Reviews and Comments

PJ McAuley can write some great books. Others are okay, and this is one of them. There is too much flashback, presented as one character telling stories to another character. There are no heroes in this book, mostly criminals of one sort or another, but some become criminals because of discrimination.

a book released after a meeting of the Tennesee Valley Interstellar Workshop. The book is split between articles on what needs to be considered for interstellar travel (including a more philosophical article by Martin Rees), and science fiction short stories set in either remote colonies or travelling to them. An interesting idea but none of the stories or articles really stood out - good for a single read rather than a keeper.

I had to skip too many stories

Also disappointing. Long stories were often padded shorts. Short stories often tried novel-style character development, leaving no room for actual story. I skipped A LOT of stories. Clearly not enough high quality hard SF is being written these days.

very disappointed - long infodumps to give information that other characters are supposed to be fascinated by. Also strange unrealistic characterisations of non-USA characters.

very disappointed - long infodumps to give information that other characters are supposed to be fascinated by. Also strange unrealistic characterisations of non-USA characters.

Rather than being a conventional biography of the #SomeBizzare record label, or #Stevo its founder, this is a chronological series of soundbites from each of the important players. This features contributions by artists (including #MarcAlmond who stayed with Stevo for the longest period), #DaveBall also of #SoftCell, one member of #EinstuerzendeNeubauten (fell out with Stevo, ended up working for competing record companies), #TheThe, #PsychicTV, #Coil, #CabaretVoltaire, and others, plus some journalists, and Stevo himself obviously.

Rather than being a conventional biography of the Some Bizzare record label, or Stevo its founder, this is a chronological series of soundbites from each of the important players. This features contributions by artists (including Marc Almond who stayed with Stevo for the longest period), Dave Ball also of Soft Cell, one member of Einstuerzende Neubauten (fell out with Stevo, ended up working for competing record companies), The The, Psychic TV, Coil, Cabaret Voltaire, and others, plus some journalists, and Stevo himself obviously.