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divadiane's review
5.0
This collection is a nominee for the 2019 Elgin Award.
This was my favorite this year. I read it from beginning to end, didn't skip anything. The poetry alternates between the whimsical and the serious often within the same poem. There's lots of "Science", which I like, lots of space and typical SF tropes, which I also like. It is completely accessible and not at all pretentious or inscrutable, which some people accuse hard SF poetry of being. Not at all. Highly recommended. Go read it.
This was my favorite this year. I read it from beginning to end, didn't skip anything. The poetry alternates between the whimsical and the serious often within the same poem. There's lots of "Science", which I like, lots of space and typical SF tropes, which I also like. It is completely accessible and not at all pretentious or inscrutable, which some people accuse hard SF poetry of being. Not at all. Highly recommended. Go read it.
cathepsut's review
3.0
My first encounter with SF poetry. Interesting, different, a little strange.
I liked some of them, I was completely puzzled by others. Here is one I liked:
No man can go where the deep ships go.
We curse our human flesh that bars the way
and stare at stars that we can never know,
stars as bitter-bright as methane snow.
Our cyborg Pilots bring us tapes to play—
no man can go where the deepships go.
In Port City taverns the holos glow
with vibrant worlds that make old Earth seem gray.
We stare at stars that we can never know,
at worlds on which our vat-spawned children grow,
while robot mothers tend them at their play.
No man can go where the deepships go,
but only load, repair, refuel, and tow,
and wipe his hands and speed them on their way.
We stare at stars that we can never know.
We curse the bread, we curse the dough,
we curse the God that made us from such hapless clay.
No man can go where the deepships go:
we stare at stars that we can never know.
And here is a snippet that I simply have to post:
“Kirk’s in love,
and Doc’s been caught,
and no one saw
what happened to Scott,
and Spock beams in.“
And another snippet...
“By Jove, I think he’s got it,”
said Betelgeuse. “I don’t know,”
muttered Aldebaran, “he seems
a couple orders of magnitude
below lightspeed on this.” “Be real, Al,”
said Procyon, “how much can you expect
from an organic?”
This collection is from one author only. I think I need to mix it up and find some others. I liked the more humorous parts and poems the most. There was one about beer brewing on Mars that was funny and provided great imagery. The more scientific poems were fascinating as well, although I did have to look up some of the heavenly bodies mentioned to understand what exactly the author was describing or hinting at..
“The final crux is quantum flux.“
I liked some of them, I was completely puzzled by others. Here is one I liked:
Spoiler
Port City LamentNo man can go where the deep ships go.
We curse our human flesh that bars the way
and stare at stars that we can never know,
stars as bitter-bright as methane snow.
Our cyborg Pilots bring us tapes to play—
no man can go where the deepships go.
In Port City taverns the holos glow
with vibrant worlds that make old Earth seem gray.
We stare at stars that we can never know,
at worlds on which our vat-spawned children grow,
while robot mothers tend them at their play.
No man can go where the deepships go,
but only load, repair, refuel, and tow,
and wipe his hands and speed them on their way.
We stare at stars that we can never know.
We curse the bread, we curse the dough,
we curse the God that made us from such hapless clay.
No man can go where the deepships go:
we stare at stars that we can never know.
And here is a snippet that I simply have to post:
“Kirk’s in love,
and Doc’s been caught,
and no one saw
what happened to Scott,
and Spock beams in.“
And another snippet...
“By Jove, I think he’s got it,”
said Betelgeuse. “I don’t know,”
muttered Aldebaran, “he seems
a couple orders of magnitude
below lightspeed on this.” “Be real, Al,”
said Procyon, “how much can you expect
from an organic?”
This collection is from one author only. I think I need to mix it up and find some others. I liked the more humorous parts and poems the most. There was one about beer brewing on Mars that was funny and provided great imagery. The more scientific poems were fascinating as well, although I did have to look up some of the heavenly bodies mentioned to understand what exactly the author was describing or hinting at..
“The final crux is quantum flux.“
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