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marlan's review
4.0
Another "clear off my dusty bookshelf" book.
Anthologies are a mixed bag, and I usually only find a handful of great stories. Collections by a single author have a better ROI. But this truly felt like "the year's best." A solid 50% of the stories I loved, and there were quite a few more that I really liked. The ones I didn't enjoy were mostly attributable to taste - despite what I wish, cyberpunk is never going to be my thing.
I do have a quibble with some of the tales barely qualifying as SF. I mean, yes, historical fiction about science can technically be called "science fiction," but probably should be set aside in favor of something more true to the genre.
It's also surprisingly not dated, despite being published over 20 years ago. The one exception, The Last Homosexual, posits a world where social diseases are treated as biological diseases. Remember when politicians used the term "social diseases"? What's that? You weren't born yet? Ah well.
Top Five:
The Dead by Michael Swanwick
The Flowers of Aulit Prison by Nancy Kress
A Dry, Quiet War by Tony Daniel
The Cost to be Wise by Maureen F McHugh
Chrysalis by Robert Reed
I'll definitely check out more books in this anthology series. The editor has a great eye for quality material.
Anthologies are a mixed bag, and I usually only find a handful of great stories. Collections by a single author have a better ROI. But this truly felt like "the year's best." A solid 50% of the stories I loved, and there were quite a few more that I really liked. The ones I didn't enjoy were mostly attributable to taste - despite what I wish, cyberpunk is never going to be my thing.
I do have a quibble with some of the tales barely qualifying as SF. I mean, yes, historical fiction about science can technically be called "science fiction," but probably should be set aside in favor of something more true to the genre.
It's also surprisingly not dated, despite being published over 20 years ago. The one exception, The Last Homosexual, posits a world where social diseases are treated as biological diseases. Remember when politicians used the term "social diseases"? What's that? You weren't born yet? Ah well.
Top Five:
The Dead by Michael Swanwick
The Flowers of Aulit Prison by Nancy Kress
A Dry, Quiet War by Tony Daniel
The Cost to be Wise by Maureen F McHugh
Chrysalis by Robert Reed
I'll definitely check out more books in this anthology series. The editor has a great eye for quality material.
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