An Infinite Summer

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The interpretation of "a purpose" isn't fully clear to me. If Priest meant that there is one overall purpose to the order of these stories, I haven't discovered that. But if he meant the ordering was done in a purposeful manner, I do think he succeeded in creating a "new work" indeed, and there is a rhythm and interconnectedness to these stories that works well, so that they reinforce each other, and climax at the end.

Love, time travel, nerve agents and war are superficial similarities to some or even all of these stories, but the connections run much deeper: they deal with observing others and oneself, memories & images of each other, and how people change over time - because of observations & because of context. It must also be stressed these stories are human first, all else secondary: the war is just a setting, the sparse science fictional ideas mainly just a backdrop too.

I liked each and every story - not that I'd give every story 4 or 5 stars - but as a whole An Infinite Summer indeed is more than the sum of its parts.

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