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The Best of Jim Baen's Universe

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The Best of Jim Baen's Universe (2007) is a collection of SF and Fantasy short stories from the online magazine. It contains sixteen SF stories and nine Fantasy stories as well as four articles and an Afterword.

Science Fiction Stories:

Dog Soldier by Garth Nix tells of the introduction of artificial DOG units into the military. The Girl With the Killer Eyes by B. B. Kristopher is about the first day of a rookie in the Atlanta office of the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Investigation. Bow Shock by Gregory Benford relates the discoveries of an astronomer analyzing a spatial anomaly. Decaf and Spaceship, To Go by Katherine Sanger depicts a strange day at the local coffee drivethru. All the Things You Are by Mike Resnick explains why some heroes face almost certain death.

A Time to Kill by S. Andrew Swann depicts the trials of a sniper with a time machine. Local Boy Makes Good by Ray Tabler provides a solution to the problem of an overpowering enemy. The Old Woman in the Young Woman by Gene Wolfe shows one way of achieving long life. Candy-Blossom by David Freer tells of an unusual way of powering a spaceship. What Would Sam Spade Do? by Jo Walton relates the story of the murder of a Jesus clone.

Giving It Fourteen Percent by A. S. Fox is an Irish tale at superluminal velocities. Every Hole Is Outlined by John Barnes is about ghosts in an STL interstellar freighter. Fishing by Thea Hutcheson relates the problems of an interdimensional fisher with survival troubles. Bob's Yeti Problem by Lawrence Person conveys the woes of a man who has Yetis dropping in, but not surviving the fall. Brieanna's Constant by Eric Witchey depicts the problems of a researcher trying to eliminate a glitch in his calculations despite her lack of cooperation. The Darkness by David Drake shows the effects of combat on a junior officer.

Fantasy Stories:

The Cold Blacksmith by Elizabeth Bear tells the story of a blacksmith who mends a broken heart. The Nature of Things by Maya Kaathryn Bohnoff teaches an Assistant District Attorney something new about household Things. Sisters of Sarronnym; Sisters of Westwind by L. E. Modesitt, Jr., expands upon the story of Creslin and Megaera in Recluce. The Opposite of Pomegranates by Marissa Lingen relates the experiences of a second generation changeling who slips out of underhill. As Black As Hell by John Lambshead recounts the trials of a British Army special operations unit that impresses a vampire into the service.

Benny Comes Home by Esther Friesner tells of a Jewish family that encounters a vampire. Femme Fatale by Jason Wittman is about a protection scheme that runs into a weather witch. A Hire Power by J. Simon depicts the dangers of checking the Inhuman Resources mail. Poga by John Barnes relates the romantic troubles of the daughter of a famous author.

Articles:

The Legacy of Jim Baen by Eric Flint is an appreciation of the works of Jim Baen. Why Die? by Jim Baen is about the genetic improbabilities of immortality. A Genetic Model for Eternal Life as an Evolutionary Strategy by Karl Inne Ugland is a mathematical explication of the previous article. A Personal Remembrance of Jim Baen by John Lambshead is an elucidation of Baen's genius in regard to this article.

This collection is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys SF and Fantasy in the style of Jim Baen. In his years as an editor and publisher, Baen bought a wide range of stories, but he also developed a certain style. This book well portrays his preferences.

-Arthur W. Jordin

The late and much missed Randall Garrett once used a marvelous
metaphor: "There is a Society of Expert Mountain Climbers that meets
every so often at the top of Mount Everest. Anyone who makes it to the
meeting is automatically a member." That metaphor fits this marvelous
volume perfectly.

It's an anthology of material from the first issues of the online
magazine "Baen's Universe" (baens-universe.com). It is also a rare
collection of science fiction, fantasy, science fact, art, metaphor,
wisdom, folly, laughs, tears, sorrow and absolute joy.

Most anthologies, no matter how well edited, are like record albums.
There are one or two stories/songs which justify getting the whole
album. THIS book set a personal record for me of having FIVE stories,
any ONE of which justified my buying it. And of the rest of the set,
there is not one story I would give fewer than five stars on Amazon's
rating scale. I had the privilege of reading this book as an Advanced
Reader Copy. My personal copy has finally arrived. I plan to re-read
it all, and then keep this treasure in my heart and on my shelves to
the end of my days.

I'm going to end this review with a list of the stories and their
authors. I urge you to get this book, read these stories and, among
the names on the list, I'm sure you will find, as I did, some new
people to go on your personal "Must buy and read list."

Welcome to a reader's paradise.

------------------------

SCIENCE FICTION STORIES
Dog Soldier - Garth Nix
The Girl with the Killer Eyes - B. B. Kristopher
Bow Shock - Gregory Benford
Decaf and Spaceship, To Go - Katherine Sanger
All the Things You Are - Mike Resnick
A Time to Kill - S. Andrew Swann
Local Boy Makes Good - Ray Tabler
The Old Woman in the Young Woman - Gene Wolfe
Candy-Blossom - Dave Freer
What Would Sam Spade Do? - Jo Walton
Giving It Fourteen Percent - A. S. Fox
Every Hole Is Outlined - John Barnes
Fishing - Thea Hutcheson
Bob's Yeti Problem - Lawrence Person
Brieanna's Constant - Eric M. Witchey
The Darkness - David Drake
FANTASY STORIES
The Cold Blacksmith - Elizabeth Bear
The Nature of Things - Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Sisters of Sarronnyn; Sisters of Westwind - L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Opposite of Pomegranates - Marissa K. Lingen
As Black as Hell - John Lambshead
Benny Comes Home - Esther Friesner
Femme Fatale - Jason D. Wittman
A Hire Power - J. Simon
Poga - John Barnes
IN REMEMBRANCE: Jim Baen (1943-2006)
The Legacy of Jim Baen - Eric Flint
Why Die? - Jim Baen
A Genetic Model for Eternal Life as an Evolutionary Strategy - Karl
Inne Ugland
A Personal Remembrance of Jim Baen - John Lambshead
Afterword - John Lambshead

About The Magazine

Eric Flint, himself a best selling science fiction author from Baen's stable has compiled a wonderful tribute to Jim Baen. I thoroughly enjoyed this eclectic collection of most diverse stories. They range from the hardest science based science fiction to the traditional fantasy to the wildest dream stuff. Not to mention the occasional foray into main stream fiction, with subtle, (okay, not so subtle) twists.

Heartily recommended!

Flint assembled this tribute to Jim Baen, shortly after Baen died. Most of the stories are worth reading. But who has been omitted is also revealing. Specifically Steven Stirling. Whose Draka series was published by Baen, and who probably is at least as prominent as any of the contributors to this book. But Baen and Stirling had a falling out. So nothing from Stirling here. Pity. :(

Of the book's fiction stories, the driest has to be by Benford. But it does accurately convey the flavour of current scientific research in a university environment. In real life, Benford is a plasma physicist at UC Irvine. In his story, the protagonist is an astronomer at that campus, on tenure track and coming up for tenure review. The sociology of the pressure on a researcher is spot on. The high pressure gerbil treadmill to continually publish papers and to bring in external funding. It also shows that no one goes into astronomy for the money. There is a continual allure of jobs in finance, that are far better paying.

Benford's story also is the most technical, in terms of actual scientific ideas and jargon. Not an easy read, to be sure.

I've been reading SF for about 64 years. Cut my teeth on the best, Campbell, Asimov, Heinlein, E.E.(Doc)Smith, Van Voght, McNealey. Never much cared for Fantasy. But, if the material in this book represents modern fantasy, then WOW! What have I been missing? This is a tremendously good book overall, and a tribute to Jim Baen. But the Big Surprise to me is that the fantasy stories are even better than the SF. Since I'm a retired engineer, let me be semi-quantitative. As I went along I rated each story on a 6 point scale (0 to 5) according to how much I liked it. Average point score for the SF was 2.25 with two 0's and one 5. Average point score for the Fantasy was 3.44 with the lowest 2 and one 5. That's good writing in my book. As usual with such categories some of the Fantasy could almost be SF and vice versa. Whatever your major interest, it's hard for me to imagine anyone being disappointed with this book. And now there is a paperback available. But I'm glad I bought the hardcover - I want to keep it forever.

A selection of stories from the first year of the magazine. A notable omission here, presumably from some publishing contract reason or other is Cory Doctorow's Award winner 'When Sysadmins Ruled the World'. However, they have made that available on the website to read in full, anyway, which is very cool.

The Best of is actually set up a little like the magazine, in section, with science fiction stories first (ending with Drake), then fantasy stories then, slightly differently to some modern anthologies, a selection of columns and articles. These include some of Flint's work about electronic publishing (one of the major attractions of the mag), an article by the man whose name the magazine takes, and some others. Even a science article that would be right at home in Analog.

If you were trying to compare their content to the other major magazines, you could perhaps say somewhere between Analog and Asimov's, with more fantasy. It is stated they are trying to be deliberately more cheerful than the generally downbeat Asimov's, with a wider variety of stories than Analog. There will, of course, be military SF stories here and there.

As far as the fantasy goes, they are choosing in general (but not always), more popular and mainstream work than some of the more esoteric or mundane pieces that Fantasy and Science Fiction will put out. This includes stories set in popular fantasy milieux - see Modesitt's Recluce tale as an example.

If you are fairly familiar with sf writers etc., in general you will see by the table of contents they are committed to publishing new writers, as well, and have actual magazine story slots set aside each issue for such work.

Perhaps this 'middle way' approach will change slightly as more writers become comfortable with writing for them (Nancy Kress, etc.), but hasn't seemed to much, so far.

The other cool thing about this book is it has a CD in the back that contains a couple of their books and several of the early issues of the magazine, so those only seeing this print version can have a look for themselves.

Best of JBU 1 : Dog Soldier - Garth Nix
Best of JBU 1 : The Girl with the Killer Eyes - B. B. Kristopher
Best of JBU 1 : Bow Shock - Gregory Benford
Best of JBU 1 : Decaf and Spaceship To Go - Katherine Sanger
Best of JBU 1 : All the Things You Are - Mike Resnick
Best of JBU 1 : A Time to Kill - S. Andrew Swann
Best of JBU 1 : Local Boy Makes Good - Ray Tabler
Best of JBU 1 : The Old Woman in the Young Woman - Gene Wolfe
Best of JBU 1 : Candy-Blossom - Dave Freer
Best of JBU 1 : What Would Sam Spade Do? - Jo Walton
Best of JBU 1 : Giving It Fourteen Percent - A. S. Fox
Best of JBU 1 : Every Hole Is Outlined - John Barnes
Best of JBU 1 : Fishing - Thea Hutchison
Best of JBU 1 : Bob's Yeti Problem - Lawrence Person
Best of JBU 1 : Brieanna's Constant - Eric Witchey
Best of JBU 1 : The Darkness - David Drake
Best of JBU 1 : The Cold Blacksmith - Elizabeth Bear
Best of JBU 1 : The Nature of Things - Maya Kaathryn Bohnhof
Best of JBU 1 : Sisters of Sarronnyn Sisters of Westwind - L. E. Modesitt
Best of JBU 1 : The Opposite of Pomegranates - Marissa Lingen
Best of JBU 1 : As Black as Hell - John Lambshead
Best of JBU 1 : Benny Comes Home - Esther M. Friesner
Best of JBU 1 : Femme Fatale - Jason Wittman
Best of JBU 1 : A Higher Power - J. Simon
Best of JBU 1 : Poga - John Barnes


Space marines get an addition to the team.

"This unit is a Combat Candroid DOG 01A prototype. Designed for support use with Assault Engineer units, the DOG 01A is a sophisticated artificial life form."

DOG also thinks it is a real dog, and behaves like one, which annoys the guy in charge of it for a while, not knowing anything about them. That is, until the metal woofer proves its worth.

3 out of 5


Jodie, a new agent gets assigned to a field team:

"Good girl. I hereby dub you Federal Bureau of Superhuman Investigation Enforcement Team ATL-06's official ranged attack specialist.

They get called out to investigate a bank robbery that seems to clearly be the work of ubers.

"Three guys," Mike said. "One was a digger, one's a telekinetic, and one looks to be muscle. The digger got them into the vault. The TK picked the locks and the muscle collected the goods. All three were übers."

Catching the perpetrators, the confrontation gets very violent, and starts going bad for the field team until the headache Jodie has had all days turns into a new trick.

4 out of 5


An astronomer researching an obscure phenomenon struggles with tenure, a woman, and trying to work out if what he is seeing is natural or not.

4 out of 5


Starbucks significantly increases the chances of Armageddon.

3.5 out of 5


Man on a mission meets psionic perfection.

4 out of 5


Middle East Chronosniping.

3.5 out of 5


Goon squad Rigellian clone stomp rescue.

3 out of 5


Brains are tricky fixin'.

3.5 out of 5


Sea sneaking with alien.

2.5 out of 5


A Jesus clone private investigator gets called on by the cops when another is killed, given he has bumped one off before.

3.5 out of 5


Sublight space leprechuan situation solved by shagging, witchery and appropriate study.

4 out of 5


Long voyaging ship's sudden crew loss requires slave freedom and spectral viewing.

4 out of 5


Interdimensional sock repository fashion.

3.5 out of 5


Abominable undertaking deal.

3 out of 5


Probability fun, parking not and wife not.

3.5 out of 5


Busted LT in the middle of some slamming.

2.5 out of 5


A woman comes to Weyland Smith wanting her broken heart repaired.

3 out of 5


Extra dwellers somewhat annoying.

3.5 out of 5


Creslin bails out on oestrogen tyranny overload for some weather wizardry.

4 out of 5


Human-fairy hijinks.

3 out of 5


Vampire military recruitment babe bonding experiment success becomes long term.

4 out of 5


Batman seems more normal to kid than his Jewish family with the odd vampire.

3.5 out of 5


Street protector woman takes in trumpet boy.

4 out of 5


Supernatural recruiting.

3 out of 5


Souls need washing, like socks.

2.5 out of 5