Splitting his time between the UK and Crete, and being back in the groove of writing regularly after a bit of a gap triggered by personal issues, Neal Asher is best known for his larger-than-life Space Opera series set in his 'Polity' universe where humanity have spread to the stars, only to be usurped by their own AIs. Which, surprisingly, are benign in their outlook concerning humanity and human-ness (as well as towards most other kinds of races and beings, to), at least the ones in charge. The body of work here is large – Neal has written 19 novels (set in a number of only loosely inter-connected series) and 2 collections of short stories set in the Polity, plus he's been writing stories outside that setting, too. And, as a general rule, what he writes is interesting and entertaining, and so far free from displaying his (for me) less palatable political views, despite some of the settings being a rather obvious candidates for this.
The Soldier, as the book at hand, is the first in a new series (planned as a trilogy) titled Raise of the Jain. It is worth noting that Jain has nothing to do with the religion, but is the name of an ancient, extinct spacefaring race which has left behind rather dangerous remains and artefact. And I don't think I give away too much if I mention that the 'extinct' part is questionable, given the series title... The 2nd book in the series, called The Warship, is due out in May or June (depending on source) 2019, whilst the third is tentatively called The Human (interesting in the light of the first one) and has no official schedule yet.
The story told in the Soldier is essentially a follow-up on the events and some of the characters from Infinity Engine. You don't need to have read this book/series (Transformation) or the rest of his work, but having done so obviously helps with characters, settings, and preceding events. For those who do not have this background, and have chosen not to acquire it first (your loss!) he provides a Cast of Characters and a Glossary explaining terms and concepts before kicking off – it will get you going without feeling too lost, but you will not get the same embedding in the larger history of this universe, obviously. Still, this is clearly set up as a jumping-on point for those who have not been reading along; and it should work as such I would think.
Future Tense Fiction is a series of short stories from Future Tense and the ASU (Arizona State University)'s Center for Science and the Imagination.
It is published monthly on Slate - the theme for April-June 2019 was Space Settlement. The series focuses on how technology and science will change our lives.
And I would suggest you have a look at the May installment, the short story 'No Moon and Flat Calm' by Elizabeth Bear; mixing space exploration with the lessons learned from the Titanic.
Are you familiar with the concept of a Book Hangover? When you're not ready to start another book because the setting, characters, and story of the previous one are still so vivid in your head? Well, I had a similar effect when I picked up Vylar Kaftan's Novella Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water. You see, beforehand I had read Adrian Tchaikovsky's Walking to Aldebaran, which follows an Astronaut lost in an Alien Artefact, walking through endless tunnels. And this story started with “These caves have never been friendly...”. Direct cross-contamination in my head, to the point where I had to put this down, read something else, and then go back to it to be able to do it justice!
But here you are – another story set in a claustrophobic cave environment, or at least starting there. In these caves we meet our protagonist Bee (full name Bianca del Rios), and her companion Chela. The setting is Colel-Cab, a prison planet. Why are they there, locked up all alone in a dangerous environment, with regular food/supply drops they have to scamper for before other denizens of the caves get them, is not entirely clear. I mean, not just in the story, but to the protagonists, either.
Adrian Tchaikovsky (or, as his mother knows him Adrian Czajkovski – apparently that's not a name to expose UK and US audiences to) is a BFA and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author, with the science/magic Shadows of the Apt series to his name (with action and battles scenes LARP tested apparently!) as well as a number of stand-alone novels and shorts, tackling SF with the same gusto as fantasy/entomology. And as all this does make a living now he no longer works as a Legal Executive during the day.
Walking to Aldebaran is a Novella, and the length feels about right for the content and treatment. It follows Gary Rendell, an Astronaut (from Stevenage, he keeps reminding us. Or maybe himself...) lost in 'The Crypts', aka the thing we found out past Neptune. But it's not just there, but a bit everywhere – it seems to connect loads of solar systems, including a substantial number (all?) of inhabited ones. A nice little shortcut, or a trap? Or a bit of both? Either way, he's got separated from his crew mates (we know that some/most of his expedition are dead), and is roaming an endless labyrinth of tunnels, occasionally coming across live or dead aliens, monsters inhabiting these tunnels, and the odd entrance/exit to other worlds. And, of course, the thing at the centre of it all.
Gary tells us that he always wanted to be an Astronaut, but “I just didn't think there would be so much getting lost and eating corpses” he muses, whilst being “huddled in front of a fire that's dying for lack of O2, gnawing on the dessicated chunks of long-dead alien explorer”. Nice. And he indicates that he might have had second thoughts concerning his calling should they have told him what it entails... Now, if the above sounds rather horrific and dark then this is of course on the one hand correct, given the setting of the story. But there's also a lot of lighter, entertaining bits when he encounters aliens or has his own funny turns, and its all told in a sarcastic tone with Mark Watney-level snarkyness.
This is available to you both to read, and as a podcast narrated by Halima Salah.
As Escape Pod put it: Mame Bougouma Diene is a Senegalese American humanitarian living in Brooklyn, NY with a fondness for tattoos, progressive metal and policy analysis. He is the Francophone/US spokesperson for the African Speculative Fiction Society. Another Day in the Desert is a prequel to “Ogotemmeli’s Song” released [...] in AfroSFv3, and also a prequel to “Apes and Satellites” published by Brittle Paper in 2017.
The picture on the right is from the Escape Pod profile of the Narrator of the podcast, Halima Salah.
I'm always conflicted when I see collections where the pool of possible contributors or stories has been severely limited; and all the more so if the criteria concern some of the more protected (or subject to discrimination) characteristics, as it is very much tied into political correctness and positive discrimination. Because, wouldn't you expect that, the narrower the field is, the fewer 'good' stories there would be? And so I do wonder when seeing this – have these authors and/or their stories been selected because or despite of their gender/origin/religion?
I don't have an answer to the conundrum, but can assure you that you (and I) needn't worry about this here. Yes, People Of The Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasy is limited both in topic of the story, and by beingg written by authors of Jewish decent. And it's great – the line-up is stellar (the cover mentions Peter S. Beagle, Michael Chabon, Eliot Fintushel, Neil Gaiman, Tamar Yellin, and Jane Yolen. That leaves out Rose Lemberg and Lavie Tidhar, to begin with, never mind Elana Gomel who should be huge in my opinion ...), and the stories run the full gamut from scary to fascinating via classic. There isn't much I can point at as being weaker, not as well written, or not being worthy of your attention here, as can be the case in such collections, sometimes.
So – this comes highly recommended. Go get it. Below are short capsule reviews of the individual stories. If that bothers you or spoils your enjoyment then stop here!
