Space Soldiers

by Paul McAuley, Robert Reed, Jack Dann

In this explosive anthology, ten of science fiction's best new and classic writers imagine the soldiers who will one day fight and die on distant worlds. Featuring stories by: Fritz Leiber • Joe... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441008240
• ISBN13: 9780441008247
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

A well-balanced and varied batch of stories

______________________________________________ The anthology opens with Paul J. McAuley's "Gardens of Saturn" (1998, Interzone), set in his excellent "Quiet War" series. Two veterans of the winning side, both stranded in the Saturn system at war's end, meet by chance years later on Phoebe. Ex-Colonel Vera Jackson is desperate to escape her job as nursemaid (and worse) to a fat, rich drunk. She draws Baker, an old comrade, into a complicated extortion scheme aimed at the drunk's mother, a wealthy recluse. The scheme goes awry, in a classic tale of the "biter bit", with a deliciously nasty sting in its tail. An "A" story, one of my two favorites in the book. Hot new writer Alastair Reynolds' "Galactic North" (1999, Interzone; reprinted in Dozois, 17th Year's Best SF) is a glorious Technicolor update of "Pirates of the Asteroids." The ramliner Hirondelle, loaded with 20,000 colonists in reefersleep, is boarded by a band of desperados led by Capt. Run Seven ("... you can call me Seven"). Capt. Irravel Veda has been neuromodified to feel she's the mother to her 20,000 passengers.... Reynolds gives new meaning to the old wetnavy cliche' "a stern chase is a long chase" in this gorgeously silly space-opera. Snippets: "Why are you so interested in our weapons?" the Nestbuilder asked. "We are not aware of any wars within the chordate phylum at this epoch." "It's a personal matter," Irravel said... The Slug made the Nestbuilder fold its armoured, spindly limbs across its mouthparts, a gesture of displeased huffiness. "You chordates," it said. "You're all the same." [later] "Even if it was your fault, Veda, you did it wth the best of intentions. So you f*cked up slightly. We all make mistakes." "Destroying whole solar systems is just a f*ck-up?" "Hey, accidents happen..." I love this stuff -- can you tell? An A/A+ story; my favorite here. Stephen Baxter explores a strange far-future war for lebensraum "On the Orion Line" (2000, Asimov's). The Silver Ghosts, by manipulating the basic constants of space-time, have blockaded humanity within the Orion Arm; the human economy, based on continual expansion, is feeling the strain. This is a report from the front on a disastrous raid into Silver Ghost territory. It's an odd story, but made me think. "A-" Robert Reed looks at a war hero through the eyes of his grandson in "Savior" (1998, Asimov's), as he is about to be arrested for alleged atrocities in fighting off an alien attack. A well-done "slice of life" piece; "B+". Tom Purdom examines the special problems of a kid growing up in a dysfunctional military family in "Legacies" (1994, Asimov's). A thoughtful, well-written story: "B/B+". William Barton's "Soldiers Home" (1999, Asimov's) is a moody look at the aftermath of war. Ashe, a veteran who lost his home, family & comrades to the Starfish, decides on a whim to settle in an abandoned space habitat. He wrestles with ghosts from the war, in a parallel universe

Four good stories, one masterpiece and a few lesser tales

This book is another in the series of themed anthologies co-edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It contains nine stories on the subject of war in space that were first published between 1965 and 2000. While it is not the best book in the series, it does contain some good stories and one absolute gem.The highlight is Stephen Baxter's "On the Orion Line" which is as good as space adventure gets. It's about a war between men and aliens who are able to manipulate some of the basic laws of physics. It is the kind of story that you just cannot leave in the middle and it's a great introduction to Baxter.As well as that tale, Paul McAuley, Alaistair Reynolds, Fred Saberhagen and Joe Haldeman all weigh in with interesting stories. Because of the wide time-span from which the stories have been drawn, most readers will find that a good portion of the stories are new and the editors provide biographical and bibliographical notes for further reading.If you like the hard side of the science fiction spectrum and you are not already familiar with the authors mentioned, you will find this book to be a good buy. If you want more of the same, I'd suggest the anthology "Nanotech" by the same editors which is an even better collection.