The Final Frontier

Stories of Exploring Space, Colonizing the Universe, and First Contact

By: Neil Clarke - editor

Narrated by: Tim Campbell, James Anderson Foster, Mary Robinette Kowal, Karen Cass, James Langton

Length: 28 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

The vast and mysterious universe is explored in this reprint anthology from award-winning editor and anthologist Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld magazine, The Best Science Fiction of the Year).

The urge to explore and discover is a natural and universal one, and the edge of the unknown is expanded with each passing year as scientific advancements inch us closer and closer to the outer reaches of our solar system and the galaxies beyond them.

Generations of writers have explored these new frontiers and the endless possibilities they present in great detail. With galaxy-spanning adventures of discovery and adventure, from generations ships to warp drives, exploring new worlds to first contacts, science fiction writers have given readers increasingly new and alien ways to look out into our broad and sprawling universe.

The Final Frontier delivers stories from across this literary spectrum, a reminder that the universe is far large and brimming with possibilities than we could ever imagine, as hard as we may try.

©2018 Neil Clarke (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Some hits and some misses but read it for one.

There are some big misses in here, but who cares, it has "Gypsy" by Carter Scholz, the best sci-fi novella ever written. Buy it for that.

Nothing New Here!

I was looking forward to new material by an attractive selection of some of my favorite SF authors. To my huge disappointment, I have already read--or heard--more than 75% of the contents. As the numbered chapter headings don't include story titles, it's almost impossible to skip around while seeking new stories. And despite the heroic energies of the narrators, the thematic thread was surprisingly dismal and dystopian for a collection about the challenges of outer space and new worlds!

I have listened before to podcasts of material selected by the same editor (Clarkesworld), and while the diversity of content is greater, their narrator mispronounces too many words--ranging from Pleistocene to recombinant--and tends to sink into vocal fry instead of her natural range reading longer stories.

So I had high hopes for this collection: fresh readers and new stories! Alas, I will be asking for the return of my credit.

Thumbs up

Top quality. Get this if you are a proper sf fan. You won't be disappointed.

two-thirds excellent

Only the last two stories were known to me from other audible anthologies. Both are fantastic. Unfortunately about a third of the other stories are confused, lacking in conclusion or reason. These are not prosaic abstractions written in an aesthetic sense rather than a narrative. They are just poor narrative with unsympathetic or vague characters and unresolved or unexplored conflict. It also struck me how many characters embraced or embodied a non-traditional sexuality. It makes little enough difference - unless, course, it is of a narrative imperative - but it caused me to double check the selection criteria. I suppose the topic is very 'in' right now. It should mean nothing to a seasoned reader of speculative fiction...or anyone else for that matter.
Recommended to those that have exhausted the supply of sci-fi anthologies on Audible and want their purchase or credit to offer a reasonable length. i.e. over fifteen or so hours.