Stephen Baxter anyone?

Must say that Exultant by Stephen Baxter was and probably still is my favourite ever Science Fiction novel. It may be the first ever book that i will re-read!
 
iansales said:
Raft is set in another universe with a gravitational constant a billion times stronger than this universe's. The cast are all human, but the novel is implied to be part of the Xeelee series. Timelike Infinity is set in the Solar system and while the Xeelee are mention I don't recall them making an appearance in the book. Flux is set inside the mantle of a neutron star, and the Xeelee make an appearance off-stage towards the end.
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Ah so Fantastic Fiction has got it wrong then!
Wouldn't surprise me. They have Clarke's Songs of Distant Earth listed as a collection of stories!
 
Ah no. It is part of the Xeelee series, it's just that it's about a group of humans from our universe who have found themselves in another universe. I don't recall the Xeelee ever being mentioned by name in the book, but I believe it does fit in with the other books in the series somewhere.
 
Perhaps time to reconsider Baxter ... I read Timelike Infinity (no stong impression of any kind) and Anti-Ice (didn't like the "steampunk/alt-victorian" vibe much) quite a few years ago.

Did read H-Bomb Girl recently, when it was nominated for the A C Clarke award and enjoyed that a fair bit.

Where to start reading his SF now?

(I can probably live without the AltHist too - I only tend to find it fun when its a period i'm interested in the real history of before reading an alt version)
 
Hypnos164 said:
Perhaps time to reconsider Baxter ... I read Timelike Infinity (no stong impression of any kind) and Anti-Ice (didn't like the "steampunk/alt-victorian" vibe much) quite a few years ago.

Did read H-Bomb Girl recently, when it was nominated for the A C Clarke award and enjoyed that a fair bit.

Where to start reading his SF now?

(I can probably live without the AltHist too - I only tend to find it fun when its a period i'm interested in the real history of before reading an alt version)
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Depends what kind of SF you like. If you like Clarkeesque hard SF then try Raft,Ring or Flux. If you like prehistoric speculation try Mammoth and its sequels. If you like stories of man's early conquest of space set pretty close to modern times try Voyage or Titan. With Baxter there's something for everyone!
 
I read my first Baxtor the other day in the form of a short story called "Artifacts" which was very good. Definitely piqued my interest to consider something else by him. A recommendation on a good place to start would be welcome.

I actually like the sound of this Mammoth book of Alternate Histories collection that's coming out shortly, I might check it out. I wasn't sure whether I would like the sub-genre until I read Ware Moore's excellent "Bring the Jubilee" and am now converted. It is so fascinating considering the social and techological paths that might have been taken had key events in the past transpired differently.

I've also read an alternative history tale by John Crowley called "Great Work of Time". That looked at what might have happened had the British empire persisted in it's dominance.

But, yeah back to Baxter. I definitely want to read some more by him...
 
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Fried Egg said:
I actually like the sound of this Mammoth book of Anternate Histories collection that's coming out shortly, I might check it out. But, yeah back to Baxter. I definitely want to read some more by him...
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I'd highly recommend The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories, FE... though, of course, I could be biased. :rolleyes:

There's a cracking original story from Steve Baxter in it. Long after his death, Darwin (represented by his cadaver and a descendent especially shipped in from Australia) is put on trial for heresy by the church-dominated British authorities... and don't get me started on James Morrow's brilliant take on what might have been achieved by the passengers and crew of The Titanic... :)
 
HMM....I don;t have that much in my library representing alternate history stories. The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories may be worth looking into.

On Baxter I immensely enjoyed The Time Ships (sequel to Well's Time Machine and I thought superior) and own a copy of his Mammoth trilogy. It's good to see Mr. Baxter getting greater exposure. He always seems to have been a little underrated/under-the-radar w.r.t. mainstream SFF fans until more recent times. I think he's a major talent.
 
I've not read the Manifold trilogy but from what I've seen in interviews and reviews I wouldn't be attempting Origins before reading the previous 2 novels.

Hopefully someone will post, who has read that series..... :)
 
The three books tell three alternate stories in alternate universe, using the same characters, and are all based around the Fermi Paradox. You really do need to read them in order to get the full benefit.
 
I really enjoyed his Mammoth trilogy - Silverhair, Longtusk and Icebones. I read one of the Manifold books but found it difficult to maintain my interest, mainly (I think) because I couldn't empathise with the characters).

I know I've read a Xeelee book but I can't remember which one. Reading through this thread has revived my curiosity about the Xeelee. I'll put the books on my To-Read list.
 
I've read a few Baxter books, but i didn't have any interest in the Mammoth Trilogy at all. I haven't picked anything of his up for a long time now, but i want to try and read Flood and Ark this year.
 
I have Timelike Infinity and Anti-Ice on the shelf from years ago ... I read them, I can't remember them much and neither inspired me to read more Baxter.

I recently read The H-Bomb Girl and quite enjoyed it ... so I'm wandering if I should take another go at Baxter - and if so what would be a good starting point?
 
Voyage is very good. It's an alt history of the Space Race, in which the Shuttle is never built and NASA goes to Mars in the 1980s.

The Time Ships, an authorised sequel to Wells' The Time Machine, is excellent.

Alternatively, you could try one of his collections - Vacuum Diagrams, Phase Space or Traces.
 
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