Spirey and the Queen by Alastair Reynolds

I really don't know about this one.

Part of it was interesting in how war is fought in space but then there was this existential exploration of machines developing sentience.

I don't know it's as if Reynolds did not know what to do with this story and it tried to be two things at once.

Who knows.  Maybe it's brilliant.  Maybe I am not.

Alastair Reynolds website - http://www.alastairreynolds.com/

Alastair Reynolds

Swanwatch by Yoon Ha Lee

This was a strange little piece that I really did not get.

People, who could be criminals or dissidents are sent to these ships, or maybe it's a space station, with the understanding that they will eventually kill themselves by flying a ship into a black hole.

But, while waiting for the ultimate day, they are free to pursue their passions, be it art or music or something else.

Honestly, I did not get this story as it blew right over me.

As always, I feel the weak link in the story was me.  For whatever reason I did not connect with it.  The writing was lovely but the characters did not jump off the page and into my brain here.

Yoon Ha Lee's website - http://www.yoonhalee.com/

Yoon Ha Lee

Warship by George R. R. Martin and George Guthridge

This was a quick six page story where, after a successful attack mission, the warship Alecto's crew succumb to an alien virus.

Lone survivor, First Dutyman Lewis Akklar, prepares for an act of self-sacrifice to protect the people of Earth.

There is also a nice twist ending here which gave the story some depth.

I liked it.

George R R Martin's website - http://www.georgerrmartin.com/

George Guthridge - http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?George_Guthridge

George R R Martin

George Guthridge

Twilight of the Gods by John C. Wright

This was another cool story that played with an SF trope.

This time it is a multi-generational ark ship.

What if something happens to the ark en route to it's destination?  Here they are attacked and boarded.

Now think of this; the raid is not entirely successful and some of the inhabitants of the ark manage to escape and hide away for a generation.  It's an unbelievably large ship by the way.

Cut off from the technology of the ship, the events of the past fall into legend and the remaining people revert to a medieval society.

I loved how it read like a high fantasy story while being fully aware that the characters are in a ship in space.

It was a nice blending of the two genres.

John C Wright's websited - http://www.scifiwright.com/

John C. Wright

Different Day by K. Tempest Bradford

A three page story that broke with the SF trope of alien races being depicted as one culture occupying a whole planet.

What if?  And I love stories that ask this question.  What if an alien race makes first contact with us on Earth?  Who says it will be in the United States?

Then another race, from the same planet also arrives to make contact, but they are from a different country?

Race and political questions come to play in this very well thought out little tale.

I loved how it just blew apart the conventions of SF always being focused on the United States.

Nicely done.

K. Tempest Bradford's website - http://tempest.fluidartist.com/

K. Tempest Bradford

Prisons by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason

A prison planet revolts against it's keepers.

The success of the revolt hangs on the remoteness of the world and in keeping the prison's AI in control.  Guess how well that goes?

I enjoyed this story, it was well constructed and felt like it could easily be a movie.  I liked how the point of view changed from the AI to omniscient third person.

The twist worked for me and I found that I ripped through the story.

Well done.

Kevin J Anderson's website - http://www.wordfire.com/

Doug Beason's website - http://www.dougbeason.com/file/Welcome.html

Kevin J Anderson

Doug Beason

Someone Is Stealing The Great Throne Rooms Of The Galaxy by Harry Turtledove

This story was as cute as the hamster protagonist of it.

That's right - I said hamster.

It was delightful, irreverent and fun. 

The space cadet hamster is tasked to investigate the thefts. 

Lots of puns and playing with the tropes of the omniscient narrator. 

A joy.

Harry Turtledove's website - https://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/turtledove.html

Harry Turtledove

Aftermaths by Lois McMaster Bujold

What a wonderful story.

In the wake of a battle in space, a two-member crew are sent to a ship that has been destroyed to scan for and recover the dead. 

It sounds dark but is just the opposite. There is a quiet dignity and caring for the fallen that I found heart-warming. 

This is the kind of fiction that works for me.  It's about "people" living and working in the future. 

The best so far.

Bujold's website - http://dendarii.com/

Lois McMaster Bujold

Terra-Exulta by S. L. Gilbow

This was an odd little story.  It is told in the form of a letter to the Galactic Society of Ancient Languages on how to translate Archaic Planetary English into Galactic Standard.

It told of an interesting story of colonists who have coped with and influx of indigenous life forms that caused people to become sick and die.  Strangely, the focus of the story is the creation of new words to describe the tragedy and how it is important to invent words well.

Like I said it was an odd story.  Kinda cold, kinda interesting, certainly different.

Gilbow's website - http://slgilbow.com/

S. L. Gilbow

Life-Suspension by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

This was more to my liking.

There is a giant big alien threat that the officers of S.R.S Amaterasu are dispatched to deal with.

This could have been all about describing the aliens but instead it focused on the blossoming relationship between the commander of a fighter wing and an officer in charge of the life-suspension systems.

I liked that Modesitt didn't waste my time with explaining how "bad" the enemy was, I can take that as a given.  In the end, stories should be about people and how they are coping in a given situation.  The SF can take a back seat and be in the background and still be very effective as genre fiction.

I liked this story a whole bunch.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr's website - http://www.lemodesittjr.com/

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Carthago Delenda Est by Genevieve Valentine

A message from the planet Carthage is received and delegates from every known world send a ship out to meet them.

Honestly, this was a mess of a story, which only came into some kind of focus in the last few pages. 

Once again so much word count was wasted on describing alien physiology and customs that it took too long before the aspect of a multi-generational (generations of clones) mission for first contact emerged.

This was another miss for me.

Genevieve Valentine's website - http://www.genevievevalentine.com/

Genevieve Valentine

Mazer in Prison by Orson Scott Card

I don't really know what I think about this story.

On one side, it's an interesting take on suspended animation. Instead of freezing an individual he is put on a ship and sent out on a long journey at near-light speed.  This is to take advantage of the space/time effect that Einstein discovered. 

Then it is also a critique of military decision making and authority structure. 

There was a story of sorts in there, but I was not captured by it. 

It was a miss for me.

It should be noted that this takes place int the Enders Game series and this may be why it did not work for me.  I have not read the books.  As a matter of fact, this was my first story by Card.

Orson Scott Card - http://www.hatrack.com/

Orson Scott Card