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.
Reviews and Comments
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Jon PENNYCOOK rated Permutation City: 4 stars

Permutation City by Greg Egan
The story of a man with a vision - immortality : for those who can afford it is found in …
Jon PENNYCOOK rated Dawn: 4 stars

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler, Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis trilogy -- bk. 1)
"Lilith Iyapo has just lost her husband and son when atomic fire consumes Earth--the last stage of the planet's final …
Jon PENNYCOOK reviewed Stellaris by Robert Hampson
Review of 'Stellaris' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Jon PENNYCOOK rated The Celts: 3 stars
Jon PENNYCOOK reviewed The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 5 by Allan Kaster (The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories, #5)
Disappointing
2 stars
I had to skip too many stories
disappointing - padded stories trying for novel-style character development
2 stars
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.
Jon PENNYCOOK reviewed Delta-V by Daniel Suarez (duplicate)
Jon PENNYCOOK finished reading Delta-V by Daniel Suarez (duplicate)
Jon PENNYCOOK rated Delta-V: 2 stars
Jon PENNYCOOK rated Adulthood Rites: 4 stars

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis, #2)
The second book in the Lilith's Brood trilogy, this story takes place years after the arrival of Oankali aliens in …
Jon PENNYCOOK rated Imago (Xenogenesis, #3): 4 stars

Imago (Xenogenesis, #3) by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis, #3)
Jon PENNYCOOK reviewed Delta-V by Daniel Suarez (Delta-V, #1)

Daniel Suarez: Delta-V (EBook)
Review of 'Delta-V' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Disappointing so far. The billionaires are obviously based on real people with the names changed, but also they don't seem realistic (which probably saves the author from litigation). There are long infodumps which are given as characters giving a presentation to eachother, or a character interviewing another one. Other than the infodumps, there's a LOT of character development and their feelings, and less "science fiction". So far it hasn't become so bad that I can't continue reading, but I'm unlikely to buy the next book in the series.
Jon PENNYCOOK reviewed Conform to Deform by Wesley Doyle
Fascinating review of what happened to Some Bizzare/Stevo presented as a series of soundbites
4 stars
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.
Jon PENNYCOOK reviewed Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
vampires, controversial relationships
4 stars
I think I would have preferred this to be part of a series. One of only two books about #vampires that I enjoyed, the other being #Echopraxia by #PeterWatts (part of the Firefall series) A young female and black #vampire (vampires grow up more slowly than humans, so she is just a child) finds herself alone and seriously injured with no memory of what happened. Fortunately vampires heal faster and more effectively than humans. When healthy but still no memory, she walks out, finds she is on a burned-out farm, and walks to a road where she flags down a car driven by a man. After she persuades him to take her home (taking blood from people makes them very persuadable), they both spend time to find other vampires to help them and to find out why so many local vampires have been killed. Along the way, she gathers more …
I think I would have preferred this to be part of a series. One of only two books about #vampires that I enjoyed, the other being #Echopraxia by #PeterWatts (part of the Firefall series) A young female and black #vampire (vampires grow up more slowly than humans, so she is just a child) finds herself alone and seriously injured with no memory of what happened. Fortunately vampires heal faster and more effectively than humans. When healthy but still no memory, she walks out, finds she is on a burned-out farm, and walks to a road where she flags down a car driven by a man. After she persuades him to take her home (taking blood from people makes them very persuadable), they both spend time to find other vampires to help them and to find out why so many local vampires have been killed. Along the way, she gathers more humans for her brood.