In this vision of the future from six of the biggest names in science fiction and fantasy, the Web is the Internet of the future - a vast network of virtual reality sites that have become the playground for the children of the world and the site of humankind's first contact.Like The Web 2027, this second omnibus comprises six short novels of 2020s cyberspace. Again there's a linking theme besides the virtual-reality Web itself: now aliens are among us, not Greys from flying saucers but digital extraterrestrial beings hiding in the Web. Stephen Baxter's Webcrash hints at their presence before becoming a rip-roaring, retro-tech yarn of how a Viking community might attack the spacegoing villain who's escaped from a futuristic simulation and threatens them from orbit. Ken MacLeod's politically savvy Cydonia is a heady brew of conspiracy theories--in his virtual Dealey Plaza you can count 27 gunmen taking aim at JFK--leading to the cold, bracing shock of reality. Computopia by James Lovegrove explores illegal, sadistic thrills on a dubious alternative "Net", and foregrounds a helpful alien deus ex machina. Aliens seem more sinister in Maggie Furey's Spindrift, featuring the Shadowzone where deleted Web objects go, and the legacy of the immortality-seeking Sorceress, villain of The Web 2027. After exciting reversals, there's a neat, funny tagline. Pat Cadigan's powerful Avatar unflinchingly explores the pain and wry gallows humour of one permanently paralysed boy's interaction with a friend, an alien and the Web. Finally, with colourful settings and an Australian Aboriginal heroine, Eric Brown's Walkabout wraps up the alien problem and places the Web in perspective. Enjoyable stories, not just for younger readers. --David Langford

Genre: Science Fiction