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lucardus's review against another edition
4.0
Wie bei allen Anthologien einige schwächere Stories, einige starke, aber kaum echte Durchhänger.
Für mich die Highlights, alle in der zweiten Hälfte des Bandes, was das Aufholen in der Wertung gegenüber meiner anfänglichen Enttäuschung erklärt.:
"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason
"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt
"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear
"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick
"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald
So, jetzt kann der Band "Old Mercury" kommen. Oder was auch immer an Pulp Planeten noch übrig ist.
Für mich die Highlights, alle in der zweiten Hälfte des Bandes, was das Aufholen in der Wertung gegenüber meiner anfänglichen Enttäuschung erklärt.:
"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason
"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt
"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear
"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick
"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald
So, jetzt kann der Band "Old Mercury" kommen. Oder was auch immer an Pulp Planeten noch übrig ist.
br1na's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
jefffrane's review against another edition
5.0
I never expect to give five stars to an anthology because there will inevitably be a few stories included that I actively dislike or found to be poorly written. This is an amazingly good, consistently entertaining collection of stories that lovingly recreates what Gardner Dozois calls Planetary Romance, set on a Venus as it was fancifully envisioned before science spoiled everything by establishing what a totally hostile, unlivable hellhole the planet actually is.
The stories actually share some elements, which isn't surprising given how Venus was always imagined in the pages of the pulps but the only real consistency is the quality of the storytelling. The editors did a heck of a job recruiting from a really diverse group of writers. Standouts for me include Joe Haldeman, Eleanor Arnason, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Joe R. Lansdale and Ian McDonald, but the most amusing story was a Jeeves & Wooster pastiche by Matthew Hughes.
I could be wrong, but I've always assumed that Gardner Dozois did the heavy lifting on the many anthologies edited by him and George R R Martin. He has, over the years, had a huge impact on sf/f, particularly on short fiction and he will be missed profoundly.
The stories actually share some elements, which isn't surprising given how Venus was always imagined in the pages of the pulps but the only real consistency is the quality of the storytelling. The editors did a heck of a job recruiting from a really diverse group of writers. Standouts for me include Joe Haldeman, Eleanor Arnason, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Joe R. Lansdale and Ian McDonald, but the most amusing story was a Jeeves & Wooster pastiche by Matthew Hughes.
I could be wrong, but I've always assumed that Gardner Dozois did the heavy lifting on the many anthologies edited by him and George R R Martin. He has, over the years, had a huge impact on sf/f, particularly on short fiction and he will be missed profoundly.
lisabee's review
Turns out old style adventure sci-fi on a fictional Venus is boring after the first couple iterations.
dutchlee's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this anthology of short storiss on the Old Venus. The stories are really well writtem and leave my imagination wondering of the possibilities of a rainy, wet, green Venus. While I certainly enjoyed some short stories more than others, I'm not sure if I have a favorite or a least favorite. This is a book I will be reading again. Each story took me roughly an hour to read. The perfect amount of time to read before I go to sleep.
kaseyd's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
grumpachu's review against another edition
3.0
Frogheads" by Allen M. Steele (***)
• this first story was ok. It didn't wow me or get me excited for the rest. Kind of a weak story to put first in the collection.
"The Drowned Celestrial" by Lavie Tidhar (**)
• This one wasn't awful but the author often did not separate dialogue into paragraphs and it got confusing who was speaking at times and it ended up being really annoying and distracting me from the story.
"Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley (**)
• I barely remember this one. Kinda meh.
"Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes (*)
• The only one I DNF. It was just trying too hard to be funny and was just awful and annoying.
"A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones (**)
• I feel like this story really needed more time to explore the alien culture. The ending felt rushed and was a little hard to follow.
"Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman (**)
• The only author in the collection I've actually read some of their work. The story started out ok but then too much seemed to happen at the end that was a little rushed.
"Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" by Stephen Leigh (*****)
• My favourite in the collection. There's just something endearing about a guy collecting rocks from significant places in his life and polishing them to see the hidden beauty, even if the event that happened at that particular place was painful.
"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason (****)
• The main character had a talking pet dinosaur. Enough said.
"The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin (***)
• I really loved the whole humans escaping alien invaders by hiding at the bottom of a Venusian ocean.
"By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix (****)
• I loved the interaction between the sibling clones and the little glimpse of life on Venus and the wider Solar System.
"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt (**)
• Found this one quite boring.
"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell (****)
• This story was a sad and intense one. The pov character was a mixed race astronaut who remembers the stories his father and grandfather told him of their family's enslavement. A faraway concept until he crash lands on Venus and becomes a slave himself. There's no happy ending in this story, just a lingering sense of hope and the promise to remember where you came from.
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear (***)
• There was some aspects of this story I liked (f/f romance and interaction between the two) but the main character was really annoying and the scene with the tiger things really dragged on.
"The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale (*)
• The style this was written in was really boring and I couldn't get into the plot. It felt like a really bad attempt at a sword fighting fantasy mini epic.
"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick (****)
• A super intriguing plot and an ending that made me wish for more.
"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald (***)
• This one had a bit of a different format to the rest. The story was okay.
• this first story was ok. It didn't wow me or get me excited for the rest. Kind of a weak story to put first in the collection.
"The Drowned Celestrial" by Lavie Tidhar (**)
• This one wasn't awful but the author often did not separate dialogue into paragraphs and it got confusing who was speaking at times and it ended up being really annoying and distracting me from the story.
"Planet of Fear" by Paul McAuley (**)
• I barely remember this one. Kinda meh.
"Greeves and the Evening Star" by Matthew Hughes (*)
• The only one I DNF. It was just trying too hard to be funny and was just awful and annoying.
"A Planet Called Desire" by Gwyneth Jones (**)
• I feel like this story really needed more time to explore the alien culture. The ending felt rushed and was a little hard to follow.
"Living Hell" by Joe Haldeman (**)
• The only author in the collection I've actually read some of their work. The story started out ok but then too much seemed to happen at the end that was a little rushed.
"Bones of Air, Bones of Stone" by Stephen Leigh (*****)
• My favourite in the collection. There's just something endearing about a guy collecting rocks from significant places in his life and polishing them to see the hidden beauty, even if the event that happened at that particular place was painful.
"Ruins" by Eleanor Arnason (****)
• The main character had a talking pet dinosaur. Enough said.
"The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss" by David Brin (***)
• I really loved the whole humans escaping alien invaders by hiding at the bottom of a Venusian ocean.
"By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" by Garth Nix (****)
• I loved the interaction between the sibling clones and the little glimpse of life on Venus and the wider Solar System.
"The Sunset of Time" by Michael Cassutt (**)
• Found this one quite boring.
"Pale Blue Memories" by Tobias S. Buckell (****)
• This story was a sad and intense one. The pov character was a mixed race astronaut who remembers the stories his father and grandfather told him of their family's enslavement. A faraway concept until he crash lands on Venus and becomes a slave himself. There's no happy ending in this story, just a lingering sense of hope and the promise to remember where you came from.
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear (***)
• There was some aspects of this story I liked (f/f romance and interaction between the two) but the main character was really annoying and the scene with the tiger things really dragged on.
"The Wizard of the Trees" by Joe R. Lansdale (*)
• The style this was written in was really boring and I couldn't get into the plot. It felt like a really bad attempt at a sword fighting fantasy mini epic.
"The Godstone of Venus" by Mike Resnick (****)
• A super intriguing plot and an ending that made me wish for more.
"Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan" by Ian McDonald (***)
• This one had a bit of a different format to the rest. The story was okay.
honeymonster's review
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A bunch of sci-fi and fantasy stories about Venus the way it used to be portrayed before we found out you can't live there. I didn't skip over any of the stories, so they were all fairly interesting.
buildhergender's review against another edition
4.0
Representation matters.
I think this more than anything sets this book apart from all the old silver and gold age stories this book was meant to pay homage to.
There was trans men, there were non bi-nary genders. There were stories where the lead was female. We had stories where the main character was the ancestor of a slave and it tied perfectly to what was going on in the story. There was the half black half Native american child who really put the "White man" tames the wild country on it's head.
There is even one story where the main bad guy is not killed by the hero of the story but by the female co-protagonist without him helping.
I loved this book if only for these reasons.
But there were so many great stories in it.
I think this more than anything sets this book apart from all the old silver and gold age stories this book was meant to pay homage to.
There was trans men, there were non bi-nary genders. There were stories where the lead was female. We had stories where the main character was the ancestor of a slave and it tied perfectly to what was going on in the story. There was the half black half Native american child who really put the "White man" tames the wild country on it's head.
There is even one story where the main bad guy is not killed by the hero of the story but by the female co-protagonist without him helping.
I loved this book if only for these reasons.
But there were so many great stories in it.
morgandhu's review
4.0
What delight! An entire anthology devoted to modern reimaginings of those glorious old school planetary romances, set on that long-lost imaginary planet of fetid swamps and humid jungles, of thickly overcast skies dripping hot rains, of slimy and slithery things that flourish in the warm, damp dimness, of scaled and webbed amphibious denizens of vast blood-hot oceans, and the ruins of ancient decadent civilisations overrun by thick, lush vegetation - the Venus of my youth, destroyed forever by the flyby of Mariner 2. Yes, I'm talking about George R. R. Martin and Garner Dozois' collaborative editorial effort, Old Venus.
It's a wonderful homage to the great pulp writers of planetary adventure, from Edgar Rice Burroughs and Otis Adelbert Kline to Leigh Brackett and C. L. Moore, a collection of stories with all the fast-paced action, adventure, and even at times terror of the originals, but infused with a modern, often post-colonial awareness. In many of these stories, lurking in the shadows behind the hard-boiled adventurer's narrative lies an acknowledgement of damage done by the bold colonising Earthmen, the exploitation of Venusian wealth and peoples, the question of who is the monster - the indigenous, adapted life form, or the alien writing the story. And in some, there is awareness of the hubris of the explorer, the belief that the indigenous peoples can not be as knowledgeable, even of the nature and history of their own world, as the ones who "discover" them. This is planetary romance, all grown up.
While all the stories have something to recommend them, I particularly enjoyed "Bones of Air, Bones of Stone," by Stephen Leigh, "Ruins," by Eleanor Arnason, "The Sunset of Time," by Michael Cassutt, "Pale Blue Memories," by Tobias S. Buckell, and "The Heart's Filthy Lesson," by Elizabeth Bear.
* This anthology contains 16 stories, 13 of which are written by men, and three of which are written by women
It's a wonderful homage to the great pulp writers of planetary adventure, from Edgar Rice Burroughs and Otis Adelbert Kline to Leigh Brackett and C. L. Moore, a collection of stories with all the fast-paced action, adventure, and even at times terror of the originals, but infused with a modern, often post-colonial awareness. In many of these stories, lurking in the shadows behind the hard-boiled adventurer's narrative lies an acknowledgement of damage done by the bold colonising Earthmen, the exploitation of Venusian wealth and peoples, the question of who is the monster - the indigenous, adapted life form, or the alien writing the story. And in some, there is awareness of the hubris of the explorer, the belief that the indigenous peoples can not be as knowledgeable, even of the nature and history of their own world, as the ones who "discover" them. This is planetary romance, all grown up.
While all the stories have something to recommend them, I particularly enjoyed "Bones of Air, Bones of Stone," by Stephen Leigh, "Ruins," by Eleanor Arnason, "The Sunset of Time," by Michael Cassutt, "Pale Blue Memories," by Tobias S. Buckell, and "The Heart's Filthy Lesson," by Elizabeth Bear.
* This anthology contains 16 stories, 13 of which are written by men, and three of which are written by women