I'm always up for an anthology, especially a science fiction one. This is a collection of sixteen short stories by Australian authors. While there were some I didn’t care for, on the whole this was a very enjoyable collection with a few stand-out favorites.

I didn't love all of the short stories, but for the most part I enjoyed most of them.

I would give most of the stories 3 stars, with a few a 4 star.

Definitely not for me. I'm not a huge sci fi fan, but I have found myself surprised by some sci fi in the past. I guess I just couldn't get into this and I was just reading it to read.

I've never tried reading a science fiction anthology before and I can say I enjoyed this but not as much as I typically enjoy science fiction novels. In this collection, there are 16 short sci-fi stories. I rated most stories in this collection 3-stars, which is why its overall rating was 3 stars, although there was a range of 2-4.5 stars across all the stories. Inside you will find time travel, aliens, ghosts, friendships and more! Overall, I think it is worth a read as there is something for everyone and it's a lot of fun to read something short and fast-paced.

Crossed Spaces is a collection of sixteen short stories by Australian authors, there are some great stories in there but some duds too, unfortunately, overall it's a really well-done job in such a short space of time.

This is a sci-fi anthology that includes 16 short sci-fi stories by Australian authors.

This was just ok, but I’m saying it was just ok there were multiple stories that I throughly enjoyed but others I didn’t like. I would say that there is a story for everyone in this book, we have so many different kinds of sci-fi stories in this, ranging from exploring other worlds- to our own world in years to come, time travel and ghost are just a few things to mention. Overall this book is just ok but is worth the read because of how many different stories you get.

I haven't been able to focus much on reading, physically and mentally. And as much as I appreciate this project/anthology and it's premise, every time I tried to sit down and read it, I quickly got confused and put it down again. I would like to pick it up again at some point. But I don't have any valuable feedback at this time.

I’m always up for an anthology, especially a science fiction one. This is a collection of sixteen short stories by Australian authors. While there were some I didn’t care for, on the whole this was a very enjoyable collection with a few stand-out favorites. Just a note that the only place you seem to be able to buy this is from the publisher’s website. I’ve linked it above using the Bookshop logo!

“Traitor” – Geraldine Borella – ★★★. An exploratory mission to determine the habitability of a planet leads one scientist to contemplate the meaning of “traitor.” Told from the POV of the scientist, the story is generally framed by the testimony of the mission’s captain during an inquiry.

“Endymion” – Johnathan E. Furneaux – ★★★★. The last sleeper colony ship is slowly closing in on its destination when it encounters something that may change everything.

“Arrogance Is Death” – Lynne Stringer – ★★★★. A destroyed world’s only hope is to time travel backwards to steal resources. But one young person asks why they’re not doing more.

“Ebenezer’s Cafe” – Catriona McKeown – ★★★. Interesting story about returning to an abandoned Earth, but a weird focus on intelligent design.

“Fetching the Flame” – Janeen Samuel – ★★★. Imagining what would happen if the only way to make fire was by bargaining with a fire lizard. They’ve forgotten how to make fire, which I thought was weird and unlikely.

“The Clockmaker and the Time Machine” – Jo Hart – ★★★★. A mysterious gentleman and his daughter bring a time-traveling device to a village repairman.

“Over and Out” – Adele Jones – ★★★. A hacker works with a team to defeat an AI overlord, but all is not as it seems.

“The Rocksway Flight” – Russell Hume – ★★★. A steampunk airship trade route goes awry when the pilot has to deal with a spoiled “helper.”

“The True Written Life of Ed Specolta” – Penny Jaye – ★★★★. A silly way to use up an extra school notebook ends with Ed’s best friend almost writing him out of her life.

“Romano’s” – Jack Garrety – ★★★★. Classic ghost story starring a violin shop and a young girl.

“The Seeking of Javan” – Rosanne Hawke – ★★★. The confession of a girl who left her insular community to explore the dystopian outside.

“Faulty Connection” – Jennifer Horn – ★★★. A well-written premise (everyone spends all day connected to their virtual worlds) but a bit over-moralizing.

“Light Club” – Jennie Del Mastro – ★★★. I have no idea what happened in this story, but it was an enjoyable confusion, at least.

“The Choice” – Anne Hamilton – ★★. More confusion, but lyrical confusion this time.

“Luminescent Love” – Stephanie Martin – ★★★. Cute story about a mechanic keeping a big secret from his girlfriend.

“Designer Ghost” – Emily Larkin – ★★★★. A very inventive story about animal “ghosts” that are assigned to teens based on their deficits.

Overall, I’d give the collection as a whole three stars, with my favorites being “Endymion,” “Romano’s,” and “Designer Ghost.” I feel like there was a good variety between futuristic and fantasy stories, and they certainly met their goal of taking my mind off the pandemic!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

3.5 stars

This is an anthology of short stories by Australian writers. A handsome clockmaker fixes a broken time machine. A young scientist betrays his people to protect an alien species. A boy finds his whole life changing when his best friend writes in a mysterious notebook. A crew aboard a settlement spaceship discovers that sleeping passengers have gone missing. These are some of the stories that are collected in this book. I think my favorite stories were Endymion by Jonathan E Furneaux, The True Written Life of Ed Specolta by Penny Jaye, and Faulty Connection by Jennifer Horn. An enjoyable book with good stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rhiza Press for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I love Lynne Stringer's idea for this COVID project., giving people the space and opportunity to hopefully escape the stress of the current state of the world and write stories. I was drawn to this because I love short story collections and space/sci-fi also appeals to me. I loved the variety of stories and some that really stood out to me were Endymion, Fetching the Flame, and The Clockmaker and the Time Machine. It's so fun to see the variety in topic that these authors came up with.