rustad (2015) [Sun Lords of the Principality]
This is the first story in an interesting setting, but other than that not much else. All is ruled by the god-like beings known as The Seven Sun Lords. After executing the last Wolflord, a wraith known as Mere begins to remember their purpose and plans are set in motion, however futile they may be.
Meh
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! - Seanan McGuire (2017)
A spacefaring funfair filled with antique arcade games and videogames breaks down on a dyson sphere. The contact she was to meet up with for repairs is being pursued by the local authorities and now she is as well. However, she's a champion at Duck Hunt so those soldiers may as well be sitting ducks to a Quackshot like her.
Ok
The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun - Aliette de Bodard (2017) [Xuya Universe]
It reads like an allegory of some part of Vietnam's history, but I only really know about the Vietnam War, and I don't know that that's what it is. The child protagonists are coping with life decades after the conclusion of war among stellar neighbors. Inherited resentment persists among the younger generation.
Ok
Diamond and the World Breaker - Linda Nagata (2017)
The AI overlord that administers The Nine Thousand Worlds has decided that stagnation is bad for mankind and arbitrarily assigns humans to commit acts of terrorism and other crimes so that humans never become complacent. It also assigns humans to counteract and prevent any of this from ever being carried out.
Ok
The Chameleon's Gloves - Yoon Ha Lee (2017) [The Machineries of Empire]
This is a heist story that takes place at least 1,250 years before the trilogy. It features a weapon that causes destruction measured in lightyears. The story's connection to anything else is tenuous at best.
Ok
The Universe, Sung in Stars - Kat Howard (2015)
People known as Guardians raise pocket universes with music until the universes become stable enough to perform the music of the spheres on their own.
Meh
Wakening Ouroboros - Jack Campbell (2017)
The universe is coming to an end. The last human to be born is over a billion years old. The first, the only other remaining human, to be made immortal offers him a choice to have one last chance to do something that has never been done before.
Ok
Warped Passages - Kameron Hurley (2017)
An anomaly has stranded the entire fleet of 500 generation ships in the abyss of space. Their bodies begin to change and strange growths form inside them, because perhaps humans are only parasites after all. A depressing body horror story, which is why I haven't read any of her novels.
Meh
The Frost Giant's Data - Dan Abnett (2017)
I felt like I was reading the novelization of a mission for some science fiction first person person shooter videogame from id Software. I know Abnett has done a lot of work in various media, including Warhammer 40k, none of which I've read, so maybe that's more relevant. Abnett includes many neologisms and has quite the style, but I don't know if it's really one that I like. The story is a guy has four bodies, four lives really, to break into the most secure facility known to mankind, which he designed. Why? To start a war that will cause a billion deaths, because that's preferable for humanity than a peace under alien co-government.
Ok
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime - Charlie Jane Anders (2017)
This begins with an escape from a galactic cult of personality that's beyond caricature. It's supposed to comedic with its references and memes, but it was too ridiculous for me to handle. The other place they go is a libertine cult of the worst sort. The entire story is so gaudy and self-righteous.
Blah
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - Tobias S. Buckell (2017)
A former flesh form that exchanged free will for immortality as a spaceship hull maintenance bot ponders what to do about a flesh form CEO requesting aid following a battle between their space fleets that have trillions in population.
Ok
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - Becky Chambers (2017)
This is an epistolary story told through com logs in pen pal format without any response. A spaceship deckhand, basically a janitor, just wants to get high in peace and slack off. Much to their confusion and reluctance they become The Chosen One of The Thrice-Sung Texts who must wield The Nova Blade to defeat the evil space monsters that devour all. All of this is told rather than shown. It's a very flippant story, but not quite to the point of writing something like, "Dear diary, today I like totally became the savior of humanity and stuff. It was a real girl boss mood frfr. There I was vibing while SLAAAAYYING those omg cringe ngl monsters with the Nova Blade and the scruffy armory guy gave me such a thirsty look. He's so down bad for me. I had sex with him later. It was ok." I don't consider it that far off though, as the preceding text is an exaggeration rather than fabrication.
Meh
The Sighted Watchmaker - Vylar Kaftan (2011)
An entity oversees the eons-long process of creating new super intelligent life from nothingness through evolution.
Ok
Infinite Love Engine - Joseph Allen Hill (2017)
Imagine a person who was reading Golden Age SF, playing avant-garde videogames, watching strange cartoons/anime, scrolling through social media, then took a multitude of psychedelics and fell into a fever dream. This was really weird. The height of the weirdness was the induced menstruation as a form of communication with her superiors. Aria Astra the Spacetrotting Coolgal is on a mission to stop Zarzak the space monster who is currently living on a planet-sized cosmic being known as the Drowning King from taking over the universe with love.
Meh
Unfamiliar Gods - Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro (2017)
I can't accept thinking of this as anything other than taking superhero comic book nonsense and then trying to outdo it. Earth is assailed by a pantheon of cosmic beings far greater than their own cosmic beings and resorts to begging help from an unknown cosmic being at the risk of the possible destruction of all that there is. Then there's the weird engine sex stuff.
Blah
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World - Caroline M. Yoachim (2015)
A woman has contact with a being outside of time and space and begins her journey through billions of years in the form of several brief stories.
Meh
Our Specialty is Xenogeology - Alan Dean Foster (2017)
A group of xenogeologists come across an alien spacecraft and decide to explore. I had high hopes for this story because the premise is one that I quite enjoy. Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough to do much and is mostly a tease. Foster wrote some of the Alien novelizations, so it was interesting how this reminded me a bit of the movie, Prometheus (2012). If it were a short story that went entirely differently anyway.
Ok
Golden Ring - Karl Schroeder (2017)
The avatar of a sentient heliostat visits a world that she left to die. Everything in the story revolves around the assumption that almost all humans and AI would go insane when they learn a specific truth about the universe that only matters in the abstract and has no practical effect on their lives. This idea is known in our time, but apparently confirming it is just too much for almost anyone to handle. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that 99% of people who heard this truth today would just go, "Oh, ok" and walk off. I think the only people who would be concerned at all are the hardcore members of the Rationalist community who are especially adept at self-delusion.
Meh
Tomorrow When We See The Sun - A. Merc Rustad (2015) [Sun Lords of the Principality]
This is the first story in an interesting setting, but other than that not much else. All is ruled by the god-like beings known as The Seven Sun Lords. After executing the last Wolflord, a wraith known as Mere begins to remember their purpose and plans are set in motion, however futile they may be.
Meh
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! - Seanan McGuire (2017)
A spacefaring funfair filled with antique arcade games and videogames breaks down on a dyson sphere. The contact she was to meet up with for repairs is being pursued by the local authorities and now she is as well. However, she's a champion at Duck Hunt so those soldiers may as well be sitting ducks to a Quackshot like her.
Ok
The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun - Aliette de Bodard (2017) [Xuya Universe]
It reads like an allegory of some part of Vietnam's history, but I only really know about the Vietnam War, and I don't know that that's what it is. The child protagonists are coping with life decades after the conclusion of war among stellar neighbors. Inherited resentment persists among the younger generation.
Ok
Diamond and the World Breaker - Linda Nagata (2017)
The AI overlord that administers The Nine Thousand Worlds has decided that stagnation is bad for mankind and arbitrarily assigns humans to commit acts of terrorism and other crimes so that humans never become complacent. It also assigns humans to counteract and prevent any of this from ever being carried out.
Ok
The Chameleon's Gloves - Yoon Ha Lee (2017) [The Machineries of Empire]
This is a heist story that takes place at least 1,250 years before the trilogy. It features a weapon that causes destruction measured in lightyears. The story's connection to anything else is tenuous at best.
Ok
The Universe, Sung in Stars - Kat Howard (2015)
People known as Guardians raise pocket universes with music until the universes become stable enough to perform the music of the spheres on their own.
Meh
Wakening Ouroboros - Jack Campbell (2017)
The universe is coming to an end. The last human to be born is over a billion years old. The first, the only other remaining human, to be made immortal offers him a choice to have one last chance to do something that has never been done before.
Ok
Warped Passages - Kameron Hurley (2017)
An anomaly has stranded the entire fleet of 500 generation ships in the abyss of space. Their bodies begin to change and strange growths form inside them, because perhaps humans are only parasites after all. A depressing body horror story, which is why I haven't read any of her novels.
Meh
The Frost Giant's Data - Dan Abnett (2017)
I felt like I was reading the novelization of a mission for some science fiction first person person shooter videogame from id Software. I know Abnett has done a lot of work in various media, including Warhammer 40k, none of which I've read, so maybe that's more relevant. Abnett includes many neologisms and has quite the style, but I don't know if it's really one that I like. The story is a guy has four bodies, four lives really, to break into the most secure facility known to mankind, which he designed. Why? To start a war that will cause a billion deaths, because that's preferable for humanity than a peace under alien co-government.
Ok
May 16, 2018
This book was a mixed bag, but that mix was generally excellent- I enjoyed something from every story. I think the issue I encountered most often is that science fiction doesn’t lend itself to the short story format when you try to shoehorn in too much lore or information- you can’t worldbuild your robotic space odyssey as deeply in a short story as you would in a novel. That being said I think these stories were mostly balanced and interesting. Some stories, though I would give them only 3/4 stars, were so unique in concept or execution that I have made plans to check out their other works (for example, A. Merc Rustad or Aliette de Bodard).
(Here are all the stories I have five stars to; the majority of the rest were four stars but I’m just gonna go over the highlight reel here)
Becky Chambers of course stands out with an excellent story about the hero of a universe told in personal diary format in “The Deckhand, The Nova Blade, and the Thrice Sung Texts”. Joseph Allen Hill wrote something so interesting in “Infinite Love Engine” that I would really love to see it adapted as a graphic novel ala Saga or at least a limited run comic. Caroline Yoachim gave a deeply intricate and layered story of rebirth that I adored in “Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World”. Kat Howard came up with a wonderfully original concept of individual universes and stars orbiting people and creating song until they are ready to go out into space on their own in “The Universe, Sung in Stars”. And finally, Kameron Hurley tells an interesting story of a space fleet trapped within an organism (that I would frankly love a whole series about) in the story “Warped Passages”.
(Here are all the stories I have five stars to; the majority of the rest were four stars but I’m just gonna go over the highlight reel here)
Becky Chambers of course stands out with an excellent story about the hero of a universe told in personal diary format in “The Deckhand, The Nova Blade, and the Thrice Sung Texts”. Joseph Allen Hill wrote something so interesting in “Infinite Love Engine” that I would really love to see it adapted as a graphic novel ala Saga or at least a limited run comic. Caroline Yoachim gave a deeply intricate and layered story of rebirth that I adored in “Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World”. Kat Howard came up with a wonderfully original concept of individual universes and stars orbiting people and creating song until they are ready to go out into space on their own in “The Universe, Sung in Stars”. And finally, Kameron Hurley tells an interesting story of a space fleet trapped within an organism (that I would frankly love a whole series about) in the story “Warped Passages”.
February 18, 2018
John Joseph Adams pretty much has the golden touch as an editor. I own several of his anthologies, and they've consistently been among the better SFF collections out there. This book definitely follows in that tradition. Some of these stories are outrageously over-the-top (in keeping with the bright, eye-watering cover art), but that is part of the theme, and the charm, of this book.
The standout story in this anthology, so far, seems to be "Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance," Tobias S. Buckell's far-future, sprawling space opera that is at the same time an intense character study. Seanan McGuire contributes a story with equal parts humor and hard science (hers takes place inside a Dyson sphere), and Aliette de Bodard's tale of war and the price civilians pay is heartbreaking. My second favorite story is probably "Warped Passages," Kameron Hurley's excellent prequel/origin story to her fantastic space opera The Stars Are Legion. (If you're going to read new-to-you authors based on this collection, start with Buckell and Hurley.) But there's something for everyone here, and while I liked some stories less than others, there's not a stinker in the bunch.
The standout story in this anthology, so far, seems to be "Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance," Tobias S. Buckell's far-future, sprawling space opera that is at the same time an intense character study. Seanan McGuire contributes a story with equal parts humor and hard science (hers takes place inside a Dyson sphere), and Aliette de Bodard's tale of war and the price civilians pay is heartbreaking. My second favorite story is probably "Warped Passages," Kameron Hurley's excellent prequel/origin story to her fantastic space opera The Stars Are Legion. (If you're going to read new-to-you authors based on this collection, start with Buckell and Hurley.) But there's something for everyone here, and while I liked some stories less than others, there's not a stinker in the bunch.
July 4, 2017
Picked this up for “The Chameleon’s Gloves” © 2017 by Yoon Ha Lee, an excellent addition to the Machineries 'verse.
a funny kind of weird and/or uplifting:
“A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” © 2017 by Charlie Jane Anders. <<< I was fully prepared to be squicked by the 'ball of flesh' floating in space and eating everything and its cult of smelly worshipers, and then by the grotesque perverted planet out of some lurid fantasy, but the characters were super amusing (I mean, just the monocellular guy is priceless!), so I made it through.
“The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts” © 2017 by Becky Chambers <<< always nice to read more from Becky Chambers! and it's a nice spin on the Chosen trope.
“Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!” © 2017 by Seanan McGuire<<< nice ideas about clones, but ofc there always has to be the good one vs the bad one. feels like it should've been a novella.
“Golden Ring” © 2017 by Karl Schroeder>>> a really touching story about an artificial sun with a mind of her own. I also loved the philosophical dilemma here, and the idea of lockstep, never seen it executed this nicely before.
“The Universe, Sung in Stars” © 2015 by Kat Howard. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> just a cute little piece about pocket universes.
--
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” © 2017 by Tobias S. Buckell >>> gets its own special category bc it's not funny or precisely uplifting, but I did like the ideas here.
--
“The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun” © 2017 by Aliette de Bodard.<<< like always with this author, beautiful world-building, sad as hell.
--
“Warped Passages” © 2017 by Kameron Hurley<<< the backstory behind the massive yikes that is The Stars Are a Legion
hard sci-fi or not sure what I've just read:
“Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World” © 2015 by Caroline M. Yoachim. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> seeeriously weird, but not in a bad way.
“The Frost Giant’s Data” © 2017 by Dan Abnett.>>> I feel like this story was more cool ideas than substance, which is what often happens with hard scifi. but the whole backup bodies plus heist combination was neat.
“Infinite Love Engine” © 2017 by Joseph Allen Hill. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> I can't even retell what the hell happened here.
not sure what it was for:
“The Sighted Watchmaker” © 2011 by Vylar Kaftan. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> nice ideas about evolution and Makers, but the final message just didn't resonate with me.
“Our Specialty Is Xenogeology” © 2017 by Alan Dean Foster<<< same problem - nice worldbuilding of an alien spaceship with stuff other than super deadly weapons, but the conclusion just flat.
“Tomorrow When We See the Sun” © 2015 by A. Merc Rustad. Originally published in Lightspeed<<< so much packed into this, and all about torture and game of thrones.
“Diamond and the World Breaker” © 2017 by Linda Nagata>>> the AI Overlord games idea was fun, and the mother protecting her daughter too, but it all felt rushed.
“Wakening Ouroboros” © 2017 by Jack Campbell>>> this would have been a lot better with smb other than the classic pinball protagonist in the last two humans alive scenario with a hot chick.
nope:
“Unfamiliar Gods” © 2017 by Adam-Troy Castro & Judi B. Castro<<< ugh this didn't feel clever, it all felt like disturbing squick fetish.
a funny kind of weird and/or uplifting:
“A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” © 2017 by Charlie Jane Anders. <<< I was fully prepared to be squicked by the 'ball of flesh' floating in space and eating everything and its cult of smelly worshipers, and then by the grotesque perverted planet out of some lurid fantasy, but the characters were super amusing (I mean, just the monocellular guy is priceless!), so I made it through.
“The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts” © 2017 by Becky Chambers <<< always nice to read more from Becky Chambers! and it's a nice spin on the Chosen trope.
“Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!” © 2017 by Seanan McGuire<<< nice ideas about clones, but ofc there always has to be the good one vs the bad one. feels like it should've been a novella.
“Golden Ring” © 2017 by Karl Schroeder>>> a really touching story about an artificial sun with a mind of her own. I also loved the philosophical dilemma here, and the idea of lockstep, never seen it executed this nicely before.
“The Universe, Sung in Stars” © 2015 by Kat Howard. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> just a cute little piece about pocket universes.
--
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” © 2017 by Tobias S. Buckell >>> gets its own special category bc it's not funny or precisely uplifting, but I did like the ideas here.
--
“The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun” © 2017 by Aliette de Bodard.<<< like always with this author, beautiful world-building, sad as hell.
--
“Warped Passages” © 2017 by Kameron Hurley<<< the backstory behind the massive yikes that is The Stars Are a Legion
hard sci-fi or not sure what I've just read:
“Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World” © 2015 by Caroline M. Yoachim. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> seeeriously weird, but not in a bad way.
“The Frost Giant’s Data” © 2017 by Dan Abnett.>>> I feel like this story was more cool ideas than substance, which is what often happens with hard scifi. but the whole backup bodies plus heist combination was neat.
“Infinite Love Engine” © 2017 by Joseph Allen Hill. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> I can't even retell what the hell happened here.
not sure what it was for:
“The Sighted Watchmaker” © 2011 by Vylar Kaftan. Originally published in Lightspeed>>> nice ideas about evolution and Makers, but the final message just didn't resonate with me.
“Our Specialty Is Xenogeology” © 2017 by Alan Dean Foster<<< same problem - nice worldbuilding of an alien spaceship with stuff other than super deadly weapons, but the conclusion just flat.
“Tomorrow When We See the Sun” © 2015 by A. Merc Rustad. Originally published in Lightspeed<<< so much packed into this, and all about torture and game of thrones.
“Diamond and the World Breaker” © 2017 by Linda Nagata>>> the AI Overlord games idea was fun, and the mother protecting her daughter too, but it all felt rushed.
“Wakening Ouroboros” © 2017 by Jack Campbell>>> this would have been a lot better with smb other than the classic pinball protagonist in the last two humans alive scenario with a hot chick.
nope:
“Unfamiliar Gods” © 2017 by Adam-Troy Castro & Judi B. Castro<<< ugh this didn't feel clever, it all felt like disturbing squick fetish.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2018
"I" is a maintenance form robot who used to be human, who agreed more than one hundred years ago to give up its free will in order to perform contracts in exchange for a chance to see the galaxy on various contracted positions.
Explores how the laws of robotics could be obeyed to the letter yet still have room for intelligent creatures to live their lives, exchange favors, and still have their modicum of freedom.
Explores how the laws of robotics could be obeyed to the letter yet still have room for intelligent creatures to live their lives, exchange favors, and still have their modicum of freedom.
February 2, 2019
Great short story of a bot on a spaceship just after a battle. Elements of Iain M Banks and perhaps also Neal Asher ... or at least it brought him to mind.
August 8, 2017
I picked this anthology up for the Seannan McGuire and Becky Chambers stories, both of which are well worth reading. In point of fact, they are not the only gems in this collection, which has quite a few stellar stories. Unfortunately, there are also a number of tales that just made me tune out. They were a little too epic and somehow failed to be interesting. Or they just weren't my style. Still, it's a set of short stories, so there's no harm in putting the book down for a week or two before reading the next one.
August 23, 2018
My favorite stories:
P. 55 Zen and the art of starship maintenance: this story is about a "robot" who is used by a biological form, who knows the 3 laws of robotics, to force it to save its life. 3 🌟
P. 70 The Deckhand Etc: This story is by Becky Chambers who wrote Long Way to an Angry Planet. it's about an orphan who is A deckhand on a ship. Nobody likes her; she lost her best friend at the same time that she lost her parents. She likes to smoke weed in the chapel and she keeps a log that's halfway between a diary and a confessional and I have to say I identify with her. 5 stars
P. 80 The Sighted Watchmaker: The story is, for me, an allegory to God. It's about the tool of the Makers. The Makers no longer exist but they left their tool to seek and Seed planets where life could develop. The story made me feel like crying because it feels like it's a story of the Earth and our destruction of it. 5 stars
P. 120 Unfamiliar Gods: In the future, spaceships travel far distances by being flung, either by ire or by kowtowing to Gods. A particular ship is flung God only knows where by an Angry God and, trying to convince a local God to send them back to their home system, the captain offers to sacrifice a goat. The petty little Tyrant God agrees to the sacrifice of a goat and, one more thing.What will be known as the day all humanity became...less. 5 🌟
P. 156 Our Specialty is Xenogeology: What would you do if you were looking for minerals in another solar system and you found an alien ship? Inside the alien ship, inside one of its rooms, you found aliens. But because your specialty is rocks and minerals, you don't qualify to contact aliens. So, you turn around, go back to Earth, and report it to the authorities. That's what happened in this story, but it felt like it wasn't finished. If I was writing this story, after the humans return to their ship, I would have had the aliens wake up and follow them. 4 🌟
P. 305 Wakening Ouroboros: The last two humans on the last world need to save the world from entropy. Tricking the world into letting them do it is the hard part. 3 🌟
P. 322 Warped Passages: The Earth has become so bloated with humans that a legion of ships must leave to find room on a hospitable Planet. But something stops them, arresting them in place so that their engines strain in place. The ship's passengers begin to give birth to strange parasites, which in turn begin to devour everything and everyone on board. 3 🌟
P. 55 Zen and the art of starship maintenance: this story is about a "robot" who is used by a biological form, who knows the 3 laws of robotics, to force it to save its life. 3 🌟
P. 70 The Deckhand Etc: This story is by Becky Chambers who wrote Long Way to an Angry Planet. it's about an orphan who is A deckhand on a ship. Nobody likes her; she lost her best friend at the same time that she lost her parents. She likes to smoke weed in the chapel and she keeps a log that's halfway between a diary and a confessional and I have to say I identify with her. 5 stars
P. 80 The Sighted Watchmaker: The story is, for me, an allegory to God. It's about the tool of the Makers. The Makers no longer exist but they left their tool to seek and Seed planets where life could develop. The story made me feel like crying because it feels like it's a story of the Earth and our destruction of it. 5 stars
P. 120 Unfamiliar Gods: In the future, spaceships travel far distances by being flung, either by ire or by kowtowing to Gods. A particular ship is flung God only knows where by an Angry God and, trying to convince a local God to send them back to their home system, the captain offers to sacrifice a goat. The petty little Tyrant God agrees to the sacrifice of a goat and, one more thing.What will be known as the day all humanity became...less. 5 🌟
P. 156 Our Specialty is Xenogeology: What would you do if you were looking for minerals in another solar system and you found an alien ship? Inside the alien ship, inside one of its rooms, you found aliens. But because your specialty is rocks and minerals, you don't qualify to contact aliens. So, you turn around, go back to Earth, and report it to the authorities. That's what happened in this story, but it felt like it wasn't finished. If I was writing this story, after the humans return to their ship, I would have had the aliens wake up and follow them. 4 🌟
P. 305 Wakening Ouroboros: The last two humans on the last world need to save the world from entropy. Tricking the world into letting them do it is the hard part. 3 🌟
P. 322 Warped Passages: The Earth has become so bloated with humans that a legion of ships must leave to find room on a hospitable Planet. But something stops them, arresting them in place so that their engines strain in place. The ship's passengers begin to give birth to strange parasites, which in turn begin to devour everything and everyone on board. 3 🌟
September 16, 2019
Space Opera. How did I not realize this was a distinct subgenre of science fiction? Consider me stumped but oh so very pleased. According to Wikipedia, space opera "emphasizes space warfare, melodramatic adventure, interplanetary battles, chivalric romance, and risk-taking.” Heck yes.
Whatever you call it, this collection of short stories has been an absolute joy and refreshing escape. All the more necessary as a reprieve during my long dark read of Mr. Stephen Kings’ “The Stand” and our equally dark real world troubles. I’m certain we can thank our Cheeto-in-Chief for an increase in escapism. Unicorn-everything for some. Space operas for moi.
And I'm so pleased to see a significant number of stellar authors (heh, space puns) who happen to to be WOMEN included in this collection. Hurrah for diversity! All around excellent authors, excellent short stories. Hmm. This review is getting strangely political... moving on.
TLDR; it’s a great collection of short stories, space adventures and the like. Highly recommended for science fiction fans. End rant.
Whatever you call it, this collection of short stories has been an absolute joy and refreshing escape. All the more necessary as a reprieve during my long dark read of Mr. Stephen Kings’ “The Stand” and our equally dark real world troubles. I’m certain we can thank our Cheeto-in-Chief for an increase in escapism. Unicorn-everything for some. Space operas for moi.
And I'm so pleased to see a significant number of stellar authors (heh, space puns) who happen to to be WOMEN included in this collection. Hurrah for diversity! All around excellent authors, excellent short stories. Hmm. This review is getting strangely political... moving on.
TLDR; it’s a great collection of short stories, space adventures and the like. Highly recommended for science fiction fans. End rant.
Want to read
May 30, 2017- Charlie Jane Anders, 'A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime' (3.5/5)
What an odd but fun story. It's the kind I'd like to read more of (as a novel) to really get into the characters and world.
- Tobias S. Buckell, 'Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance' (3/5)
I struggled to get into this one, after a few attempts. While I don't necessarily understand everything, I could picture what was happening. Interesting. (The writing is so much like my brother's haha.)
- Becky Chambers, 'The Deckhand, the Nova Blade and the Thrice-Sung Texts' (4.5/5)
I love her writing and I loved this story. The character's voice was great, the format was interesting (though perhaps limiting at times when you want to know more) and I liked the realistic take on the 'chosen one' narrative.
What an odd but fun story. It's the kind I'd like to read more of (as a novel) to really get into the characters and world.
- Tobias S. Buckell, 'Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance' (3/5)
I struggled to get into this one, after a few attempts. While I don't necessarily understand everything, I could picture what was happening. Interesting. (The writing is so much like my brother's haha.)
- Becky Chambers, 'The Deckhand, the Nova Blade and the Thrice-Sung Texts' (4.5/5)
I love her writing and I loved this story. The character's voice was great, the format was interesting (though perhaps limiting at times when you want to know more) and I liked the realistic take on the 'chosen one' narrative.
June 26, 2017
still reading, but so far, 3.5 stars
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime - 2.5 stars
zany and hilarious at first, exhaustingly tedious in the middle, and something probably happens at the end
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - 3.5 stars
well written and engaging. More space opera like this please
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - 2 stars
engaging enough, but literally nothing happens in front of the camera
The Sighted Watchmaker - 2.5 stars
not bad, but the magic trick of turning a science fiction story into a parable deeply offended my sensibilities
Infinite Love Engine - 4 stars
hilarious and action-packed. Tragically, this author has written very little else
...to be continued
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime - 2.5 stars
zany and hilarious at first, exhaustingly tedious in the middle, and something probably happens at the end
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - 3.5 stars
well written and engaging. More space opera like this please
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - 2 stars
engaging enough, but literally nothing happens in front of the camera
The Sighted Watchmaker - 2.5 stars
not bad, but the magic trick of turning a science fiction story into a parable deeply offended my sensibilities
Infinite Love Engine - 4 stars
hilarious and action-packed. Tragically, this author has written very little else
...to be continued
own-but-unread
May 24, 2017LCL Summer Reading Challenge "Read a book published this year"
February 7, 2020
1. A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime - Awful. Characters are one dimensional. Plot is all over the place. Hope this is the worst one of the anthology. ⭐
2. Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - I really liked this one. It contemplates what free will is and how two characters - a robot and a human - view free will. I also like the side characters and would enjoy reading more about this world. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - This story reminds me of the story of Mulan or other tough girl who saves her people. I really like this writer and went into it expecting to love it. I did. I'll read anything by Becky Chambers. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. The Sighted Watchmaker - I didn't know what to expect with this one but I really liked it. Man makes machine, man dies, machine is left to answer the tough questions alone. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Infinite Love Engine - Writing and story telling deserve no stars. Overused words in this one include: fuckboys, cool, "Airaness", vibes, chill, and squish. DnF. ⭐
6. Unfamiliar Gods - Twilight Zone's "How To Serve Man" ⭐⭐⭐
7. Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World - This one was a bit complicated for a short story collection IMO. I think I would have liked it a lot more if it were longer and had time to explain more of what was going on. It was too fast and I got lost easily. Involves the dimensions of time? ⭐⭐⭐
8. Our Specialty is Xenogeology - This was was basic in plot but I enjoyed everything else. The characters find a space artifact and inspect it. It was descriptive; there was time to get to know the characters a little; the setting was interesting. It ends on somewhat of a low note but would read more from this author. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. Golden Ring - A light God stops shining on a planet inhabited by people. Again, I liked this one but it was kinda missing something for me. I think this story would be a lot better if the author had more pages to tell it in. ⭐⭐
10. Tomorrow When We See The Sun - I liked the way this one was split up into sections. The way the robot gave definitions to help the reader along. The writing. A ⭐⭐⭐⭐
11. Bring The Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair - This one was a little weird but a new idea and I kinda dug it. The main character runs a fun fair in the world of VR. She getting into some shenanigans. It ends a little abruptly IMO. ⭐⭐⭐
12. The Dragon That Flew Out of The Sun - This wasn't my favorite. Confusing and not very interesting. ⭐⭐
13. Diamond and The World Breaker - Great new idea for a future world. Would like to read more from this author. In an AI utopia, what problems could humans have? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
14. The Chameleons Gloves - a Sifi heist. Pretty interesting. Liked it okay. ⭐⭐⭐
15. The Universe, Sung in Stars - This one was short and sweet. It didn't have much going on at all but I liked the writing a lot. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
16. Wakening Outoboros - Also liked this one okay. Two people are left in the world and covers the adventure they go on to save the planet. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
17. Warped Passages - This was okay, but I felt like it could be a lot better. I liked the premise and the little we get to know about the character. ⭐⭐⭐
18. The Frost Giant's Data - This short story was really pretty lame. Nothing interesting about it. Not a good note to end on in my opinion. ⭐⭐
2. Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - I really liked this one. It contemplates what free will is and how two characters - a robot and a human - view free will. I also like the side characters and would enjoy reading more about this world. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - This story reminds me of the story of Mulan or other tough girl who saves her people. I really like this writer and went into it expecting to love it. I did. I'll read anything by Becky Chambers. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. The Sighted Watchmaker - I didn't know what to expect with this one but I really liked it. Man makes machine, man dies, machine is left to answer the tough questions alone. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Infinite Love Engine - Writing and story telling deserve no stars. Overused words in this one include: fuckboys, cool, "Airaness", vibes, chill, and squish. DnF. ⭐
6. Unfamiliar Gods - Twilight Zone's "How To Serve Man" ⭐⭐⭐
7. Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World - This one was a bit complicated for a short story collection IMO. I think I would have liked it a lot more if it were longer and had time to explain more of what was going on. It was too fast and I got lost easily. Involves the dimensions of time? ⭐⭐⭐
8. Our Specialty is Xenogeology - This was was basic in plot but I enjoyed everything else. The characters find a space artifact and inspect it. It was descriptive; there was time to get to know the characters a little; the setting was interesting. It ends on somewhat of a low note but would read more from this author. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. Golden Ring - A light God stops shining on a planet inhabited by people. Again, I liked this one but it was kinda missing something for me. I think this story would be a lot better if the author had more pages to tell it in. ⭐⭐
10. Tomorrow When We See The Sun - I liked the way this one was split up into sections. The way the robot gave definitions to help the reader along. The writing. A ⭐⭐⭐⭐
11. Bring The Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair - This one was a little weird but a new idea and I kinda dug it. The main character runs a fun fair in the world of VR. She getting into some shenanigans. It ends a little abruptly IMO. ⭐⭐⭐
12. The Dragon That Flew Out of The Sun - This wasn't my favorite. Confusing and not very interesting. ⭐⭐
13. Diamond and The World Breaker - Great new idea for a future world. Would like to read more from this author. In an AI utopia, what problems could humans have? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
14. The Chameleons Gloves - a Sifi heist. Pretty interesting. Liked it okay. ⭐⭐⭐
15. The Universe, Sung in Stars - This one was short and sweet. It didn't have much going on at all but I liked the writing a lot. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
16. Wakening Outoboros - Also liked this one okay. Two people are left in the world and covers the adventure they go on to save the planet. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
17. Warped Passages - This was okay, but I felt like it could be a lot better. I liked the premise and the little we get to know about the character. ⭐⭐⭐
18. The Frost Giant's Data - This short story was really pretty lame. Nothing interesting about it. Not a good note to end on in my opinion. ⭐⭐
June 5, 2020
With 18 stories in the star-hopping, galaxy-spanning, gonzo vein of Guardians of the Galaxy, this JJA anthology is one of his best. I took my time, savoring every story. It rocked my universe.
Standouts:
"Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance" (Tobias S. Buckell, nominated for Locus, Sturgeon, Eugie)
"The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts" (Becky Chambers)
"Infinite Love Engine" (Violet Allen)
"Golden Ring" (Karl Schroeder, in his Lockstep universe)
"The Chameleon's Gloves" (Yoon Ha Lee, in their Hexarchate universe)
"Wakening Ouroboros" (Jack Campbell)
"The Frost Giant's Data" (Dan Abnett, author of Guardians of the Galaxy!)
Honorable mentions:
"A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime" (Charlie Jane Anders, prequel to "Cake Baby")
"Unfamiliar Gods" (Adam-Troy Castro and Judi B. Castro)
"Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World" (Caroline M. Yoachim)
"Tomorrow When We See the Sun" (Merc Fenn Wolfmoor)
"Diamond and the World Breaker" (Linda Nagata)
"Warped Passages" (Kameron Hurley, prequel to The Stars Are Legion)
Averaging my ratings for each story, I get to 4.1 stars, but I'm going with 5 for the volume. Because awesome.
Standouts:
"Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance" (Tobias S. Buckell, nominated for Locus, Sturgeon, Eugie)
"The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts" (Becky Chambers)
"Infinite Love Engine" (Violet Allen)
"Golden Ring" (Karl Schroeder, in his Lockstep universe)
"The Chameleon's Gloves" (Yoon Ha Lee, in their Hexarchate universe)
"Wakening Ouroboros" (Jack Campbell)
"The Frost Giant's Data" (Dan Abnett, author of Guardians of the Galaxy!)
Honorable mentions:
"A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime" (Charlie Jane Anders, prequel to "Cake Baby")
"Unfamiliar Gods" (Adam-Troy Castro and Judi B. Castro)
"Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World" (Caroline M. Yoachim)
"Tomorrow When We See the Sun" (Merc Fenn Wolfmoor)
"Diamond and the World Breaker" (Linda Nagata)
"Warped Passages" (Kameron Hurley, prequel to The Stars Are Legion)
Averaging my ratings for each story, I get to 4.1 stars, but I'm going with 5 for the volume. Because awesome.
October 20, 2020
A collection of far out space opera, the kind with galactic empires and civilizations that can move stars and other themes that have an almost comic-booky feel (I don't mean that in a derogatory way, the editor did specifically cite Silver Surfer comics as being something in the style they were going for).
A short story collection's generally only as good as the stories within, and typically they're a mixed bag, appealing to different tastes, and usually I find a few I liked a few I didn't and plenty I'm mixed on. But, because the story centers around certain "types" of stories, I should probably start by talking about how well it succeeds at the theme, and whether it gets tiresome reading stories that are too 'samey.' I think it does the first quite well, although it is a theme where occasionally, just by its very nature, sometimes the stories struggled in giving characters I could relate to. As for whether the stories feel too 'samey'... unfortunately, sometimes they do, a little. You'd think asking for far-out stories would mitigate that, and perhaps it does, but I still felt certain 'far out' ideas come up multiple times and after the first couple they just weren't as interesting. But I don't think the problem was as bad as I've seen it in certain other themed anthologies (and even a few unthemed ones), just a little worse than I expected.
So now we move on to the stories themselves, the evaluation of the mixed bag. It's about an average collection in that regard, about the same proportion of good-to-bad-to-medium as I'll find in a collection I would consider myself satisfied with. Among the ones I liked, "A Temporary Embarrassment in Space-Time" by Charlie Jane Anderson, "Golden Ring" by Karl Schroeder (although that, perhaps mainly because it was a chance to revisit the ideas in his Lockstep universe rather than for the story itself which was a bit dry), "The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun" by Aliette de Bodard, and "Diamond and the World Breaker" by Linda Nagata. I can't even remember which one of the others is the title of one I disliked the most so rather than seek it out I'll just stick to the positive.
Worth checking out if wild space opera appeals to you, at any rate.
A short story collection's generally only as good as the stories within, and typically they're a mixed bag, appealing to different tastes, and usually I find a few I liked a few I didn't and plenty I'm mixed on. But, because the story centers around certain "types" of stories, I should probably start by talking about how well it succeeds at the theme, and whether it gets tiresome reading stories that are too 'samey.' I think it does the first quite well, although it is a theme where occasionally, just by its very nature, sometimes the stories struggled in giving characters I could relate to. As for whether the stories feel too 'samey'... unfortunately, sometimes they do, a little. You'd think asking for far-out stories would mitigate that, and perhaps it does, but I still felt certain 'far out' ideas come up multiple times and after the first couple they just weren't as interesting. But I don't think the problem was as bad as I've seen it in certain other themed anthologies (and even a few unthemed ones), just a little worse than I expected.
So now we move on to the stories themselves, the evaluation of the mixed bag. It's about an average collection in that regard, about the same proportion of good-to-bad-to-medium as I'll find in a collection I would consider myself satisfied with. Among the ones I liked, "A Temporary Embarrassment in Space-Time" by Charlie Jane Anderson, "Golden Ring" by Karl Schroeder (although that, perhaps mainly because it was a chance to revisit the ideas in his Lockstep universe rather than for the story itself which was a bit dry), "The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun" by Aliette de Bodard, and "Diamond and the World Breaker" by Linda Nagata. I can't even remember which one of the others is the title of one I disliked the most so rather than seek it out I'll just stick to the positive.
Worth checking out if wild space opera appeals to you, at any rate.
September 9, 2022
I purchased this collection solely for Becky Chambers's contribution (which was great), but I enjoyed some other stories even more! While I didn't love every story in the collection, I had a lot of fun and discovered some new-to-me authors to check out. I'll keep my review of each story to a short, one-word descriptor:
1. A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders: 3.5* - Action-packed;
2. Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell: 5* - Brilliant;
3. The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers: 4.5*- Charming;
4. The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan: 5* - Thought-provoking;
5. Infinite Love Engine by Joseph Allen Hill: 1* - Dreadful;
6. Unfamiliar Gods by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro: 3* - Chuckle-worthy;
7. Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Carolyn M. Yoachim: 3.5* - Expansive;
8. Our Specialty is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster: 5* - Fascinating;
9. Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder: 3* - Mind-bending;
10. Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad: 4* - Heart-wrenching;
11. Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire: 5* - Fantastic;
12. The Dragon That Flew Out of The Sun by Aliette de Bodard: 4.5* - Important;
13. Diamond and the World Breaker by Linda Nagata: 4* - Fun;
14. The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee: 4.5* - Excellent;
15. The Universe, Sung in Stars by Kat Howard: 5* - Stunning;
16. Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell: 3.5*- Interesting;
17. Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley: 3* - Spooky; and
18. The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett: 3.5* - Clever.
Consider me officially in my short story era.
1. A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders: 3.5* - Action-packed;
2. Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell: 5* - Brilliant;
3. The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts by Becky Chambers: 4.5*- Charming;
4. The Sighted Watchmaker by Vylar Kaftan: 5* - Thought-provoking;
5. Infinite Love Engine by Joseph Allen Hill: 1* - Dreadful;
6. Unfamiliar Gods by Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro: 3* - Chuckle-worthy;
7. Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Carolyn M. Yoachim: 3.5* - Expansive;
8. Our Specialty is Xenogeology by Alan Dean Foster: 5* - Fascinating;
9. Golden Ring by Karl Schroeder: 3* - Mind-bending;
10. Tomorrow When We See the Sun by A. Merc Rustad: 4* - Heart-wrenching;
11. Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair! by Seanan McGuire: 5* - Fantastic;
12. The Dragon That Flew Out of The Sun by Aliette de Bodard: 4.5* - Important;
13. Diamond and the World Breaker by Linda Nagata: 4* - Fun;
14. The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee: 4.5* - Excellent;
15. The Universe, Sung in Stars by Kat Howard: 5* - Stunning;
16. Wakening Ouroboros by Jack Campbell: 3.5*- Interesting;
17. Warped Passages by Kameron Hurley: 3* - Spooky; and
18. The Frost Giant's Data by Dan Abnett: 3.5* - Clever.
Consider me officially in my short story era.
May 13, 2017
The new John Joseph Adams-edited anthology, Cosmic Powers, is the first great anthology of the year, jam-packed with smart, entertaining sci-fi adventure stories that bring a nicely modern sensibility to old ideas and tropes. There are several recurring themes throughout the anthology. Religion figures largely in many of these stories, and several of the stories deal with gods or with beings who have amassed nearly godlike power with the aid of time and technology. Artificial intelligences of various kinds make several appearances, as do post-humans of multiple kinds. Examinations of families both biological and found are significant as well, and several stories look at the responsibility of people to each other, personally, and to humanity as a whole; it’s “the personal is political” writ across space and time. It’s a remarkably cohesive collection that nonetheless contains a wonderful variety of stories by a diverse group of authors to offer a well-rounded perspective on the idea of stories that take place on a cosmic scale.
Read the full review at SF Bluestocking.
Read the full review at SF Bluestocking.
August 6, 2018
I picked up this anthology because it included one of my favorite stories from last year "Infinite Love Engine," by Joseph Allen Hill. Cosmic Powers, as seen in this collection, is a bit of tricky beast to classify. It's one part space opera, one part comic book, and generally a lot more concerned with dramatic action and character tension than the accuracy of the science. In another era this might be termed "Planetary Romance," or something like that but really it's just a lot of fun. To be clear, I wasn't in love with every story included here but at least five or six (leaving aside Infinite Love Engine) were tremendous. Highlights: A Temporary Embarrassment in Space-Time by Charlie Jane Anders, "Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance," by Tobias S. Buckell, Unfamiliar Gods by Adam-Troy Castro and Judi B Castro, and the incredible space-epic-in-a-bottle story "Seven Wonders of A Once and Future World" by Caroline B Yoachim are must-reads in my opinion.
March 12, 2019
Short story collections are, by definition, a mixed bag. This one contained very few duds in my opinion. The theme of the collection is sweeping operatic space saga, so vote yourself out if this is of no interest to you.
Top 5 stories from my perspective (in order they appear in the book):
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime - Charlie Jane Anders. Bizarre world, a talking super weapon, and teamwork.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - Tobias S. Buckell. Precise plotting, believable conflict in a far-future world.
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - Becky Chambers. Connections between "people" take center stage, which is a strength of Chambers' novels also.
Unfamiliar Gods - Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro. Original and horrifying.
The Chameleon's Gloves - Yoon Ha Lee. Well-drawn world, compelling but unusual characters.
Top 5 stories from my perspective (in order they appear in the book):
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime - Charlie Jane Anders. Bizarre world, a talking super weapon, and teamwork.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - Tobias S. Buckell. Precise plotting, believable conflict in a far-future world.
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts - Becky Chambers. Connections between "people" take center stage, which is a strength of Chambers' novels also.
Unfamiliar Gods - Adam-Troy Castro with Judi B. Castro. Original and horrifying.
The Chameleon's Gloves - Yoon Ha Lee. Well-drawn world, compelling but unusual characters.
April 28, 2021
An anthology that aspires to touch the levels of, or at least claims to have been inspired by the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' has a tough job to handle. Fortunately, John Joseph Adams proves to be better captain than the self-proclaimed Star Lord. Thus, despite being not entirely marvel-esque, the anthology provides us with a lot of enjoyable stuff.
My favourites are:
1. Charlie Jane Anders's "A Temporary Embarassment in SpaceTime"— awesome!
2. Tobias S. Buckell's "Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance"
3. Adam-Troy Castro and Judi B. Castro's "Unfamiliar Gods"
4. Seanan McGuire's "Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Unfair"— can this author even write something bad? I wonder!
5. Aliette de Bodard's "The Dragon that Flew out of the Sun"
6. Linda Nagata's "Diamond and the World-Breaker".
Overall, a solid collection that would entertain you while provoking a few questions as well.
Recommended.
My favourites are:
1. Charlie Jane Anders's "A Temporary Embarassment in SpaceTime"— awesome!
2. Tobias S. Buckell's "Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance"
3. Adam-Troy Castro and Judi B. Castro's "Unfamiliar Gods"
4. Seanan McGuire's "Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Unfair"— can this author even write something bad? I wonder!
5. Aliette de Bodard's "The Dragon that Flew out of the Sun"
6. Linda Nagata's "Diamond and the World-Breaker".
Overall, a solid collection that would entertain you while provoking a few questions as well.
Recommended.
November 30, 2025
Picked this up on a whim without noticing the tagline - "a little less science and a lot more action." I am not an action reader and as I read through and kept my rankings, I found the stories that were pure action didn't do anything for me. Yet, to say this collection has 'a little less science' is inaccurate. Even stories I didn't get on with were brimming with ideas, some old and some new to me. I liked the stories that flipped old tropes on their head ("The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts"), made me think deeply about moral dilemmas ("Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance " and "Golden Sun"), and those that, like the editor suggests, gave me a jolt of nostigia ("The Chameleon's Gloves). If anything, it was a great way to be introduced a wide variety of authors, many of whom I had heard off but hadn't yet picked up. It's quite varied in content too; You can find something you like in this collection.
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