The New Space Opera

Starred review from April 30, 2007
The new space opera shares with the old the interstellar sweep of events and exotic locales, but Dozois and Strahan’s all-original anthology shows how the genre’s purveyors have updated it, with rigorous science, well-drawn characters and excellent writing. Many of the 18 stories play with the scope that characterizes classic space opera. In Greg Egan’s “Glory,” creatures embody themselves as aliens to perform archeological research, only to get caught up in a struggle between two worlds. Robert Reed’s “Hatch,” limited in locale to the hull of a giant ship, proves that the scope of the struggle for life is always epic. Stephen Baxter’s “Remembrance” walks a line between the personal and the global as resisters against Earth’s conquerors remember one man’s struggle against the alien invaders. Kage Baker’s humorous “Maelstrom,” in which an acting troupe on frontier Mars puts on a Poe story for the miners there, tells a personal story in an epic setting. The new space opera teaches us that despite the bizarre turns humanity may take to conquer these outré settings, a recognizable core of humanity remains.

Starred review from June 15, 2007
Award-winning editors Dozoi (editor of "Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine") and Strahan (reviews editor of Locus and coeditor of "Science Fiction: The Best of"] and "Fantasy: The Best of" ... anthology series) have put together an exceedingly fine set of stories written specifically for this collection by some of the best sf authors writing today. These 18 tales run the gamut from technologically centered hard science (think exploding comets and artificial intelligence) to character-driven soft science (settling on new worlds). Alien perspectives are balanced by humanistic introspection. Many of the stories mine the genre's favorite nuggets by exploring political and ethical questions from varied and unusual points of view. In the great tradition of space operanot to be confused with soap opera, although there is some similarity in the epic sprawl of the underpinningsthe collection shows both remarkable diversity and cohesiveness. Standouts from Kage Baker, Paul J. McAuley, Nancy Kress, Gregory Benford, and Dan Simmons, among others, make this a solid purchase for public libraries with sf and/or short story collections.Charli Osborne, Oxford P.L., MI

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