The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two

George Mann's Solaris anthology series is one of several recent attempts to revive market for original, unthemed anthologies. I don't know about the quality of the other series or even the first volume of this one, but, based on this installment, I hope Mann's series continues. None of the stories are bad or boring. All, with one possible exception, are truly science fiction, and three stories are noteworthy. Extrapolate the instant feedback of popularity polls, add "sensate matter" which can be reprogrammed to assume any configuration, and you have the sport of "competitive urban planning" which is the subject of Paul Di Filippo's humorous "iCity". The hero of Kay Kenyon's "The Space Crawl Blues" is facing, like many a science fiction protagonist before him, technological obsolescence. Personal teleportation is on the brink of rendering starship pilots like him unnecessary. Teleportation converts the body to mere information, but whom do you trust to edit that information and based on what criteria? Chris Roberson's "Line of Dichotomy" is part of his alternate history imagining the past and present dominated by the empires of Mexica and the Middle Kingdom. Here their struggle comes to Fire Star, our Mars. It's a classic story of a group desperately fleeing pursuit across hostile terrain. The unresolved ending tries too hard for something else, but, apart from that, the story was enjoyable. Robert Reed's "Fifty Dinosaurs" really only has three dinosaurs, some giant microbes, and one human. Their response to their peculiar origin has a charming, surreal quality to it. Many of these stories mix humor and action. More on the humor side are two installments in Neal Asher's Mason's Rats series. Here the English farmer and the intelligent, tool-using rats on his farm have to battle pushy salesmen and bureaucrats in "Mason's Rats: Black Rat" and "Mason's Rats: Autotractor". The "Evil Robot Monkey" of Mary Robinette Kowal resents his freak status as neither monkey nor human and just wants to be left to his pottery. Martial arts, a giant mech fighting machine, a classic western plot, and a wry take on fathers, sons, and their expectations of each other make up Dominic Green's "Shining Armor". I'm not a fan of Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius series, but I did like the latest installment, "Modem Times". Maybe it caught me in the right mood or maybe I've just read enough to know what to expect - and what I'm not going to get - from this incarnation of the Eternal Champion. If you like the Cornelius series, you'll probably enjoy Jerry's quest for the lost spirit of the 60s even more than I did. Slick and pleasant enough and not overstaying their welcome - but not sticking in the mind either - are Brenda Cooper's "Blood Bonds" about twins, one still living a normal life in the flesh and the other paralyzed and only living in a virtual reality, getting embroiled in a rebellion of artificial intelligences. Eric Brown's "Sunworld" is

A considerable improvement on last year's anthology, average 3.43 compared to 3.34, with no disappointments. An anthology of solid, mainstream science fiction (well, apart from Moorcock's bit part novella, but Jerry Cornelius ain't exactly a stranger). A brief introduction explains the editorial reasoning and aspirations for this series, and tells us that there will be a third volume, so nice work. No standout stories, with Kenyon and Roberson's the best. On the whole, pretty well done for original work, with a nice balance of stories from serious to odd to light. Solaris 2 : iCity - Paul Di Filippo Solaris 2 : The Space Crawl Blues - Kay Kenyon Solaris 2 : The Line of Dichotomy - Chris Roberson Solaris 2 : Fifty Dinosaurs - Robert Reed Solaris 2 : Mason's Rats Black Rat - Neal Asher Solaris 2 : Blood Bonds - Brenda Cooper Solaris 2 : The Eyes of God - Peter Watts Solaris 2 : Sunworld - Eric Brown Solaris 2 : Evil Robot Monkey - Mary Robinette Kowal Solaris 2 : Shining Armour - Dominic Green Solaris 2 : Book Theatre and Wheel - Karl Schroeder Solaris 2 : Mathralon - David Louis Edelman Solaris 2 : Mason's Rats Autotractor - Neal Asher Solaris 2 : Modem Times - Michael Moorcock Solaris 2 : Point of Contact - Dan Abnett Civil Wikineering. 3.5 out of 5 If you have to take me apart to get there, I don't want to go. Don't care about the chicks. 4 out of 5 Stop the war? Woman, that's crazy talk. 4 out of 5 Casual Rex sex, Bazza. 3.5 out of 5 Sales picture a catapult for success. 3.5 out of 5 AI twin champion. 3 out of 5 The Shadow Knows what lurks in your heart you big ol' Chester. 3.5 out of 5 Inquisition loses control. Wouldn't be surprised to see Brainiac, Captain Marvel or the Silver Surfer, either. 3 out of 5 All fired up. 3.5 out of 5 Robot Khan rebuff. 3 out of 5 Memory pages. 3.5 out of 5 Rocky story. 3.5 out of 5 Public service meals. 3.5 out of 5 Cornelius news notes. Lots. 3 out of 5 Ordinary first. 3.5 out of 5