Lake (Green
) and Reynolds (Return to Luna
) present 21 tales of “non-human archaeologists” finding our traces on the lunar surface. The too-specific premise leads a diverse array of authors to create surprisingly similar stories; Jody Sherry's “All Things Divine” and Kate Kelly's “The Last Traces” independently present aliens too proud to tolerate evidence of previous civilizations, while J. Michael Shell, Eric Choi and David L. Clements offer benevolent invaders who resurrect humanity. The anthology is also marred by Alastair Mayer's trite moralizing about the need for a space program in “Snowball,” aliens with implausibly human motives in G.D. Falksen's “In the Footsteps of Giants” and technical errors such as A.D. Guzman's suggestion in “Ghosts” that galaxies have asteroid belts. The overall feel is one of failed promise. (July)
