Across the Sky

Rich turns out new wrinkles on common genre themes in this eloquent debut collection. There's some entertaining satire—such as “The Real Thing,” where “cash” is a dirty word and clones are sent out as dating surrogates—but more impressive are the ruminations on human-alien connection. In the particularly notable “Forever Down the Ringing Grooves,” astronaut and diplomat Jack Lackstrum rushes jealously back to Earth after the alien Transtellars ignore his welcome signals and begin communicating directly with anyone they meet, but he finds first contact is nothing like he imagined. This diverse collection also includes “Smoking Gun,” a well-constructed and clever SF mystery, and plausible political struggles over the future of humanity's space ventures in “Impossible Alone” and “The Never-Winner.” Readers who enjoy old-fashioned SF will appreciate these short, straightforward tales. (Jan.)