2011 anthology of new SF short stories varying massively in quality. On the whole the disappointments (especially the normally great Mike Resnick) are outweighed by the stunners (Richard Salter, Keith Brooke/Eric Brown, Alastair Reynolds).

Since it's a short story anthology, it's hard to review. Some stories I really liked, some I couldn't be bothered finishing even though short

One of the best scifi anthologies I've read in a long time. Filled with unusual and unexpected stories.

I will admit that I am enough of a pathetic die-hard fan that I got this anthology off the back of its inclusion of an Alastair Reynolds story; others in the contents page also grabbed my attention, of course, so it wasn't a completely ridiculous buy. Since saying farewell to Last Short Story I have got interested in reading anthologies again - well, actually, I was never very interested in anthologies before LSS introduced them to me, and then a few years of that burnt me out. Anyway, I was dea...

Based on the gorgeous cover art (Solaris really does have the best artists and designers on the market now) I was expecting more space stories, but most of them are down to earth, literally or figuratively. I was not disappointed by the quality, however. There was only one story I did not like. There were a couple others I didn't quite understand but which were still interesting. Most everything else was great. I look forward to seeing what Whates has collected for the next two volumes, which I'...

Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction has a very exciting line-up of contributors. It's the perfect way to get a taste of some of today's most exciting SF voices. The only ones from this collection I've read work from before are Eric Brown and Peter F. Hamilton. So for this relative SF newbie this anthology was quite a treat and a great way to expand my acquaintance with today's SF writers.Before I get to some of the separate stories, I wanted to touch on what reading this anth...

Good collectionEnjoyed the mix in this book. Like all collections, there were stories I loved and some that were just ok. I definitely recommend this collection though, a few stories everyone can fall in love with and expand with their own imagination afterwards.

There were a few entries in this collection of original science fiction short stories that I didn't understand. The settings were so bizarre, so different from anything else I've read, that I wasn't really sure what was happening or what they were about. That, to me, is a bonus. I'm impressed that, after four decades of reading science fiction, I found authors whose words, ideas, and themes could surprise me. Among the stories I particularly liked were:- "Sweet Spots" by Paul Di Filippo, in whic...

As usual with anthologies, this one has its ups and downs, but with 9 four and five stars stories out of 19, it’s a very good one. 1. A Smart Well-Mannered Uprising of the Dead, Ian McDonald - A sort of Facebook for dead people. Interesting idea, but it’s more of a satire on the consumerist society and desire to make money no matter through what means. 2/52. The Incredible Exploding Man, Dave Hutchinson - Great one. An extrapolation on the Calabi-Yau space. 4/53. Sweet Spots, Paul di Filippo - F...

Had some good short stories but mainly abit weak

It's that time of year again. No, not bath time (that's in the summer), but time to immerse myself in an array of modern, brand new SF instead of the classic variety that I usually find myself wallowing (and thoroughly enjoying).This book marks the resurrection of the "Solaris New Book of SF" series that ran for three volumes and then ended when, I believe, Solaris changed hands and the then editor of the series George Mann left. I read the last volume in the old series (see here), enjoyed it ve...

A smart well mannered uprising of the dead – Ian McDonald – 1/5 uniteresting and I hated the disjointed narrative styleThe incredible exploding man – Dave Hutchinson 3/5 well written and starts great but ends up underwhelmingSweet spots – Paul di Filippo 1/5 seems written by a 14 yo boy, with 14 yo obsessions and sense of humourThe best science fiction of the year three – Ken MacLeod 5/5 nice alternate world with a smart twist; also, great to read in 2017 (it is about intellectuals having to fle...

I realise I am late in the day with this review. The Solaris series after all is now an annual event and this first one came out three years ago. I bought it in 2012 when it was on kindle daily deal and have only just got around to reading it now. The collection boasts such modern science fiction giants as Ian McDonald, Ken Macleod, Peter F. Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds so the question we all want an answer to is whether it lives up to that level of expectation.I won’t summarise all of the sto...

Mes trois nouvelles préférées (*****):- Sweet spots, de Paul di Filippo. Un adolescent se découvre un super pouvoir : il peut sentir lorsqu'il se trouve au bon endroit au bon moment, quelle action déclenchera une suite d'événements qui aboutira à un résultat voulu. Il ne connaît pas forcément le détails des causes et conséquences, mais il "sent" que bousculer cette personne à ce moment précis aboutira plus tard pour lui à une glace gratuite. Et comme lui, on reste fasciné de découvrir la chaîne

Out of nineteen stories, a couple fall a little flat and one was so difficult to grasp (even for a long time sci-fi reader) that I had to skip on by.The rest though? The rest range from pretty damn good to downright astounding. As short story collections though, any sci-fi fan would be remiss to let this one gather dust.

A Smart Well-Mannered Uprising of the Dead - Ian McDonald - 4 starsAmusing. Mark Zuckerberg take note.The Incredible Exploding Man - Dave Hutchinson - 2 starsHarmless.Sweet Spots - Paul di Filippo - 3 starsEntertaining if a touch predictable (if you'll forgive the pun).The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three - Ken Macleod - 2 starsWell written but I found this confusing. I kept having the feeling I should know about the authors and books he was talking about. Also, he used anarchism and commu...

Of the 19 stories in this collection, I loved some, liked most of them and only disliked two or three. That's a pretty good hit rate for the collection. Unfortunately, the misses for me were some of the big names: I completely failed to get Tricia Sullivan's The One That Got Away and Pat Catigan's You Never Know just perplexed me. But on the up side, I adored Keith Brooke and Eric Brown's Eternity's Children about a man wracked with guilt as he goes to destroy a colony's entire way of life; Alis...

Overall, this was a good collection of stories by some very exciting writers. Unlike several of the other reviewers, I quite enjoyed Pat Cadigan's "You Never Know" and found "Eternity's Children" heartbreaking without being sentimental. I bought this primarily for Alastair Reynolds' "For the Ages" and while the concept is interesting on many levels, the story failed for me in its characters--while I do appreciate him writing non-pornographic SF about lesbians, I didn't believe those two would ev...

The main reason I choice this book as my old school friend Richard Salter had become a writer and by most accounts his current best piece of work could be found in Solaris Rising. He is obviously very proud to feature in the same collection as Alastair Reynolds, Peter F. Hamilton, Stephen Baxter, etc etc.Of course I jumped straight to Richard's story "Yestermorrow" first and read his deliciously bittersweet story about living in a time fractured near future where each day experienced is in a ran...

There's a wide range of styles and qualities among the stories in this book, so anything said in general will be a bit unfair. It begins nicely enough but with few exceptions most of the stories are meh. I know this is not the best SF on offer. There are a few gems, such as "A smart well mannered uprising of the dead" and "How we came back from Mars", but they are not SF, really; of the stories which are I'd mention "Yestermorrow" (soft) and "For the ages" (hard). Some stories look positively li...