The Far Reaches is a collection of six short stories available for free for Amazon Prime subscribers. All of the stories take place in space. Colonization is a theme in half the stories. We get a wide variety of narrators including an AI, an alien, a human raised by aliens, and a clone. There’s a cozy science fiction story and an engaging murder mystery aboard a space ship. They’re all written by famous science fiction writers. I liked all of them, but my favorites are the stories by Rebecca Roanhorse, Veronica Roth, and James S. A. Corey.

The Long Game by Ann Leckie
Narr’s people only live about two years, have tentacles, and are shorter than the humans who colonized them. When they learn that humans live much longer than them, Narr has an existential crisis and seeks a way to extend their life expectancy. Narr may not live long enough to accomplish this goal, but decides to play the long game.

Just Out of Jupiter’s Reach by Nnedi Okorafor
Tornado Onwubiko has spent five years alone traveling to Jupiter. She’s not entirely alone since she’s traveling in a living ship that’s been bonded to her. After all this time, she finally gets to meet other people who have made the same journey and see how each of them modified their own living ships. A bit of drama and romance ensues when they meet, but it’s fairly low stakes.

Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi
An AI spaceship is sent into space with the goal of finding an earth-like planet and creating humans to inhabit it. Over millions of years, the AI explores, encountering other life forms such as an algae-like life floating in a gas giant and an artificial intelligence orbiting a now-dead planet. The AI doesn’t get bored or impatient, content to do nothing for as long as it takes.

Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse
“Sometimes you need an illusion to keep your mind from cracking open against the truth.”
Ira was taken away from Earth’s solar system as a child and raised by alien colonizers called the Genteel. He’s been given a fresh start on Long Reach Station to be a student. He’s on parole for reasons not stated until about the half-way point. The Genteel are similar to humans, but with ridges on the skull, slightly longer limbs, and skin texture and eye color just a little off. As a human raised by aliens, Ira struggles to discover where he belongs.

Void by Veronica Roth
“Joy is the thief of time, and time is the thief of joy.”
Ace is on the maintenance staff of the interstellar transport Redundancy. She’s basically a space janitor. When a passenger is murdered, she decides to figure out who did it. Time passes slower for her than those living on a planet. She’s just 35, but hundreds of years have passed for the rest of humanity, which gives her a unique perspective on life. The murder mystery is engaging and well done.

How It Unfolds by James S. A. Corey
Copies of Roy Court and other people (including his ex wife) are beamed to other planets to colonize them. He wants to get back together with her, but she doesn’t want to remarry him. Will other copies of him on other planets have a better chance? One copy of him is beamed to a particularly hostile planet and learns that out of thousands of copies, only three have survived on other planets, so the odds of success don’t look good. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since the original version of him lived. I liked the theme that something like a civilization or a relationship can be good while it lasts. Just because something ends doesn’t mean it failed.