Obelisk

Bland writing lets this collection down. (To read Baxter at his best in the short story genre, see Vacuum Diagrams.) Most of these stories are "stand alone" and can be read without having first read the Proxima novels, as they don't really have much to do with the themes covered therein -- we take it on trust that they are set in the Proxima future history. So that's in their favour, together with a broad assortment of interesting ideas. Sadly this volume gets just three stars from me -- "it's OK" -- because of the lack of attention to the narrative style, and also a tendency towards the middle section onwards for many of the stories to have similar ideas, particularly the "alternate history" ones. A case of, we get the idea the first time, Steve. The final section shows a good recovery of writing style and content, closer to the Baxter we know and love from old, so perhaps read these first if you need bracing for the others. Despite this over-mixed assortment, Baxter remains one of the best ever SF writers, for his ability to describe highly esoteric scientific theories in a way mere mortals can understand.

Stephen Baxter has been an innovative stalwart of the British SF scene since back in the day when he was publishing in small press magazines under the name SM Baxter. He has collaborated with Terry Pratchett and Arthur C Clarke, and written a sequel to HG Wells' "The Time Machine." As well as his hard-SF output - represented in this volume by stories set on a colonized Mars, which comprise "Proxima-Ultima," the first section of the book - he is also fascinated by evolution. Here too you will find a story, the John Wyndham-esque "The Pevatron Rats," that imagines the accelerated evolution of the rat, that most adaptable of animals.Some of the most compelling stories in this volume for me were the alternate histories, where often European or British development has been held back whether by religion or short-sightedness, and the world has developed very differently, whether it is one where technologically-advanced Inca confront Europe ("The Unblinking Eye"), or one where the UK stuck with road transport leaving the European mainland to go ahead with the development of railways ("The Jubilee Plot"). After all why should Western Europe and North America have become dominant rather than some other part of the world? Then apply that kind of logic to the universe beyond Earth. What if we find we aren't alone after all? Are we waiting for the extraterrestrials, and what if they don't come?Religion often comes in for a good thrashing in these pages, or at least the religious establishment which can only ever be conservative in its effects. In "Fate and the Fire-lance", Rome doesn't fall, and there is the opportunity for some parallel-world fun at the expense of present day popular heroes as well as a spin on historical events. In others Earth is contacted by unimaginable alien minds - this theme is influenced by Baxter's membership of an advisory group for SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. "Turing's Apples" nods to Arthur C Clarke's "The Sentinel" and "2001" with its speculation as to the nature and motives of an alien intelligence vast and cold and unknowable.Stephen Baxter provides several options for the end of the world: without necessarily sounding pessimistic several of the stories provide world-ending scenarios, usually with an elegiac sense of loss: this is the way the world ends, now and in England. Parallel universes and multiple dimensions show up in "Artefacts" where once again we have the dialogue between Religion and Science, a recurring theme in Baxter's work.This is the kind of collection where the afterword cites scientific papers, and indeed it does. But at the same time what shines through is Stephen Baxter's ability to tell a story. Despite the multiple world endings and the results of human hubris on far worlds there is something reassuring about his work as a whole, a generosity of spirit that is not found everywhere in fiction, whether it's Science Fiction or elsewhere.

To my mind, Stephen Baxter is one of Britain's best authors of rigorous hard SF, whether in novels or shorter form. So I've been looking forward to reading this collection of 17 of his short stories for some time. I wasn't disappointed. It's an excellent mix of pieces, split into four sections: there are 4 stories related to his recent Proxima/Ultima novels, 6 that look backwards in time, 2 that are contemporary and another 5 that look into the future. There's quite a variety, and some appealed more to me than others. But they're all well-crafted and interesting. There's also a fascinating 2-page afterword, referencing several scientific papers (including a couple written by Baxter himself) that form the inspiration for some of the stories. If you're a fan of science-based SF, this is definitely a collection worth getting hold of.

For me this book started slowly, future alternate realities and stories that were minimalist. Then some shape emerged, amorphous at best but you could start to see the intention behind the title, then a crescendo of fantastic prose as the book crashes against deep time. Baxter is knowledgeable about his subject matter, elegant in his story telling and meticulous in his writing, nary a word wasted that doesn't advance his complex, thought provoking tales.

The writing was so clear and beautifully flowing that I could not stop. Normally a Stephen Baxter book is a big read. If you love Kim Stanley Robinson's Robinson's Mars trilogy, the first short story is a bit of an homage. I loved each story, dipping from one world to the next, always understandable and readable. It would be good to read more short form stories like this.

This collection of musings on possible futures is beautifully put together, and reminded me of the compiled short stories of Assimov that I read in my youth. With a hint to the dystopic but also forward gazing into possible futures as yet unexplored by humankind until just the right set of variables comes into play.

I found this a bit disappointing by Baxter standards.

Nothing to dislike about these books