The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction Volume 3 (Mass Market Paperback)

~ George Mann (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Solaris has become known for its high quality anthologies. This SF collection is no exception with all original short stories from some of the world's finest genre authors.

About the Author

George Mann is the editor of The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and the author of three SF/Fantasy novels. He lives and works in Nottinghamshire, England.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Solaris (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184416599X
• ISBN-13: 978-1844165995
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,424 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #29 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Anthologies
  #34 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Short Stories
  #98 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A few brillant pieces shored up this otherwise so-so anthology., April 28, 2009

By	S. Eret "S.T.T.E." - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A mismatch anthology with only a few standouts, several lukewarm pieces, and a few real duds. Also, though I didn't factor it in the review, the pagination was a bit screwy--especially toward the second end of the book--so that page numbers didn't match-up with the table of contents. Overall grade: C+

"Rescue Mission" by Jack Skillingstead. Sentient biosphere drugs astronaut. Rescue follows. That's pretty much it. D

"The Fixation" by Alastair Reynolds. I'm becoming a fan of his. The Antikythera Mechanism and the many worlds hypothesis. B+

"Artifacts" by Stephen Baxter. Another brilliant piece from this "hard science" fiction writer. What I like about him is that he often infuses his stories with the human element, making them much more than just an extrapolation of a neat scientific idea into story form. Often sad and melancholy (as this is) but always great. A

"Necroflux Day" by John Meaney. A science fantasy piece about the strange power source of a civilization. B

"Providence" by Paul DiFilippo. Sentient robots talking like twelve-year-olds after us fleshy "carnals" have been destroyed and the robots get "high" off of vinyl records. And what an anti-climatic ending. Give me a break! C-

"Carnival Nights" by Warren Hammond. Police procedural/crime noir set in the far future. What happens when you augment someone too much? B

"The Assistant" by Ian Whates. Somewhat like "The Fixation" in that it uses alternate realities to do stuff in this reality. This time it's nano-engineered bugs. B

"Glitch" by Scott Edelman. The glitch is that some robots believe in mythical creatures called "humans." One whiny robot finds that her dead lover (how he dies isn't really clear) believes in these creatures and sends her into an existential tailspin. Robots with gender and the mythical humans constantly being addressed in the second-person "you" highlight this boring (I had to trudge through it in two sittings, despite its short length) and poorly thought-out story. D

"One of our Bastards is Missing" by Paul Cornell. An alternate history story in a setting with future technology? Not too sure. The story did keep me reading, but by the end all I truly understood was that one of their bastards was missing. C

"Woodpunk" by Adam Roberts. It's cyberpunk with trees! Get it? Not really. I guess I was supposed to think it as high-minded but it came across as banal and overly violent. Plus, I couldn't figure out the main character's gender. C

"Minya's Astral Angels" by Jennifer Pelland. Humans still rule human-founded civilization in the far future and post-human "Mods" are slaves. But wait!--there's a legal loophole. There's always a legal loophole. C+

"The Best Monkey" by Daniel Abraham. An investigative journalist investigates the phenomenal success of one company and thus stumbles upon a Big Idea. Maybe I got it. Maybe I didn't. If I did get it, then it left plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon. C-

"Long Stay" by Ian Watson. A quirky slipstream piece that keeps you wondering, "Why is this science fiction?" till the end. B-

"A Soul Stitched to Iron" by Tim Akers. A steam-punk tale set in an alternate world about the horror one family uses in order to achieve greatness and the sad, lonely machine that is that horror. A

"iThink, therefore I am" by Ken Macleod. Funny mock ad about the descendant of the iPod, with philosophy. B

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, March 11, 2009

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

The Solaris series continues to improve, from 3.3, to 3.4 to a now very good 3.63 for an original anthology. There is very little ordinary here. Also great to see the return of Paul Cornell's Hamilton - this story not being as wildly inventive as the previous outing, and probably only a 4.25, but fine work, anyway, to have two in a row like that.

Alastair Reynolds production quality continues to amaze, too.

Another interesting thing is a couple of stories related to other work. Warren Hammond's SF hardboiled novels now have a short story to go along with them, this time told from the viewpoint of another detective, an antagonist of his protagonist in the two longer works. John Meaney adds another piece to whatever he calls the Tristopolis/Necro books. This one doesn't seem to work as well to me, given the rest are gothich supernatural fantasy noir, whereas this is the story of a small boy learning about his world.

The other notables are Baxter and Abraham, with the rest being mostly decent quality work.

Unfortunately it has been mentioned that Solaris is up for sale, so this might be the last of these volumes. If so, it was a very fine exit.

Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Rescue Mission - Jack Skillingstead
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : The Fixation - Alastair Reynolds
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Artifacts - Stephen Baxter
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Necroflux Day - John Meaney
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Providence - Paul Di Filippo
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Carnival Night - Warren Hammond
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : The Assistant - Ian Whates
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Glitch - Scott Edelman
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : One of Our Bastards is Missing - Paul Cornell
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Woodpunk - Adam Roberts
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Minyia's Astral Angels - Jennifer Pelland
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : The Best Monkey - Daniel Abraham
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : Long Stay - Ian Watson
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : A Soul Stitched to Iron - Tim Akers
Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction 3 : iThink Therefore I Am - Ken MacLeod

Male energy hypnosis vegetable planet escape.

4 out of 5


Multiversal mechanism order stealing fix ghosts.

4 out of 5


Brane model universal fuel fear.

4 out of 5


Learning dead people power.

3 out of 5


Recording hit rollover machine.

3.5 out of 5


Baby shocker detection.

3.5 out of 5


Bug bot cleanup.

3.5 out of 5


Human mythbots.

3 out of 5


Queenfold deception Balance rescue.

4.5 out of 5


Gaia glowing neural net.

3.5 out of 5


Cuddlepie is too a person, wedding tackle or not.

3.5 out of 5


Asymmetrical design advantage discovery.

4 out of 5


Bigarse carpak bugs me.

3.5 out of 5


Monster Family fortune foundation.

3.5 out of 5


Store everything, or not. We know.

3.5 out of 5





4.5 out of 5