Huge anthology (941 pages) of mostly excellent stories, very few of which I had actually read before (Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Weatherman”, Peter F. Hamilton’s “Escape Route” and Allen Steele’s “The Death of Captain Future” – all great stories), tracing the space opera sub-genre through the decades. It’s not always my favourite mode (and I found myself choking at short stories by a couple of writers whose longer works I have also bounced off) but the selection is generally good. In particular I appreciated the early stories from Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamon, Clive Jackson and especially Leigh Brackett (“Enchantress of Venus”) – shamefully, I am not sure that I had read anything at all by her previously, but I must repair that omission. The longest story is “The Survivor” by Donald Kingsbury, set in the Man-Kzin wars cycle originated by Larry Niven, a gruesome and disturbing though well-written tale. In general this is well worth looking out for.
From the Heart of Europe
Books, politics, languages and life
Without reading the “out of order” article because I’m two episodes behind, I have to say that I was pretty convinced that “A Town Called Mercy” took place almost immediately before the first episode of 6th season, at least in the Doctor’s personal timeline. I want to go back and see if there’s a hole in that Stetson he’s wearing, for example, before River blows it off his head.