I wasn't as impressed as I was supposed to be. I think I read a recommendation for this on someone's blog and figured it was time to be up-to-date in my short story reading. But this can't really be the good stuff, could it? I can't say I read a single story that really knocked my socks off. There was one about a hermaphrodite bigfoot that captured my attention and then lost my respect when the ending imploded. To top it off, I wasn't that impressed with the binding. This one gets two stars for trying, but I'm sure there are better collections out there. ( )

4.5 stars


A generally excellent collection of SF stories from 2007, running the gamut of speculative fiction, but with a distinct slant toward the left-field and downright weird. 'Toother' by [a:Terry Dowling|22993|Terry Dowling|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1378054615p2/22993.jpg] is a weird psychic murder mystery - brilliant, but let down by a rushed denouement, I thought - while [a:Jeffrey Ford|19305|Jeffrey Ford|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1271689548p2/19305.jpg]'s 'The Drowned Life' and [a:Andy Duncan|331704|Andy Duncan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s 'Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse' are pretty much unclassifiable.


'The Transformation of Tag' from [a:Paul Brandon|484364|Paul Brandon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] & [a:Jack Dann|142717|Jack Dann|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1223870077p2/142717.jpg] was funny, and reminiscent of the [a:Alan Moore|3961|Alan Moore|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1304944713p2/3961.jpg] Futureshock 'The Wages of Sin', while [a:Ellen Klages|24901|Ellen Klages|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1227067359p2/24901.jpg] 'Mrs Zeno's Paradox' was perfect, clever little vignette.


The other stand-outs were 'The Lustration' by [a:Bruce Sterling|34429|Bruce Sterling|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1379306689p2/34429.jpg], which uses a planet-girdling computer of a peculiar sort to discuss what exactly is intelligence, and 'Quartermaster Returns' from [a:Ysabeau S. Wilce|133908|Ysabeau S. Wilce|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1319486647p2/133908.jpg], a weirdly brilliant and hilarious fantasy western. ( )

A very mixed bag - many poor/dull, a few quite good, but overall disappointing.

Contents:
Andy Duncan - Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse - dull
Garth Nix - Bad luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex - tried too hard to be quirky
Peter S Beagel - The Last and Only, or Mr Moscowitz Becomes French - dull
Maureen f. McHugh - The Lost Boy: A Reporter At Large - dull
Jeffrey Ford - The Drowned Life - OK
Terry Dowling - Toother - unpleasant
Eileen Gunn - Up The Fire Road - quite good
Gwyneth Jones - In the Forest of the Queen - good
Ysabeau S. Wilce - The Quartermaster Returns - good
Kathleen Ann Goonan - Electric Rains - ok
Margo Lanagan - She-Creatures - good
Paul Brandon and Jack Dann - The Transformation of Targ - poor
Ellen Klages - Mrs Zeno's Paradox - excellent
Bruce Sterling - The Lustration - ok
Lucius Shepard - Larissa Miusov ok ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2014/02/review-of-eclipse-one-ed-by-jonathan.ht... ( )

"New Science Fiction and Fantasy Eclipse One" was a disappointing anthology of 15 original stories, and as it turned out, primarily darkish fantasy, freakish, creepy, mostly forgettable. Science Fiction? hmmm, a dribble. I wanted to read this collection because there were a couple authors in here that I really like, such as Lucius Shepard, mixed with a large number of authors whose work I find rarely, such as Terry Dowling or was unfamiliar with. The idea of a new anthology series sounded great.

Something that I found missing, and which I think was especially needed for an anthology like this, was an introduction to each story by the editor. There is an "about the authors" section at the end of the collection, but there is nothing in here to tell me why each individual story was chosen. Why did Strahan think each was special? What piqued his interest? What idea grabbed him? Not all anthologies include this, but I think the best do, and it was sorely needed here.

There is by intention no overarching theme to this collection of stories, for better or worse. In the introduction by Strahan he explains why he wanted to start a new anthology series, but as I read through these stories he utterly failed to convince me he was the person for the job. I ended up quite disappointed with this, but other readers might not be. A couple of the stories I really didn't like such as the entries by Jeffrey Ford, Bruce Sterling and Garth Nix. In fact, I disliked the Nix piece so much I didn't even finish it. Halfway was more than enough. The Eileen Gunn piece was very strange. Several good stories balance the really bad, and most are just in the "so-so" area. I found Peter Beagle's well written funny/sad piece offbeat and rather good. Terry Dowling's "Toother" was pretty good, maybe my favorite in here, but it was a horror story. "Electric Rains" by Kathleen Ann Goonan I also thought was one of the better ones. I liked Lucius Shepard's "Larissa Miusov", the last of the stories, although I thought it too short. Not among Shepard's best work but worth the quick read. I doubt I would put a single story from this in any "Best of the Year" type collection. OK, perhaps that is a little too harsh. I think it is safe to say that Strahan's taste in new fiction does not match mine. I have another in this series waiting to be read (Eclipse 3). I really hope it is better than this collection, which I would recommend avoiding. This is a "miss" for me.

The stories are:

Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse by Andy Duncan
Bad Luck, Trouble, Death, and Vampire Sex by Garth Nix
The Last and Only or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French by Peter S. Beagle
The Lost Boy: A Reporter At Large by Maureen F. McHugh
The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford
Toother by Terry Dowling
Up the Fire Road by Eileen Gunn
In the Forest of the Queen by Gwyneth Jones
Quartermaster Returns by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Electric Rains by Kathleen Ann Goonan
She-Creatures by Margo Lanagan
The Transformation of Targ by Jack Dann and Paul Brandon
Mrs. Zeno's Paradox by Ellen Klages
The Lustration by Bruce Sterling
Larissa Miusov by Lucius Shepard ( )