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Deep Navigation
Deep Navigation is the 2010 Boskone Book by Boskone's Guest of Honor Alastair Reynolds. It contains a broad spectrum of his work, from his first published story, "Nunivak Snowflakes," through "The Receivers" and "Monkey Suit," both published within the last year, plus an introduction by his friend, and former Boskone Guest, Stephen Baxter. It is well-known that the scope of Dr. Reynolds' stories is vast; his Revelation Space stories alone attest to that. This collection shows his impressive range, from the claustrophobic Antarctic station, "Byrd Land Six," to the branespanning "Tiger, Burning," to the millennia-long quest of "Fury." His viewpoints are as varied as his constant production of big, new ideas. A lone artist calmly painting the universe. A planetary ecological struggle reduced to a game. A fleeing assassin drawn into an alien rescue between the stars. The full-color dust jacket is by John Picacio, the Boskone 47 Official Artist.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published February 12, 2010
84 people are currently reading
995 people want to read
About the author
Alastair Reynolds
310 books9,171 followersI'm Al, I used to be a space scientist, and now I'm a writer, although for a time the two careers ran in parallel. I started off publishing short stories in the British SF magazine Interzone in the early 90s, then eventually branched into novels. I write about a novel a year and try to write a few short stories as well. Some of my books and stories are set in a consistent future named after Revelation Space, the first novel, but I've done a lot of other things as well and I like to keep things fresh between books.
I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.
In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.
I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.
In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.
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September 6, 2018
"Deep Navigation" is a collection of short stories by Alastair Reynolds. The book is the 2010 Boskone Book (Published for that year's convention where Reynolds was guest of honor).
Contents:
Introduction by Stephen Baxter
"Nunivak Snowflakes"
"Monkey Suit"
"The Fixation"
"Feeling Rejected"
"Fury"
"Stroboscopic"
"The Receivers"
"Byrd Land Six"
"The Star Surgeon's Apprentice"
"On the Oodnadatta"
"Fresco"
"Viper"
"Soirée"
"The Sledge-Maker's Daughter"
"Tiger, Burning"
Alastair Reynolds' first published story was "Nunivak Snowflakes". All the stories published in this anthology had been published previously, but a umber of them had been out of print for several years.
The cover artist is by John Picacio.
This hardcover book is numbered 439 of 1000 published. There is also a signed slip-cased edition produced.
Contents:
Introduction by Stephen Baxter
"Nunivak Snowflakes"
"Monkey Suit"
"The Fixation"
"Feeling Rejected"
"Fury"
"Stroboscopic"
"The Receivers"
"Byrd Land Six"
"The Star Surgeon's Apprentice"
"On the Oodnadatta"
"Fresco"
"Viper"
"Soirée"
"The Sledge-Maker's Daughter"
"Tiger, Burning"
Alastair Reynolds' first published story was "Nunivak Snowflakes". All the stories published in this anthology had been published previously, but a umber of them had been out of print for several years.
The cover artist is by John Picacio.
This hardcover book is numbered 439 of 1000 published. There is also a signed slip-cased edition produced.
November 13, 2016
Great selection of short stories; some really short but nonetheless powerful.
Except three (Fury, The Star Surgeon’s Apprentice and The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter, which I read previously in Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds , all the others were new to me. And I loved them all, but the following ones are real gems:
Monkey Suit - Rev Space story, great addition to this universe and some insight knowledge about volition boxes.
The Fixation - sci-fi version of the uniqueness of Antikythera mechanism.
Stroboscopic - Russian roulette ‘game’ version in an advanced future.
The Receivers - wonderful intertwined story of music, passion and friendship.
Bird Land Six - experiment in quantum field gone wild. It has that horror touch which AR is so good at.
Fresco – simply sublime; it reminded me of Cixin’ Sniper.
Viper - is justice really blind? Or can we totally separate our own personal life from the professional one?
Soiree - it has that heart breaking sense that made Beyond the Aquila Rift my favorite short story of all times.
What I tremendously enjoy in AR’ short stories is the variety of stunning ideas fully developed in just few pages. And this collection has all that variety, different worlds, different concepts and different approaches. Simply wonderful!
Except three (Fury, The Star Surgeon’s Apprentice and The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter, which I read previously in Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds , all the others were new to me. And I loved them all, but the following ones are real gems:
Monkey Suit - Rev Space story, great addition to this universe and some insight knowledge about volition boxes.
The Fixation - sci-fi version of the uniqueness of Antikythera mechanism.
Stroboscopic - Russian roulette ‘game’ version in an advanced future.
The Receivers - wonderful intertwined story of music, passion and friendship.
Bird Land Six - experiment in quantum field gone wild. It has that horror touch which AR is so good at.
Fresco – simply sublime; it reminded me of Cixin’ Sniper.
Viper - is justice really blind? Or can we totally separate our own personal life from the professional one?
Soiree - it has that heart breaking sense that made Beyond the Aquila Rift my favorite short story of all times.
What I tremendously enjoy in AR’ short stories is the variety of stunning ideas fully developed in just few pages. And this collection has all that variety, different worlds, different concepts and different approaches. Simply wonderful!
September 22, 2016
All-in-all a very worthwhile collection of stories, and some are superb!
* Nunivak Snowflakes 4/5
A clever story of the far north seems slight, but it includes a deep truth for modern life: Testosterone destroys reason, especially in young men. It's just as much a wonder as to why women put up with us!
* Monkey Suit 5/5
Loved this. Revelation space, very short but good characters, clever plot.
* The Fixation 5/5
Brilliantly conceived and literate, gently terrifying, reminiscent of Stephen King. Loved it.
The Rejection 3/5
Clever, short satire academic paper very well-written, very tongue-in-cheek. This kind of thing is hard to pull off, but Reynolds captures the whole feel perfectly. I grinned in admiration, often.
Fury 3/5
A sort of detective story, a fable, a study in ethics. A bit too slowly paced, but satisfying in the end.
Stroboscopic 3/5
I've never been a video gamer, especially twitch games. This story moves along with the clever design and behaviour of Strobelife. However there is a nasty authorial cheat near the end which ruins the story
The Receivers 1/5
Another alternate timeline story, this one rather long and dull.
** Bird Land Six 5/5
Cracking good! Antarctic setting, quantum entanglement, causality violation, superb pacing and dialogue, Great Stuff!!!
* The Star Surgeon's Apprentice 4/5
Wonderful and horrific. A true tale of pirates and the high seas, a strange romance and a daring lad. Justice and hope.
On the Oodnadatta 2/5
A bit long-winded with a predictable ending.
Fresco 2/5
very short. A reminder of the fallibility of civilisation.
Viper 3/5
Shades of Absolution Gap's cathedrals. Again, a bit long-winded
Soirée 2/5
Weak and familiar, predictable
* The Sledge-Maker's Daughter 5/5
Wonderful characters and rhythm. I would love to see more.
* Tiger, Burning 5/5
Very clever and imaginative story which also educates on "branes". Wonderful.
* Nunivak Snowflakes 4/5
A clever story of the far north seems slight, but it includes a deep truth for modern life: Testosterone destroys reason, especially in young men. It's just as much a wonder as to why women put up with us!
* Monkey Suit 5/5
Loved this. Revelation space, very short but good characters, clever plot.
* The Fixation 5/5
Brilliantly conceived and literate, gently terrifying, reminiscent of Stephen King. Loved it.
The Rejection 3/5
Clever, short satire academic paper very well-written, very tongue-in-cheek. This kind of thing is hard to pull off, but Reynolds captures the whole feel perfectly. I grinned in admiration, often.
Fury 3/5
A sort of detective story, a fable, a study in ethics. A bit too slowly paced, but satisfying in the end.
Stroboscopic 3/5
I've never been a video gamer, especially twitch games. This story moves along with the clever design and behaviour of Strobelife. However there is a nasty authorial cheat near the end which ruins the story
The Receivers 1/5
Another alternate timeline story, this one rather long and dull.
** Bird Land Six 5/5
Cracking good! Antarctic setting, quantum entanglement, causality violation, superb pacing and dialogue, Great Stuff!!!
* The Star Surgeon's Apprentice 4/5
Wonderful and horrific. A true tale of pirates and the high seas, a strange romance and a daring lad. Justice and hope.
On the Oodnadatta 2/5
A bit long-winded with a predictable ending.
Fresco 2/5
very short. A reminder of the fallibility of civilisation.
Viper 3/5
Shades of Absolution Gap's cathedrals. Again, a bit long-winded
Soirée 2/5
Weak and familiar, predictable
* The Sledge-Maker's Daughter 5/5
Wonderful characters and rhythm. I would love to see more.
* Tiger, Burning 5/5
Very clever and imaginative story which also educates on "branes". Wonderful.
May 28, 2013
OVERALL THOUGHTS
A nice collection for the Reynolds completionist, which includes a bunch of very good stories, and a bunch of okay ones. Not exactly as required-reading as Zima Blue and other stories was, but this collection has its share of must-reads.
One thing missing was notes from Reynolds himself after each story, which Zima Blue (and, I think, Galactic North) had. That would have made this collection just a little sweeter.
STORY BY STORY
NB: Asterisks (*) before titles indicate the stories I thought were best of the lot.
Nunivak Snowflakes - Messages from the future sent in rains of fish; intelligent spacetime inhabiting the mechanical arm of a Inupiat teenager; a lone Canadian spy trying to keep ahead of several world superpowers. This is a wonderfully weird story, a wholly unique idea, and the first piece Reynolds ever published (at the age of 24!). Great start to this collection.
Monkey Suit - A nice little piece, with a sci-fi spin on the idea of the unfinished business of the recently departed. It doesn't really add much to the Revelation Space universe though, so I was a tad disappointed.
*The Fixation - Oh wow. A kind of dark story with a weird premise. It's sort of like the Bittorrenting of objects between parallel worlds, mixed in with a bit of fantasy about an alternate world where the Antikythera Mechanism wasn't lost, and was key to the formation of an empire. I liked it!
*Feeling Rejected - A tiny story that's really for academics, in the form of a peer-review rejection for a scientific paper, on the discovery of an extraterrestrial civilisation. It's blithely satirical of the politics of academia today, while also chock full of ideas about how we might study other civilisations. I LOVE the idea of a cultural H-R diagram. I wish so much I could read all the cited articles. As a scientist, I found it hilarious!
Fury - A story about loyalty, memory, a 30-thousand-year-old galactic empire, a mystery with a grisly reveal, an ancient crime, and the question of how that crime can be punished. A decent tale, but I admit I liked the worldbuilding more than the plot. There's uplifted animals, too!
Stroboscopic - Reminiscent of Player of Games by Iain M Banks, except the game in this story is far more deadly. Players must manipulate the ecology of alien lifeforms that are only truly alive for a short burst every 72 seconds, due to evolving near a pulsar. Trust me, it makes sense in the story. The weird biology, and how it's worked into the rules of a futuristic game, makes this a very clever tale. The political-conspiracy-subplot was a little less convincing, though.
The Receivers - Not really my thing. It's a well written story and all, but the plot just didn't grip me very much. The story is about what happens to some famous 20th Century composers in an alternate timeline when World War I keeps going for decades. I suppose it counts as science fiction, but there was no real scientific explanation to the phenomenon that occurs. I guess this is more a story for music aficionados.
*Byrd Land Six - Now THAT is a fucking story! A physics experiment gone wrong creates a rather horrific situation for a small group of researchers in an near-future Antarctic base. Brilliant and chilling! I really enjoyed the rather spooky imagery involving wind and ice that just seems wrong...
The Star Surgeon's Apprentice - Eh, that was okay. A fairly simplistic story about a teenage boy apprenticing on an interstellar ship which turns out to have a few secrets. This was originally written for a YA anthology, which explains why it's rather basic, plot-wise, for a Reynolds story. One thought: It reads pretty damn goofy when a lot of exposition is given to a character that can't speak in full sentences.
On the Oodnadatta - That was bizarre! A bit confusing in structure, but definitely a unique idea — actually, more of a mish-mash of several seemingly incongruous ideas. Self-driving road trains in the Australian outback, the legal status of the cryogenically frozen, simulation of human minds, mutant kangaroos, cloning, terrorists, slavery of sorts. Weird.
Fresco - A depressing vignette about a lonely AI, as it listens to signals from life beyond the Milky Way galaxy. Kind of a companion piece to the equally-short (but much more clever) "Feeling Rejected", only taking an even more pessimistic view. Nothing special, but it's nice to have it in this collection.
Viper - Some good ideas in this one, like a near-future prison on a high-speed train. But the central concept — putting criminals in VR simulations to assess their psychology — is one I've seen before: an episode of The Outer Limits, I think, with a smack of Inception. I thought I knew where it was going, but the ending was ambiguous enough not to make me groan.
Soirée - A slightly melancholy little piece about Earth's first interstellar voyagers being awoken from stasis, and meeting those who came after them yet overtook them with superior technology. The little-white-lie aspect of the brave new world reminded me of Reynolds' other story "Beyond the Aquila Rift", but with a different flavour and nowhere near as creepy.
*The Sledge-maker's Daughter - Set in a post-apocalyptic England, this story is oozing with worldbuilding details that hint at an epic backstory, yet the plot focuses mainly on the minor tribulations of a small community. I always enjoy the theme of advanced technology being rediscovered by a society reverted to simpler ways. And the personal stories of the titular daughter and the old woman were compelling. Very good, could be a whole novel, etc.
*Tiger, Burning - This was a fantastic story to close the collection on. A sort of detective tale (with an anthropomorphic feline protagonist who made me think of the comic character Blacksad) set in a future where humans have colonised thousands of parallel realities. A smattering of cheeky references to Shakespeare (sorry, "Shaxpia") and Forbidden Planet made me laugh; while the ideas about the legal status of people after their memories have been transferred between realities, were clever.
A nice collection for the Reynolds completionist, which includes a bunch of very good stories, and a bunch of okay ones. Not exactly as required-reading as Zima Blue and other stories was, but this collection has its share of must-reads.
One thing missing was notes from Reynolds himself after each story, which Zima Blue (and, I think, Galactic North) had. That would have made this collection just a little sweeter.
STORY BY STORY
NB: Asterisks (*) before titles indicate the stories I thought were best of the lot.
Nunivak Snowflakes - Messages from the future sent in rains of fish; intelligent spacetime inhabiting the mechanical arm of a Inupiat teenager; a lone Canadian spy trying to keep ahead of several world superpowers. This is a wonderfully weird story, a wholly unique idea, and the first piece Reynolds ever published (at the age of 24!). Great start to this collection.
Monkey Suit - A nice little piece, with a sci-fi spin on the idea of the unfinished business of the recently departed. It doesn't really add much to the Revelation Space universe though, so I was a tad disappointed.
*The Fixation - Oh wow. A kind of dark story with a weird premise. It's sort of like the Bittorrenting of objects between parallel worlds, mixed in with a bit of fantasy about an alternate world where the Antikythera Mechanism wasn't lost, and was key to the formation of an empire. I liked it!
*Feeling Rejected - A tiny story that's really for academics, in the form of a peer-review rejection for a scientific paper, on the discovery of an extraterrestrial civilisation. It's blithely satirical of the politics of academia today, while also chock full of ideas about how we might study other civilisations. I LOVE the idea of a cultural H-R diagram. I wish so much I could read all the cited articles. As a scientist, I found it hilarious!
Fury - A story about loyalty, memory, a 30-thousand-year-old galactic empire, a mystery with a grisly reveal, an ancient crime, and the question of how that crime can be punished. A decent tale, but I admit I liked the worldbuilding more than the plot. There's uplifted animals, too!
Stroboscopic - Reminiscent of Player of Games by Iain M Banks, except the game in this story is far more deadly. Players must manipulate the ecology of alien lifeforms that are only truly alive for a short burst every 72 seconds, due to evolving near a pulsar. Trust me, it makes sense in the story. The weird biology, and how it's worked into the rules of a futuristic game, makes this a very clever tale. The political-conspiracy-subplot was a little less convincing, though.
The Receivers - Not really my thing. It's a well written story and all, but the plot just didn't grip me very much. The story is about what happens to some famous 20th Century composers in an alternate timeline when World War I keeps going for decades. I suppose it counts as science fiction, but there was no real scientific explanation to the phenomenon that occurs. I guess this is more a story for music aficionados.
*Byrd Land Six - Now THAT is a fucking story! A physics experiment gone wrong creates a rather horrific situation for a small group of researchers in an near-future Antarctic base. Brilliant and chilling! I really enjoyed the rather spooky imagery involving wind and ice that just seems wrong...
The Star Surgeon's Apprentice - Eh, that was okay. A fairly simplistic story about a teenage boy apprenticing on an interstellar ship which turns out to have a few secrets. This was originally written for a YA anthology, which explains why it's rather basic, plot-wise, for a Reynolds story. One thought: It reads pretty damn goofy when a lot of exposition is given to a character that can't speak in full sentences.
On the Oodnadatta - That was bizarre! A bit confusing in structure, but definitely a unique idea — actually, more of a mish-mash of several seemingly incongruous ideas. Self-driving road trains in the Australian outback, the legal status of the cryogenically frozen, simulation of human minds, mutant kangaroos, cloning, terrorists, slavery of sorts. Weird.
Fresco - A depressing vignette about a lonely AI, as it listens to signals from life beyond the Milky Way galaxy. Kind of a companion piece to the equally-short (but much more clever) "Feeling Rejected", only taking an even more pessimistic view. Nothing special, but it's nice to have it in this collection.
Viper - Some good ideas in this one, like a near-future prison on a high-speed train. But the central concept — putting criminals in VR simulations to assess their psychology — is one I've seen before: an episode of The Outer Limits, I think, with a smack of Inception. I thought I knew where it was going, but the ending was ambiguous enough not to make me groan.
Soirée - A slightly melancholy little piece about Earth's first interstellar voyagers being awoken from stasis, and meeting those who came after them yet overtook them with superior technology. The little-white-lie aspect of the brave new world reminded me of Reynolds' other story "Beyond the Aquila Rift", but with a different flavour and nowhere near as creepy.
*The Sledge-maker's Daughter - Set in a post-apocalyptic England, this story is oozing with worldbuilding details that hint at an epic backstory, yet the plot focuses mainly on the minor tribulations of a small community. I always enjoy the theme of advanced technology being rediscovered by a society reverted to simpler ways. And the personal stories of the titular daughter and the old woman were compelling. Very good, could be a whole novel, etc.
*Tiger, Burning - This was a fantastic story to close the collection on. A sort of detective tale (with an anthropomorphic feline protagonist who made me think of the comic character Blacksad) set in a future where humans have colonised thousands of parallel realities. A smattering of cheeky references to Shakespeare (sorry, "Shaxpia") and Forbidden Planet made me laugh; while the ideas about the legal status of people after their memories have been transferred between realities, were clever.
April 16, 2025
I am a big fan of Alastair Reynolds, but this story collection was kind of meh. Maybe the stories had more impact when they were first published. Looking at the other reviews made me wonder if my standards are now too high to enjoy what is presented. Well, so be it.
2.5 stars generously rounded up. Beautiful cover image.
2.5 stars generously rounded up. Beautiful cover image.
August 5, 2015
Reynolds...either you love him or you haven't read him. This is a nice variety of short stories. Some of them seem like aborted attempts and full novels. Almost all stories are really good. A few I really wanted to be novels.
April 7, 2023
Reynolds makes sci-fi feel like horror but with lots of space. Enjoying my trip through his short story collections.
June 26, 2018
A nice collection of very diverse short fiction from Reynolds. I won't go into story detail with one exception. The last story, "Tiger, Burning" must have been a lot of fun for him to write. It explores in purposely cryptic style the premise that the movie "Forbidden Planet", which is never named, was not entertainment, but a revealing look at real events as something of an allegorical tale. Never stating that in overt terms, we still get a glimpse of what happened to the Krell (described as the KR-L here). Great fun. The rest of the tales are as entertaining as they are varied.
September 10, 2025
Very good collection of Reynolds' short stories, with some gems and relatively few stories in common with other collections(*).
Overall rating 4/5 stars, no rounding up or down needed. Below, my individual story notes:
- Nunivak Snowflakes: messages inside fishes falling from the sky (a phenomenon I've personally witnessed, albeit without the messages) in a very ethnic setting; 3.5/5 stars.
- Monkey Suit: actually the story I came looking for; Revelation Space, but IMO nothing to write home about. 3/5 stars.
- The Fixation: Antikythera, museum restauration work, entropy and the multiverse. Nice story but not great; 3.5/5 stars.
- Feeling Rejected: a reasoned rejection of a future scientific paper on xenoastronomy. Interesting take, but as boring as could be expected. Saving graces were being short, and with an acronym that actually got me to laugh out loud ("OLGA: Obscenely Large Gravity Array"); 2.5/5 stars.
- Fury: skipped, had already read it as part of another collection ("Beyond the Aquila Rift").
- Stroboscopic: progressively lethal games being played by some and watched by many as the way to fight ennui in a long lifespan, post-scarcity society; 4/5 stars.
- The Receivers: in an alternate history where WW1 never ended, a tale of sacrifice by a musician towards another, and more than that, towards the Muse herself. Very well written and touching; 5/5 stars.
- Byrd Land Six: Antarctic bases, secret government projects, and quantum weirdness: Einstein's 'spooky action at a distance' written large. Also, there's a hidden link between this story and the previous one, right at its start, that the less attentive reader may miss; 4.5/5 stars.
- The Star Surgeon's Apprentice: had already read it as part of another collection ("Beyond the Aquila Rift"), but it's so good I just read it again: a tale of a murderer scaping from the pan right into the fire, with quite a few twists and surprising redemption at the end; 4.5/5 stars.
- On the Oodnadatta: corporate unethical (and literally inhumane) practices and Original People payback in the Australian Boonies. Brought unexpected echoes to a recent TV series episode (Dark Mirror S07E01); 4.5/5 stars.
- Fresco: the Fermi Paradox, a(nother) big telescope, its caretaker, and its art. Quite pungent; 4/5 stars.
- Viper: the solution to the NIMBY syndrome and to the dilema of releasing apparently rehabilitated, violent criminals. A really unexpected twist at the end that then gets trivially resolved, but not for me. Quite intriguing; 4.5/5 stars.
- Soirée: a prophetic (2008!) take on the up-and-coming AI-pocalypse? I hope not, but fear it is. Disturbing: 4/5 stars.
- The Sledge-maker Daughter: skipped, had already read it as part of another collection ("Beyond the Aquila Rift").
- Tiger, Burning: brane cosmology, a circular multiverse, strange alien civilizations and whodunnit semi-police work starting with an absurd premise apparently only put there as an obvious, gratuitous Blake reference. Surprisingly, it all goes together in the end (except the premise); 3/5 stars.
(*) Nowadays, when I start reading a short story collection, I always check each individual story in its entry on ISFDB, so I don't waste time by only figuring in the middle of it that I've read it before. In this case: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?...
=EoF=
Overall rating 4/5 stars, no rounding up or down needed. Below, my individual story notes:
- Nunivak Snowflakes: messages inside fishes falling from the sky (a phenomenon I've personally witnessed, albeit without the messages) in a very ethnic setting; 3.5/5 stars.
- Monkey Suit: actually the story I came looking for; Revelation Space, but IMO nothing to write home about. 3/5 stars.
- The Fixation: Antikythera, museum restauration work, entropy and the multiverse. Nice story but not great; 3.5/5 stars.
- Feeling Rejected: a reasoned rejection of a future scientific paper on xenoastronomy. Interesting take, but as boring as could be expected. Saving graces were being short, and with an acronym that actually got me to laugh out loud ("OLGA: Obscenely Large Gravity Array"); 2.5/5 stars.
- Fury: skipped, had already read it as part of another collection ("Beyond the Aquila Rift").
- Stroboscopic: progressively lethal games being played by some and watched by many as the way to fight ennui in a long lifespan, post-scarcity society; 4/5 stars.
- The Receivers: in an alternate history where WW1 never ended, a tale of sacrifice by a musician towards another, and more than that, towards the Muse herself. Very well written and touching; 5/5 stars.
- Byrd Land Six: Antarctic bases, secret government projects, and quantum weirdness: Einstein's 'spooky action at a distance' written large. Also, there's a hidden link between this story and the previous one, right at its start, that the less attentive reader may miss; 4.5/5 stars.
- The Star Surgeon's Apprentice: had already read it as part of another collection ("Beyond the Aquila Rift"), but it's so good I just read it again: a tale of a murderer scaping from the pan right into the fire, with quite a few twists and surprising redemption at the end; 4.5/5 stars.
- On the Oodnadatta: corporate unethical (and literally inhumane) practices and Original People payback in the Australian Boonies. Brought unexpected echoes to a recent TV series episode (Dark Mirror S07E01); 4.5/5 stars.
- Fresco: the Fermi Paradox, a(nother) big telescope, its caretaker, and its art. Quite pungent; 4/5 stars.
- Viper: the solution to the NIMBY syndrome and to the dilema of releasing apparently rehabilitated, violent criminals. A really unexpected twist at the end that then gets trivially resolved, but not for me. Quite intriguing; 4.5/5 stars.
- Soirée: a prophetic (2008!) take on the up-and-coming AI-pocalypse? I hope not, but fear it is. Disturbing: 4/5 stars.
- The Sledge-maker Daughter: skipped, had already read it as part of another collection ("Beyond the Aquila Rift").
- Tiger, Burning: brane cosmology, a circular multiverse, strange alien civilizations and whodunnit semi-police work starting with an absurd premise apparently only put there as an obvious, gratuitous Blake reference. Surprisingly, it all goes together in the end (except the premise); 3/5 stars.
(*) Nowadays, when I start reading a short story collection, I always check each individual story in its entry on ISFDB, so I don't waste time by only figuring in the middle of it that I've read it before. In this case: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?...
=EoF=
December 16, 2018
Sci Fi Grand Master
The majority of these short stories deserve 5 stars, with the odd 3 or even 2 star tale pulling my overall assessment down to a 4. But, to be fair, this was a book I dipped into over several months, and the less accessible stories may have struck me as poorer than the rest only because of my surroundings or mood. (Yes, I can be a fickle reader.) But the ones I loved the most relied on the author’s masterful ability to describe an other-worldly scene as though he was describing Main Street, USA—as though the reader would need no more explanation of a graviton pulse header or a guide aerial than a drinking fountain or escalator. This is a book that will remain in my Kindle, ready to be pulled out and savored anew while waiting in line or riding a bus.
The majority of these short stories deserve 5 stars, with the odd 3 or even 2 star tale pulling my overall assessment down to a 4. But, to be fair, this was a book I dipped into over several months, and the less accessible stories may have struck me as poorer than the rest only because of my surroundings or mood. (Yes, I can be a fickle reader.) But the ones I loved the most relied on the author’s masterful ability to describe an other-worldly scene as though he was describing Main Street, USA—as though the reader would need no more explanation of a graviton pulse header or a guide aerial than a drinking fountain or escalator. This is a book that will remain in my Kindle, ready to be pulled out and savored anew while waiting in line or riding a bus.
September 23, 2020
A collection of Alastair Reynolds novelettes and short stories, a few of which also feature in Beyond the Aquila Rift. The anthology is a mix of everything from post-apocalyptic tales to deep deep future wonders.
As ever, Reynolds impresses with his mastery of the short fiction genre. The often mind bending concepts are always refined into their significance on people. This makes them resonate strongly with the reader.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/2020/09/...
As ever, Reynolds impresses with his mastery of the short fiction genre. The often mind bending concepts are always refined into their significance on people. This makes them resonate strongly with the reader.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/2020/09/...
September 27, 2017
I have not read any of Alastair Reynolds' work before so I entered this book rather blind. Deep Navigation is a great collection of sci-fi stories. Some were a little tricky to get into, but the end result was rewarding.
January 27, 2020
Giving it my standard 3-star short story collection rating. I will say that Reynolds branches out a bit in this collection. There's less of his far-future/post-singularity setting, in favour of more near-future stories set on Earth.
Favourites:
Fixation
Fresco
Tiger Burning
Favourites:
Fixation
Fresco
Tiger Burning
August 6, 2022
Overall a good but not too strong collection. No stories are a must-read, but none will waste your time. The best entry is Fury, followed by The Receivers and Monkey Suit. Tiger, Burning had a great premise, but it feels almost squandered on such a short piece.
July 20, 2023
A interesting collection of short stories from one of the modern masters of SF.
This set covers a lot of ground and at times themes which he has explored in later novels.
It's not quite as arresting a collection as Galactic North or Belladona Nights but still well worth reading .
This set covers a lot of ground and at times themes which he has explored in later novels.
It's not quite as arresting a collection as Galactic North or Belladona Nights but still well worth reading .
October 11, 2023
Another great anthology from the new King of Space Opera, Alastair Reynolds. Alternate dimensions collide, ghosts inhabit machines, the true author of Shakespeare's plays is revealed; it's a must-read for Reynolds fans.
June 12, 2017
I found Revelation Space a difficult slog, but the short stories are actually pretty compelling.
October 17, 2017
stories were good but I prefer them a bit longer
January 31, 2018
A fun collection of Reynolds writing. I haven't read a ton of his longer work, but this definitely encouraged me to do so.
November 17, 2018
His first collection. Pretty good.
March 29, 2022
All I love in a tiny package. Sci-fi and short stories, and good ones!
May 25, 2022
Excellent short stories by Reynolds
May 29, 2022
Very interesting stories, with lots of different ideas and angles. Some I liked some I didn't. None of them felt complete to me, but I guess that was the point.
June 18, 2022
While I do appreciate many of the concepts, Reynolds is a poor stylist. And sometimes even the concepts disappoint.
January 20, 2024
Worth reading: some stories good, some better.
February 9, 2025
A mix of very short stories and some longer ones.
Good and not so good, as always.
I liked the Sledgemakers Daughter in particular.
Good and not so good, as always.
I liked the Sledgemakers Daughter in particular.
May 7, 2018
Aside from "Nunivak Snowflakes", these are some great Sci-Fi short stories! Reynolds is always grand, his themes go beyond his writings. Very enjoyable and not so quick (a common problem with short stories collections).
There are some really memorable ones. Monkey Suit is the only one inside the Revelation Space universe, and that's refreshing.
Just a question... in "Tiger, Burning", the tiger form serves no purpose at all, a missed opportunity.
All in all, quite good!
There are some really memorable ones. Monkey Suit is the only one inside the Revelation Space universe, and that's refreshing.
Just a question... in "Tiger, Burning", the tiger form serves no purpose at all, a missed opportunity.
All in all, quite good!
March 20, 2017
An excellent collection of short stories and novelettes by this British author. Hardly a duff story in the collection. Well worth the price of admission!
December 9, 2011
After being disappointed by Zima Blue and Other Stories, Deep Navigation has been a positive surprise. Most of the stories are based on original ideas - Nunivak Snowflakes, Stroboscopic, Byrd Land Six and On the Oodnadatta come to mind; some others take a look at old concepts with a new twist, like Viper or Soirée. Even though Reynolds is mostly a master of long story arcs (as seen in the Revelation Space universe), Fresco is probably his shortest story so far and a small gem as such. To be fair, there are small issues with some of the stories, where Fury would need a little more explanation of the main twist in the story since as written it does not seem really believable and I simply did not understand the main idea of The Receivers, which might be a problem on my side, though
All in all, I can only recommend this short story collection, the more if you already are an Alastair Reynolds fan. You will not be disappointed.
All in all, I can only recommend this short story collection, the more if you already are an Alastair Reynolds fan. You will not be disappointed.
November 19, 2020
Mind bending stories
Gave this a five out of five as it is a wonderful continuum of Reynolds' deep imagination, and his powerful ability to convey existential, multi-dimensional horror.
Tiger, burning is a particular favorite, a post-human trip through detective work aeons from now.
Everything in here speaks of originality and an eye on current world affairs that world-builds and projects from careful analysis of the human condition.
If you haven't given any full length novels or novellas of Reynolds' a read due to apprehension on where to begin. Start with this collection and then, I suggest trying out the Revelation Space series.
Gave this a five out of five as it is a wonderful continuum of Reynolds' deep imagination, and his powerful ability to convey existential, multi-dimensional horror.
Tiger, burning is a particular favorite, a post-human trip through detective work aeons from now.
Everything in here speaks of originality and an eye on current world affairs that world-builds and projects from careful analysis of the human condition.
If you haven't given any full length novels or novellas of Reynolds' a read due to apprehension on where to begin. Start with this collection and then, I suggest trying out the Revelation Space series.
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