A very recent Baen Books’ anthology is Worlds Long Lost edited by Christopher Ruocchio and Sean CW Korsgaard.

This is the description:

ALL-NEW STORIES OF ANCIENT ALIEN ARTIFACTS FROM TOP NAMES IN SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

The universe is older and more alien than we can ever understand.

We were not alone. The farther we push into the universe, the more obvious it becomes. The signs are everywhere: canals and pyramids on Mars, old roads on the moons of Jupiter, ruined cities on worlds about the nearer stars. The galaxy once teemed with life—or so it seems. Which begs the question: what happened to it all?

These stories explore the ruins of lost civilizations, solve ancient mysteries . . . and awaken horrors from beyond the dawn of time.

Featuring stories by Orson Scott Card, Griffin Barber, Adam Oyebanji, Jessica Maguire, and Patrick Chiles, and an all-new entry in the Sun Eater universe from editor Christopher Ruocchio. Join us for your next adventure to Worlds Long Lost!

The Bob Eggleton cover is atmospheric. Trade paperback format, 305 pages. $16.00 retail.

Contents:

INTRODUCTION
THE WRONG SHAPE TO FLY by Adam Oyebanji
MOTHER OF MONSTERS by Christopher Ruocchio
RISE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR by M.A. Rothman and D.J. Butler
MERE PASSERS BY by Les Johnson
NEVER ENDING,EVER-GROWING by Erica Ciko
THEY ONLY DIG AT NIGHT by Sean Patrick Hazlett
HOWLERS IN THE VOID by Brian Trent
THE BUILDING WILL CONTINUE by Gray Rinehart
re: something strange by Jessica Cain
THE SLEEPERS OF TARTARUS by David J. West
DARK ETERNITY by Jonathan Edelstein
ROCKING THE CRADLE by Patrick Chiles
GIVING UP ON THE PIANO by Orson Scott Card
RETROSPECTIVE by Griffin Barber
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

This anthology is a throw back to the big idea stories of science fiction. I can think of stories like Lester del Rey’s “The Years Draw Nigh” or Clark Ashton Smith’s very scary “The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis.”

Finding ruins of an alien civilization would be potentially mind shattering in the implications. Adam Oyebanji’s “The Wrong Shape to Fly” reminded me of Arthur C. Clarke’s “History Lesson.” Les Johson’s “Mere Passers” is absolutely cosmic in scope. David J. West’s “The Sleepers of Tartarus” was originally meant for a sword-and-planet anthology. He did a little revamping and the result is this swashbuckling tale.

It is interesting to see ideas of H. P. Lovecraft seep into some stories in this anthology. Lovecraft was hated by Campbellian era science fiction. Even in the 1930s, there was a divide between science fiction and weird enthusiasts. Robert E. Howard said in a letter to August Derleth in 1933:

“Readers of this type of fiction seem to demand the same plots over and over again, and to resent the slightest variation. I may be wrong, but this is the conclusion I have reached from reading the published letters of pseudo-scientific fans. All readers of the wood-pulps are more or less inclined that way (or should I say most, instead of all) but the p.s.f seem unusually conventional. A queer paradox.”

Science fiction may benefit with inclusion of some Lovecraftian cosmicism. Baen Books has been publishing a steady stream of themed anthologies of interest.