The Spacetime Pit Plus Two by Stephen Baxter & Eric Brown

Spacetime Pit Plus Two collects three collaborative stories by two of science fiction's finest writers. Never before published in one volume, the triptych showcases the authors' ability to create narratives on a vast scale, and yet never to lose sight of the all-important human element.

In the award-winning The Spacetime Pit, spacer Katerina Wake crash-lands on a primitive alien world and faces certain death unless she can harness her ingenuity, and technical know-how, to bend the destiny of an entire race to her will...

Green-Eyed Monster follows Richard as he wakes up after a night on the tiles to find himself inhabiting the body of a toad – and that's just the start of his troubles...

In Sunfly, Onara and her people live on a world very different from our own – a vast ribbon encircling a sun. But a change is coming to the land, a mysterious narrowing that threatens not only the stability of her world, but the very order of everything she has taken for granted.

***** *** *******

What a gem of a collection this is! Mind you, I shouldn’t be surprised given that the three stories contained in this book are a collaboration between two of Britain's best sci-fi authors. They are quick reads which flow very well, testament to the skill of their creators. Both Baxter and Brown will need no introduction to readers familiar with contemporary sci-fi literature, and anybody new to or exploring the genre should really have a look at this as a fine sample of their work. Apparently, according to Brown in the Introduction, The Spacetime Pit began when he and Baxter met to work on some ideas back in 1995 after which it won the 1996 Interzone magazine readers’ poll for best story. This success obviously encouraged them to continue working together on stories whenever time would permit and I'm exceedingly glad that they did because it's a really good piece of work. In summary, this is an excellent little collection that is a quick yet superbly enjoyable read. I can think of no better way than to spend a couple of hours on a lazy afternoon. Anyway, I shall wax lyrical no more, so here is a quick rundown of the stories:

NOTE: I always try not to, but there's the possibly of some minor spoilers ahead (but no plot giveaways) so don't read on if you’re sensitive to such things.

The Spacetime Pit

Eric Brown himself describes this as "a grim tale that spans billions of years, but has the dilemma of a human being at its very core" which is a perfect description. An explorer of a world one hundred light-years from Earth becomes marooned and has to think creatively to try and get herself off the planet and back up to the orbiting station in which she is based. She has a survival pod which enables her to enter extended periods of total stasis and she uses this ability in her attempt to create a situation in which she can recover from her predicament. The world-building in here is excellent and the style used is slick and easy to follow.

My rating: 4.5/5

Green-Eyed Monster

A more humorous story here, largely told from the point of view of a toad (yes, an actual toad). In a nutshell, a chap experiences through a bit of alien intervention, "bodily transmogrification" and sees his life and surroundings from a series of new perspectives. I enjoyed this one mostly due to the sheer unusual nature of it and also for how human the story was - even from the point of view if a toad. The ending is great. A nice lighthearted story that will make you chuckle occasionally.

My rating: 4/5

Sunfly

I rate this as the real jewel of the collection, absolutely wonderful as a quick absorbing read with a great "sense of wonder" element that drew me in deeply right from the first words. Set on a huge ring-world type structure which is facing impending and catastrophic change, it's a journey of discovery for the main character as she discovers truths about the amazing world on which she lives. This one felt like classic Eric Brown and this is no doubt the main reason why I connected with it and enjoyed it so much. Brown has a real knack with this type of story and those of you familiar with his work will have an idea of what I'm talking about. If you like Brown's work, you will enjoy this. Heck, you'll enjoy it even if you've never heard of either Brown or Baxter, it's a fine sci-fi adventure with a good conclusion. An excellent story.

My rating: 5/5

Total Rating:

= 4.5 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

BOOK REVIEW: Abandoned (Donovan Trilogy #2) by W. Michael Gear

The second book in a thrilling sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet's colonists.

The struggle for survival sharpens as resources dwindle, technology fails, and the grim reality of life on Donovan unfolds.

Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn't get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan's sky--one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered.

Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman's husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all.

Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it, and by killing a little girl's pet alien, she may have precipitated disaster for all. In the end, the only hope will lie with a "lost" colony, and the alien-infested reflexes possessed by Security Officer Talina Perez.

On Donovan, only human beings are more terrifying than the wildlife.

***** *** *******

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Outpost which was the first novel of this series (see my review HERE), I needed no extra encouragement to pick up the next book of the trilogy at the very first opportunity. Again, it's a quick-moving beauty that follows on directly from the first book with more of the same "space-western" style action set on the faraway planet of Donovan. This planet is full weird and wonderful ecology which is resisting human attempts to plunder its resources, and we're given more alluring clues about this fascinating place as the engaging story progresses.

The same characters are present, plus a few new ones and the development of these players seem to step up a notch. As is often the case with me, I found that my favourite characters were the not-so-nice ones. There's a number of scoundrels in this story but their contemptible and underhanded deeds really do spice up the story nicely. To be honest, I'm expecting book three to be quite climactic because this one definitely seemed to be mostly concerned with continuing to prepare the scene by offering many more small yet supremely tantalizing hints about motivations and plans. The world-building is again excellent and W. Michael Gear's skills have really come as a pleasant surprise to me, his use of adjectives being superb and easily understood yet not overdone. Each time that I sat down to read this I was immediately drawn into the setting and to the people therein, the real world becoming faint and blurry until I came back out again. This is the mark of great storytelling and it usually doesn't really bother me all that much how good the story is if the author can successfully drag me into their yarn where I can almost become part of it. This book is very much like (while being of excellent quality) that even though it's told in the third person and past tense.

So, if you've read Outpost, you will get into this and probably love it as I did. If you haven't read Outpost, then you need to because it's required reading to set you up for this book. Book three Pariah is due out mid-May 2019 and you can quite safely bet your last SDR (the unit of currency on Donovan) that I will be getting it for myself. I might even write a review of it for you if it's any good, but somehow I think it'll be another beauty if the first two are any indication. A great book.

4/5 for concept

5/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.7 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)