Review of 'Infinite Stars'

Infinite Stars by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

I regularly visit Forbidden Planet in London (UK) to pick up books, comics or whatever. I make sure to always visit the “sales” shelves to see what I can find. The past few times I have visited I noticed “Infinite Stars” there at the astonishing price of £1 but was curious why given that it features short stories from many of the greats of modern and classic Science Fiction: David Webber, Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (yes, a Dune-based short story), Elizabeth Moon, Lois McMaster Bujold, Orson Scott Card (an Ender story), Jack Campbell, Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle (a short story prequel to the classic “A Mote in God's Eye”), Jody Lynn Nye, Poul Anderson (SF grand master), Alastair Reynolds (hard SF), Anne McCaffrey (of “Dragonriders of Pern” fame), and Robert Silverberg (SF grand master). Yes, quite the collection. The only reason I can think it did not sell is it's sheer size: A monster paperback with more than 700 pages. Convenient to read, it is not, good to read, it is!

Self billed as “The Definitive Anthology of Space Opera and Military SF” I think this comes quite close in achieving this with some very good writing from well-known authors but it also takes a chance in including stories from the past that perhaps have not quite stood the test of time in terms of technology and sensibilities though, it has to be said, are still quite good reads. There was a distinct military bent to pretty much all of the work here which I suppose often goes with the “Space Opera” genre (think “Star Wars”) which I am not a huge fan of.

The introduction is written by “Robert Silverberg” which sets the tone for the book in attempting to define the “Space Opera” oeuvre and providing a bit of history. After this we find the heavy hitters with the first “Fleet School: Renegat” from Orson Scott Card, a book about Ender in is role as “Speaker for the Dead” which provides an interesting insight into this amazing character that originally appeared in the classic “Ender's Game”. The next is “Dune: The Waters of Kanly” by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson who have been writing Dune books originally based on material left by Brian's father Frank Herbert (the author of “Dune”). This story focuses on what Gurney Halleck, tormented by the loss of his duke and entire family after their defeat by the Harkonnens, was up to while Paul Atreides is discovering his destiny with the Freman. It turns out that unsurprisingly, Gurney is out for revenge. The last is a “Honor Harrington” story by David Webber set 20 years before “On Basilisk Station”. I have to admit I have only read one of Webber's book so the context is lost on me with this story about two sisters who do not exactly see eye to eye. Perhaps a bit too political for my tastes. The rest of the stories in the book are set in lesser-known universes or standalone stories entirely. All stories are generally between 20 and 30 pages though there are a few that are longer which would better be described as “novellas” rather than short stories as they are more than 50 pages. Surprisingly, despite their longer length they still seem to have the same level of detail and context of the shorter stories which I feel is a tribute to all of the authors.

I found this an good mixture of generally high quality writing from both familiar and unfamiliar author from classic and modern SF. If you can find a way to easily read this 700 page door-stop then it is well worth your time.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2024-11-16

Genre: Science Fiction

Publisher: Titan Books

Publication Date: 2018

ISBN: 9781785655944