First published 2017
This audio collection gathers eleven hard science fiction stories that showcase rigorous scientific concepts wrapped in compelling narratives. Gregory Benford takes readers to Mars where astronauts discover dying microbial life in cave systems. Craig DeLancey presents a programmer hunting the creator of a dangerous neural virus. Alex Irvine follows illegal Martian scavengers on a desperate rescue operation after losing a team member. C.W. Johnson tells of a vengeful girl swallowed by a massive sea beast on an alien world. Gwyneth Jones explores a writer infiltrating online gaming communities to find real extraterrestrial players. Ted Kosmatka depicts a woman hunting cloned mammoths in British Columbia. Shariann Lewitt examines a volcanologist working on Europa despite her family's tragic history there. Ken Liu spans eons as a daughter honors her mother through climate engineering projects. Ian R. MacLeod follows a cosmologist obsessed with proving multiverse theory. Paul McAuley presents townspeople resisting corporate interference with alien artifacts. Alastair Reynolds concludes with a graduate student defending research on a solar threat to humanity.
Genres: short-stories, science-fiction, hard-science-fiction
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: desperate-rescue, found-family
Setting: Mars, Europa, British Columbia
Period: Eons
222 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform