An all-star line up of authors! A must-read for Space Opera fans!

It is hard to go wrong with award winning authors such as Arkady Martine, Alastair Reynolds, T. Kingfisher, Charlie Jane Anders, Aliette de Bodard, Becky Chambers, and Ann Leckie. (And as a bonus, Jonathan Strahan’s introduction also points the astute reader to other SF novels and authors, that I for one look forward to exploring.

I had previously read about half of these stories. I enjoyed reading and reading all of the stories in this collection. My personal highlights of the 14 stories are as follows (using the same order as the Table of Contents).

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell
A space opera told from the perspective of a microbot ensouled by a downloaded human personality traveling the galaxy as a contracted maintenance worker. The society/milieu created by Buckell is entertaining and thought provoking. Interesting plot twists within!

Extracurricular Activities by Yoon Ha Lee
Having read stories/novels in this universe before helps a bit, but this is an entertaining standalone story including spy-craft, high technology, and creative new cultures. A fun adventure story.

All the Colors You Thought Were Kings by Arkady Martine
This story packs a lot of thought provoking world building, SF technology, and high risk intrigue into a small number of pages. Great reading!

Belladonna Nights by Alastair Reynolds
This story starts out with the premise of extremely long lived humans traveling the galaxy, and ends up in an unexpectedly dark place. Outstanding!

A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders
I recommend this story for those who miss Scott Adams. An entertaining and humorous space opera.

A Good Heretic by Becky Chambers
This is a nice side story that provides background to other novels by Chambers. As such, once I realized what I was reading, I really appreciated this story.

I thank the publisher, editor, and all authors for sharing this wonderful anthology of space opera.

I requested this on Netgalley for the list of contributors, not realising that unlike some of Jonathan Strahan's anthologies, it collected previously published work rather than new material. So the stories by Yoon Ha Lee, Lavie Tidhar and Charlie Jane Anders were all ones I'd read before - though equally, all good choices, three very variable writers operating at or near the top of their range. And obviously, as with any (sub)genre, you can quibble over the boundaries in place; I raised a figurative eyebrow when the introduction insisted "First, a space opera should primarily take place in space, either on ship or station, and only occasionally touchdown on a planetary surface", only to be at once reassured and puzzled when several of the stories which followed were set resolutely planetside, and in Ann Leckie's case with only the most passing nod to anything beyond the world's own orbit. More subtly, Seth Dickinson's entry is as grand and as bleak as I expect from him, and certainly has plenty of spaceships, but I'd call it military SF more than space opera, and in trying to define why I think I'd point to the centrality of chains of command, which can appear in space opera but only at the margins; compare the difference between a procedural and cop action. Still, even if I cavil at the criteria, most of what's here more than justifies its presence, whether that be obvious winners (from Becky Chambers, a Wayfarers short story I hadn't even known existed) or ones that slightly surprised me (I haven't clicked with Alastair Reynolds before, but Belladonna Nights is grand and mysterious and tragic even aside from featuring a Campion who reads an awful lot like Margery Allingham's). The worst I can say about anything here would be that Anya Johanna DeNiro's A Voyage To Queensthroat could have been a little subtler in its desire to be a trans John Wick in space but, you know, it is still a trans John Wick in space. And the collection as a whole shows over and over the epic scale of action, emotion and worldbuilding which can be unfurled within a modest page-count.

Despite not typically enjoying anthologies, as a space opera fan and a fan of many of the authors included here, I had to give this one a try. And i'm glad I did, the stories were fantastic, and there was a delightful amount of variety and interesting takes on the genre. As is common with this types of books, I enjoyed some stories more than others, however the collection is really strong as a whole and I felt that all of the stories included were equally good, despite my personal opinions. I will mention that all of these stories are not new to this book, but are reprints of stories that have been previously published, so some of these stories, like Yoon Ha Lee's, I had already read before. However, to me, most of the stories were still new to me, so them being reprints only really served to make them more accessible to readers like me. The main appeal for me, however, was all the feel of a grand space opera within smaller narratives. If your a fan of space operas, but not necessarily how long they can be, give this book a try.

NEW adventures? These are all reprints, so I skipped two stories I'd already read. (The T. Kingfisher, which was in a Hugo packet, and the Charlie Jane Anders, which is in her short story collection.) They're all varying degrees of good, starting from pretty good to excellent, and one made me straight up cry. (Curse you, Becky Chambers!)

Fantastic collection of short stories! I scooped this up for Ann Leckie, T. Kingfisher, and Becky Chambers, some personal favorites. Chambers' "A Good Heretic" is functional as a stand alone story but is written about a character from her Wayfarers series, which I absolutely adore. and also highly recommend. In her short though, she's honestly written a powerful punch in such a few pages.

Now for the rest: these stories are everything I love about sci-fi! Snapshots of character profiles, rich new worlds, massive creativity... all super concentrated into a few pages. Right when you're settling in, the next story starts you over with something completely brand new and fresh. Space opera is so often hundreds of pages, and definitely several book series. I think compiling these short stories into one hefty tome, is exactly what the genre is missing!! 5 stars across the board for this stunning anthology.

This had me from the description: “Are you tired of reading science fiction novels that feel like they’re taking literal eons to finish?” Dear reader, the answer to this question is YES.

To be honest, I think sci-fi in the short story format is harder to pull off than as novels. It's a genre accustomed to four 400-page books in a series, where the world building can be detailed down to the socioeconomic consequences of how the protagonists utilize currency. Short story is HARD. The writer has to simultaneously establish the world AND hook the reader, create a cohesive narrative that stands on its own, and land the ship (pun gloriously intended) — in fewer pages than some books dedicate to single chapters.

Truthfully, it's what I prefer in sci-fi. I care about character more than climate, and when you have so little to work with it's typically character that gets the most attention. So in a lot of ways, this collection was custom made for my tastes, which probably explains the 5 star review. Though to be fair, once I looked back on the entire collection, I noted that more of the stories tended towards the upper 4 stars, so averaging out at a 5 felt justified. Plus: this is fun. We should sign more things like this.

(Mostly) short spoiler free reviews of each story:

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance: A top tier title and a strong start! It's hard to pick an opener and this was a good one. I’m a huge fan of "what exactly does it mean to be human?" wearing a trench coat made of narrative plot. I got lost a little bit on the world building, but the formist/robot subplot was phenom and the ending packed such a punch I didn't care. 4.5 stars

Extracurricular Activities: I really enjoyed the characters, thought them well established for how many there are and how little time they have on the page. But I felt like this was a slice of a larger story, and not necessarily something that could exist on its own. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was legitimately lifted from a full length novel. There's still too much to unpack with Meng. 4 stars.

All the Colors You Thought Were Kings: Whew, second person AND present tense? I was predisposed against it, but this story was right hook after right hook. I couldn't breathe reading this one. 5 stars.

Belladonna Nights: way way way waaaaaaaay too much superfluous lore, but when it finally got down to it, it was a good story. Something to chew on, at least. If pared down, the concept could really shine. 3.7 stars

Metal like Blood in the Dark: Tense, but not as much as All The Colors. A good premise, well executed. Kept the world building tight, which I deeply appreciated. We often talk about "learning humanity" solely in terms of empathy, compassion, etc. Not treachery. Good stuff. 4.5 stars

A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime: the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. So ridiculous and fun that I looked up the author halfway through and tbr'd her work. This felt like Catherynne Valente wrote a Dr. Who episode, circa 10 or 11. Sometimes space is just for fun!! 4.20 stars

Immersion: If I had a nickel for every time I begrudgingly started a second person present tense story that ended up knocking me sideways, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Right?
This is what Black Mirror should feel like, when the writers’ sole goal isn’t legitimately ruining your life. 4.7 stars

Morrigan in the Sunglare: “You have to go to sleep you have to go to sleep you HAVE TO GO TO SLEEP" I told myself over and over again. Still read this in one breathless sitting. It takes SOOO much talent to tell a story in such a nonlinear fashion, and the author smashed it. No notes. Discovered he writes the Destiny lore and this is the first thing that's ever tempted me into playing that series. 5 stars.

The Old Dispensation. This one threw me for a loop because I am such the right audience for this - above average understanding of the Torah and ancient Hebrew traditions, a person who likes stories about religion - but this was such a miss for me. I knew all the words and didn't get the picture. Maybe that was the problem? There was so much compounded lore. I liked the shape of it, but I just didn't love it. 3.7 stars.

The Good Heretic: So. I picked up this entire anthology for Becky Chambers, and had a rollercoaster of emotions when I saw the title.
Upside: Good Heretic is in her Wayfarers series, about a species I LOVE, but can be read as a standalone or introduction to the series.
Downside: this exists in other anthologies. Maybe that's the case with other stories in here! That's probably how anthologies work! But my heart's desire was to have more Becky Chambers content in the world, and I was a little sad to discover that isn’t the case.
Now, the story itself: flawless. Becky is a character writer like no other, and her world building is my favorite. Ten stories in, she is the first to center a narrative on a non-humanoid, non robot character. Full blown alien. Not even bipedal.
Chambers is one of the few authors I've ever encountered who actually gets creative with her aliens, and this is no exception. Sianats are fascinating. This whole story is fascinating. I wanted 30000 more pages. I wept for the hope of it all. It's the only tears I shed the whole anthology. I love her with all my heart. 500 stars.

A Voyage to Queensthroat: for a story that references so many events outside the narrative, this works so well as a short story. There's so many layers to unravel here, I'll think about this one for days. The perfect amount of lore to leave you hungry for more. A gut punch of an ending. 4.4 stars

The Justified: the lore almost lost me, but I’ll excuse a multitude of sins if you just give me a woman murdering the sh*t out of some privileged a-holes. Was Het a human? Who cares! We support women’s rights and women’s wrongs. 4.5 stars.

Planetstuck: This was some of the best character writing in the collection, with a story that got under my skin. Perfect amount of world building. Phenomenal combo of humor and humanity. Great ending. 4.8 stars

The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir: a sweet note to end on. The opener and closer of an anthology are tough picks, and this has just the right about of optimism, and melancholy, and adventure. It leaves a good taste in your mouth, which is how you want to finish this. 4.4 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review!

This is not my usual genre of reading but I wanted to take a chance on it and it was a fun, quick read! I recommend these stories for lovers of sci fi and space themes.