The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson

KSR is one of the acknowledged masters of contemporary science fiction. His Mars trilogy stands like a monument to ambition and understanding. That said, the short story is not his natural format. These stories feel cramped, hemmed in and ended before they reach their conclusion. Repetitions in themes and more annoyingly pacing become apparent: mountains, climate change, baseball, dreams, science, history-each story punctuated by a leaden last line. There are a few standouts, the award winning “Black Air”, and goofy and enjoyable “Arthur Sternback Brings the Curveball to Mars”, the paired ruinpunk stories of “Venice Drowned” and “Glacier”, and the eerie dream-horror of “Before I Wake”, but on the whole, the volume is puffed out with filler that sadly illuminates the limits of KSR’s talents rather than his strengths.