(Drivebycuriosity) - Alastair Reynolds is one of the brightest stars on the firmament of contemporary science fiction. The British author, who has a PhD in physics, started his career as research astronomer for the European Space Research and Technology Centre (part of the European Space Agency) until 2004 when he left to pursue writing full-time ( wikipedia). Since then he spezializes in hard science fiction and space operas. The short story collection "Belladonna Nights" shows works from the last decade or so (amazon ).
There are 15 complex tales spreading from near future earth to space operas in the far future. My favorite is the novella "Night Passage". The captain of a space ship on an intergalactic flight awakes from his deep temperature sleep long before the supposed arrival time. He learns that the ship had suddenly stopped and a chain of scary events follow (this is a spoiler free blog). The plot is full with twists and surprises like a space opera by Hitchcock.
There are more favorites.
"Different Seas": A women, alone on a high-tech sail ship without a crew, gets into severe distress caused by a fierce solar storm which disrupts electronic systems on our planet. How can she survive?
"Holdfast" : The only human survivor from an epic battle against aliens is stranded on an exotic planet. The survivor is facing the only alien who also outlived of this battle. The story is interesting psychological take on alien encounters and futuristic wars.
"Murmuration" A bird watcher uses modern surveillance technology and advanced drones while trying to get his study accepted by science journal.
Some stories are poetic & romantic others full of bizarre horror. The collection is highly recommended for all connoisseurs of science fiction.
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