Zima Blue

As others have noted, this collection of Reynolds' short fiction is (no pun intended) stellar. I just also wanted to note that there are two editions of this available... the U.S. edition and this U.K. edition. If you are able to, pick up this U.K. edition as it has more stories and is (in my opinion) a better arrangement of stories.

The main draw for me was the "Merlin Trilogy" of stories contained here, which is, to me, the author's most enjoyable work outside of the Revelation Space universe that I've read so far. The order they appear in the U.K edition makes reading them fun and seems very cohesive. The character of Merlin reminds me some of Clavain. He's a loner, traveling across eons of time, hiding secrets and flaws which are only revealed to those who manage (against all odds) to penetrate his rough and somewhat strange exterior. There are two other pairs of short stories here, with one being arranged chronologically and the other separated as bookends for the whole collection. I am a fan of "follow on" stories where you get to revisit worlds established earlier and Reynolds is really good at this. The diversity of topics here is really nice. The vast majority of settings are far flung and futuristic but some are actually much more localized in time and space, with one arguably not even classifiable as "science fiction." It's still a great story. Here is the list of stories in this U.K. edition, for reference...

The Real Story • (2002)
The first "Carrie Clay" story included. Carrie is an intrepid journalist who specializes in getting the most interesting stories. Here she is on Mars, tracking down the first man to ever land on the planet. Or is it a crew of three men? In order to get the story, she will have to (literally) throw caution to the wind.

Beyond the Aquila Rift • (2005)
When mankind utilizes leftover alien technology to travel between star systems, there may be glitches in the system that we have yet to comprehend. When one of these glitches sends a crew father than they wanted, farther than they thought possible, one member must come to grips with being plunged into a vastly different existence than any he has known before.

Enola • (1991)
Enola is an artificial intelligence, a powerful killing machine, and a survivor of a catastrophic global war. She keeps herself going by assimilating both machines and human memories. As she runs down, her final act bequeaths a future for the humans left alive.

Signal to Noise • (2006)
If there are infinite parallel universes and we could make contact with one next door, communicate with other versions of ourselves... how would that affect marriage, the mourning of loved ones and our concept of mortality?

Cardiff Afterlife • (2008)
A follow on story to Signal to Noise, this tale deals with the same parallel universe connection as it applies to an act of terrorism.

Hideaway • (2000)
The first story in the Merlin trilogy covers the flight from mankind's future enemy The Huskers (who seems to parallel The Inhibitors of Revelation Space) and the struggle between two different strategies for fleeing this threat. Neither is simple or without consequences. In the end, Merlin chooses his own way and lets the rest of his clan carve their own path of escape.

Minla's Flowers • (2007)
Later in Merlin's journey, he encounters a remnant splinter of humans who are inhabiting a world at war. Factional skirmishes drive the two sectors of this society, but they have a common destructive force they need to focus on. Merlin picks a side and attempts to influence a peaceful solution for the whole world... with limited success.

Merlin's Gun • (2000)
The final Merlin tale, in which Merlin finally tracks down the proverbial "gun" he has been searching for. While he finally achieves his goal, the cost will be very high indeed.

Angels of Ashes • (1999)
The repeating theme of parallel universes is explored via a religious civil war on Mars. The war is based on the recanting of the founder's original transcendent experience of how life came about in the local area of our galaxy. An acolyte attends his bedside to hear his dying statement and ends up getting more truth than he bargained for.

Spirey and the Queen • (1996)
A soldier fighting an isolated battle in deep space gets a quick re-education regarding the war he is fighting in and has to re-evaluate his allegiances, attitudes, and beliefs quickly or suffer the consequences.

Understanding Space and Time • (2005)
One of my favorites in this collection. The last survivor of the sole human colony on Mars forges ahead after being cut off from Earth and losing all of his companions on Mars. He plans for a lonely, short existence, but then receives an unexpected second chance at life from a passing alien culture. Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.

Digital to Analogue • (1992)
A deadly virus gets unleashed into the underground club scene and one unexpecting clubber gets caught up in the crossfire.

Everlasting • (2004)
A woman is summoned to a friend's home because he is threatening to NOT kill himself. He has come to believe that he is the unlikeliest result of quantum superstring theory - a person who cannot die because random chance has bequeathed immortality on him. He may or may not be correct.

Zima Blue • (2005)
The second "Carrie Clay" tale here, concerns her big get of a story involving the most famous artist in existence and his final piece, which will be his crowning achievement. It's (of course) not quite what you would expect.

Zima Blue is one of the most solid collections of short stories I have ever read. Never boring and always fascinating, the stories flow well and all are fairly quick reads. While the Merlin stories were my favorite, I would rate almost all of them five stars. If you are a fan of Science Fiction you should read this book. If you are a fan of Alastair Reynolds specifically, you NEED to read this. It's that good.

This collection of stories shows how Alastair Reynolds is a master of science fiction writing. Every story is very good, whether he's telling a story set on a distant world thousands of years from now or right here on Earth in the 21st century. There is not a single weak story in this book. The various stories deal with ideas like multiple universes, artificial intelligence, and humans spreading throughout the galaxy. I like how some of the stories are related to each other, such as the trilogy of stories about Merlin. If you have read other books by Reynolds, then I definitely recommend this collection of stories. If you have never read anything by him, then this book can introduce you to the range of his writing.

Not up to his, truly fantastic, previous novels. I'll skip any further entries in this series. Nonetheless, I look forward to other writing by Reynolds.

Another solid collection of short stories. Well done Al!

If you are addicted to Al's soap opera and are looking for more, this book provides some more great reading of shorter stories.

Given that I am a great fan of both the short SF story format and of Alastair Reynolds, there was little chance that I would not enjoy this collection. Unlike the Galactic North anthology, this volume does not include any stories based within Reynolds' superbly visualised Revelation Space universe. Instead, we're treated to a delightful mix of stories showcasing the breadth of his imagination from near future history through deep space opera and the exploration of multiple universes to the nature of artificial intelligence. It is hard to pick a favourite from this collection, but I particularly enjoyed the mini trilogy centred on Minla's Flowers and whilst there were, to my taste, one or two slightly unexceptional stories, I thoroughly recommend this collection to Reynolds newbies and die-hard fans alike.

ko

If you like any New space opera, you will love this book. He's known for his great novels, but after reading this I think his real talents are in short stories.

Reynolds dark and intelligent style here, but these stories lie outside the Revelation Space universe. Lots of twists, keep you guessing what will happen next.

Such an incredibly talented and impressive individual; his books always surprise, inspire, and terrify. He's capable of invoking so much intensity into his words it can seep into your life. Highly recommend anything Alastair Reynolds writes.