Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

Las antologías temáticas requieren mucho trabajo por parte del seleccionador y es encomiable la labor de Neil Clarke en este volumen dedicado a relatos relacionados con la Luna. La calidad de las historias es variable, con un gran variedad de autores y aproximaciones a cada tema. Pero en este caso me temo que Clarke no tenía mucho donde elegir y aunque hay algunos relatos muy buenos, la calidad media no es la misma que en otras de sus recopilaciones.

Bagatelle de John Varley
Un relato deudor de su tiempo, con una marcado tono pulp y ligero, un entretenimiento pasable.

The Eve of the Last Apollo de Carter Scholz
Esta historia gira en torno a cómo lidiar con las consecuencias humanas que para los primeros astronautas que pisaron la superficie lunar.

The Lunatics de Kim Stanley Robinson
Esperaba algo más de Kim Stanley Robinson, que solo nos muestra el devenir de unos mineros que se rebelan contra su labor en el satélite.

Griffin’s Egg de Michael Swanwick
Se me ha hecho larga esta historia de Swanwick, que parece más centrado en contar las aventuras sexuales del protagonista que en las consecuencias de un conato de guerra nuclear en la Tierra (si es posible semejante término). El final sí que me ha parecido interesante y la idea del experimento psicológico entre guardianes y presos está tratado de forma atractiva, pero le hace falta bastante poda.

A Walk in the Sun de Geoffrey A. Landis
Un relato de superación personal y lucha por la supervivencia huyendo de la cara oculta de la Luna.

Waging Good de Robert Reed
Un comienzo muy fuerte que genera muchísimas expectativas pero que luego se va diluyendo poco a poco. La sentencia por una travesura de juventud es el exilio a una Tierra devastada por las plagas en la que la tasa de supervivencia es ínfima.

How We Lost the Moon de Paul McAuley
Me fascina la ciencia que hay detrás de este relato, con un mini-agujero negro en el centro de un cuerpo celeste.

People Came From Earth de Stephen Baxter
Un relato sobre la recuperación de la civilización después del colapso en una Luna «terraformada». Correcto pero no apasionante.

Ashes and Tombstones de Brian Stableford
Lo importante de este relato me parece que es el giro final pero como resulta algo que se ve venir, pierde mucha fuerza.

Sunday Night Yams at Minnie and Earl’s de Adam Troy Castro
Precioso cuento de Adam Troy Castro sobre la necesidad de mantener el sentido de la maravilla cuanto todo lo demás se banaliza.

Stories for Men de John Kessel
Entiendo que el orden correcto de lectura de las historias de John Kessel sobre la colonia lunar matriarcal debería haber sido primero este relato y después The Moon and the Other, pero como no ha sido así mi caso, lo cierto es que este relato me ha dejado mucha menos huella que The Moon and the Other, sea por que ya conocía la sociedad de los Cousins, sea porque parte de las sorpresas de la historia también las conocía. No obstante, reconozco que la discusión sobre el patriarcado sigue siendo candente.

The Clear Blue Seas of Luna de Gregory Benford
El punto de partida de este relato me ha resultado muy original ya que hablan de terraformar la Luna. Muchísimas historias tiene lugar en las colonias de la Luna, pero las características propias del asteroide parecen impedir su terraformación. La primera parte del relato me resulta más interesante por esto, pero el resto no me convence.

You Will Go to the Moon de William Preston
La Luna como destino para los ancianos mezclada con la necesidad de cumplir los sueños infantiles en la vida da lugar a un relato bastante olvidable.

SeniorSource de Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Una supuesta investigación policíaca que en realidad le sirve a la autora para explorar la injusticia de un sistema social en el que los baby boomers han asegurado su longevidad en la Luna a costa del trabajo de las generaciones posteriores, que nunca podrán disfrutar de las mismas oportunidades. Muy oportuno.

The Economy of Vacuum de Sarah Thomas
Un comienzo interesante para la historia de una colonizadora que quedará en la más absoluta soledad en la Luna, pero con un final que parece tomado de otro relato, que no resulta para nada satisfactorio y que parece una soflama contra ciertos regímenes políticos.

The Cassandra Project de Jack McDevitt
Me ha gustado más el proceso de investigación alrededor del clasificado proyecto Cassandra que la resolución final del relato, que se va desinflando conforme avanza.

Fly Me to the Moon de Marianne J. Dyson
Entrañable relato en el que un joven que visita a un anciano al que cree piloto en una residencia geriátrica, acaba descubriendo el relevante papel que desempeñó en la conquista de la Luna y como hay cosas que nunca se olvidan.

Tyche and the Ants de Hannu Rajaniemi

The Moon Belongs to Everyone de Michael Alexander y K.C. Ball
Un relato policial en un entorno lunar en una historia alternativa que tiene como trasfondo el lanzamiento de la primera misión tripulada a Marte, en 1980. La premisa era buena pero el desarrollo no lo es tanto.

The Fifth Dragon de Ian McDonald

Let Baser Things Devise de Berrien C. Henderson
Un llamativo relato sobre un chimpancé evolucionado que logra alcanzar el reconocimiento como persona. No pasa de ser anecdótico.

The Moon is Not a Battlefield de Indrapramit Das

Every Hour of Light and Dark de Nancy Kress
Muy curiosa este relato de Nancy Kress, que solo toca el tema lunar de forma tangencial, pero que habla sobre la pasión por el arte y su conservación con un oficio indiscutible.

In Event of Moon Disaster de Rich Larson
Un relato con tono humorístico sobre los problemas éticos derivados de la duplicación de seres.
No puedo recomendar esta recopilación porque varios de los relatos incluidos son flojos, escogidos por su característica lunar, pero sin la suficiente calidad como para hacerse valer por sí mismos.

This was a fascinating anthology about the moon landings, or people living on the moon and I jumped at the chance to read and review this book. I’ve been reading a lot of short fiction lately, from anthology collections to Tor’s Free Short Story Archive, to random other tidbits I’ve found here and there. My goal is to read one short story a day, perhaps more depending on what mood I’m in, or how impactful the story was and how much it lingers with me. And now that I’ve finished it, rating the stories on my goodreads review, I can say that this was a very well done anthology with several 4 star and 5 star short stories within, including two favorites which I really loved.

My overall two favorite stories were “A Walk in the Sun” by Geoffrey A. Landis and “How We Lost the Moon” by Paul J. MacAuley. Both were excellent, and there were several others that were high on my list of favorites as well. Neil Clarke definitely knows how to put together an anthology of great fiction, and I’m more interested than ever in seeing what other books he’s put together.

This took me two weeks to finish, rather a week and a half but put me in a little slump when I was done. I liked each story that was in here; there was nothing that I outright hated, which was unusual for an anthology for me, as there have been times where a few stories I simply could not stand-this was not the case here. Definitely made for science fiction, with little else in this book, I highly recommend it for scifi nerds like myself who love survival stories, as well as exploratory tales, and races against time.

My overall rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars, though I’ve settled on a 4/5 stars instead of rounding up, due to the slump it put me in as well as the few stories that simply weren’t to my taste. I feel that this will make a great read for those who are studying astronomy, or the moon, or the history of astronauts.

Mr Clarke knows his stuff. This is a long, but solid collection of stories curated by a talented editor. With so many stories there are bound to be some you'll like less than others. But overall, a very good collection!

I really appreciate the complimentary copy for review!!

Neil Clarke is one of the great curators of science fiction stories, collecting diverse tales in themed anthologies. Here, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the first steps on the moon 🌝, we get an amazing retrospective of moon-based science fiction in the past fifty years since the moon ceased being a complete uncharted mystery. At the time that Armstrong took that giant step, you would’ve thought it would’ve been followed by scores of manned missions, a station on the moon, and eventually colonies. And from there, who knows. But, there’s been a pullback of dreaming and the vast colonies of lunar inhabitants never materialized.

This is a terrific collection, and it is an immense collection that will defy any attempt to read it in one sitting. In keeping with the vast lunar emptiness, many of the tales have a starkness about them, an emptiness if you will. They envision our setting up lunar house, but postulate that the end result may not be what we expected. In some cases, the moon is a lonely place. In others, the people who make their homes there change in ways that make them barely cousins of their ancient earthly forebears.

From the talking nuclear ☢️ bomb 💣 in John Varley’s Bagatelle to the isolated roadways to Geoffrey Landis’ Walk In the Sun, there are great characters presented and even stranger landscapes. Sunday Night Yams at Earl and Minnie’s is a must-read that you oughta open this volume just to glimpse. Filled with wonder and nostalgia, it makes your head spin if you try to reason it all out. Kessel’s Stories For Men is unforgettable too. And, there are simply too many to mention and too many to remember them all.

Some see the moon as a mining colony or as a competitor to earth or as the last refuge after earth is pretty much destroyed. Some are it as a new beginning or a place to retire to. Despite regular shuttles back and forth, the moon’s isolation and mystery often remain.

This is a collection limited by its stated theme: SF stories about the moon written after we landed on it. The editor himself notes the limitation in the intro - once we landed on it, it stopped being exotic and authors moved on to other locales. In fact, the selection of stories from the '70s and '80s was almost nil. It was until the '90s and 2000s, when a new generation of authors started writing, that the moon again was a legitimate setting for an SF story.

The first story is by far my favorite. In this one a sentient bomb appears in a lunar city, bragging on what it is and how destructive it will be. It even provides a helpful countdown. Other stories provide a Ballardian post-Apollo depression (and why isn't Ballard in here?), a yearning to return, and finally a few stories that attempt to be a more realistic depiction of what could happen up there. Again, not always as exciting as stories not limited to a lunar setting (to me), but definitely on the mark theme-wise.

I hope the editor gets a chance to update the intro regarding our plans to revisit the moon. When he wrote it, we only had general plans to return there by 2028. Now that the president has announced (and Congress has funded) a landing in 2024, that is worth nothing in the intro. It may also drive a few books sales for Mr. Clarke.