Life Beyond Us edited by Julie Nováková, Lucas K. Law and Susan Forest

(Laksa Media Groups, 2023)

Reviewed by Niall Harrison

Let's start with the verdict: Life Beyond Us is not a very good anthology.

I say this up-front because in concept and in some of the execution it is an attractive proposition. For one thing it is, thanks to a successful kickstarter campaign, a very big anthology—580 pages and, by my estimate, a decent chunk north of 200,000 words. For another, it is animated by a strong and evergreen theme—what it would mean to encounter non-human intelligence. It is also one of those occasional anthologies that pair science fiction stories with essays written by working scientists, in this case coordinated by the European Astrobiology Institute. These factors combined mean that there are certainly some notable and good things about Life Beyond Us and in it; but not enough, in my view, to justify the time spent with it.

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Review from BSFA Review 21 - Download your copy here.