Chris reviewed Obelisk by Stephen Baxter
None
4 stars
Stephen Baxter has been an innovative stalwart of the British SF scene since back in the day when he was publishing in small press magazines under the name SM Baxter. He has collaborated with Terry Pratchett and Arthur C Clarke, and written a sequel to HG Wells' "The Time Machine." As well as his hard-SF output - represented in this volume by stories set on a colonized Mars - he is also fascinated by evolution (here you will find a story, for example, that imagines the accelerated evolution of the rat. He's done this before, looked at what will survive mass extinction and how those survivors will diverge into future species) and by alternate history. Some of the most compelling stories in this volume for me were the alternate histories, where European or British development has been held back whether by religion or short-sightedness, and the world has developed very …
Stephen Baxter has been an innovative stalwart of the British SF scene since back in the day when he was publishing in small press magazines under the name SM Baxter. He has collaborated with Terry Pratchett and Arthur C Clarke, and written a sequel to HG Wells' "The Time Machine." As well as his hard-SF output - represented in this volume by stories set on a colonized Mars - he is also fascinated by evolution (here you will find a story, for example, that imagines the accelerated evolution of the rat. He's done this before, looked at what will survive mass extinction and how those survivors will diverge into future species) and by alternate history. Some of the most compelling stories in this volume for me were the alternate histories, where European or British development has been held back whether by religion or short-sightedness, and the world has developed very differently, whether it is one where the native civilisations of South America confront Europe, or one where the UK stuck with road transport leaving the European mainland to go ahead with the development of railways. Religion often comes in for a good thrashing, or at least the religious establishment which can only ever be conservative in its effects. In some stories, Rome doesn't fall, and there is the opportunity for some parallel-world fun at the expense of present day popular heroes.
Several options for the end of the world: without necessarily sounding pessimistic several of the stories provide world-ending scenarios, usually with an elegiac sense of loss, this is the way the world ends, now and in England.
