Sol's Children [Paperback]

Stephen D. Sullivan (Author), Various Authors (Editor), Jean Rabe (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2002

No need to shoot for the stars when some of the greatest tales of the universe are right here in our very own solar system. Take a tour through these new, original stories with such acclaimed interplanetary guides as Timothy Zahn, Brian A. Hopkins, Jack Haldeman, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick, Roland Green, Michael A Stackpole, and others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DAW; Ex-Library edition (August 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756400821
• ISBN-13: 978-0756400828
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,027,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of This World, August 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sol's Children (Paperback)

I like what they call "hard sf," where the stories have some tech in them and make a reasonable amount of scientific sense. There are quite a few stories in this collection that match that criteria, which pleased me. There are also a mix of character-strong stories, and introspective stories. These I found enjoyable. I have two favorites, and those were the first and the last in the book, both of which made me think about "mankind."

All and all, I would say this is an excellent collection with some top-name writers. It's definitely worth a look. There are also some names I've never heard of before--Jeff Crook, Gibson, and Pack. A good blend of high-profile authors and newbies.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great SF close to home, January 28, 2003

By 

G. Swift "97jedi" (Southwestern Missouri) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sol's Children (Paperback)

This anthology is comprised of seventeen stories taking place at varying points in the future within our solar system. From the moon to Mercury to Pluto to the asteroid belt, all the planets or their moons are used as settings.

Timothy Zahn's "Old-Boy Network" takes place on Mars; it is a story in which the human toll from avaricious greed is revealed. The ending is as good as one could hope, were we in such a position. Brian A. Hopkins' "Mirrors" and Mike Stackpole's "Least of My Brethren" both give insight into how we should treat those beings we create through genetic engineering to be subservient. In their humanity, be it vengeful or sacrificial, their true hearts are revealed, regardless of their outward humanity. Jack Haldeman II's "In Finnegan's Wake" and Brian Thomsen's "The Grand Tour" take us on a tour of the system in the guise of a race (Haldeman) or a last great exploration (Thomsen). In "Finnegan" two people try to triumph over their personal ghosts, while in "Tour", a poet ends up siding with scientists and the great curiosity latent to humans. John Helfers' "Ghosts of Neptune" is the longest in the collection, and is not too bad. While seeming familiar to other stories, this seemed more apt to be expanded into a novel rather than being the short we are given. Rusch's "Moments" and Bingle's "Patience" give us tales of murder. The difference is that one is the result of corporate profit-enhancement, the other of unadulterated madness. Bingle's story is one of the best in the book, in which I particularly liked the lack of hypocrisy in the murderer. Jeff Crook's "'Roid" is another good story. One man makes a sacrifice in vain to do what he believes is right, though we learn his efforts were all for naught. "The Demons of Jupiter's Moons" by Resnick and Stafford gives a good accounting of man vs. alien. Those little beasties aroused the wrong sleeping dragon. Dupree's "Ringflow" and Gibson's "Acceptable Risk" both give us examples of exploration efforts gone bad. While neither end well for those involved, the end was the choice of each, and is somewhat ennobling in itself. Sullivan's "Martian Knights" is a good man vs. machine conflict. Making good use of irony, he shows us that not all members of a group should be judged by their fellows of that group. Davis' "Omega Time" tells the story of a man who could live without his deceased wife, but faces the promis he made that they would be together, in his mind not just unto death, but beyond it. Green's "Son of a Belter Earl" is really not a good story. It moves slowly and is uninteresting, doing nothing for the collection. Pack's "A Coin for Charon" illustrates very well that trust is too easily misplaced. Know your friends well, it seems, to ensure they are not, in fact, your enemies.

I really liked this collection, which has SF stories in nearly every vein: Hard SF, horror, mystery, humor... The authors are a mix of well-known and lauded with lesser-known up-and-comers. Overall the stories are great, though some of the stories suffer from egregious misspellings. The truly great thing about these stories is that they nearly all deal not just with humans and their reactions and behaviors, but with humanity and our plight against the universe and each other. That's what SF is really all about.