by John Barnes
First published 2016
This collection gathers ten exceptional science fiction stories from 2015's most talented writers. John Barnes presents a memory restoration expert who faces her own Alzheimer's diagnosis in "My Last Bringback." David Brin takes readers to Venus's ocean floor, where a young colonist confronts failed terraforming projects in "The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss." Aliette de Bodard's award-winning "Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight" mourns a scientist's death within the Dai Viet interstellar empire. Other standout pieces include David Levine's "Damage," following a fighter pilot and ship AI under extreme duress, and Ian McDonald's "Botanica Veneris," where an aristocrat searches Venus for her fallen brother. The anthology spans from Sean McMullen's tale of malevolent aliens to Robert Reed's AI seeking sanctuary in the outer solar system. Each story examines humanity's relationship with technology, memory, and survival across diverse planetary settings.
Genres: short-stories, science-fiction, speculative-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, humanity-vs-technology
Setting: Venus, Dai Viet, Outer Solar System
Period: 2015
268 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform