The Best of Jim Baen’s Universe, 2006, edited by Eric Flint

Posted byDave Truesdale
Note: This post was imported from an old content-management system, so please excuse any inconsistencies in formatting.
Science Fiction Stories:
“Dog Soldier” by Garth Nix
Image“The Girl with the Killer Eyes” by B. B. Kristopher
“Bow Shock” by Gregory Benford
“Decaf and Spaceship, To Go” by Katherine Sanger
“All the Things You Are” by Mike Resnick
“A Time to Kill” by S. Andrew Swann
“Local Boy Makes Good” by Ray Tabler
“The Old Woman in the Young Woman” by Gene Wolfe
“Candy-Blossom” by Dave Freer
“What Would Sam Spade Do?” by Jo Walton
“Giving it Fourteen Percent” by A. S. Fox
“Every Hole is Outlined” by John Barnes
“Fishing” by Thea Hutcheson
“Bob’s Yeti Problem” by Lawrence Person
“Brieanna’s Constant” by Eric Witchey
“The Darkness” by David Drake

Fantasy Stories:
“The Cold Blacksmith” by Elizabeth Bear
“The Nature of Things” by Maya Kaathryn Bohnoff
“Sisters of Sarronnym; Sisters of Westwind” by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
“The Opposite of Pomegranates” by Marissa Lingen
“As Black as Hell” by John Lambshead
“Benny Comes Home” by Esther Friesner
“Femme Fatale” by Jason Wittman
“A Hire Power” by J. Simon

“Poga” by John Barnes

If the universe was fair Jim Baen would have edited this anthology, but Jim Baen died on June 28th of 2006, just a few short weeks following the debut of his groundbreaking online fiction magazine Jim Baen’s Universe.

Jim Baen’s Universe appears six times a year. Long-time friend of Jim Baen and the magazine’s editor, Eric Flint has done a fine job in assembling these 25 stories, all coming from the magazine’s first year. In both the science-fiction and fantasy sections the range and breadth of each category are shown to good effect, and admirably showcase what one can expect from the magazine, which has just entered its second year. What marks Jim Baen’s Universe as unique among online magazines is its business model, which stems directly from its rigorous opposition to what has come to be known as DRM (Digital Rights Management). The contentious issue of DRM is just that, contentious, and editor Flint explains in thorough detail in his essay at the back of the book (“The Legacy of Jim Baen”) what it is and why in direct opposition to DRM’s core philosophy the Baen model has been proved to work. Authors take note if you like money.

Many people who follow such things categorize Baen Books as “that military SF” publisher, and if that sort of SF is not their cup of tea, automatically dismiss the entire book line. True, Baen Books does publish (quite profitably) many SF books with military themes, but it also publishes other “center core” SF and Fantasy as well. This is reflected, in spades, in the short fiction published at Jim Baen’s Universe, as this collection proves.

The science-fiction section runs the gamut from the high-tech, future war sort of SF (Garth Nix’s “Dog Soldier,” Ray Tabler’s “Local Boy Makes Good,” and David Drake’s “The Darkness”), to the more or less straight SF story of several kinds, some quite touching and character-oriented, while others deal with astronomy, discovery, cloning, time travel, and other such traditional SFnal themes (“Bow Shock” by Gregory Benford is a favorite, “All the Things You Are” by Mike Resnick, “A Time to Kill” by S. Andrew Swann, “The Old Woman in the Young Woman” by Gene Wolfe, and the excellent “Every Hole is Outlined” by John Barnes), to the humorous or fun-whacky take on an odd idea (B. B. Kristopher’s superhero-ish “The Girl with the Killer Eyes,” Katherine Sanger’s whimsical “Decaf and Spaceship, To Go,” Dave Freer’s fun-pulpish homage “Candy Blossom,” where miscommunication between a human and alien both caught in the crossfire of a war leads to friendship via whiskey, “Giving It Fourteen Percent,” A. S. Fox’s ingenious remix of FTL/Quantum Theory and the origin of leprechaun’s of traditional myth, “Fishing” by Thea Hutcheson, which deals with our underwear becoming a fashion statement in another universe, Lawrence Person’s clever origin for Yeti’s and how a Hollywood screenwriter on vacation finds a way to capitalize on capturing them in “Bob’s Yeti Problem,” and “Brieanna’s Constraint” by Eric M. Witchey which humorously explores what just might happen to a scientist who experiments with probability, and ends in a tragic comedy of errors.)

As you can see, only three are what could be considered “military SF,” while the remainder range all over the SF map, with wit, the whacky idea, and humor (sometimes all at once) being represented well (an aspect of SF sadly lacking these days). All of the above science-fiction entries at bottom line do at least one thing: entertain. Some do a bit more, and even others more still. Among the highlights of the SF section are Greg Benford’s novelette “Bow Shock,” Mike Resnick’s “All the Things You Are,” Gene Wolfe’s “The Old Woman in the New Woman,” a thoughtful story involving cloning where we learn more of what is going on by what isn’t said, and through background than by what is presented in the front story; and this reader’s favorite,   “Every Hole is Outlined” by John Barnes, which concerns an interstellar trading ship, purchasing slaves to free them of their bondage, quite touching interpersonal relationships, and of all things, “ghosts” in space. It’s creatively imagined character-driven SF and touches quite effectively on our sense of time passing, loss, and love.

The nine fantasy stories also exhibit a wide range of types and styles. Medieval fantasy is represented with Elizabeth Bear’s “The Cold Blacksmith,” which is the warm fairy tale of a blacksmith asked to forge a beating heart from a broken one made of shattered glass.

A blend of high fantasy with a taste of sword & sorcery is found in L. E. Modesitt’s novelette “Sisters of Sarronnyn; Sisters of Westwind.” The mix of the above types of fantasy is skillfully wrought. We are given thoughtful characterizations, intrigue, and action, as one society is ruled kindly by women while those who wish to build a new society where men and women are more equal have left to build their new village from scratch. We learn lessons of love between sisters, of love and respect between a man and woman of high rank joined through pre-arranged marriage, and how sometimes we get love wrong and what it takes to make it right. This reads as if it might possibly be a novel excerpt, but also as a self-contained story in its own right, and a fine one at that.

We are given a pair of contemporary Elfland/changeling stories, both detailing the exploits and feelings of a half-Fey/half-human adolescent girl and her desire to experience the human world as part of her heritage. They are “The Opposite of Pomegranates” by Marissa K. Lingen, and “Poga” by John Barnes (the only author to have two stories here, and one SF and one Fantasy, at that). Both are charming, pay their proper homage to Dunsany’s seminal The King of Elfland’s Daughter, and are both delightful, with a special nod (again) to John Barnes’s “Poga.”

We are also treated to a trio of contemporary fantasy yarns, each of good quality. J. Simon’s short “A Hire Power” is a cute bit of whimsy about wizards and magic in the Office. Jason Wittman, in his “Femme Fatale” gives us an interesting character, one Molly Flammare, who is imbued with several sorts of magic, and is given to us as a Mother figure of sorts—a kindly, but no-nonsense  woman who works for the good of her immediate neighborhood and fights to keep evil influences outside of it, and who takes in from the street a young, homeless trumpet player and homeless war vet to work in her popular supper club. Mob-type magic meets Molly Flammare’s magic here. And then there is Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff’s clever “The Nature of Things,” which intertwines the story of a criminal lawyer on a murder case with how he eventually solves it with  help from house “Things.” “Things” being those never-seen creatures/ghosts that are forever misplacing things behind our backs for pure aggravation’s sake, with carefully worked out Protocols for why they move things from here to there (car keys, boxes, etc.). This is one of those fun-whacky idea stories that is actually well-thought out in detail to create its own fantastical Reality, and then fused to a murder mystery to make for one satisfying little tale. Well done.

Along with the medieval fantasy, the high fantasy, the fey/fairy stories, and the contemporary fantasies, where would we be without a couple of good old vampire stories?

“As Black as Hell” by John Lambshead is an excellent contemporary vampire story with a minimal, but crucial, bit of magic used to “tame” and enthrall a lovely young female vampire, who is then used by a special London “black-ops” outfit to track down and destroy other vampires. I found this creative, well-written, and thoroughly engrossing.

Esther Friesner’s “Benny Comes Home,” however, is the best damn story in the entire book, for my money. There’s no way to adequately convey the pleasure I received from this story; all I can do is sketch it a bit for you. It deals with a regularly scheduled Jewish family “clan” (the Cousins Club) gathering in 1958, where Jewish mothers rule, and one in particular, Bubbeh Gratz, who turns out to be a lesbian. But I get ahead of myself. The Benny of the title comes home from Europe ten years after the War…with a boyfriend…and introduces his new friend Kazimir to the whole family. Did I mention yet that the boyfriend is also a vampire and never leaves Benny’s side? Well, the Jewish mothers are going bugnuts, and only young Oscar (who reads comic books and SF magazines and who thinks one of his aunts looks like The Joker) knows the real truth that Benny’s friend is a vampire. What is the true connection between Benny and his vampire “friend”?  Is Kazimir a gay vampire, or just a vampire? Will the Jewish-mother Clan never cease their gossip and horror and accept Benny’s faigeleh lifestyle? How can they ever fix Benny up with a “nice Jewish girl” with him being a faigeleh and all, are just some of the questions Friesner poses for our amusement.  I’m not sure how the author managed to get so many things right in this story, but the intimate knowledge and language of the Jewish dialect and lifestyle is captured so dead on—and dead on, laugh out loud funny—that the story’s more serious questions of homophobia and sexual identity are flown beneath the radar so skillfully one hardly notices (and here we are referring particularly to the matriarch of all Jewish matriarch’s, Bubbeh Gratz and her hidden lesbianism). This story is a gem.

As if 25 science-fiction and fantasy stories comprising somewhere around 200,000 words wasn’t enough for the price of this book, there is also included a CD-Rom of the entire contents glued into the back of the book in a nice little sleeve. Consistent with Baen’s anti-DRM stance, it can be copied and shared, but not sold. It’s free, as is much of the content at the website, including a ton of novels. Again, it’s all free, to be downloaded into any device you may own, and in numerous formats. Can you beat that?

The Best of Jim Baen’s Universe is but a sampler from its first year, and a good one it is. For most print magazines even thinking about an eventual Best Of collection takes several years at a minimum. Most magazines never even attempt it, and those that have wait on average a good five or more years before contemplating such a move. But since Baen’s Universe publishes something like 200,000 words of fiction in each bi-monthly issue, and pays its writers far and away the highest rates in the field, it is no wonder it can easily put together a big thick book like this one after its first year. Quite a feat indeed, and testament that Jim Baen’s genius has yet again been proved.

I recommend this book to you as an example of the diversity, fine writing, and downright entertainment value to be found at Jim Baen’s Universe. If this is what we are given from an upstart online magazine (or any magazine of any kind), and given that it must have experienced the usual first year growing pains common to all magazines, then one can only imagine how good it will be in its second year, and those to follow once the word begins to spread. I urge you to go to the website and subscribe to the hottest online SF magazine the field has to offer. But if you are the skeptical type, then I suggest you purchase this book first, as the enticement, the sampler it is meant to be, and then head to the website and subscribe to the magazine.

Baen’s Universe is a unique experiment in online publishing and if you’re an SF or Fantasy lover, you’ll want to experience its rewards from the beginning. This book is a good place to start.

Publisher: Baen Books (July 2007)
Price: $16.50
Hardcover: 528 pages

ISBN: 1416521364