This is one of the best short story collections I've read so far! I really love sci-fi that makes you contemplate humanity, and a lot of these stories really did that well. I initially picked this up in order to read the short story 'The Great Silence' and I actually reread that one multiple times since it's short (and fantastic!). Generally the stories are on the longer side (The Lifecycle of Software Objects in particular is almost novella length itself). I personally didn't mind this because those longer stories just allowed for a more dynamic story that really built into something beautiful. If you're newer to sci-fi I think you'll still enjoy this because nothing was too dense. A very thoughtful collection of stories.