Liam Hogan

A simply magnificent set of short stories which would appeal as much to new readers of science fiction as those who have grown up with it. They are mostly all quite short - averaging 5 pages or less - but each story packs in so much imagination and scope, without being heavy handed with the science. In fact it's the people that really drive each mini story whether we're looking at unique takes on AI, black holes, first contact, interstellar travel, time travel warnings, alien scams, hostile show more xenomorphs or other classic Scifi ideas.

I think it's this accessibility which makes it so good. The author is clearly academic in his knowledge, yet brings it all down to Earth for the everyman. For example, (minor spoiler) one of my particular favourites revolves around time dilation from a colony ship taking two hundred years to arrive at a planet, but technology has progressed so far, they get overtaken at the halfway mark by the local delivery company who since have hyper drives. There's an additional witty ending to that story which pretty much everyone will appreciate given typical experiences with the post..

And it's that which makes it so perfect - high concept written for everyone is such a great skill to be able to demonstrate consistently. Not every story is an absolute gem, but most are really good. I've made a list of my favourite stories below and I rank this collection alongside some of my favourites written by Ray Bradbury, Greg Egan, Jendia Gammon and others at the top echelons of short story writing. This is very much science fiction doing what it once did so well - looking at a realistic future, through the eyes of the present. Fantastic stuff!

"Lighter Than Air"
"The Uploaded"
"The What-The Tree"
"Tribbulations"
"The Back up"
"The Icy Breath of Enceladus"
"Lunch Failure" show less