Compelling Science Fiction: The First Collection

by Joe Stech (Editor), James Rowland (Contributor), Dominic Teague (Contributor)

For over two years Compelling Science Fiction has been publishing entertaining, thought-provoking stories. Now we've collected the best of those stories in one place. The book contains 27 fantastic short stories by 24 talented authors. Some themes you'll find in the book:

Lots of AI
A Dyson swarm that can capture the energy output of an entire star
A sentient hospital
Startup stories
Generation ships
Extraterrestrial colonies
Intelligently written time travel
Head transplantation
Toxic mold that has religious significance
AI re-writing the constitution
A possible explanation for the Fermi paradox
and at least one alien mating ritual

If you're a fan of hard science fiction, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

555 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 16, 2018

Reviews

[Rob Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me it’s sort of been a given that in any collection/anthology that I read, it’s gonna be blend of hit or miss. This read was no different, by that limited comparison. But what was different was how many of the stories were good. Even really good. You could count the yawners on one hand… and in a collection 550 pages long, that means there’s a whole lotta good to be had!

Given the overall quality of the stories (all be authors I was previously unfamiliar with) I’m sorry that Compelling SF magazine is no more (a victim of the COVID turmoil, it seems). The quality of writing craftsmanship was quite good and the subject matter was more relevant to our time, with lots of pieces examining issues around AI.

Bottom line: this is one of the best collections I’ve read in years. It does have a few week spots, but they pale in comparison to what this substantial project’s stories get right. I heartily recommend it for people looking for more relevant science fiction short works.