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Traces
 
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Traces (Mass Market Paperback)

by Stephen Baxter (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 359 pages
  • Publisher: Voyager; New edition edition (4 Jan 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0006498140
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006498148
  • Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11.2 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 247,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #38 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > B > Baxter, Stephen
    #81 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Short Stories

Product Description

Review
'A luminous collection... Baxter can overwhelm you with a traditional SF "sense of wonder" until your jaw drops' SFX on Vacuum Diagrams

Product Description
Stories set in a variety of futures from the award-winning heir of Arthur C. Clarke: Traces gives a kaleidoscopic vision of the possibilities for humankind. There are vision of histories which differ from our own, either through small changes -- what if Germany had won WWI ('Mittelwelt') -- or through a fundamental difference in physical laws -- what if Archimedes had been right in his clockwork-like cosmological vision ('No Longer Touch the Earth'). There are visions of futures in which people struggle to survive in a variety of bizarre environments ('Downstream', 'The Blood of Angels'), or, weakened and powerless, inhabit the end of worlds ('Inherit the Earth', 'George and the Comet'). There are explorations of astonishing events of our own lifetimes, in particular the grand expansion into space ('Zemlya', 'Moon Six', 'Pilgrim 7'). These visions give an impression of the contingency of our everyday here-and-now, surrounded as it is by an infinite array of possible pasts, presents, and futures.

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A near-overwhelming blast of ideas...with a bleak climax., 8 Jul 1999
By A Customer
The 21 stories here cover a huge range of themes and styles, but be aware that a similarly broad spectrum of quality is also a characteristic of this collection. 'The Droplet' seems rather clumsy in it's portrayal of human relationships, 'Weep for the Moon' is so full to bursting of superb ideas it becomes a bizarre mess, and 'Good News' is simply limited by concerns of copyright and continuity of a certain Man of Tommorow. But, as in his novels, when Baxter is good, he's the best. 'Columbiad' totally convinces us that Verne's Lunar voyage really happened, and Baxter's research and attention to detail, as well as his insight into the minds of real space explorers, makes 'Pilgrim 7' an excellent piece of sf. In 'Zemlya', again we are given a near-overwhelming blast of ideas- Gagarin's shocking secret destiny after Vostok, and the development of life on Venus - yet this time the reader just about comes through. It is 'Moon Six' which seems to be the grand moment of 'Traces'. In this, human reactions and emotions are noted perfectly, the various moon missions that the US and USSR never flew are described with total realism, and the science is intruiging. The display of an early-A.C.Clarke/Dan Dare world is suprising, funny, and shocking- a great moment in sf, as is this whole collection. We end our trip with Baxter 'In the MSOB', and, like in his other shorts collection 'Vacuum Diagrams', we find the destination is terribly bleak. Clarke's Universe is indifferently hostile; Baxter pulls no punches in showing us that man is, also.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The beginnings of many good ideas ..., 8 Jul 1999
By A Customer
In this book, a collection of stories drawn from the late Eighties to the early Nineties, Baxter begins to demonstrate the skill in world-building that has won him legions of fans in recent years.

Unfortunately, many of the stories in this collection rely a little too heavily on world-building and not enough on those old staples, plot and characterisation. Baxter's early works, like those of Arthur C Clarke, to whom he is often compared, seem too often to rely on a half-nifty idea to make up for thinly drawn and unprepossessing characters. The comparison is expecially unkind in the case of the title story, an inadvertent variation on the theme of Clarke's famous short "The Star", but without the humanity that gave the older story its sting.

Many of the stories herein have only the suggestions of a plot, too, mostly being more concerned with delineating a mood than with telling a story; at best, there is a weak twist in the tail that rarely provokes more than mild amusement. Nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but in some cases -- notably "The Blood of Angels" -- the writing is simply not strong enough to sustain this reader's interest. Your mileage may vary. Nonetheless, a worthwhile read, if only as a curiosity, for enthusiasts of Baxter's long-form work.

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