Review of Solaris Rising: Alastair Reynolds, Peter F Hamilton, Pat Cadigan, etc

[Ian Whates]

Lois Tilton has posted a pretty positive review of the anthology on the Locus website:
http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2011/10/lois-tilton-reviews-short-fiction-late-october-2/

 

[Ian Whates]

A great new review of Solaris Rising has just been posted on the BestSF site; it considers each story individually and, in conclusion, rates this one of the best original anthologies of the year. Chuffed? Moi?

http://www.bestsf.net/solaris-rising-ed-ian-whates-solaris-2011/

 

[Ian Whates]

Those good vibes just keep rolling in...

http://a-fantastical-librarian.blogspot.com/2011/11/ian-whates-ed-solaris-rising-new.html

 

[Fried Egg]

I've just finished my copy today. Good work Ian. I do like your little mini introductions for each author before each story. An interesting array of stories.

Although you stated in the introduction that there is no common theme, I did notice that quite a few of the stories made political points and there was a fair bit of self referencing (in terms of the genre). Both of these are quite hard to do well in my opinion. Political stories can easily become to polemic or didactic and self-referencing can seem a bit nerdy (although I must admit that Neil Hamilton's "The Return of the Mutant Worms" really cracked me up!) But overall I found most of the stories had something to offer.

So the only question that remains to be asked is this: Is the Solaris New SF series going to continue and if so, are you staying in the role of editor?

 

[Ian Whates]

Thanks, FE; the reviews and plaudits for the book continue to come in.

I understand SciFi Now has given it a glowing review (though I haven't seen this one myself), 28-times Hugo winner David Langford has recommended the book in the Telegraph, and others have said the following:

SFX Magazine: "The literary equivalent of a well-presented buffet of tasty snacks." (4 stars)
BBC Focus Magazine: "This anthology of new short stories is essential reading."
Gardner Dozois (in Locus): "One of the three or four best SF anthologies published this year... there’s almost nothing here that isn’t at least good, and some that’s outstanding."
Fantasy Book Critic: "Solaris Rising (A+, highly recommended) is a very strong eclectic anthology with something to please any lover of contemporary sf."
Best SF: "An excellent collection... in my review (of Engineering Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan) I pondered ‘I’d be surprised if there’s a stronger anthology in 2011′. Well, the same publisher has now produced another anthology that is right up there with it."

I'm obviously delighted with reaction to the book. To date, every single review has been positive, with the majority enthusiastically so.

And, yes, FE, I'm pleased to say that, in view of the very warm critical reception and strong early sales the book has enjoyed, Solaris have now confirmed that there will indeed be a volume 2...

 

[Patrick Mahon]

Great to hear there will be a second volume, Ian! In case anyone's interested, my own review of 'Solaris Rising' has just been published on the SF Crowsnest website. Like so many other reviewers, I thought it was an excellent anthology, and a great follow-up to the three earlier ones that Solaris brought out a few years ago - well done Ian!