Infinity's End, edited by Jonathan Strahan

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ All Good Things Must Come to an End; 4 RSR-recommended stories + 6 others out of 14

(SF) The final volume of the Infinity Project features stories that explore the question of what it means to operate on the scale of the whole solar system. (94,393 words; Time: 5h:14m)

Cloudsong, by Nick Wolven

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Diplomatic Thriller) Anander Flyte takes a years-long trip to the Kuiper Belt to sign a water treaty with the locals, only to discover they’ve had second thoughts because they’ve decided the ice is inhabited. (7,562 words; Time: 25m)

The Synchronist, by Fran Wilde

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(SF Adventure) She grew up on her dad’s starship, running clandestine missions with him, but he disappeared 20 years ago, and she’s always felt betrayed. Now he’s back, not a day older, and she has to decide what to do. (7,057 words; Time: 23m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 (Q&A)

Kindred, by Peter Watts

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Haunting

(Post-Human Horror) In which a man from our time wakes somewhere in the far future and listens to an entity that controls the solar system yet wants something from him. (3,837 words; Time: 12m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

Talking to Ghosts at the Edge of the World, by Lavie Tidhar

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Adventure) Rania flies to a remote rural town on Titan to recover the brain implant from a man who has died. (2,382 words; Time: 07m)

Longing For Earth, by Linda Nagata

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(SF Adventure) Hitoshi has visited a thousand biome worlds in his long lifetime, and he plans to do something really special on this one. (4,987 words; Time: 16m)

A Portrait of Salai, by Hannu Rajaniemi

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Post-Human) A mass mind attempting an artwork involving comets accidentally attracts the attention of a powerful, destructive entity, and it needs to tell its best friend that they need to flee. (3,407 words; Time: 11m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)

Once on the Blue Moon, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ A Guilty Pleasure

(SF Adventure) Twelve-year-old Colette is scary smart and has an attitude to match. When hijackers take over the interplanetary cruise ship she and her parents are on, they don’t know what they’re getting into. (10,690 words; Time: 35m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

Last Small Step, by Stephen Baxter

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Hard SF) Around 2270, a small spaceship heads out beyond the Kuiper Belt to apprehend a man who’s going to violate the laws against contaminating unexplored worlds. (6,922 words; Time: 23m)

Swear Not by the Moon, by Seanan McGuire

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Planetary SF) In which we learn how a wealthy heiress developed a colony on Titan and what became of it in later years. (6,269 words; Time: 20m)

Death's Door, by Alastair Reynolds

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Utopia) Sakura has lived more thousands of years than he can count, and now he’s ready to make an end. His friends convince him to give them six months to change his mind. (8,645 words; Time: 28m)

Prophet of the Roads, by Naomi Kritzer

[Anthology]

★★★★★ Good Characters, Cool Setting, Nice Twist

(SF Thriller) The Engineer is an AI that used to rule humanity. Luca carries a working piece of it, and looks for ways to bring the Engineer back (4,721 words; Time: 15m)

Nothing Ever Happens on Oberon, by Paul McAuley

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Thriller; The Quiet War) Bai is bored supervising a mining operation on Oberon, so when an ancient escape pod makes an emergency landing, she rushes to check it out—despite being told not to. (11,612 words; Time: 38m)

This one may be more interesting if you're already read some of the rest of the Quiet War series.

Intervention, by Kelly Robson

[Anthology]

★★★★★ Rich Interplay of Characters and Setting

(SF Adventure; Lucky Peach) Jules loves children and has been doing crèche work for fifty years. Her final crèche graduates soon, and she’s got a choice of places in the solar system she might go. (8,736 words; Time: 29m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 👍RSR+2 (Q&A)

This is set in the Lucky Peach universe, but with different characters in a different place and time, so there's no issue with reading this first, nor any need to read the other material to enjoy this story.

Foxy and Tiggs, by Justina Robson

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Mystery) A humanoid fox and a velociraptor are detective inspectors looking into a murder at a luxurious off-world resort. (7,566 words; Time: 25m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)