An interesting if ultimately rather disappointing collection. While there are a few excellent stories (I wholeheartedly recommend the selections by Johanna Sinisalo, Lucian Merişca, Sergei Lukayenko and Andreas Eschenbach) much of what is featured here is tired and lackluster and some of it is much closer in feel and form to literary fantasy than science fiction as currently understood in virtually any nation (José Antonio Cotrina's 'Between the Lines, a Borgesian tale, is a clear example of this-a decent and entertaining story but in no way science fiction). Both the opening and closing entries (by Jean-Claude Dunyach and Bernhard Ribbeck, respectively) are rather weak and the introduction and introductory paragraphs before each story are just plain awful. I bought this in hardcover when it was first released-given the opportunity to go back, I wouldn't do so again.