Thousandth Night and Minla's Flowers

Larger-than-life characters, awesome extraterrestrial settings and spectacular technology fill these two novellas, packaged back to back in the manner of the old Ace Doubles. In the powerful “Thousandth Night,” starfaring posthumans gather to socialize, exchange dream recordings and gossip about the mysterious galaxy-transforming Great Work. This time, however, high-tech murder is afoot. In the more didactic “Minla's Flowers,” another starfaring immortal happens upon a planet where two nations are at war. Their sun is about to be destroyed by a piece of malfunctioning alien technology, and the traveler must convince them to put aside their differences and evacuate their planet. Reynolds (House of Suns ) is a master of modern space opera, and these tales of the far future, although not quite on a par with his best novels, should satisfy his many readers. (Nov.)