Baxter Stephen 04

Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron

Phase Space by Stephen Baxter
Short stories set in similar universes to those explored in the Manifold Trilogy - Time, Space and Origin.

Phase Space is a collection of short stories by award-winning 'hard science fiction' author Stephen Baxter. There are 25 of them together with a prologue and an after-word. The book cover says that the stories are thematically linked to Baxter's recent Manifold Trilogy of novels. These short stories "encompass the myriad possibilities that might govern our relationship with the universe, are we truly alone, or will we eventually meet other life forms? Perhaps intelligent species decide to turn their back on the stars, or maybe expansionist species are destined to fail. Another possibility is that the Universe as we know it is in fact an elaborate illusion designed to protect us from the fearful reality."
The Phase Space of a system is defined as "the set of all conceivable states of that system." It would be unreasonable to attempt to write about every conceivable state, but quite a number of different themes are tackled here. Travel to the Moon, in alternate histories. The possibilities for life at the ends of the Universe - from the Big Bang to the final extinction. And a number of answers to Baxter's seemingly favourite question (from the Manifold Trilogy anyway) "Where are the Aliens?". Answers are varied, and include - we are in quarantine; we are not looking in the right place; we will destroy ourselves just like everyone else.
As is usual with a Stephen Baxter book, it is well written and stuffed full of ideas. I suspect that ultimately we will find out that the real universe is a lot more boring than the ones described in Phase Space. I particularly enjoyed his homage to Dante's Divine Comedy. If you enjoy reading hard SF, then you cannot go far wrong with this collection. There is no need to have read the Manifold Trilogy of Time, Space and Origin to enjoy this book, but I suspect that you will want to do so once you have completed Phase Space. Publisher: Voyager - Harper Collins

Publisher: Voyager (Harper Collins)
Date: 2002
Pages: 426 pp
Price: £17.99
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 0-00-225769-6
Reviewed by: Rod Cameron
Date Reviewed: November 2002