8) Irresistible Forces, edited by Catherine Asaro

I bought this because it contains the latest installment of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga, the short story “Winterfair Gifts”, about Miles Vorkosigan’s wedding, so set a few months before the most recent novel of the series, Diplomatic Immunity. The book is worth it for this story alone; I’ve seen several reviews along the lines of “I haven’t read anything else by Bujold but this was very good”. Even if you have read everything else by Bujold, as I have, the story is very good.

It’s just as well, because most of the other stories are crap. This is an attempt at a cross-genre anthology linking sf and romance, and I think I’ll stay off the romance for now. “Skin Deep”, by Deb Stover, was so dire, and the plot resolution signalled so very very far in advance, that I couldn’t finish it. The only other one I felt was worthwhile was “The Trouble with Heroes” by Jo Beverly; perhaps not coincidentally, the story with the least “romance” in it. I’ll look out for Beverly’s work in future.