Constellations

The original theme for this anthology was stories "either set on or in star systems or concerned with the figures in our constellations". But at some point in the production of the book, Crowther noticed that the stories he had were all from British writers, and he conceived a secondary theme: a "literary snapshot of New Millennium British SF". And indeed, while the "constellations" theme is interesting enough as original anthology themes go, it is as a celebration of contemporary British SF writers that this book really fascinates. The writers range from such veterans as SFWA Grand Master Brian W. Aldiss and Ian Watson through folks roughly my age (which alas makes them pretty much "veterans" themselves) such as Ian McDonald, Stephen Baxter and Eric Brown to rather new writers such as Tony Ballantyne and Justina Robson. More importantly, the quality and variety of the stories matches the quality and variety of the names in the Table of Contents. Ian McDonald contributes my favorite story here, "Written in the Stars". This is set in a world where astrology seems literally true. People get horoscopes several times a day, and plan their lives by them. Banbek Shaunt (a curiously Vancean name) is a functionary in the Distributions and Deliveries department of the Astrocratic service. His current worries include his daughter's objections to the man the stars have said is right for her, and a horoscope that predicts trouble for him at work. But his worries reach a different level when he receives an incomprehensible horoscope. It turns out to be another man's, and he decides to visit this other man, who is of all the shocking things an astronomer. This warm and humanistic story is at heart about freedom in a deterministic world - and, perhaps, about the origins of determinism. Another fascinating story about an unexpectedly ordered sky is Adam Roberts's "The Order of Things", in which humanity is engaged on a great project to reshape the coastlines of the world into geometrically regular forms. And it seems that the sky itself is just as orderly: the stars arranged in a regular grid. The story concerns a stodgy coastal engineer and his radical brother, along the way hinting at the dark background of this society. Alastair Reynolds's "Beyond the Aquila Rift" is closer to a traditional SF space story, with an unexpected and spooky twist. A starship captain finds himself marooned in a very distant star system due to a mishap navigating what seems to be a wormhole network. There is no way to get home in a human lifetime, so it is perhaps fortunate that he encounters an old lover also stuck in this system. But his efforts to revive a crewmate lead him to a disturbing new revelation. I thought those three the standouts, but there's plenty more fine work here. Eric Brown offers another of his stories about aliens offering immortality in "A Heritage of Stars": this one asking how that might affect a couple's marriage. Paul McAuley's "Rats of the System"

This fifteen set anthology written by British authors is a solid outer space compilation that has in common one other thread beside the national gene tree; in some manner the short stories relate to the CONSTELLATIONS seen from our planet so that the book contains short stories beyond MOON SHOTS and MARS PROBES. The tales run the gamut from afterlife to AIs to dreams (or nightmares depending on your perspective) that comes true etc. The writers provided a host of different perspectives so that the audience obtains a fun collection with no two stories alike and none weak. All new stories, Peter Crowther has put together a five star anthology that will enhance his reputation for editing fine off planetary collections. Harriet Klausner