Once again Donna Scott has assembled a stellar group of stories.

I did not finish this book. Its no fault of the collection of stories, I just decided science fiction isn't my thing.

Even if I didn’t love all the stories in this anthology, I enjoyed most of them and I found this selection solid, varied and entertaining. Although I read quite a lot of international SF short fiction, most of the authors here were new (or nearly new) to me, a fact I found quite meaningful. Curiously enough, my two favorite stories were two very short ones, “All I Asked For”, by Anne Charnock, and “Variations on Heisenberg’s Third Concerto”, by Eleanor R. Wood. Although I also liked quite a few of the longer ones, particularly M. R. Carey story. An interesting read for any science fiction fan.
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A good, creative collection of speculative fiction.
1) War Crimes by M.R. Carey:**** Very good story about a time-bomb and frozen corporal park set in London.
2) Blue and Blue and Blue and Pink by Lavie Tidhar:***1/2. Strange little story about small aircraft pilots making cargo runs into a zone of fuzzy-wuzzy mind-madness.
3) Infinite Tea in the Demara Café by Ida Keogh: ***1/2. Nice story about a widower who travels through different cafés in different universes and helps someone deal with grief.
4) All I Asked For by Anne Charnock:****1/2 Very good story - a 46-year-old pregnant woman's fetus is transferred to an artificial womb ward in a 'baby bag' to complete the gestation period. Great mother story.
5) The Savages by David Gullen: **** Unique world-building with a very intriguing species and gender dynamics.
6) Lazarus, Unbound by Liam Hogan:**** Far-future, outer space story, with an ubiquitous AI in a post-singularity setting. Would like to see this idea developed more!
7) The Cyclops Teika by Marija Smits:**** About a meteorite that infects a person with alien nanobots that, yes, create an special 'eye' in her forehead.
8) Brave New World, by Oscar Wilde, by Ian Watson:***1/2. Two time travelers go back in time with optimistic intent to pick up Oscar Wilde and bring him to the future.
9) Chimy and Chris by Stephen Oram:**** A professor raises a sentient human brain in a vat. Cool ending.
10) Mudlarking by Neil Williamson:*** In this futuristic view of Britain, they no longer have the luxury of waste.
11) Infectious by Liz Williams:**** A bored, wealthy artist catches a deadly disease on purpose.
12) Cofiwch Aberystwyth by Val Nolan:***1/2. A vlogger visits a dangerous area of Wales that was destroyed in a nuclear terrorist attack.
13) Panspermia High by Eric Brown:***1/2. Very short, funny story narrated by a bufotoxin.
14) EXHIBIT E by L. P. Melling:*** An image of the destruction of Earth appears on surface of the moon.
15) The Lori by Fiona Moore: ***1/2 A human driver goes in search of a missing sentient battle tank named Kursk.
16) Wilson Dreams of Peacocks by Melanie Smith:**** Excellently written, really would like a longer version of this story! Genetic hybrids, dream viewing, ominous imagery.
17) Variations on Heisenberg’s Third Concerto by Eleanor R. Wood:**** A scientist brings a composition back from a parallel universe but it is never the same twice.
18) The World is on Fire and You’re Out of Milk by Rhiannon A. Grist:******* The best of the collection. The world is on fire and a woman preps to go buy milk. Perfect story for our current pandemic.
19) The Turbine at the End of the World by James Rowland:***1/2
20) What Happened to 70? By C.R. Berry: ***1/2 The number 70 disappears.
21) Rings Around Saturn by Rosie Oliver: **** Geeky spaceflight tale. May the best team win.
22) The Good Shepherd by Stewart C Hotston:**** Thoughtful first-person story from a security surveillance AI.
23) Pineapples Are Not the Only Bromeliad by RB Kelly: ***1/2 Bot meets bot in the grocery store.
24) Like Clocks Work by Andi Buchanan:**** Space ship to a new world, with a robot that evolves into human form.
25) Watershed by John Gilbey: ***
26) Here Today by Geoff Nelder: *** ...gone tomorrow! ( )

I don't read science fiction very much these days. I loved it in my youth - space operas, rocket ships, ray guns and the like. I requested this free Early Reviewers copy thinking I might struggle to get through it. I was pleasantly surprised that nearly all of the stories engaged my imagination with interesting ideas about science and the future. I'm glad I read it. ( )