alastair reynolds beyond the aquila rift read

18 short science fiction films, from 6 to 20 minutes long each, exploring the themes in the anthology title. If you walk in any of the same circles as I, you’ve likely heard about Netflix’s new animated anthology, Love Death + Robots. Today we’ll be taking up way too much space to look into the short film, Beyond the Aquila Rift, and compare it to the 2005 short story of the same name by Alastair Reynolds. What did they change that worked? What did they not change that they could have? What made it tick? Time to take a deep dive and find out. So when I found out that a short story I enjoy was turned into a short film, I checked it out… and found myself in the middle.

You’ve all heard it before: “The book was better!” countered by a smaller but no less vocal, “The book sucked, the film streamlined the story and made it so much better!” (Okay, a much smaller group there, but still.) Middle ground is hard to find, it seems. It's a remarkable collection.There’s a general narrative that goes around the internet when any adaptation, particularly book-to-film, drops. Even so, there are at least half a dozen absolutely superb stories here and only one or two that don't quite make the grade. It's a great collection - it's just almost too much for one book, and when you're expecting the chocolate box delights of a short story collection, getting a meaty banquet can be overwhelming. (There are a couple, but not many.) Real short stories may be limited in opportunity for character and world building, but they are miniature masterpieces when written well, and a lighter read than this collection proved to be.ĭon't get me wrong. I think I'd have preferred it had there been just a few of these pilot stories, and more snappy little true short stories. But it did get a trifle overwhelming as the reader works through the 784 pages of this massive collection. I don't think this is a bad thing at all - there is some scintillating fiction here. They're rather like the pilot episodes for TV shows. The stories are satisfying as they stand - but cry out to be expanded.

This book isn't like reading a collection of opening chapter samples (thank goodness). It's not that they don't work standalone. These chunky pieces feel as if they could so easily be continued to fill out a full novel. Usually a short story will be a compact, self-sustained morsel of reading - a tiny delight, often with a twist in the tail. The majority of these pieces are, in effect, the seeds of novels. This is certainly true for most short stories - but, strangely, this collection by Alastair Reynolds (almost all on the long side as short stories go) is the exception that proves the rule. In an article I read recently, the author opined that would-be novelists shouldn't consider writing short stories as training for the craft of novel-writing, as the discipline is totally different.

Alastair reynolds beyond the aquila rift read