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cattytrona's review against another edition
3.0
Some really fun stories in this. My favourites were, in some particular order, The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir, Immersion, Fandom for Robots, The Sun from Both Sides, The Green, Xingzhou, The Cryptid, and If At First…. Most of the rest are fun and interesting, and there’s a lot of variation to keep you on your toes.
I do have a couple of hesitations about the collection itself though. Firstly, what the SF in the title refers to. I picked up the book assuming it stood for scifi, and that’s the implication of the introduction too, but the actual stories frequently aren’t — rather, I think they’d be classed as speculative fiction. Which is a very legit genre in itself, but it’s not (exclusively) scifi. It seems mad to me to depend on an ambiguous abbreviation in your title, first up, but then to not actually define it is an issue. My preference, or at least the thing I’m in the mood for rn, is scifi, and so there was inevitably going to be some undeserved coolness on some of these stories.
My second issue is the editor’s notes. I found the introduction frustrating — Tidhar, the editor, escorts you through his personal history/grievances with SF (whatever that is) publishing, and makes little attempt to actually introduce the writers in this collection, the process of putting it together, or any of the things which would be interesting to hear about with such a deliberately diverse and eclectic collection. His tone really irked me, but I thought it was fine, that I wouldn’t have to hear from him again. I was wrong. Tidhar introduces every story too, in basically the exact same way every time: his opinions on the author, how many times he’s met them, where he first encountered their story, which of his other collections he’s published them in. If he knows the author well, they get a chunky introduction. If he doesn’t, he’ll be like ‘I want to meet this author, this story blew me away, bye’. And it’s like, okay, I’m about to read it so I’ve literally never been so primed to make an opinion on this story: I don’t need yours.
I think that introductions, both to collections and individual stories can be such powerful tools in short story collections. How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin and The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula Le Guin (both, interestingly, also working in the speculative space) have really great ones, that properly transformed my thoughts on what this kind of information can do. And whilst those introductions are personal, they are also from the author, giving a sense of the craft and context behind each story, as well as how it ties into their own larger bibliography. For a book of WORLD fiction, where the explicit point is to highlight perspectives previously overlooked because of the focus on white, anglophone voices (also, the lack of works in translation really surprised me — there’s a few, but the majority are originally written in English so it’s still reinforcing that as lingua franca, if not like, lingua prime, to an extent) in the scifi sphere, meaning the use of cultural traditions I’ve literally never got a chance to read before, it seems wild to not use these various introductory options to provide contextual information. Each story has the country its author is from stated at the very beginning, so the collection clearly sees that as important, yet makes no attempts to provide that info, instead wasting space with glib and self-congratulatory anecdote or empty comment. Why someone couldn’t have done a little research — or even better, allowed the authors to introduce their own works — is beyond me. I know I’ve wasted a lot of words on this especially relative to the stories, but it really put me off. It made starting each story a chore, and made the whole collection feel worse. The stories are good, I recommend giving the collection a look, and if you skim the extra bits then you’re not missing out, you’re probably getting the better experience.
I do have a couple of hesitations about the collection itself though. Firstly, what the SF in the title refers to. I picked up the book assuming it stood for scifi, and that’s the implication of the introduction too, but the actual stories frequently aren’t — rather, I think they’d be classed as speculative fiction. Which is a very legit genre in itself, but it’s not (exclusively) scifi. It seems mad to me to depend on an ambiguous abbreviation in your title, first up, but then to not actually define it is an issue. My preference, or at least the thing I’m in the mood for rn, is scifi, and so there was inevitably going to be some undeserved coolness on some of these stories.
My second issue is the editor’s notes. I found the introduction frustrating — Tidhar, the editor, escorts you through his personal history/grievances with SF (whatever that is) publishing, and makes little attempt to actually introduce the writers in this collection, the process of putting it together, or any of the things which would be interesting to hear about with such a deliberately diverse and eclectic collection. His tone really irked me, but I thought it was fine, that I wouldn’t have to hear from him again. I was wrong. Tidhar introduces every story too, in basically the exact same way every time: his opinions on the author, how many times he’s met them, where he first encountered their story, which of his other collections he’s published them in. If he knows the author well, they get a chunky introduction. If he doesn’t, he’ll be like ‘I want to meet this author, this story blew me away, bye’. And it’s like, okay, I’m about to read it so I’ve literally never been so primed to make an opinion on this story: I don’t need yours.
I think that introductions, both to collections and individual stories can be such powerful tools in short story collections. How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin and The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula Le Guin (both, interestingly, also working in the speculative space) have really great ones, that properly transformed my thoughts on what this kind of information can do. And whilst those introductions are personal, they are also from the author, giving a sense of the craft and context behind each story, as well as how it ties into their own larger bibliography. For a book of WORLD fiction, where the explicit point is to highlight perspectives previously overlooked because of the focus on white, anglophone voices (also, the lack of works in translation really surprised me — there’s a few, but the majority are originally written in English so it’s still reinforcing that as lingua franca, if not like, lingua prime, to an extent) in the scifi sphere, meaning the use of cultural traditions I’ve literally never got a chance to read before, it seems wild to not use these various introductory options to provide contextual information. Each story has the country its author is from stated at the very beginning, so the collection clearly sees that as important, yet makes no attempts to provide that info, instead wasting space with glib and self-congratulatory anecdote or empty comment. Why someone couldn’t have done a little research — or even better, allowed the authors to introduce their own works — is beyond me. I know I’ve wasted a lot of words on this especially relative to the stories, but it really put me off. It made starting each story a chore, and made the whole collection feel worse. The stories are good, I recommend giving the collection a look, and if you skim the extra bits then you’re not missing out, you’re probably getting the better experience.
valhecka's review against another edition
5.0
Every single one is a gem - cli-fi, horror-adjacent, multiverse travel, alien visitation, post-cyberpunk, space opera, AI humor. READ THIS.
megstracredit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
zoes_human's review against another edition
5.0
One of the finest anthologies I've ever had the pleasure of reading, speculative fiction or otherwise. The worst stories in it were still unusually good and the best were absolutely magnificent. Of special pleasure was the Silvia Moreno-Garcia novella. I couldn't agree with editor Lavie Tidhar more, I wish she wrote more sci-fi.
buta_comes_home's review against another edition
4.0
It’s always a leap of faith picking up an anthology, no less so when it is science fiction. I got an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I tested the waters so you don’t have to take a risk, if you like. The Best of World SF is not a risk. Some of the stories are utterly fantastic, some missed their mark for me personally but were still interesting conceptually whether in style or direction. This is what good sci-fi is. The Best of World SF is not a lie. This particular anthology was bookended by two authors familiar to me and the stretched around the world to scoop up perspectives on sci-fi I could never have imagined. That’s where this anthology sings: juxtaposing styles and ideas. No two stories are the same. Some are even hopeful about the future (SF does not equal dystopia)! If you even tentatively like science fiction, inside you will find new favourites I promise.
radicalespresso's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
arkron's review against another edition
4.0
Lavie Tidhar put together 26 speculative short fictions, mostly from SF subgenre. None of the stories is from a U.S. or UK author, so you'll get some non-traditional story telling with exotic settings and cultural influences.
Tidhar is well established in the international league of authors. He's been editor of similar anthologies before, mostly as Apex Book of World SF between 2009 and 2015.
This new anthology is really excellent, featuring two five star stories "Immersion" be Aliette de Bodard, and "His Master's Voice" by Hanny Rajaniemi. There's only one bummer story written by Manickavel, contrasted by a whole series of excellent four star stories. I've been looking forward reading many of the featured authors - de Bodard and Rajaniemi, but also Han Song, Tade Thompson, Vandana Singh, Lauren Beukes, Karin Tidbeck, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and lastly Zen Cho (who will be published in just a couple of days with her novel Black Water Sister).
You'll find diversity not only in the author's genders (14 women, 12 men) and origins (21 countries, France, China, Singapore, Botswana, Nigeria, India, Japan, Italy, Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad, Spain, Mexico, Finland, Israel, Iceland, Russia, Ghana, South Africa, Sweden and Malaysia), but also in subgenres. There are robots, spaceships, time-travel, post-singularity, Space Opera, and Cyberpunk. But also a few Fantasy, Magical Realism, or weird stories.
As a German, I'm missing an author from my home country, or from one of the other German speaking countries (that's a huge market, btw). Maybe next time?
Most of the stories are reprints and available elsewhere. As usual, I've added links to those resources within the respective story's reviews.
Be aware, that I've read through the whole anthology, but sadly didn't provide a review for every story. Yes, I've been in a reviewing slump.
Nonetheless, I can fully recommend this wonderful anthology for SF readers who'd like to discover authors outside of well-trodden paths. Don't shy away from the non-SF stories, some of them are really good!
Contents (as of isfdb):
Tidhar is well established in the international league of authors. He's been editor of similar anthologies before, mostly as Apex Book of World SF between 2009 and 2015.
This new anthology is really excellent, featuring two five star stories "Immersion" be Aliette de Bodard, and "His Master's Voice" by Hanny Rajaniemi. There's only one bummer story written by Manickavel, contrasted by a whole series of excellent four star stories. I've been looking forward reading many of the featured authors - de Bodard and Rajaniemi, but also Han Song, Tade Thompson, Vandana Singh, Lauren Beukes, Karin Tidbeck, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and lastly Zen Cho (who will be published in just a couple of days with her novel Black Water Sister).
You'll find diversity not only in the author's genders (14 women, 12 men) and origins (21 countries, France, China, Singapore, Botswana, Nigeria, India, Japan, Italy, Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad, Spain, Mexico, Finland, Israel, Iceland, Russia, Ghana, South Africa, Sweden and Malaysia), but also in subgenres. There are robots, spaceships, time-travel, post-singularity, Space Opera, and Cyberpunk. But also a few Fantasy, Magical Realism, or weird stories.
As a German, I'm missing an author from my home country, or from one of the other German speaking countries (that's a huge market, btw). Maybe next time?
Most of the stories are reprints and available elsewhere. As usual, I've added links to those resources within the respective story's reviews.
Be aware, that I've read through the whole anthology, but sadly didn't provide a review for every story. Yes, I've been in a reviewing slump.
Nonetheless, I can fully recommend this wonderful anthology for SF readers who'd like to discover authors outside of well-trodden paths. Don't shy away from the non-SF stories, some of them are really good!
Contents (as of isfdb):
- 1 • ★★★★★ • France • Immersion • 2012 • SF Xuya short story by Aliette de Bodard • review
- 21 • ★★★☆☆ • China • Debtless • 2020 • Space Opera novelette by Chen Qiufan • review
- 81 • ★★★☆☆ • Singapore • Fandom for Robots • 2017 • SF short story by Vina Jie-Min Prasad • review
- 97 • ★★+☆☆☆ • Botswana • Virtual Snapshots • 2016 • short story by Tlotlo Tsamaase • review
- 107 • Nigeria • What the Dead Man Said • 2019 • short story by Chinelo Onwualu
- 125 • ★★★★☆ • India • Delhi • 2004 • Time travel short story by Vandana Singh • review
- 149 • ★★★☆☆ • China • The Wheel of Samsara • 2009 • SF short story by Han Song • review
- 159 • ★★★★☆ • Singapore • Xingzhou • 2019 • short story by Ng Yi-Sheng
- 179 • Japan • Prayer • short story by Taiyo Fujii
- 187 • Italy • The Green Ship • 2018 • short story by Francesco Verso
- 201 • ★★★★☆ • Cuba • Eyes of the Crocodile • 2020 • Post-singularity short story by Malena Salazar Maciá • review
- 211 • ★★+☆☆☆ • United Kingdom • Bootblack • 2017 • Time travel short story by Tade Thompson • review
- 223 • ★★★☆☆ • Brazil • The Emptiness in the Heart of All Things • 2018 • Magical reality novelette by Fábio Fernandes • review
- 251 • ★★★+☆☆ • Trinidad and Tobago • The Sun from Both Sides • 2019 • Space Opera novelette by R. S. A. Garcia • review
- 309 • ★★★+☆☆ • Spain • DUMP • 2018 • Cyberpunk short story by Cristina Jurado • review
- 331 • ★★☆☆☆ • Mexico • Rue Chair • 2002 • Cyberpunk short story by Gerardo Horacio Porcayo
- 339 • ★★★★★ • Finland • His Master’s Voice • 2008 • Posthuman SF short story by Hannu Rajaniemi • review
- 357 • ★★☆☆☆ • Israel • Benjamin Schneider's Little Greys • 2009 • Weird short story by Nir Yaniv • Benjamin comes every week to the hospital with strange little alien body estrangements
- 365 • ★★★★☆ • Iceland • The Cryptid • 2021 • Fantasy novelette by Emil Hjörvar Petersen • review
- 389 • ★★★☆☆ • Russia • The Bank of Burkina Faso • 2012 • Weird short story by Ekaterina Sedia • review
- 403 • ★+☆☆☆☆ • India • An Incomplete Guide to Understanding the Rose Petal Infestation Associated with EverTyphoid Patients in the Tropicool IcyLand Urban Indian Slum • 2016 • short story by Kuzhali Manickavel • rather pointless - no story, no character
- 413 • ★★★+☆☆ • Ghana • The Old Man with the Third Hand • 2017 • Weird fiction short story by Kofi Nyameye • review
- 427 • ★★★★☆ • South Africa • The Green • 2012 • Planetary Romance short story by Lauren Beukes • review
- 445 • ★★★★☆ • Sweden • The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir • 2019 • Space Opera short story by Karin Tidbeck
- 467 • ★★★+☆☆ • Mexico • Prime Meridian • 2017 • novella by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- 553 • ★★★★☆ • Malaysia • If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again • 2018 • Magical realism novelette by Zen Cho • review
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
I requested this ARC as Lavie Tidhar is one of my favorite writer and this book features other favorites like Aliette De Bodard, Zen Cho and Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I loved the stories in this book and the term "Best" is correct in describing the works of these authors.
All the stories are fascinating, well written and thought provoking.
I discovered some new to me authors and, even if I already read some of the stories before, I re-read some great stories by my fav authors.
I wish I could read novels by all these authors, especially those new to me.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I loved the stories in this book and the term "Best" is correct in describing the works of these authors.
All the stories are fascinating, well written and thought provoking.
I discovered some new to me authors and, even if I already read some of the stories before, I re-read some great stories by my fav authors.
I wish I could read novels by all these authors, especially those new to me.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
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