Cosmic Powers

February 27, 2017
Designed to capture the cosmic scale of superpowered space comics in prose, this collection lands the cosmic element, though it’s hit-or-miss with the grandiosity. “The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts” by Becky Chambers nails the superheroic style in a chosen-one-against-impossible-odds tale told in the form of journal entries; in Seanan McGuire’s “Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!,” a case of mistaken identity leads to a delightful adventure. By contrast, Linda Nagata’s “Diamond and the World Breaker” is a relatively quiet tale whose high stakes take a backseat to the core story of a mother risking everything to put her daughter first. In “Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World” by Caroline M. Yoachim, the scope of the cosmos is the entire point, with the story broadening immeasurably and the stakes entirely internal. The deliciously enthralling “The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun” by Aliette de Bodard is about the stories we tell ourselves, and crosses cultures, traditions, and mythology with life in a galactic empire. The varying styles make this anthology pleasant to read, if thematically inconsistent.

April 15, 2017

While our solar system has been a popular setting for space opera in recent years, the more classic backdrop is in galaxies far from our little planet Earth. The 18 stories in this new collection offer their own take on the title theme. Linda Nagata's tale of the power of a mother's love in "Diamond and the World Breaker" offers a small-scale perspective, while Vylar Kaftan's "The Sighted Watchmaker," which deals with the creation of life on a new planet, represents a grander outlook. One standout is "The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts" by Becky Chambers, told as journal entries from a reluctant heroine. The variety of styles means there is something here for most literary tastes, although it can make for uneven reading if experienced from cover to cover. VERDICT With contributors such as Charlie Jane Anders, Alan Dean Foster, Seanan McGuire, Tobias S. Buckell, Jack Campbell, and Yoon Ha Lee, space opera fans will want to check this out.--MM

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2017
The latest anthology from prolific editor Adams collects stories from prominent sf authors on the theme of adventure on a cosmic scale. All are well worth reading, with stand-outs including Tobias S. Buckell's Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance, about the experiences of a human uploaded into a robotic body to explore the stars and struggling with the obligations that entails; A. Merc Rustad's Tomorrow When We See the Sun, which depicts a baroque future dominated by living-suns-turned-aristocrats; and Charlie Jane Anders A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime, in which a pair of adventurers attempts to steal a deadly superweapon while escaping the attention of their former creators as well as the massive, mind-enslaving space creature they recently robbed. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a variety of engaging sf experiences.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)