Matter's End

by Gregory Benford

A collection of twenty-one stories features unexpected revelations at a masquerade party, a devastating California earthquake, a complex computer game that becomes a matter of life and death, and more

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1991

About the author

Gregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine.

As a science fiction author, Benford is best known for the Galactic Center Saga novels, beginning with In the Ocean of Night (1977). This series postulates a galaxy in which sentient organic life is in constant warfare with sentient mechanical life.

Reviews

[Jokoloyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is my reference for what I should expect when reading GB's works. His writing style is not my cup of tea, but I admit his ideas in some of the stories are interesting.

Not a bad book to bring when you are in a queue.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barely 3 stars. For the most part, the stories just didn't seem very good. I liked one for sure, a couple others were fine, but overall, just lackluster and somewhat boring. Benford is a favorite author, but maybe his short stories just aren't for me. I'd usually recommend something like this if you're a completist of a particular author, but this one could easily be skipped.

[Michael Hanscom · Rating 2 out of 5]

An average collection of short stories, some of which show their age more than others—especially one that starts with a riff on Mormon missionaries and ends with what comes across as (unconscious?) Islamophobia.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short stories. Nothing deep, but some were thought provoking. Liberal/leftist politics evident.

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of Benford's short fiction right from when he started writing in the mid-1960s to when the book was published in the mid-1990s. There's no unifying theme behind the collection, but I did find a sort of thread linking them. Benford seems to be no positive lover of humanity. These stories tell of very hard-boiled, often nasty, people doing whatever needs to be done in a hard-boiled, often nasty, world. I found many of the stories quite depressing in their tone and pessimism, but there were a few exceptions, such as Leviathan, about a community living inside a giant engineered space-faring life-form and the consensual reality story Sleepstory.

Benford is a good writer, whose day job of astrophysicist gives the science in his stories a good grounding in reality, but whose tone can often be too depressing for my tastes.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm only referring to the short story titled "Matter's End," though it appears Benford also published a collection by the same name. Regardless, the short story was one of my first introductions to science fiction as a means of relaying complex concepts in easily understood language (such as the heady philosophy behind certain aspects of quantum theory). I also found Benford to be a master of placing the reader in locations where she/he may have never been (such as India, in this case). Its time references are a little dated (it was written during the recession of the early 90s), but well worth the effort of finding this one anyway you can.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of short stories. Nothing special. I liked a few of the stories, but even they weren't MOVING or awe-inspiring. Two or three of the stories I'd previously read. I think I was more impressed by them when I read them the first time. But, not enough to change the rating. Maybe this book would get 3.5 stars, then. If goodreads gave that as an option.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Benford is a decent enough writer but this collection is ultimately depressing in its portrayal of humanity. Not a fun read, but also doesn't have enough originality to keep your attention for that long.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a few of these stories and they were ok, nothing special. The ones I read seemed to specialise in the 'twist ending', which is fine but I like a little more thought from my sci-fi. (Well - sometimes anyway!)

[James Swenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short stories of mixed quality. My favorite was "Freezeframe," which offers a modest proposal for working parents.