In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far ...
An eclectic collection of all-original science fiction stories from so...
The depth and breadth of what science fiction and fantasy fiction is ...
The thirteenth annual collection of the previous year's finest sho...
1) iCity by Paul DiFilippo: People live in cities that can change formation over night. 2) The Space Crawl Blues by Kay Kenyon: Now there is QT, quantum teleportation. People can be instantly teleported to their destination of choice. But when people re-emerge on the other side, are they still the same? 3) The Line of Dichotomy by Chris Roberson: A team invades a bacteria farm in hopes of rescuing those trapped within. 4) Fifty Dinosaurs by Robert Reed: Kelvin has just turned twenty-one. The last thing he recalls is being at a bar. Now he finds himself in the company of a T-rex that can talk. 5) Mason's Rats: Black Rat by Neal Asher: Farmer Mason trains the rats on his farm. 6) Blood Bonds by Brenda Cooper: One twin sister lives in a virt bed due to an act of terrorism. The other twin goes to Mars in hopes of earning enough to help her crippled sister get surgery. 7) The Eyes of God by Peter Watts: Before traveling each person must go through a check point that reads minds. 8) Sunworld by Eric Brown: Yarrek has graduated and he parents finally tell him the truth about himself. Afterward, he is sent to Icefast to enter the office of the Inquisitor General. 9) Evil Robot Monkey by Mary Robinette Kowal: Sly may look like the other chimps, but he is much more. 10) Shining Armor by Dominic Green: A mining company prepares to invade the city. Their work will poison the water supply of the village. It is time to awaken the ancient Guardian. 11) Book, Theatre, & Wheel by Karl Schroeder: Lady Genevieve Romanal is under investigation to see if she is unlawfully educating her people or is a heretic. 12) Mathralon by David Louis Edelman: This mostly reads like a type of manual. It tells how to mine a mineral, Mathralon. This is followed by a few pages about the isolated people who do the actual mining. 13) Mason's Rats: Autotractor by Neal Asher: It is time, once again, for Farmer Mason to activate the Autotractor and send it out. The machine terminates vermin (except for his rat employees), ploughs, cultivates, and seeds the fields. Trouble arrives in the form of a suit from a health and safety agency. They want to exterminate all of Mason's rats. 14) Modem Timines, a Jerry Cornelius story by Michael Moorcock: In this story you will follow Jerry Cornelius (and sometimes see Mo). A bit of erotica is found in this tale as well. 15) Point of Contact by Dan Abnett: When a space craft lands and First Contact begins, will it be a historical event? Will our lives change for the better or for the worse? Or will we not really care? *** Not as many good stories as the first volume, but this is still worth your time. None of the stories within are more entertaining than the two about a farmer named Mason and his intelligent rats. Like me, you will end this book with at least one new name in mind to search previous titles from. All-on-all, you will find this collection of stories a terrific way to spend a rainy night. There is simply no way to feel lonely when you are busy sampling the various treats from some of today's best BL sci-fi authors. *** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
The title of this book clearly tries to capitualize on the popular sci-fi motion picture "Solaris" and the underlying work, but nothing could be further from the truth. These stories at are best second rate, and most are third rate. The plots are often interesting but the prose is pedestrian, the charaters are wooden, and the outcomes are guessed a mile in advance. Save your money for the Tessaracts series
A considerable improvement on last year's anthology, average 3.43 compared to 3.34, with no disappointments. An anthology of solid, mainstream science fiction (well, apart from Moorcock's bit part novella, but Jerry Cornelius ain't exactly a stranger). A brief introduction explains the editorial reasoning and aspirations for this series, and tells us that there will be a third volume, so nice work. No standout stories, with Kenyon and Roberson's the best. On the whole, pretty well done for original work, with a nice balance of stories from serious to odd to light. Solaris 2 : iCity - Paul Di Filippo Solaris 2 : The Space Crawl Blues - Kay Kenyon Solaris 2 : The Line of Dichotomy - Chris Roberson Solaris 2 : Fifty Dinosaurs - Robert Reed Solaris 2 : Mason's Rats Black Rat - Neal Asher Solaris 2 : Blood Bonds - Brenda Cooper Solaris 2 : The Eyes of God - Peter Watts Solaris 2 : Sunworld - Eric Brown Solaris 2 : Evil Robot Monkey - Mary Robinette Kowal Solaris 2 : Shining Armour - Dominic Green Solaris 2 : Book Theatre and Wheel - Karl Schroeder Solaris 2 : Mathralon - David Louis Edelman Solaris 2 : Mason's Rats Autotractor - Neal Asher Solaris 2 : Modem Times - Michael Moorcock Solaris 2 : Point of Contact - Dan Abnett Civil Wikineering. 3.5 out of 5 If you have to take me apart to get there, I don't want to go. Don't care about the chicks. 4 out of 5 Stop the war? Woman, that's crazy talk. 4 out of 5 Casual Rex sex, Bazza. 3.5 out of 5 Sales picture a catapult for success. 3.5 out of 5 AI twin champion. 3 out of 5 The Shadow Knows what lurks in your heart you big ol' Chester. 3.5 out of 5 Inquisition loses control. Wouldn't be surprised to see Brainiac, Captain Marvel or the Silver Surfer, either. 3 out of 5 All fired up. 3.5 out of 5 Robot Khan rebuff. 3 out of 5 Memory pages. 3.5 out of 5 Rocky story. 3.5 out of 5 Public service meals. 3.5 out of 5 Cornelius news notes. Lots. 3 out of 5 Ordinary first. 3.5 out of 5
This book really opened my eyes to how the international community enabled genocide...
