The Best of Jim Baen's Universe

Jim Baen's Universe

by Eric Flint (Editor), Eric Witchey (Contributor), Alan Dean Foster

Top-Selling established writers and brilliant newcomers both appear regularly in the online magazine, "Jim Baen's Universe," edited by Eric Flint, creator of the "New York Times" best-selling ?Ring of Fire? series. Now, editor Flint selects a generous serving of the best science fiction and fantasy stories that have appeared in the magazine. Hugo and Nebula Award winners, such as Mike Resnick and Gene Wolfe are on board, and so are best-selling writers David Drake, Gregory Benford, Esther Friesner and more. "Jim Baen's Universe" is already a resounding hit on the internet, and is certain to be equally popular in the uncybernetic realm of paper reading as well.

Contents:

"Chilling" Copyright © 2006 by Alan Dean Foster
"Bow Shock" Copyright © 2006 by Gregory Benford
"Pimpf" Copyright © 2006 by Charlie Stross
"What Would Sam Spade Do?" Copyright © 2006 by Jo Walton
"Brieanna's Constant" Copyright © 2006 by Eric Witchey
"Bob's Yeti Problem" Copyright © 2006 by Lawrence Person
"Slanted Jack" Copyright © 2006 by Mark Van Name
"Candy-Blossom" Copyright © 2006 by Dave Freer
"The Darkness" Copyright © 2006 by David Drake
"The Cold Blacksmith" Copyright © 2006 by Elizabeth Bear
"Poga" Copyright © 2006 by John Barnes
"Build-A-Bear" Copyright © 2006 by Gene Wolfe
"The Opposite of Pomegranates" Copyright © 2006 by Marissa Lingen
"'Ware the Sleeper" Copyright © 2006 by Julie Czerneda
"The Thief of Stones´ Copyright © 2006 by Sarah Zettel
"The Ancient Ones Part 1" Copyright © 2006 by David Brin
"Travails with Momma" Copyright © 2006 by John Ringo
"Fish Story, Episode 1" Copyright © 2006 by Andrew Dennis, Eric Flint and Dave Freer
"Fancy Farmer" Copyright © 2006 by Pamela Uphoff
"The Puzzle of the Peregrinating Coach" Copyright © 2006 by George Phillies
"Astromonkeys!" Copyright © 2006 by Tony Frazier
"Giving it 14 Percent" Copyright © 2006 by A. S. Fox
"Local Boy Makes Good" Copyright © 2006 by Ray Tabler
"Gods and Monsters in Hollywood" Copyright © 2006 by Gregory Benford
"Back to the Moon" Copyright © 2006 by Travis Taylor
"Light of Other Days" by Bob Shaw was first published in Analog, August 1966
"The Facts Concerning The Recent Carnival Of Crime In Connecticut" by Mark Twain was first published in 1877

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Ebooks, Short Stories, Fantasy

528 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2007

About the author

Eric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.

Reviews

[Shaun]

Edited by Eric Flint, the author/curator of the highly successful alt-history series Ring of Fire (published, curiously enough, by Baen) assembled stories from the Universe magazine. All are good, although the among the favorites are the first, Garth Nix’s Dog Soldier, in which a cranky NCO rediscovers man’s best friend. Katherine Sanger’s whimsical story of aliens in Starbucks drive-through, Decaf and Spaceship, To Go is at the other end of the SF spectrum but equally enjoyable. And Giving It Fourteen Percent by A. S. Fox mixes an ode to deadening corporate life, space travel and what we’ll just call regional mythology to great effect.

All enjoyable, expertly curated and edited, and just solid writing -- makes me want to spring for #2.

[Charl]

Excellent collection, only skipped one or two. (That's what I like about story collections; if you're not enjoying the current story, there's a fresh one just a few pages away.)

[K. Axel]

Ok, I needed a fast injection of Science Fiction and so picked up this "little" book that had been resting (and gathering dust) on my shelf. To be completely honest, I have yet to read a really good Baen book (they always seem to have the feel of cheapness..), and so, my hopes are not that great for this one, although it does contain a couple of interesting names, like Gregory Benford and Gene Wolfe.

This is a review-in-progress, which means that I will add a small review of each individual shortstory as I read it. Starting at the very beginning, of course...

Dog Soldier by Garth Nix
This is the story about man's best friend, the mechanical... dog! We are somewhere in the far galaxy, far away from Earth (what they call Terra). Here man is fighting a new three-armed race called Xene's and today our hero, Gillies gets a new toy to test out. I am no fan of a heavy science fiction language, as I like to understand what I am reading about. This story started out with a LOT of new words to understand, and while most of them certainly lost me, the story actually ended by surprising me with its... warmth and heart. Not a great read, but a solid one. (3 stars)

The Girl With the Killer Eyes by B.B. Kristopher
Yep, the title says it all. This, however, is not science fiction, but a story about superhumans. In it we meet Jodie, a woman who has her first day at the FBSI, sort of an agency for superhumans who help fight superhuman crime. Her first task: A simple robbery. Personally, this story didn't offer me anything. It tried to be funny, but it didn't really work. (1 star)

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

There were only 3 or 4 stories in here that grabbed my attention. More interesting: the writings at the end about why genetic coding for long life is not necessarily likely to be successful. Recently it's occurred to me that much of SF is concerned with finding ways to live longer than nature would normally allow, and/or become immortal - I wonder if Baen had similar thoughts.

[Maya Bohnhoff]

Contains one of my favorite magical realism stories that I've written "The Nature of Things". I was honored to have it included. I'm working on a novel-length series that actually ties into "Nature".

[Teddy]

Mixed bag. Some good ones, but they were pulled down by the rest.

[Michele]

Lots of stories, something for everyone.