Mindful Science Fiction

Colson’s short story collection explores immortality and existentialism.

The stories collected in this volume contain such SF mainstays as foreign planets, alternate dimensions, and futuristic tech, but it’s the profound themes that truly drive Colson’s narratives, most notably the search for purpose in life. In the story “Even the Mountains Wash Away to the Sea,” Planet Farrun is doomed to obliteration by a supernova. A mothership from Earth arrives with a plan to evacuate all its inhabitants, but city architect and earthling engineer Aragam is shocked when most of the Farruns opt to stay and complete their ambitious construction project, knowing their doom is inevitable. In “The Fossil Beds of Asgard,” Janicia and some fellow scientists, while stranded on Callisto, scour the planet for fossils. They uncover signs of an immortal race that, unlike the human visitors, has no personal stories of courage or compassion. Characters throughout the collection find meaning in sacrifices (What will a mother give up to ensure her child is born?) or momentous choices (Is one’s crucial work worth the serious downside?). The author’s writing is pithy; in this compact collection, the narratives thrive on carefully chosen details. (In “Swarm Mentality,” the specifics of a computer implant are less important than the string of murders tied to the implantees.) The interspecies cast is remarkable, especially in “All the Beautiful Lights of Heaven,” in which a tentacled triad (male Gamal, female Shamar, and Talat, who uses tre/trim pronouns) boards a spaceship in search of an elusive “Answer.” (“Whatever his people’s fate, he knew it held meaning. Better to go to their end with dignity than betray that meaning.”) The three contemplate whether or not they should pragmatically bear children for their race’s survival, even in the absence of love; this is just one of the book’s myriad intriguing notions.

Enthralling and insightful SF stories.