Finished! Here are my thoughts:
All anthologies inevitably vary in quality and even though I've rated this one five stars, there were a few stories I didn't like, but for some reason the theme of subterfuge really works well.
Certainly, the contributors interpreted the theme quite broadly, judging by the variety of the stories. Some barely qualifying to be called SF at all in my opinion, occasionally crossing over into fantasy and horror, though not lacking for quality. Tanith Lee's "Underfog (The Wreckers)" being a case in point. And Dave Hutchinson's "Multitude" found one of the most unusual ways to combine science and fantasy I have ever encountered. Others, on the other hand, were firmly planted on familiar SF ground (though not lacking in imaginative power), such as John Meaney's "Emptier than Void" and Neal Asher's "The Rhine's World Incident".
Among my favourite stories in here I should definitely mention Tony Ballantyne's "Underbrain", Juliet McKenna's "Noble Deceit" and Nik Ravenscroft's "Time, Like an Ever-Rolling Stream".
I would love to see Ian Whates revisit this theme, perhaps with a "Future Subterfuge" anthology? ~nudge, nudge~
