Carbide Tipped Pens

Choi (Far Orbit) and Bova (Transhuman) successfully recapture the feel of classic hard SF, presenting 17 stories in which science and technology are truly essential to the plot. The most enjoyable is Liu Cixin’s nifty “The Circle” (translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu), in which the fundamental concepts of computer science are developed in the court of King Zheng of Qin in the second century B.C.E. Another standout is Leah Petersen and Gabrielle Harbowy’s “Skin Deep,” featuring a mix of biology, personalized medicine, and some nasty twists. Daniel H. Wilson’s “The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever” is a touching and short tale of a father who learns about Earth’s doom minutes before everyone else. There are also solid contributions from Aliette de Bodard, Gregory Benford, and Jack McDevitt. The occasional miss—such as Doug Beason’s dull and predictable “Thunderwell,” a story that recalls weak 1950s SF in which broadly archetypical characters shout about science and politics—is easy to skip, and most of the works thoroughly explore both their characters’ lives and the implications of technological developments in the best hard SF tradition. [em](Dec.) [/em]