Rating: 
Summary: Solid collection of speculative fiction
Review: This is a good, solid collection of speculative fiction. It's not the ground-breaking force that Sarrantonio predicts it will be in his introduction, but it's a nice collection nonetheless.
Sarrantonio compares _Redshift_ to Ellison's 'Dangerous Visions' series, saying that many of the stories in _Redshift_ are too 'dangerous' or controversial to be published in traditional sources. In my opinion, the only controversial story in the anthology is Sarrantonio's own 'Billy the Fetus', which I assume wouldn't be published in traditional outlets because it's too disgusting. The remainder of the stories are far more mainstream.My favorite stories in this anthology are 'In the Un-Black' by Stephen Baxter and 'Cleopatra Brimstone' by Elizabeth Hand. Hand's story is a novella about a student studying entomology who discovers she has supernatural powers while integrating the London goth scene. The student, who was a victim of a rape earlier in the story, takes her revenge on men by somehow turning them into butterflies. It's a haunting story that stays in mind long after it's over. Baxter's contribution to the volume is set in his familiar Xeelee universe. This story concerns a race of drones who work the entirety of their short lives in slavery to a master race in the hopes that they can win passage out of their imprisonment. The story centers around two drones who flaunt their master's rules and fall in love. Less hard science than most of Baxter's pieces, which is why I enjoyed it so much. Other good stories come from Dan Simmons, Harry Turtledove, P.D. Cacek, Kit Reed, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, David Morrell, and Rudy Rucker & John Shirley. There were only two stories in the collection that didn't work for me, those by Gene Wolfe and Neal Barrett, Jr. (particularly disappointing since both authors are among my personal favorites). On the whole this was an enjoyable anthology. Nearly 550 pages of fiction from the biggest names in SF. This is a SF-lovers dream come true. It's a fat collection with good stories from favorite authors. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: none
Review: What Ellison's "Dangerous Visions" and Moorcock's "New Worlds" did for the 60s and 70s, Sarrantonio pushes the limits of SF even further for the 21st century. REDSHIFT is a superb collection of the most brilliant imaginations in SF today... Gary S, Potter Author/Poet
Rating: 
Summary: No "Redshift" here
Review: While I am a big fan of several of the authors included in this anthology, this book was a disappointment. "Redshift: Extreme Visions of Speculative Fiction"? I'm afraid not. This is not hard sci-fi, or even good fiction. With stories like "what if Marilyn Monroe and James Dean dated, and nothing out-of-the-ordinary happened?" or "A girl who turns people into bugs", the tales in this anthology consistently fail to satisfy. All in all, I have to say that Sarrantonio did a very poor job of selecting stories, and then gave the book a title that sets completely inappropriate expectations.
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