Vainglory

by Alastair Reynolds

Short fiction.

Originally published in Edge of Infinity (December 2012), Jonathan Strahan, ed.

Genres: Science Fiction

ebook

Published December 1, 2012

About the author

I'm Al, I used to be a space scientist, and now I'm a writer, although for a time the two careers ran in parallel. I started off publishing short stories in the British SF magazine Interzone in the early 90s, then eventually branched into novels. I write about a novel a year and try to write a few short stories as well. Some of my books and stories are set in a consistent future named after Revelation Space, the first novel, but I've done a lot of other things as well and I like to keep things fresh between books.

I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.

In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.

Reviews

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vainglory was a story that had the potential of being a three-star read, but it didn’t quite give me enough to round my rating up. It was interesting and I enjoyed watching the pieces come together, but I would have liked more from it than I was given.

All in all, not my favourite short story from the author.

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Available in the collection, Beyond the Aquila Rift.

In the future, when we have space travel all over the solar system, there might be some sculptors who decide to carve asteroids and other things in space and leave them floating around as works of art for other space travellers to look upon.

This story involves one such artist and probably the greatest work of a rock carver that ever was, or maybe will ever be: and do they want the fame/infamy due them because of it.

Super good, Alastair's imagination at its best.   I really enjoyed this wonderful idea of future artists.

Next up from Alastair is Trauma Pod.

Bye for now.

[Steve LaForest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this story B++ when I read it - which translates to a Goodreads score of 4 stars.

My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals to B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.

[Alexander Theofanidis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Piiiiiiigs in spaaaaaace (αν θυμάστε το Muppet show), θέλω να πω, καλλιτέχνες στο διάστημα, γλύπτες που σκαλίζουν αστεροειδείς, αναγνώριση και ύβρη, γενικώς δε με κέρδισε. Νομίζω ότι λίγες ώρες μετά την ανάγνωσή του το έχω ήδη ξεχάσει. Ποιο;

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly one of my favorites from Reynolds thus far. I like the piecing together of the details quite a bit and this was a good palette cleaner between his more world-rocking stuff, pun intended.

[Reuben Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could have been so much more