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Extrasolar: Tales of super Earths and hot Jupiters
Among the brilliant visionary scenarios in Extrasolar: military antagonists meet in the atmosphere of a gas giant; gifted children hijack a starship to search out a new home; a superjovian world yields mysterious and much-coveted gemstones; aliens find our solar system disconcertingly paradoxical; a feminist SF writer of the Seventies crafts liberating exoplanetary dreams; the habitats aboard a gargantuan spaceship cater to the needs of truly exotic aliens; and scientists eagerly seeking exoplanets confront a devastating truth. And then there are songs of home and far away and bitter exile; intelligence calling to intelligence across light years and species barriers; utterly immersive dives into perilous planetary atmospheres; brave responses to enigmatic messages from the stars; a machine embracing a Gothic destiny; and a truly different kind of space opera.
Here's the line up:
Holdfast – Alastair Reynolds
Shadows of Eternity – Gregory Benford
A Game of Three Generals – Aliette de Bodard
The Bartered Planet – Paul Di Filippo
Come Home – Terry Dowling
The Residue of Fire – Robert Reed
Thunderstone – Matthew Hughes
Journey to the Anomaly – Ian Watson
Canoe -- Nancy Kress
The Planet Woman By M.V. Crawford – Lavie Tidhar
Arcturean Nocturne – Jack McDevitt
Life Signs – Paul McAuley
The Fall of the House of Kepler – Ian R. MacLeod
The Tale of the Alcubierre Horse – Kathleen Ann Goonan
Here's the line up:
Holdfast – Alastair Reynolds
Shadows of Eternity – Gregory Benford
A Game of Three Generals – Aliette de Bodard
The Bartered Planet – Paul Di Filippo
Come Home – Terry Dowling
The Residue of Fire – Robert Reed
Thunderstone – Matthew Hughes
Journey to the Anomaly – Ian Watson
Canoe -- Nancy Kress
The Planet Woman By M.V. Crawford – Lavie Tidhar
Arcturean Nocturne – Jack McDevitt
Life Signs – Paul McAuley
The Fall of the House of Kepler – Ian R. MacLeod
The Tale of the Alcubierre Horse – Kathleen Ann Goonan
500 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 27, 2023
Amazing anthology. Every story is excellent. Often a reader finds one or two stories in an otherwise excellent anthology which do not live up to the rest, but not here.
December 13, 2025
Various (Editor: Gevers, Nick) - Extrasolar
Science / Fantasy set outside our solar system. Stories that implore us to believe in destinies beyond our capacities. One should reach high, I suppose.
"Holdfast" follows two combatants in an ongoing, endless war. It offers hope - possibly forlorn.
Kaslo is a private investigator, working undercover for a secretive client. A valuable assistant has disappeared, along with a pet project, the "Thunderstone". Kaslo's task is to find both. His partner / assistant, the integrator, proves an unheralded delight.
Humanity likes to assume we are special. Perhaps we are. Conditions have to be near ideal for life to take a foothold, then flourish. And conditions may be fleeting, as they are on planet "Canoe".
Few openly acknowledge that climate change leads inexorably to the dying earth. People continue to squander and pollute, instinctively knowing they are murdering their own children, their grandchildren. Why change? Lewis is a specialist, hunting for "Life Signs" beyond our sphere. And he is so very smug.
"The Tale Of The Alcubierre Horse" is the longest tale, mixing Polynesian folklore with futuristic modifications. No breathes the word eugenics, yet selection and engineering propel the ambitions of impatient youth. A lot to appreciate in this one, and much to roll one's eyes at. One truism abides: no matter how civilized we become, how sophisticated, we remain murderous.
Hit n miss collection for me. I no longer enjoy SciFi as I did in my teens (this book was part of a Grab Bag sale). I see the genre as pipedreams written by idealists for those who pray we are somehow better than our actions indicate.
Science / Fantasy set outside our solar system. Stories that implore us to believe in destinies beyond our capacities. One should reach high, I suppose.
"Holdfast" follows two combatants in an ongoing, endless war. It offers hope - possibly forlorn.
Kaslo is a private investigator, working undercover for a secretive client. A valuable assistant has disappeared, along with a pet project, the "Thunderstone". Kaslo's task is to find both. His partner / assistant, the integrator, proves an unheralded delight.
Humanity likes to assume we are special. Perhaps we are. Conditions have to be near ideal for life to take a foothold, then flourish. And conditions may be fleeting, as they are on planet "Canoe".
Few openly acknowledge that climate change leads inexorably to the dying earth. People continue to squander and pollute, instinctively knowing they are murdering their own children, their grandchildren. Why change? Lewis is a specialist, hunting for "Life Signs" beyond our sphere. And he is so very smug.
"The Tale Of The Alcubierre Horse" is the longest tale, mixing Polynesian folklore with futuristic modifications. No breathes the word eugenics, yet selection and engineering propel the ambitions of impatient youth. A lot to appreciate in this one, and much to roll one's eyes at. One truism abides: no matter how civilized we become, how sophisticated, we remain murderous.
Hit n miss collection for me. I no longer enjoy SciFi as I did in my teens (this book was part of a Grab Bag sale). I see the genre as pipedreams written by idealists for those who pray we are somehow better than our actions indicate.
February 15, 2024
A mixed bag. The good stories were great, but there were also some uninteresting ones too. The eBook format offers better value for money.
March 11, 2020
This was a disappointing collection. I have read the introduction again after finishing the book to see if I have misunderstood the theme. Nope, it's about other solar systems and I was hoping for adventure, exotic aliens and some hard SF. Instead I got a mixed bag that left me unsatisfied and looked more like promotion for the included PS Publishing authors.
Personal taste matters a lot when it comes to short stories so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
A=very good, B=okay, C=didn't like it
Holdfast – Alastair Reynolds (A): starts a bit like Enemy Mine but I loved the planet and the message of the story. Well done!
Shadows of Eternity – Gregory Benford (B): good idea but didn't like the main character and found the dense prosa that was use to describe the planets hard to read. First hint that the theme of the collection is not what I had expected.
A Game of Three Generals – Aliette de Bodard (B): a stream-of-consciousness story with a prisoner and an AI where the real punch is missing.
The Bartered Planet – Paul Di Filippo (not finished): not my kind of humor
Come Home – Terry Dowling (not finished): tried, failed, moved on.
The Residue of Fire – Robert Reed (A): I don't know the other stories Reed has written with Ash but this was mindbending with a very interesting alien.
Thunderstone – Matthew Hughes (B): does this count as SF? Felt like Fantasy with a touch of Lovecraft. Well written but I wondered if it belonged here and the different expectation lowered my enjoyment.
Journey to the Anomaly – Ian Watson (not finished): utter nonsense
Canoe -Nancy Kress (B): a cool exploration story with Polynesian influence that I really loved. Unfortunately weakened by the poor drama between the characters.
The Planet Woman By M.V. Crawford – Lavie Tidhar (B-): again I wondered how this fits into the theme. The last part is the best but leaves too much to the reader. There isn't much meat here, only the raw idea.
Arcturean Nocturne – Jack McDevitt (B-): strong character focus with only minimal SF. Predictable with a soap opera ending that totally annoyed me.
Life Signs – Paul McAuley (C): at this point I was already in a bad mood so maybe the story is better than I think of it. Left me unimpressed.
The Fall of the House of Kepler – Ian R. MacLeod (B): interesting idea, too bad that it restricts itself too much so I am afraid it won't leave a lasting impression.
The Tale of the Alcubierre Horse – Kathleen Ann Goonan (not finished): I thought the golden rule of collections is to put the best story at the end (and the 2nd best first). I found the writing uneven with too much infodumping and characters I didn't like. Stopped after 10 pages or so.
Personal taste matters a lot when it comes to short stories so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
A=very good, B=okay, C=didn't like it
Holdfast – Alastair Reynolds (A): starts a bit like Enemy Mine but I loved the planet and the message of the story. Well done!
Shadows of Eternity – Gregory Benford (B): good idea but didn't like the main character and found the dense prosa that was use to describe the planets hard to read. First hint that the theme of the collection is not what I had expected.
A Game of Three Generals – Aliette de Bodard (B): a stream-of-consciousness story with a prisoner and an AI where the real punch is missing.
The Bartered Planet – Paul Di Filippo (not finished): not my kind of humor
Come Home – Terry Dowling (not finished): tried, failed, moved on.
The Residue of Fire – Robert Reed (A): I don't know the other stories Reed has written with Ash but this was mindbending with a very interesting alien.
Thunderstone – Matthew Hughes (B): does this count as SF? Felt like Fantasy with a touch of Lovecraft. Well written but I wondered if it belonged here and the different expectation lowered my enjoyment.
Journey to the Anomaly – Ian Watson (not finished): utter nonsense
Canoe -Nancy Kress (B): a cool exploration story with Polynesian influence that I really loved. Unfortunately weakened by the poor drama between the characters.
The Planet Woman By M.V. Crawford – Lavie Tidhar (B-): again I wondered how this fits into the theme. The last part is the best but leaves too much to the reader. There isn't much meat here, only the raw idea.
Arcturean Nocturne – Jack McDevitt (B-): strong character focus with only minimal SF. Predictable with a soap opera ending that totally annoyed me.
Life Signs – Paul McAuley (C): at this point I was already in a bad mood so maybe the story is better than I think of it. Left me unimpressed.
The Fall of the House of Kepler – Ian R. MacLeod (B): interesting idea, too bad that it restricts itself too much so I am afraid it won't leave a lasting impression.
The Tale of the Alcubierre Horse – Kathleen Ann Goonan (not finished): I thought the golden rule of collections is to put the best story at the end (and the 2nd best first). I found the writing uneven with too much infodumping and characters I didn't like. Stopped after 10 pages or so.
November 26, 2018
I've read enough of these PS collections to expect and be prepared for a very uneven collection. Typically (and in this case) there are a few well written stories by good authors, then there is a wide stylistic range of more mediocre writing. I was most disappointed that many of the stories had very little adhesion to the theme, which I thought was very cool.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews