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A review by colossal
Engineering Infinity by Jonathan Strahan
4.0
I keep anthologies for reading on my phone because I'm not often without my eReader and the shorter stories are good for the short times where I only have my phone as a reading device. I've been reading this one off and on for the whole of December.
This isn't my first Infinity Project anthology; I actually started with the second one [b:Edge of Infinity|13547291|Edge of Infinity|Jonathan Strahan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1350927167s/13547291.jpg|19112431] because I wanted to read an award-winning novella from that collection. I'm actually glad that that was the way I started, because had I read this one first, I'm not sure I would have continued. There are a few good stories in this one, but overall I felt the quality was uneven and the theme to be lacking.
Standouts for me were [b:The Invasion of Venus|17211450|The Invasion of Venus|Stephen Baxter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|23693437] by [a:Stephen Baxter|20295|Stephen Baxter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391280682p2/20295.jpg] (I'm not normally a fan of his; now I'm wondering if I should check out more of his shorter works) and [b:The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|26615683|The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|John Barnes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|46652900] by [a:John Barnes|45596|John Barnes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1385398303p2/45596.jpg]. I also enjoyed the [a:Peter Watts|27167|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] story that kicks off the anthology ([b:Malak|26023594|Malak|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|45946700]), but it's just a riff on Watts' normal themes around humanity and inhumanity, which I personally love, but is far from everyone's taste.
From a negative point of view I found the [a:John C. Wright|58124|John C. Wright|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], [a:David Moles|941191|David Moles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Robert Reed|57814|Robert Reed|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1455117424p2/57814.jpg] stories nearly unreadable.
From a should-be-noted point of view this collection contains [b:Bit Rot|18078713|Bit Rot (Freyaverse #1.5)|Charles Stross|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|25385695] by [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg] which is a story between [b:Saturn's Children|2278387|Saturn's Children (Freyaverse #1)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348429796s/2278387.jpg|2284499] and [b:Neptune's Brood|15985402|Neptune's Brood (Freyaverse #2)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358215802s/15985402.jpg|21562011] in the Freyaverse books.
Read if you're a completist or a Stross fan, but this is a skippable volume in this series.
This isn't my first Infinity Project anthology; I actually started with the second one [b:Edge of Infinity|13547291|Edge of Infinity|Jonathan Strahan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1350927167s/13547291.jpg|19112431] because I wanted to read an award-winning novella from that collection. I'm actually glad that that was the way I started, because had I read this one first, I'm not sure I would have continued. There are a few good stories in this one, but overall I felt the quality was uneven and the theme to be lacking.
Standouts for me were [b:The Invasion of Venus|17211450|The Invasion of Venus|Stephen Baxter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|23693437] by [a:Stephen Baxter|20295|Stephen Baxter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1391280682p2/20295.jpg] (I'm not normally a fan of his; now I'm wondering if I should check out more of his shorter works) and [b:The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|26615683|The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees|John Barnes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|46652900] by [a:John Barnes|45596|John Barnes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1385398303p2/45596.jpg]. I also enjoyed the [a:Peter Watts|27167|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] story that kicks off the anthology ([b:Malak|26023594|Malak|Peter Watts|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|45946700]), but it's just a riff on Watts' normal themes around humanity and inhumanity, which I personally love, but is far from everyone's taste.
From a negative point of view I found the [a:John C. Wright|58124|John C. Wright|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], [a:David Moles|941191|David Moles|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Robert Reed|57814|Robert Reed|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1455117424p2/57814.jpg] stories nearly unreadable.
From a should-be-noted point of view this collection contains [b:Bit Rot|18078713|Bit Rot (Freyaverse #1.5)|Charles Stross|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|25385695] by [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg] which is a story between [b:Saturn's Children|2278387|Saturn's Children (Freyaverse #1)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348429796s/2278387.jpg|2284499] and [b:Neptune's Brood|15985402|Neptune's Brood (Freyaverse #2)|Charles Stross|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358215802s/15985402.jpg|21562011] in the Freyaverse books.
Read if you're a completist or a Stross fan, but this is a skippable volume in this series.