Phase Space

Stephen Baxter: Phase Space (HarperCollins, 2002)

Phase Space is a collection of stories by Stephen Baxter, honorary member of the "Killer Bs". (The other Killer B's are David Brin, Gregory Benford and Greg Bear; Baxter was indoctrinated into the group relatively recently.) The collection is a mixture of stories. The majority are associated with his Manifold sequence of books (Manifold: Time, Manifold: Space, Manifold: Origin); for example, the story "Sheena 5" is pretty much folded directly into Manifold: Time. Other stories such as "Moon-Calf" or "War Birds" are similar to his alternate history novels such as Voyage.

For the most part, as he did with the Manifold sequence, Baxter examines the Fermi Paradox: If the universe is teeming with life, why haven't we heard from anybody? In fact, by the end of the book, I was feeling moderately exhausted by the various scenarios proposed. I might have done better with the book if I had read the stories bit by bit, rather than all in a few sittings.

The book is an import from the United Kingdom (thanks Pete!). Alas, we have yet to see it on this side of "the Pond". For some reason publishing houses seem to be increasingly reluctant to bring out short story collections by single authors. So if you like Baxter, you'll have to contact Amazon's U.K. version to get a copy. Hopefully Del Rey (the house that published Baxter's Manifold sequence as well as several of his other recent books) will eventually come out with the collection, even if in paperback. (And hopefully we'll see collections—either from a U.K. publisher or a specialty publisher in the U.S.) of other folks such as Alastair Reynolds—folks who have a large body of short stories that are only available in magazines and various multi-author collections.

Counts as 25 stories for the 2004 Short Story Project.

Contents: Dreams (I): Moon-Calf. Earths: Open Loops; Glass Earth, Inc.; Poyekhali 3201; Dante Dreams; War Birds. Worlds: Sun-Drenched; Martian Autumn; Sun God; Sun-Cloud. Manifold: Sheena 5; The Fubar Suit; Grey Earth; Huddle. Paradox: Refugium; Lost Continent; Tracks; Lines of Longitude; Barrier; Marginalia; The We Who Sing; The Gravity Mine; Spindrift; Touching Centauri. Dreams (II): The Twelth Album.