Scan barcode
berni396's review
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
Hands down the most brain tickling book I've read in 2023.
trenchcoatfullofbees's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
First of all, absolutely loved the concept and formatting of this anthology, which is that each short story is immediately followed by a scientific essay analyzing and further explaining the inspiration/discussing research done in that area and how realistic the story is/etc. That being said, the actual quality of the stories (and maybe the essays) is pretty variable, with most of my favourites appearing later in the anthology. One of the very first essays mentions a strain of bacteria being found on a camera left on the moon, but a cursory search showed that it's still up for debate whether this bacteria culture survived on the moon for 2 years or whether the camera was accidentally contaminated on its return to Earth. I was pretty disappointed that the essay said 'this is fact!' and didn't even mention the possibility it wasn't - I think if you're presenting yourself as an educational essay, you should do a little better than that. I enjoyed a lot of the other essays, but I was sad to have to take them with a grain of salt because I don't have the experience to fact-check everything.
My favourite stories from this anthology included: The Sphinx of Adzhimushkaj by Brian Rappatta, Defective by Peter Watts, Heavy Lies by Rich Larson, The World Of Silver by Thomas Petrasek, The Far Side of the Door (forgot to note the author :( ), The Last Cathedral of Earth In Flight by Tobias S Buckell (my favourite), and Forever the Forest by Simone Heller.
My favourite stories from this anthology included: The Sphinx of Adzhimushkaj by Brian Rappatta, Defective by Peter Watts, Heavy Lies by Rich Larson, The World Of Silver by Thomas Petrasek, The Far Side of the Door (forgot to note the author :( ), The Last Cathedral of Earth In Flight by Tobias S Buckell (my favourite), and Forever the Forest by Simone Heller.
More...