Solaris Rising: Ian McDonald, Alastair Reynolds, Peter F Hamilton

[Ian Whates]

I've just finalised the line-up for an anthology of all new SF stories I've been commissioned to produce for Solaris - Solaris Rising: The New Book of Solaris Science Fiction. So what do you reckon? A book you're itching to read, or not really of any interest?

1. Introduction – Ian Whates
2. A Smart-Mannered Uprising of the Dead – Ian McDonald
3. The Incredible Exploding Man – Dave Hutchinson
4. Sweet Spots – Paul di Filippo
5. The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three – Ken MacLeod
6. The One that Got Away – Tricia Sullivan
7. Rock Day – Stephen Baxter
8. Eluna – Stephen Palmer
9. Shall I Tell You the Problem with Time Travel? – Adam Roberts
10. The Lives and Deaths of Che Guevara – Lavie Tidhar
11. Steel Lake – Jack Skillingstead
12. Mooncakes – Mike Resnick and Laurie Tom
13. At Play in the Fields – Steve Rasnic Tem
14. How We Came Back from Mars – Ian Watson
15. You Never Know – Pat Cadigan
16. Yestermorrow – Richard Salter
17. Dreaming Towers, Silent Mansions – Jaine Fenn
18. Eternity’s Children – Eric Brown and Keith Brooke
19. For the Ages – Alastair Reynolds
20. Return of the Mutant Worms – Peter F. Hamilton

The book is due for release in the UK and USA this November.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Itching to read, dear fellow!

 

[J-Sun]

I assume you're sounding out general honest public opinion to calibrate future anthologies, so I'll assume I can be mildly negative with "one man's opinion" without being offensive, since I certainly don't mean to be that.

I've previously read stories and/or novels that I've enjoyed by Ian McDonald, Ken MacLeod, Peter F. Hamilton (though, on a superficial level, the titles of those stories in this anthology don't appeal to me), Stephen Baxter, Pat Cadigan, and Alastair Reynolds. I've also read and enjoyed Mike Resnick but distrust collaborations I'm unfamiliar with - Laurie Tom doesn't ring a bell and, for all I know, Resnick may have had minimal contributions.

Based on Paul di Filippo's non-fiction, I have no interest in his fiction. I also seem to be liking Ian Watson less the more I read.

I don't recall reading Tricia Sullivan, Stephen Palmer (sorry, Stephen!), Adam Roberts, Lavie Tidhar, Jack Skillingstead, Steve Rasnic Tem, or Eric Brown/Keith Brooke. (I'm pretty sure I must have read Sullivan, Skillingstead, Tem, Brown, and maybe even Tidhar, but I just don't recall specifically having done so.) AFAIR, I haven't so much as heard of Dave Hutchinson, Richard Salter, or Jaine Fenn.

So my impression is that there are good chances of liking some of six stories, good chances of disliking two, and that I'd be flying blind (which can be a great thing, or disastrous) -- or remembering why I had no specific positive connotations -- with ten stories. Unfortunately, there's not a single story by someone I have not yet read that I know I want to read. I suppose Roberts would be the closest to that.

I also don't see any theme or get any feel for the type of stories. It seems like a magazine in the sense of being 'just stories'. So I'd probably be more likely to pick up an SF magazine (if I wasn't boycotting the only two I like).

I generally set the bar pretty high to buy original anthologies, though. As an example of an anthology I did buy, I bought Galactic Empires edited by Gardner Dozois. I was an Asimov's reader and read his annuals and some other things so he'd long since broken the ice. (I have yet to read one of yours, though I don't doubt it will happen.) It had a clear topic and that topic sounded great. It specifically featured novellas, which I love. They were written by Hamilton, Asher, Reed, Reynolds, Baxter, and McDonald. IIRC, at the time I'd never read Hamilton or Asher and very much wanted to, and had read and enjoyed all of the other four, so it was pure gold. And, indeed, it turned out to be a fantastic anthology. Not everything I buy can be that good but that's what I aim for.

Long story short, in a store, I'd probably pick it up, look it over, think, "Hm. Not bad," shrug, and put it back. So neither 'not really of any interest' nor 'itching to read' but somewhere between. Hope this helps.

 

[Ian Whates]

Thanks for the feedback, J-Sun, we're all entitled to our opinions.

Have to confess, I'm a little surprised you're not familiar with more of the authors involved, since all bar a few are significant names within SF. I'm incredibly excited about this book and about the calibre of author I've succeeded in attracting.

FYO, regarding a few of those you seem unfamiliar with: Mike Resnick's collaborator, Laurie Tom, was the winner of 2010's Writers of the Future competition, Jaine Fenn is a highly respected British SF author - her novels published by Gollancz - Dave Hutchinson is another British author with a host of short stories to his credit (his novella The Push, which I published through my own NewCon Press a couple of years ago, was shortlisted for a BSFA Award), Jack Skillingstead is an American author with 30 'professional' short story sales to his credit, and is married to Nancy Kress, Tricia Sullivan (born in New Jersey now resident in the UK) is a past winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award, whose most recent novel Lightborn was also on this year's shortlist, Eric Brown has some 40 published books to his credit, Keith Brooke a dozen, while Kim Stanley Robinson chastised the Man Booker Prize judges for not including Adam Roberts' novel Yellow Blue Tibia on the shortlist a year or two ago, and the chairman of the judges admitted it probably should have been...

In fact, just about all the authors are well established, though at the end of the day the reason they're in the book is that they delivered fabulous stories. However, if you haven't heard of them, you haven't heard of them.

 

[hutch0]

- Don't worry, J-Sun. Nobody else has heard of me either.

 

[J-Sun]

- Don't worry, J-Sun. Nobody else has heard of me either.

Thanks. But I've heard of you now. Nice to meet you.

Thanks for the feedback, J-Sun, we're all entitled to our opinions.

You're welcome. That's the spirit they were offered in - just a datapoint.

However, if you haven't heard of them, you haven't heard of them.

Well, I think there may have been some misunderstanding with my post. I've certainly heard of Skillingsted, Sullivan, Brown, Roberts, etc., and I'm sure I must have read Skillingsted, Sullivan, and Brown - I just couldn't tell you what. Had no idea Nancy Kress had gotten remarried, though.

However, while I've heard of them and maybe read them, only McDonald, MacLeod, Baxter, Resnick, Reynolds, Hamilton, and maybe Brown, Watson, and Cadigan strike me as really "Big Names". (Cadigan definitely used to be.) There may be an ocean's worth of disconnect, though, as I'm an American and a lot of these authors seem to be UK-ish or expatriate. There's Resnick and some others, but no Robert Reed, Jack McDevitt, Joe Haldeman, Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker, Vernor Vinge, Greg Bear, Michael Swanwick, KSRobinson, JPKelly, Robert Silverberg, Ted Chiang, Allen Steele, etc. (or Nancy Kress, herself), or some Australians like Egan or some Canadians like Karl Schroeder, Robert Charles Wilson, or Peter Watts. I gather that, while some people like Baxter happily cross oceans like air and are well-established and popular everywhere, the UK and US SF markets (and lit markets in general) are quite different.

But, yeah, it's also quite possible it's just me.

 

[hutch0]

- 'Nuff said, J-Sun. Nice to meet you too.

 

[chababug]

I've heard of me, but only in passing, whispered in dark alleys and such.

I'm also thrilled beyond all reason to be included in the lineup. I haven't yet found a superlative that really covers it...

Richard

 

[blacknorth]

So I'd probably be more likely to pick up an SF magazine (if I wasn't boycotting the only two I like).

That sounds interesting. Do tell.

 

[blacknorth]

I will probably pick this one up as I enjoyed some of the previous anthologies, especially the Mammoth Book of Apocalypic SF. And I like the fact there are lots of names I've never heard of - I am always interested in discovering new authors whose back catalogues I can plunder. So the more unfamiliar names the better for me.

 

[Boneman]

Somebody kick me hard for giving away all those fabulous anthologies in the 60s and 70s... I'd buy 'em and read 'em unseen, because I knew there's be diamonds in there, as well as semi-precious gems. I never once found a piece of coal...

Looks like a winner to me, Ian. And I won't be giving this one away. Short of standing in waterstone's all day and trying to read all the authors, I can't think of a better way to get introduced to those I've not read before. If I didn't read new stuff, I'd never know, would I?

Of course, trying to get it signed by all the authors could be tricky...

 

[Ian Whates]

Of course, trying to get it signed by all the authors could be tricky...

That's why whenever I do a NewCon Press anthology I tend to do a signed edition, to save you all that trouble, Boneman...

Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, Liz Williams, James Lovegrove, Ian Watson, Eric Brown, Tony Ballantyne, Adam Roberts, Lauren Beukes, Dan Abnett, Tony Ballantyne, Neal Asher, Andy Remic, Tanith Lee, Kelley Armstrong, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Storm Constantine, Freda Warrington, Gail Z Martin, Chaz Brenchley, Martin Sketchley, Philip Palmer... All those signatures already collected for you, and that's just in the past 15 months!

(And yes, I do realise that J-Sun won't have heard of any of them.)

 

[J-Sun]

That sounds interesting. Do tell.

It's not really. If you seriously wanted to hear about it, there's a post on the F&SF board (though the on-topic parts of the whole thread are relevant).

Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, Liz Williams, James Lovegrove, Ian Watson, Eric Brown, Tony Ballantyne, Adam Roberts, Lauren Beukes, Dan Abnett, Tony Ballantyne, Neal Asher, Andy Remic, Tanith Lee, Kelley Armstrong, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Storm Constantine, Freda Warrington, Gail Z Martin, Chaz Brenchley, Martin Sketchley, Philip Palmer... All those signatures already collected for you, and that's just in the past 15 months!

(And yes, I do realise that J-Sun won't have heard of any of them.)

Well, I might have heard of that Tony Ballantyne guy.

 

[Boneman]

Who???????

 

[blacknorth]

It's not really. If you seriously wanted to hear about it, there's a post on the F&SF board (though the on-topic parts of the whole thread are relevant).

'Pologies, just me being nosey. I am boycotting those two also, but only because none of the stores here stock them.

Actually, I am boycotting ebay at the moment, along with a lot of other people. So I'm buying, and selling, very little.

 

[Boneman]

'Pologies, just me being nosey. I am boycotting those two also, but only because none of the stores here stock them.

Are you boycotting the stores, or the magazines? Won't they order them for you, if you ask?

 

[blacknorth]

Are you boycotting the stores, or the magazines? Won't they order them for you, if you ask?

Ha, well, I'm not really boycotting those magazines, just saying that I might as well be boycotting them as they're not available to me.

If the stores don't stock them, I don't buy them. I would be very reluctant to ask the store to stock the magazine just for my sake because I am a very unreliable customer - they could get them in for me perhaps, but I can't guarantee having the money to buy them.

 

[Fried Egg]

This looks great Ian. Did you say that these are all new stories not published elsewhere?

I am certainly very interested indeed.

 

[Ian Whates]

This looks great Ian. Did you say that these are all new stories not published elsewhere?

I am certainly very interested indeed.

Hi, FE, yes, all original stories.

 

[Fried Egg]

Brilliant, I think I'll be ordering this one when it comes out. I'm definitely in the mood to read another anthology of contemporary SF.