Traces

Unfortunately, many of the stories in this collection rely a little too heavily on world-building and not enough on those old staples, plot and characterisation. Baxter's early works, like those of Arthur C Clarke, to whom he is often compared, seem too often to rely on a half-nifty idea to make up for thinly drawn and unprepossessing characters. The comparison is expecially unkind in the case of the title story, an inadvertent variation on the theme of Clarke's famous short "The Star", but without the humanity that gave the older story its sting.

Many of the stories herein have only the suggestions of a plot, too, mostly being more concerned with delineating a mood than with telling a story; at best, there is a weak twist in the tail that rarely provokes more than mild amusement. Nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but in some cases -- notably "The Blood of Angels" -- the writing is simply not strong enough to sustain this reader's interest. Your mileage may vary. Nonetheless, a worthwhile read, if only as a curiosity, for enthusiasts of Baxter's long-form work.