“The books we pass to our children and friends are the books that will form the literature of the future.”
~Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Those familiar with my science fictional reading habits know that I alternate between reading works of contemporary and classic fiction, with a fair mix between volumes of short and long fiction. I have read some fantastic contemporary works over the last few years–The Martian, Wool, Love Minus Eighty, Ready Player One, several Liaden Universe novels (and so much more)–and engaging science fiction short story anthologies and collections, including many wonderful stories by the editor of this very collection, Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

As Rusch states in the quote that opened this review, the works of literature that have gone before (those that are actually read, that is) inform the stories that are later written by readers who become writers. Scratch the surface of the quote and you can accurately infer that the books we read as children inform the kind of readers we become as we grow older.

That was certainly the case with me. Much of the science fiction I read as a child may have barely been considered “contemporary” back then, but it was written by authors whose work stretched back well into the past. The result of falling in love with science fiction literature from that period is that classics have a special appeal.

Being a fan of Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s work, I had high expectations of this collection when it came out a few months ago. Those expectations were met and exceeded.

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