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Futures
edited by Peter Crowther

Futures is the second collection by Crowther of when he considers the very best in long short fiction. Without getting into the merits of whether what he says is true or not, the four stories found in the book are stories that look at four very interesting futures indeed:

"Reality Dust" by Stephen Baxter. An amazing story set near the beginning of Baxter's Xeelee series of stories, just after the end of the alien Qax's occupation of Earth. As the remaining populations of man start to pick up the pieces and form a new govenment, prosecutions of those considered collaborators of the Qax continue. One man is tasked with prosecuting a collaborator somewhere on Callisto (one of Jupiter's moons) who may be engaged in an experiment that may well alter the meaning of reality and possibly control it as well.
"Watching Trees Grow" by Peter F. Hamilton. A fascinating story set on an Earth that might have been had things gone differently during the Roman Era. Starting in the 19th Century, an murder investigation is started that is not destined to be solved until many, many years later. The investigation would span planets and see many changes in the character of humanity as seen through the eyes of one man.
"Making History" by Paul McAuley. A story set just after The Quiet War on a conquered colony world. To the world comes a historian who is given the task of writing up the history of a man (presumed dead) who lead the rebellion. But his task of visiting the defeated people and looking for interviews is complicated by the presence of an attractive woman who may have a hidden agenda on the world.
"Tendeléo's Story" by Ian McDonald. An interesting story set in McDonald's Chaga series of stories about an alien 'invasion' of Africa called the Chaga which are replicating nanomachines which are gradually replacing Africa's ecosystem. The story concerns Tendeléo, a child caught in the ever expanding Chaga and forced to run from her hometown. But throughout her ordeals in the hands on unscrupulous people, she finds love and yearns to find her family and her home again.

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Futures edited by Peter Crowther

Futures
edited by Peter Crowther