Goodreads review: ‘Life Beyond Us’
Life Beyond Us: An Original Anthology of SF Stories and Science Essays by Julie Nováková
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Highly recommended. What if we met life on another planet, in space, or in another ecology? Twenty-seven top-notch science fiction writers wrote short stories to explore the question, followed by essays by scientists explaining what is and isn’t possible in that particular story, such as “The Habitability of Water Worlds” or “Space Agriculture.”
Like any good anthology, the stories vary widely in style and substance. Not every one was to my taste, although they were all high quality, and you and I might have different opinions about which ones are the best. The essays explain the ideas clearly but don’t talk down to the reader.
If you’re a fan of hard science fiction (by “hard” I mean more or less anchored in reality) or if you’re a science fiction writer looking for a better understanding of what we know about space and life science, I wholeheartedly recommend this book, likely to be one of the best anthologies of 2023. There’s a lot to enjoy: the paperback version runs more than 500 pages.
