Longtime SF author Brin delivers a collection of tales marked by the same contemplative and speculative perspectives that mark his longer works, particularly the Uplift series to which his fans remain devoted even after decades. He shrinks from no question for its size or complexity, and in these stories he brings remarkable intelligence and sympathy to bear on the examination of characters surprised to find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Recommended especially for established Brin fans and for possible new ones seeking access points.

A collection of short stories is always a crap shoot for me. I get one that is so-so and is a drudgery to read and then I will read the next and never want it to end. But such is the life of a reader. However I will say that The Best of David Brin was loaded with those I would love to see fill a full book. I highly enjoyed the stories with medical speculation. “Chrysalis” was about a new amount of healing using age old ideas. “Dr. Pak’s Preschool” told of nurturing a child in the cutting edge ways. To give any more of the stories away is too much, and would spoil the fun. I also especially liked that Brin discussed each story afterward with his thoughts on its writing. His works are a joy to those that like vintage sci fi, and are all very different in their ideas and creativity. I received a free ecopy of the collection from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

This book collects 21 short stories by prolific sci-fi author David Brin. The book is divided into seven parts, each collecting stories of a similar theme. At over 600 pages, this is a nice collection of some his best work.

The book contains:

Part 1 – Lift Your Gaze!
Includes the stories: Insistence of Vision, The Crystal Spheres, The Loom of Thessaly, and Transition Generation

Part 2 – It's alive. So be wary.
Includes the stories: The Giving Plague, Chrysalis, Dr. Pak's Preschool, and Piecework

Part 3 – Persevere! (Tales of the Coss)
Includes the stories: The Logs, and The Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss

Part 4 – Things may just get weird.
Includes the stories: Detritus Affected, Mars Opposition, Toujours Voir, and The River of Time

Part 5 – Light. Let it shine!
Includes the stories: The Tell, and The Escape

Part 6 – Prevailing... despite everything...
Includes the stories: The Postman, A Need for Heroes, and Thor Meets Captain America

Part 7 – And good news may get.... complicated
Includes the stories: Stones of Significance, and Reality Check

There are some pretty great stories here, and overall I enjoyed most of them. There are also some notes from the author about the stories, that give some insights into what he was thinking when he wrote them. It is hard to pick a favorite, but I really liked the Transition Generation story, and I've always liked The Postman.

David Brin is one of the masters of science fiction, especially known for his great novels of the 80s and 90s, including the Uplift trilogies, Earth, The Postman, Existence and a dozen others. The Best of David Brin draws on his shorter fiction from throughout his career with a strong emphasis on his intellectually sophisticated experiments in looking at the future. He's especially interested in what can happen to humanity in the world after the Singularity when people have to deal with artificial intelligence and sapient entities that confuse the boundaries between the real and the artificial. For my taste, too many of the stories in this volume read like abstract thought experiments and rarely capture the excitement and power of his best novels. They are all brilliant and will certainly stretch your mind, but this is an acquired taste and not for everyone.

The Best of David Brin by David Brin is a very highly recommended collection of 21 science fiction short stories and novellas spanning 1982 - 2020. Those who love and enjoy Brin's work will appreciate this retrospective collection. Those who are new to Brin's writing will become fans after reading this introduction to his work and discovering the breadth and scope of his writing. As with any compilation of stories, some are stronger than others when comparing them side by side, but each of them represents an outstanding example of hard science fiction stories. Brin is known for his skillful world building and the inclusion of science in his stories without sacrificing great, imaginative plots and character development. His skill is exemplified in many of these stories. (Rather than reading all these stories in one sitting I spread the enjoyment out to better appreciate what each narrative had to offer. This was a smart move as it precluded a lot of comparison between wildly different stories.)
After a personal introduction by Catherine Asaro, the stories are sorted into seven sections. Contents include:
Lift your gaze!: Insistence of Vision; The Crystal Spheres; The Loom of Thessaly; Transition Generation
It’s alive! So be wary: The Giving Plague; Chrysalis; Dr. Pak’s Preschool; Piecework
Persevere! (Tales of the Coss): The Logs; Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss
Things may just get weird: Detritus Affected; Mars Opposition; Toujours Voir; The River of Time
Light. Let it shine!: The Tell; The Escape
Prevailing... despite everything: The Postman; A Need for Heroes; Thor Meets Captain America
And good news may get... complicated: Stones of Significance; Reality Check

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Subterranean Press.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and submitted to Amazon.

Subterranean Press has put together another fantastic collection that highlights the best a writer has to offer. This collection of short stories and novellas is presented with good variety and a lot of high quality. Most of the stories here are good, although some are better than others. It's a fine gathering of science fiction with a little bit of fantasy. There's something here for all sci-fi fans to enjoy.

Short story collection (ranging from a few pages to the novella that became the first part of The Postman). Speculative fiction in the classic sense; my favorite was the story about the geneticist who worked to reawaken now-useless DNA, first to help us regrow organs and later for a much more complex purpose, ignoring what the biologists would have told him.

Choosing this is a no brainer for hard sci-fi fans. Brin is a great writer with staying power, and this is full of good stories, well told. There is a nice variety, including longer and shorter stories. Recommended for anthology and sci-fi fans.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

I would like to thank the David Brin and Subterranean Press for kindly providing an electronic review copy of this book.

"The Best of David Brin" delivers exactly what it promises. This compilation of 21 stories and 624 pages of excellent hard science fiction by David Brin provides a lot of entertainment. These stories were originally published nearly 40 years from 1982 to 2020. Each story is a delightful gem!

This is a collection of short stories and novellas written by the author over a number of years. As with any such compilation, some are very good and some are just okay. I will leave it to the reader to determine which are which as different stories appeal to different sorts of people. What I enjoy about these stories is that they are more science fiction than fantasy which is a refreshing break with this genre. Overall this will be a good read for any fans of science ficition.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.