The Griffin or the Agate

I've said it before and I stand by my opinion that anthologies, at best, are a mixed lot. In years of reading I've yet to encounter a collection that was filled with nothing but winners. When considering multi-author anthologies there always seems to be a few standout pieces, a larger chunk of decent tales, and one or two stories that make me scratch my head and ask, "How the hell did this get in here?"
     Starlight 3 doesn't veer from the path. There are a few outstanding works in here, most notably the clever yet fatally flawed "Hell is the Absence of God," by Ted Chiang. It features a very clever idea, strong writing, and tangible tension, but Chiang lets it slip away at the end with a trite, illogical conclusion. It's a shame because it goes from a vastly entertaining, thought-provoking page-turner to something that left me shaking my head with a bad taste in my mouth. Other standouts include the sweet and sad "Gestella," by Susan Palwick, and the unusual "Interview: On Any Given Day," by Maureen F. McHugh. Greg van Eekhout and Brenda W. Clough also fair well with their mythos-scented works. Cory Doctorow punches out a cute little story with "Power Punctuation!"
     The rest of the 16 offerings range for fair to middling to unreadable. Most suffer from the inability to sufficiently engage the reader, while a few seem to be attempting to coast by on reputation alone. Terry Bisson's "The Old Rugged Cross" isn't half as clever as it seems to think it is, and other stories peter out as the plots don't sustain them. I'm not quite sure what Alex Irvine was trying to do with his story "The Sea Wind Offers Little Relief": I can only say that I gave up trying to get through it after three attempts.
     The Starlight series has garnered a number of awards and can be used to see some of the best and brightest voices in Sci-fi and fantasy today. Hayden has to be commended for bringing such a successful series together, but, at the same time, must be taken to task for some of the shoddier stories that made it in. I recommend Starlight 3 on the strength of Chiang's piece - imperfect, maybe, but it's going to win a slew of awards and should be forgiven for it's ending.   §

Purchase this title through:
   Amazon.com