By the Warmth of their Calculus, by Tobias S. Buckell

[Anthology]

★★★★★ Clever, Exciting, Satisfying

(Lost Colony Adventure) A lost colony survives in the rings of a giant planet which protect it from killer alien robots, but some brave souls must venture into harm’s way to get needed resources. (7,586 words; Time: 25m)

The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex, by Tobias S. Buckell

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Fun setting, entertaining plot

(SF Adventure) Tavi fears he’ll lose his cabbie license when an alien tourist jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge from his cab. (4,031 words; Time: 13m)

N-Coin, by Tobias S. Buckell

[Apex]

Not Rated No Speculative Element

(Mainstream Thriller) A young Wall Street investment banker tells how he lost a billion dollars in a Bitcoin for black people. (3,238 words; Time: 10m)

Apocalypse Considered Through a Helix of Semiprecious Foods and Recipes, by Tobias S. Buckell

[F&SF]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Post-Apocalypse Vignettes) Four vignettes explore post-apocalypse (or at least dystopic) settings in terms of their efforts to find foods. (4,805 words; Time: 16m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

The title is a reference to the Hugo-and-Nebula-Award-winning short story “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones,” by Samuel R. Delany, but there’s no connection between that story and this one other than the title.

A World to Die For, by Tobias S. Buckell

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(Multiverse) Chenra is a gunner for a Mad Max-like cluster of fighters in a world devastated by climate change. She’s surprised when strangers come looking for her. Strangers driving equipment that looks like it was made recently—not decades ago. (9,729 words; Time: 32m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Good Setup for a Longer Story

Shoggoths in Traffic , by Tobias S. Buckell

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(Lovecraftian Horror) The narrator and his friend are racing towards Florida running away from the drug dealer they repossessed it from. But something worse is waiting in front of them. (3,862 words; Time: 12m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance, by Tobias S. Buckell

[Anthology]

★★★★★ Captivating and Thought-Provoking

(Space Opera) After its side won the space battle, an indentured robot with an uploaded intelligence finds an important refugee who makes a dangerous offer it can’t refuse. (6,289 words; Time: 20m)

Recommended By: GDozois+2 RHorton+1 NClarke+2 JStrahan+2

The Mighty Slinger, by Karen Lord and Tobias S. Buckell

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Recommended

(Far-Future SF) Developers are planning to resurface the entire Earth to create properties for people from Mars and Venus. But can an old singer and his band rally the solar system against it? (9,647 words; Time: 32m)

Recommended By: 📙NClarke+2 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)

Read an interview with the author about this story.

Rules Of Enchantment, by David Klecha and Tobias S. Buckell

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(Military Fantasy) A squad of US Marines escorts an Elven princess through enemy territory controlled by goblins and trolls. (5,700 words; Time: 19m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆, Average

Pale Blue Memories, by Tobias S. Buckell

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

Astronauts from an alternate Earth where WWII was a stalemate crash on Venus and are enslaved. (11,600 words; Time: 38m)

Recommended By: BASFF+1