Isaac Asimov's Solar System

by Gardner Dozois (Editor), Sheila Williams (Editor), Daniel Marcus (Contributor)

From the desert surface of Mercury to the cold landscape of Pluto, this unique collection explores the nine planets and the sun of our solar system in ten visionary tales from the masters of modern science fiction.

Contents
1 • The Sun Spider • (1987) • novelette by Lucius Shepard
42 • Cilia-of-Gold • (1994) • novelette by Stephen Baxter
75 • Dawn Venus • (1995) • novelette by G. David Nordley
116 • Touchdown • (1990) • shortstory by Nancy Kress
136 • The Difficulties Involved in Photographing Nix Olympica • (1986) • shortstory by Brian W. Aldiss
157 • The Very Pulse of the Machine • (1998) • novelette by Michael Swanwick
182 • Ex Vitro • (1995) • shortstory by Daniel Marcus
199 • Into the Blue Abyss • (1999) • shortstory by Geoffrey A. Landis
222 • Second Skin • (1997) • shortstory by Paul J. McAuley
253 • Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe • [Eight Worlds] • (1977) • novelette by John Varley

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois

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

Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology takes us on an sfnal tour of our home system, with a story for each planet, plus one for the Sun. It's a solid collection, with no really weak stories, and a couple of outstanding ones. All are reprinted from Asimov's SF magazine. This collection should lay to rest any lingering doubts of whether Asimov's prints hard-SF. Recommended.

The stories:
The Sun Spider (1987), by Lucius Shepard. Sex, violence & weird behavior on Helios Station. My rating: "B", but YMMV. Previous reprints: Orbit SF Yearbook 1987, David Garnett; World's Best SF 1988, Donald A. Wollheim; Barnacle Bill the Spacer and Other Stories, Lucius Shepard, 1997.

Cilia-of-Gold (1994), by Stephen Baxter. Hard-bitten miners meet the eponymous heroine, a native Mercurian. An "A" story, one of the two best here. Previous reprints: Year's Best Science Fiction: Twelfth Annual, Gardner Dozois, 1995; Vacuum Diagrams, Stephen Baxter, 1997.

Dawn Venus (1995), by G. David Nordley. Romance amidst a land- rush on a terraformed Venus. Lots of Neat Ideas, a nice Cordwainer Smith reference, and some plausibility problems: A-.

Touchdown (1990), by Nancy Kress. A scavenger hunt on a devastated future Earth. Nice but a downer: B+. Previous reprint: The Aliens of Earth, Nancy Kress, 1993.

The Difficulties Involved in Photographing Nix Olympica (1986), by Brian Aldiss. A slight and quirky vignette: B. Previous reprint: Best SF Stories of Brian W. Aldiss, 1988.

The Very Pulse of the Machine (1998), by Michael Swanwick. A surreal but unconvincing close encounter on Io: "B" for me, but well-liked by others. Previous reprint: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixteenth Annual, Gardner Dozois, 1999.

Ex Vitro (1995), by Daniel Marcus. War-clouds mar a research-station romance on Titan: B or B+, depending on your taste for bleakness.

Into the Blue Abyss (1999), by Geoffrey Landis. Explore the world- ocean of Uranus with miniature rocket-subs! Neat ideas, wooden characters: B/B+ .

Second Skin (1997), by Paul McAuley. After the Quiet War, a trade delegation from Earth visits Neptune's satellite Proteus -- but is the war really over? Twisty, tasty and very nice: "A". Previous reprint: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual, Gardner Dozois, 1998.

Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe (1977), by John Varley. A classic Eight Worlds tale from Asimov's premiere issue. Piri is spending his second childhood in the Pacifica disneyland, under construction inside Pluto -- but he can't stay a child forever. Nice, if a bit hokey: A-. Previous reprint: The Barbie Murders, John Varley, 1980 -- a wonderful collection, but hard to find.

[TammyJo Eckhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isaac Asimvo's estate put out a series of thematic books drawn from short stories that were published in various of his magazines. I used to get Asimov's magazines when I was younger, so I had high expectations for this anthology. The theme for this book is about the bodies of the solar system that we on Earth live in. There is no general introduction to the collection; the first problem that I had with it. Such collections should have at least brief introductions, not just before each story.

One would think these stories would be the best from those magazines. I can't believe there was only one story per planet and sun over the years. Therefore, the second problem I had with this collection is that only three of the ten stories really stuck with me after I read them, mostly because I was trying to figure out a plot point or understand a vague ending. The endings to most of these stories are particularly weak; that is common to many short stories so nothing to really knock the rating down for this book.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly good short stories.

[Deedee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried and tossed the first three stories:
1 • The Sun Spider • (1987) • novelette by Lucius Shepard
42 • Cilia-of-Gold • (1994) • novelette by Stephen Baxter
75 • Dawn Venus • (1995) • novelette by G. David Nordley

I don't care for Swanwick's stories, I never heard of Daniel Marcus, and I had already read Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe.

This collection was not for me.