Phase Space

A collection of stories, for the most part connected with Baxter's 'Manifold' trilogy. Some are stories involving characters from one or another of the novels (not forgetting that the three novels in 'Manifold' depict different universes but have the same characters [sometimes]); others appear to be variant stories or even early thoughts on some of those novels. There are also a handful of stories that have been included because they seemed thematically appropriate, even if they don't fit the 'Manifold' sequence.

I came to this book directly after reading the whole trilogy, but that meant that I'd already lived with different versions of the same characters in quite a few instances. I therefore found this to feel a bit 'samey' (and I show more wasn't reading it in extended reading sessions). I suspect this is more useful as a book to dip into, and I can see me doing this in future. (Well, in some futures.)

The final story in the collection, though, is one I'd be unlikely to return to. 'The Twelfth Album' is an alternative reality story involving the Beatles. Whilst there were elements of the story I enjoyed (and I am a bit of a sucker for alternate histories), you would really have to be a Beatles fan to fully understand the somewhat anoraky references to different Beatles LPs. And I am not. show less

Stephen Baxter has created a set of short stories loosely based on his Manifold series. This theme allows him to cover alternative worlds, alternative histories and alternate futures - a hard SF collection in the classic style, but with 21st Century physics.

Baxter's short stories are always better than his novels (not that they are bad) and the final story in this collection would make a great movie.
Along with Neil Gaiman he is the best short story writer about these days.