The launch day of To Shape the Dark is approaching fast, and the trumpet fanfares have started!

First there’s the enthusiastic review of the anthology at Analog by Don Sakers. Excerpts:

“Most of all, these stories make the reader think. They challenge us to question some cherished conventions of the field (the lone scientist removed from the world, the Frankenstein and Prometheus narratives, pessimism about science and its products). They turn familiar situations on their heads (resurrected dinosaurs, philosophical cetaceans, alien invasion, parallel worlds).”

“There’s not a bad story in this bunch.” (Hugo and Nebula nominators, please take note!)

“If you like well-told, intelligent science fiction that respects the search for knowledge, you can’t afford to miss this one.”

Next there is Heather Massey’s thoughtful interview of Athena Andreadis at the latest SFR Quarterly. Excerpts:

“(Too) many argue that science and scientists are hard to portray excitingly in SF but both aficionados and detractors of “hard” SF confuse accuracy with verisimilitude. What matters is the larger context—the lucid dreaming and where it takes the reader’s mind. So I didn’t specify scientific accuracy for the stories; I specified respect for the scientific method and for the questing, aware mind. Scientists are as fallible as any human, but they have the great privilege and responsibility of shaping the dark.”

“Scientists are humanity’s astrogators: they never go into the suspended animation cocoons but stay at the starship observation posts, watching the great galaxy wheels slowly turn while they chart destinations and attend to the hydroponics.  To Shape the Dark is part of that vigil.”

Last but decidedly not least, there’s the GoodReads giveaway of five print copies of the antho. It runs from today to May 5 and the requests are climbing briskly. Enter for a chance to get your copy of To Shape the Dark!  As a reminder, you can read the opening paragraph of each story here.