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"'A thought provoking diversity of imagination... this remarkable volume is just as enjoyable if you only dip into it.' Tony Lee, Starburst"
Product Description
Here are 25 stories of science fiction that push the envelope, by the biggest names in an emerging new crop of high-tech futuristic SF - including Charles Stross, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton and Neal Asher. High-tech SF has made a significant comeback in the last decade, as bestselling authors successfully blend the super-science of 'hard science fiction' with real characters in an understandable scenario. It is perhaps a reflection of how technologically controlled our world is that readers increasingly look for science fiction that considers the fates of mankind as a result of increasing scientific domination. This anthology brings together the most extreme examples of the new high-tech, far-future science fiction, pushing the limits way beyond normal boundaries. The stories include: "A Perpetual War Fought Within a Cosmic String", "A Weapon That Could Destroy the Universe", "A Machine That Detects Alternate Worlds and Creates a Choice of Christs", "An Immortal Dead Man Sent To The End of the Universe", "Murder in Virtual Reality", "A Spaceship So Large That There is An Entire Planetary System Within It", and "An Analytical Engine At The End of Time", and "Encountering the Untouchable."
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As with many short story anthologies, not all these stories will appeal to you. The stories get more extreme the further on into the book you get. Towards the end, there are a few stories where the protagonist ends up being virtually god-like. The stories nearer the beginning are more your regular SF.
There are a couple of historic stories here - by that I mean pre-1940 - as well as a couple that went on to be quite famous genres. The story that could (or did) inspire "Alien" is here, and also a story written in 1995 concerning virtual reality that almost seems like "The Matrix".
There are a few very good stories indeed, including one where the U.K. capitulated to the Germans in 1940 and there was no World War Two; and another one concerns scientists who find a way of "looking into" the past, and one of them looks back to the Crucifixion and finds more than he bargained for...
Towards the end, even the typesetting gets a bit extreme, in order to try to convey an atmosphere that mere printed words can't.
I'd say yes, buy this book, you'll like it overall. And it is a good "taster" for the authors concerned - if you like the story featuring a certain author, you can go on to purchase other books by them. Each story is prefaced by an editorial summary of the author and other works they have completed to date.
There are a couple of historic stories here - by that I mean pre-1940 - as well as a couple that went on to be quite famous genres. The story that could (or did) inspire "Alien" is here, and also a story written in 1995 concerning virtual reality that almost seems like "The Matrix".
There are a few very good stories indeed, including one where the U.K. capitulated to the Germans in 1940 and there was no World War Two; and another one concerns scientists who find a way of "looking into" the past, and one of them looks back to the Crucifixion and finds more than he bargained for...
Towards the end, even the typesetting gets a bit extreme, in order to try to convey an atmosphere that mere printed words can't.
I'd say yes, buy this book, you'll like it overall. And it is a good "taster" for the authors concerned - if you like the story featuring a certain author, you can go on to purchase other books by them. Each story is prefaced by an editorial summary of the author and other works they have completed to date.
38 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I used to read a lot of science fiction. Then, in the early `80s, I stopped - I got hooked into fantasy novels instead. Since then a hell of a lot of things have happened in the world of technology, which is sure to have had a heavy influence on science fiction writing. So I recently decided that it was about time I revisited the genre. I reasoned that I should do as I once did: try some anthologies to see which authors I might enjoy. So, I purchased this collection of 25 stories, spanning the best part of a century of SF writing and including some newer talents.
I suppose I should have been warned by the title - yes, it does exactly what it says on the cover. On balance, I do not regret purchasing the book, but I was disappointed by some of the stories - at least two of which I lost all interest in and failed to finish (unusual for me). I admit that it is purely a case of personal preference and taste - I am not really a fan of `extreme'. However, there were a few yarns that were entertaining enough to encourage me to plough my way through to the end. And, yes, I will make notes of those authors.
So, if you are looking for a good selection of SF authors to gain a taste of what the really far out imaginations can come up with, then this is an ideal vehicle for you. There are truly weird and wonderful, thought-provoking concepts explored in these pages. Very esoteric stuff! I have no doubt that there are some very clever minds at work, but hate to think just what the owners were on!
If, like me, you simply like adventure given the added SF twist and dimensions, then this collection is probably not for you. Maybe I am too rooted in the old school of Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Arthur C. Clarke, and similar writers, but the realms of nano-technology, cyberspace and trans-human development millions of years into the future caused my brain to seize!
A book like this is difficult to rate fairly. My rating is based on my belief that with any such collection you will get a wide variety of styles and need to take the rough with the smooth. Yet, as I say, it gives you a taste of what is out there and what may suit you and what you may want to avoid. For £[...] I say it represents good value.
I suppose I should have been warned by the title - yes, it does exactly what it says on the cover. On balance, I do not regret purchasing the book, but I was disappointed by some of the stories - at least two of which I lost all interest in and failed to finish (unusual for me). I admit that it is purely a case of personal preference and taste - I am not really a fan of `extreme'. However, there were a few yarns that were entertaining enough to encourage me to plough my way through to the end. And, yes, I will make notes of those authors.
So, if you are looking for a good selection of SF authors to gain a taste of what the really far out imaginations can come up with, then this is an ideal vehicle for you. There are truly weird and wonderful, thought-provoking concepts explored in these pages. Very esoteric stuff! I have no doubt that there are some very clever minds at work, but hate to think just what the owners were on!
If, like me, you simply like adventure given the added SF twist and dimensions, then this collection is probably not for you. Maybe I am too rooted in the old school of Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Arthur C. Clarke, and similar writers, but the realms of nano-technology, cyberspace and trans-human development millions of years into the future caused my brain to seize!
A book like this is difficult to rate fairly. My rating is based on my belief that with any such collection you will get a wide variety of styles and need to take the rough with the smooth. Yet, as I say, it gives you a taste of what is out there and what may suit you and what you may want to avoid. For £[...] I say it represents good value.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Fine in parts - though somewhat padded with stories that simply are not Extreme Science Fiction as claimed by the anthology's title - and I am not just talking about the obviously out of place, predictable and forgettable story entitled Stuffing by Jerry Oltion.
However the book is worth it alone for the excellent: The Pacific Mystery by Stephen Baxter, The Region Between by Harlan Ellison, Wang's Carpets by Greg Egan, and The Days of Solomon Gursky by Ian McDonald. In the next rank also well worth reading are The Creator by Clifford D. Simak, Merlin's Gun by Alastair Reynolds, and Judgement Engine by Greg Bear (the last if only because it is by far the most intriguingly extreme science fiction conception set out in the book).
However the book is worth it alone for the excellent: The Pacific Mystery by Stephen Baxter, The Region Between by Harlan Ellison, Wang's Carpets by Greg Egan, and The Days of Solomon Gursky by Ian McDonald. In the next rank also well worth reading are The Creator by Clifford D. Simak, Merlin's Gun by Alastair Reynolds, and Judgement Engine by Greg Bear (the last if only because it is by far the most intriguingly extreme science fiction conception set out in the book).
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