Ian Whates - Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction

SOLARIS RISING

The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction

Edited by Ian Whates

Solaris Books

First published 2011 by Solaris an imprint of Rebellion Publishing Ltd, Riverside House, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 0ES, UK

www.solarisbooks.com

ISBN (.epub): 978-1-84997-311-3

ISBN (.mobi): 978-1-84997-312-0

Introduction Ian Whates 2011

A Smart Well-Mannered Uprising of the Dead Ian McDonald 2011

The Incredible Exploding Man Dave Hutchinson 2011

Sweet Spots Paul di Filippo 2011

The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three Ken MacLeod 2011

The One that Got Away Tricia Sullivan 2011

Rock Day Stephen Baxter 2011

Eluna Stephen Palmer 2011

Shall I Tell You the Problem with Time Travel? Adam Roberts 2011

The Lives and Deaths of Che Guevara Lavie Tidhar 2011

Steel Lake Jack Skillingstead 2011

Mooncakes Mike Resnick and Laurie Tom 2011

At Play in the Fields Steve Rasnic Tem 2011

How We Came Back from Mars Ian Watson 2011

You Never Know Pat Cadigan 2011

Yestermorrow Richard Salter 2011

Dreaming Towers, Silent Mansions Jaine Fenn 2011

Eternitys Children Keith Brooke and Eric Brown 2011

For the Ages Alastair Reynolds 2011

Return of the Mutant Worms Peter F. Hamilton 2011

The right of the authors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Designed & typeset by Rebellion Publishing

Cover Art by Pye Parr

CONTENTS

Introduction , Ian Whates

A Smart Well-Mannered Uprising of the Dead , Ian McDonald

The Incredible Exploding Man , Dave Hutchinson

Sweet Spots , Paul di Filippo

The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three , Ken MacLeod

The One that Got Away , Tricia Sullivan

Rock Day , Stephen Baxter

Eluna , Stephen Palmer

Shall I Tell You the Problem with Time Travel? Adam Roberts

The Lives and Deaths of Che Guevara , Lavie Tidhar

Steel Lake , Jack Skillingstead

Mooncakes , Mike Resnick and Laurie Tom

At Play in the Fields , Steve Rasnic Tem

How We Came Back from Mars , Ian Watson

You Never Know , Pat Cadigan

Yestermorrow , Richard Salter

Dreaming Towers, Silent Mansions , Jaine Fenn

Eternitys Children , Keith Brooke and Eric Brown

For the Ages , Alastair Reynolds

Return of the Mutant Worms , Peter F. Hamilton

INTRODUCTION

IAN WHATES

When Jonathan Oliver approached me with the idea of reviving the Solaris Book of New SF series of anthologies, I was both flattered and thrilled. I still recall how excited I was when the very first in the series came out. The book, compiled and edited by George Mann, boasted a fabulous line-up of authors and proved to contain an equally impressive set of stories. I immediately resolved to try and have something of mine appear in a future volume (an ambition I realised in Vol 3). The opportunity to do justice to the tradition of quality established by George is a challenge that Ive relished.

I love short stories, both to read and to write. A good short story provides a quick, sharp fix, almost instant gratification when compared to the slow burn of a novel, and its writing requires a skill in world-building and character development which is quite different from that demanded by the longer format, where the writer has so much more scope and time. I thought very carefully before sending out a call for submissions, approaching only authors I knew to be capable of delivering effective work within the strictures of the short story. This meant, inevitably, that I was approaching some of the busiest men and women in the industry. It came as no surprise, therefore, when not all of them were able to participate, which is why at the outset I contacted enough talented wordsmiths to fill two books. Thankfully, many responded with enthusiasm and were able to somehow squeeze the requisite writing time from their schedules. I ended up with enough high quality submissions that Ive been forced to make a few tough choices, turning away some very good pieces by authors whose work Ive long admired But what a great situation for an editor to be in.

Something I should perhaps make clear; Ive produced a number of themed anthologies in recent years, both through my own NewCon Press and in the Mammoth titles Ive co-edited with Ian Watson. Just to say upfront that this isnt one of them. Those readers looking for a theme will, I fear, search in vain.

Science fiction is a very broad church which perhaps goes some way to explaining why there are so many different interpretations of precisely what the conjunction of those two words means. SF touches on many other literary fields and contains any number of subgenres and tropes. A succinct definition guaranteed to satisfy everyone is nigh on impossible. That is what I wanted to represent with this book. Not highlight one flavour of SF but rather reflect its boundless variety, the energy and imagination that can carry science fiction in so many fascinating and entertaining directions. I dont claim for one moment that the selection here is definitive. Doubtless some will read Solaris Rising and note the absence of this type of SF or that, which just goes to show how diverse our genre is. No single volume could ever hope to encompass every nuance of the field. My ambition with Solaris Rising is rather to present a piquant tasting platter, a veritable smorgasbord representing some of the very best science fiction around at the moment. Both humour and darkness inhabit the collection, exotic environments cosy up to familiar elements imbued with a novel twist and the strange shadows the known; but above all you will find original thought and story .

Here it is then: Solaris Rising , the revival of The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction (now cunningly rejigged as The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction ). I hope you enjoy.

Ian Whates

June 2011

A SMART WELL-MANNERED UPRISING OF THE DEAD

IAN MCDONALD

Ian McDonald lives just outside Belfast and sold his first story back in 1983. In his day job he works in development for Northern Irelands largest independent television production company. His most recent book, The Dervish House (Gollancz, Pyr), won the BSFA Award for best novel and the John W Campbell Memorial Award for 2011, as well as being nominated for the Arthur C Clarke Award and the Hugo. Hes into the second volume of his YA(-ish) Everness series, and volume 1, Planesrunner, is out from Pyr in December 2011.

I am Felix Cofie Addy and I am a dead man. I have been a dead man for three years, five months and twelve days. It was the cigarettes. Never start them, you young people. So I am dead, and I am aggrieved. Oh yes, mightily aggrieved. What for are you aggrieved, I hear you think. Youre dead; grievances and aggravations are over for you. Pull the red earth over you, sleep. Do not trouble yourself. Why, what do you think we are, us dead men? You think we sit around on our stools all day waiting to become pure and clear as gin? I tell you, the first aggravation is being dead at all. That is the firm foundation on which the other aggravations rest, and they are many. What aggrieves me? FC Maamobis atrocious last season. That defending would aggrieve anyone. The price of rice and flour and cooking oil at Maxmart. That aggrieves me. I have heard that children go hungry to school. How will they learn if they are hungry? They need brain food. We are not a hungry nation. We never have been. Yes, that aggrieves me much. The state of the potholes on the Kanda highway: it was more hole than highway even before I became a dead man. The price of diesel at the Shell Station on Nima Road. The fuel for the Maxmart trucks goes up, Maxmart puts its prices up, the City Council cant afford to fix the potholes. What for? We have oil. We are a wealthy country. We are proud and independent. But what aggrieves me most is you, Minister Raymond Kufuor. We have oil, we have wealth, we have independence and you are the man in charge of it, so tell me Mr Raymond Kufuor, why are there holes in our highways you could lose a pig in? Where is the money, Minister? Tell a dead man that.