Short Reviews: Stephen Baxter

"Barrier" [permanent link]. An interesting story about two men who are making the first voyage to interstellar space. But at the edge of the solar system, they encounter an unusual phenomenon that slowly makes their ship malfunction. What is the nature of this 'barrier' and what is on the other side?
Found in Phase Space
"Dante Dreams" [permanent link]. A story about an investigation into why a Jesuit scientist would committ suicide after having insights into what would be a Grand Unified Theory. Interrogating an AI which is a 'resurrected' image of the scientist would lead to a very unexpected source of the theory and the reason for the suicide.
Found in Phase Space
"First to the Moon!" [permanent link]. This is an engrossing tale set in an alternate history where the Axis Powers conquer Russia and coexist with an uneasy British Empire. In this age, Britain decides to be the first to the moon and rush to make it. But the crew of the rocket ship is uneasy with each other and about revelations about discreet help from an enemy to make it to the moon.
Read from The Baxterium
"The Fubar Suit" [permanent link]. A story that starts off with two apparently unconnected threads; one about a spaceman who wants to make his fortune in space and the other about a strange tribe of 'humans' and one curious 'human'. If you pay attention, you can guess the connection but still leave you guessing as to the choices to be made by both characters.
Read from The Baxterium | Found in Phase Space
"Huddle" [permanent link]. Set far in the future, after a catastrophe has caused the Earth too enter an ice-age, a group of future humans struggle to survive in the hostile environment. But one is obsessed by an ancient story that they are meant to help other survivors and sets out to do it, learning more about the earth in the process.
Found in Phase Space
"The Ghost Pit" [permanent link]. Set in the far future where an alien species known as 'Ghosts' are largely extinct but still hunted for their unusual skins, two hunters get marooned on a former Ghost satellite. As they struggle to return to their orbiting home ship, they wonder what happened to the satellite's inhabitants and find out if they can trust each other.
Read from The Baxterium | Read from Asimov's
"Glass Earth, Inc." [permanent link]. An intriguing story that is an update of the E.M. Forster story, The Machine Stops. In this future world where cameras and audio pickup are everywhere (even in people's heads), a murder has been committed. A detective uses the various viewpoints to pinpoint how the murder occurred and who the murderer is. But his investigation would lead him to reconsider just what is real and what is not in a world where all information is filtered by software AIs 'for the good of the people'.
Found in Phase Space
"The Gravity Mine" [permanent link]. A story that spans a very immense time span concerning a 'consciousness' that periodically arises to consider the universe of the very far future around her; a universe where stars have gone out and the only sources of energy left is the gravitational energy of black holes. Join 'her' on a journey to the very end of usable energy itself in this fascinating story.
Read from Infinity Plus | Found in Phase Space
"Grey Earth" [permanent link]. A side story to his book, Manifold 3: Origin, this story traces the end of the life of a woman who has been transported to a very different alternative Earth where Neanderthals live. She tries to live with them but is constantly frustated by differences in looking at their very different world. Probably best read along with his Manifold books.
Found in Dec 2001 Asimov's Science Fiction | Found in Phase Space
"Lines of Longitude" [permanent link]. Set near the dawn of time, when the universe was young, one being attempts to convince others that their time of plenty is about to end. But how will the beings, which depend on high temperate plasma, survive the transition, when the universe can no longer sustain its high temperatures and 'normal' matter will form?
Found in Phase Space
"Lost Continent" [permanent link]. A mildly amusing story that takes a look at the theory that there are real lost continents on the Earth. Where do they go and how is it that we cannot find any historical records of such continents, only myths and legends? And what continents can go missing in such a manner?
Found in Phase Space
"Marginalia" [permanent link]. A story that leaves you wondering what is the truth and what is. The story is set as a series of government replies, with notes in the margin, to questions about a mysterious explosion in Nevada in the 1960s that may be linked to a possible secret space mission. Is this possible?
Found in Phase Space
"Martian Autumn" [permanent link]. Set in the future, the story follows two threads; one on Mars where its yougest inhabitant reluctantly meets its oldest inhabitant and learns a hard truth about Earth, and the other set on Earth in the near past where an 'event' would cause a dramatic change in the ecosystem.
Found in Phase Space
"Moon-Calf" [permanent link]. A wonderful story that looks at what could have happened to the space program if things had been different. That is seen through the eyes of an astronaut who is suddenly transported between several alternate Earths, ending up on one where he could put his astronaut skills (and suit) to new uses.
Found in Phase Space
"Moon Six" [permanent link]. A wonderful story that looks at what could have happened to the space program if things had been different. That is seen through the eyes of an astronaut who is suddenly transported between several alternate Earths, ending up on one where he could put his astronaut skills (and suit) to new uses.
Read from Infinity Plus
"On the Orion Line" [permanent link]. A gripping story set in the future where mankind is spreading throughout the galaxy. But one thing stands in their way, an alien species known as 'Ghosts' which can manipulate the universal constants to their liking. One human ship sets out to discover what they are doing to explode stars in humanity's expansion path, but the final discovery may deal with human nature itself.
Read from The Baxterium
"Open Loops" [permanent link]. A fascinating story with two threads; one set millions of years in the past and one set in the present but extends for thousands and millions of years in the future. Despite the huge time span, one man will be in a position to witness it all.
Found in Phase Space
"Poyekhali 3201" [permanent link]. A story that starts off as a tale about Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space. But as it progresses, strange things begin to occur and you begin to wonder if the story about Gagarin is just a story or something different.
Found in Phase Space
"Prospero One" [permanent link]. Set in Baxter's Voyage universe (where NASA does not build the space shuttle but goes for a Mars mission), this is a story about Britain first and only manned rocket mission in 1974. As with all experimental missions at the time, this one is not without it danger.
Read from The Baxterium
"Raft" [permanent link]. A fascinating short story that was later made into a novel. Set in a interesting universe where the gravitational constant is billions of times stronger, a group of human who stumble into this universe struggle to survive the conditions. But the greatest dangers posed to the group may be self-inflicted.
Read from Infinity Plus
"Reality Dust" [permanent link]. An amazing story set near the beginning of Baxter's Xeelee series of stories, just after the end of the alien Qax's occupation of Earth. As the remaining populations of man start to pick up the pieces and form a new govenment, prosecutions of those considered collaborators of the Qax continue. One man is tasked with prosecuting a collaborator somewhere on Callisto (one of Jupiter's moons) who may be engaged in an experiment that may well alter the meaning of reality and possibly control it as well.
Found in Futures
"Refugium" [permanent link]. Two men are given the task of entering an alien capsule found at the edge of the solar system. Nobody knows where the capsules go and while one of the passengers is willing, other is not. Their final destination would reveal the purpose of the capsule and cause each one to re-evaluate their futures as well as the future of mankind in the universe.
Found in Phase Space
"Sheena 5" [permanent link]. An interesting look at an effort to bring back an asteroid rich in material by using an enhanced squid to do the job (the thinking being a sea environment is similar to a space environment). But the plan is jepordised when the squid is found to be more intelligent than thought; intelligent enough to do some things that may be in the squid's best interests only.
Found in Phase Space
"The Gravity Mine" [permanent link]. A story that spans a very immense time span concerning a 'consciousness' that periodically arises to consider the universe of the very far future around her; a universe where stars have gone out and the only sources of energy left is the gravitational energy of black holes. Join 'her' on a journey to the very end of usable energy itself in this fascinating story.
Read from Infinity Plus
"Spindrift" [permanent link]. A look at an alternative attempt to put the first man on the moon, its aftermath and how it relates to a question about intelligence; can we recognise intelligence if it takes on an recognisable form?
Found in Phase Space
"Sun-Cloud" [permanent link]. Set on a very unusual world, one 'being' tries to persude her rebellious 'sister' to rejoin into their 'song', which all the beings participate in. But she refuses because she believes something unusual will happen in the future and she is determined to see it happen. Her attempts to get at her sister would eventually change the way she sees the world and wonder about the future as well.
Found in Phase Space
"Sun-Drenched" [permanent link]. A thoughtful story about two astronauts who are standed on the moon aften an accident. With their fate sealed, the astronauts now have a few choices on what to do in the time they have left.
Found in Phase Space
"Sun God" [permanent link]. Set in the 'present' and the far future, when the sun is a red giant and the Earth is baked dry, a historian tries to find out all it can about the former inhabitants of the Earth and their attempts to reach the Moon via simulations. But are the simulations good enough and if so, how far should the simulations go?
Found in Phase Space
"Touching Centauri" [permanent link]. A thought-provoking story about the first attempt to bounce a laser signal off a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. The attempt would lead to a series of events that would cause the collapse of knowledge about the universe as we know it as well as leading to interesting speculations about what intelligent aliens would do to attempt to set up 'alternative' types of reality.
Found in Phase Space
"Tracks" [permanent link]. Two astronauts on the moon make an unexpected discovery; a set of tracks where no tracks should be found. The discovery may reveal to the astronauts just why no aliens have visited the Earth.
Found in Phase Space
"The Twelfth Album" [permanent link]. A look at how things might have been for the music group, The Beatles, if certain world events had occurred. The story takes place between two Beatles fans on a certain well known ship whose fate is very different from that in known history.
Found in Phase Space
"War Birds" [permanent link]. A look, through the eyes of an astronaut, at what might had been if the Apollo 11 mission to the moon had failed and the failure had been laid on the Soviet Union, leading to a dramatic redirection of space resources and to a world of ever higher tensions and confrontations.
Found in Phase Space
"The We Who Sing" [permanent link]. Set near the dawn of time, when the universe was young, one being attempts to convince others that their time of plenty is about to end. But how will the beings, which depend on high temperate plasma, survive the transition, when the universe can no longer sustain its high temperatures and 'normal' matter will form?
Found in Phase Space

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