The Best of David Brin

Spanning over three decades, these 21 short stories from Brin, best known for his Uplift universe novels, demonstrate the author’s mastery of detailed worldbuilding in short-form works. This skill is most evident in the Hugo Award-winner, “The Crystal Spheres,” Brin’s clever response to the ongoing debate about why any hypothesized alien intelligences have not yet contacted Earth. Discovery of the unexpected also informs “The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss,” whose lead lives in a bubble habitat in an ocean on Venus. That Brin manages to enable instantaneous suspension of disbelief despite this extraordinary setting is no small achievement. In “The Loom of Thessaly,” he creatively reinterprets the Greek myth of the three Fates as a modern-day mountaineer encounters beings who may control the entire world. “Dr. Pak’s Preschool” intelligently extrapolates from current trends as an expectant couple turn to technology to ensure their child’s gender and the mother-to-be ends up with an implanted device that supposedly teaches music in utero. The variety of plots on offer is matched by subtle, well-shaded characterizations. This is an impressive feat of speculation. [em](July) [/em]