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smittenforfiction's review
3.0
Some Of The Best From Tor.com is a collection of 25 stories, each with a beautifully illustrated cover, published in 2016. I stumbled upon this free KOBO ebook while searching for a book by Caighlan Smith, who has a short story in this anthology. Keep scrolling to see my rating for each story (P.S. quite a few were a 5 star read for me!)
“Clover” By Charlie Jane Anders 🌟🌟
“The Art of Space Travel” By Nina Allan 🌟🌟🌟
“The Destroyer” By Tara Isabella Burton 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Traumphysik” By Monica Byrne 🌟
“The High Lonesome Frontier” By Rebecca Campbell 🌟🌟
“Lullaby for a Lost World” By Aliette De Bodard 🌟🌟
“A Dead DJinn in Cairo” By P. DJeli Clark 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Breaking Water” By Indrapramit Das 🌟🌟🌟
“Autobiography Of A Traitor And A Half-Savage” By Alix E. Harrow 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The City Born Great” By N.K. Jemisin 🌟🌟
“Everything That Isn’t Winter” By Margaret Killjoy 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Weight Of Memories” By Cixin Liu 🌟
“The Maiden Thief” By Melissa Marr 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Caretakers” By David Nickle 🌟
“Your Orisons May Be Recorded” By Laurie Penny 🌟🌟🌟
“Meat + Drink” By Daniel Polansky 🌟
“The Three Lives Of Sonata James” By Lettie Prell 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Great Detective” By Delia Sherman 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Finnegan’s Field” By Angela Slatter 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Weather” By Caighlan Smith 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Terminal” By Lavie Tidhar 🌟🌟🌟
“Her Scales Shine Like Music” By Rajnar Vajra 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“La Beauté Sans Vertu” By Genevieve Valentine 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“That Game We Played During The War” By Carrie Vaughn 🌟🌟🌟
“A Fist Of Permutations In Lightning and Wildflowers” By Alyssa Wong 🌟🌟
“Clover” By Charlie Jane Anders 🌟🌟
“The Art of Space Travel” By Nina Allan 🌟🌟🌟
“The Destroyer” By Tara Isabella Burton 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Traumphysik” By Monica Byrne 🌟
“The High Lonesome Frontier” By Rebecca Campbell 🌟🌟
“Lullaby for a Lost World” By Aliette De Bodard 🌟🌟
“A Dead DJinn in Cairo” By P. DJeli Clark 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Breaking Water” By Indrapramit Das 🌟🌟🌟
“Autobiography Of A Traitor And A Half-Savage” By Alix E. Harrow 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The City Born Great” By N.K. Jemisin 🌟🌟
“Everything That Isn’t Winter” By Margaret Killjoy 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Weight Of Memories” By Cixin Liu 🌟
“The Maiden Thief” By Melissa Marr 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Caretakers” By David Nickle 🌟
“Your Orisons May Be Recorded” By Laurie Penny 🌟🌟🌟
“Meat + Drink” By Daniel Polansky 🌟
“The Three Lives Of Sonata James” By Lettie Prell 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Great Detective” By Delia Sherman 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Finnegan’s Field” By Angela Slatter 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“The Weather” By Caighlan Smith 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Terminal” By Lavie Tidhar 🌟🌟🌟
“Her Scales Shine Like Music” By Rajnar Vajra 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“La Beauté Sans Vertu” By Genevieve Valentine 🌟🌟🌟🌟
“That Game We Played During The War” By Carrie Vaughn 🌟🌟🌟
“A Fist Of Permutations In Lightning and Wildflowers” By Alyssa Wong 🌟🌟
dangerousnerd's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.5
erichart's review
5.0
Four Hugo nominees, and a few others that wouldn't be out of place on the ballot. Not a single weak story. Excellent from beginning to end.
aljavi's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Wonderful stories
kwugirl's review
3.0
Probably averaging more like a 2.5, given that there were some stories I just really wasn't into at all and a fair number that felt unresolved. Still, a handful of interesting ones. I just expected more from any kind of "best of" collection.
lraven13's review
4.0
I'm not even sure
I could recommend it enough. Between the true diversity of the authors and the magic they bring to the stories, this is the best free ebook I've ever gotten. If you don't love at least half this book, I'd be shocked.
I could recommend it enough. Between the true diversity of the authors and the magic they bring to the stories, this is the best free ebook I've ever gotten. If you don't love at least half this book, I'd be shocked.
pezski's review
5.0
For me, Ellen Datlow is one of the finest anthologists around, so it should be no surprise that this is a superb collection of fiction. If there is any surprise at all, it is perhaps that she could only pick from short fiction published by tor.com the previous year, but I think that the quality of the volume says a great deal about the quality of the work on Tor.
There's not a single story on here that i would consider poor - the vast majority I scored 4- or 5- stars and, for those I didn't, it was more that they were simply not my type of thing. For instance, there were a couple that I thought more vignettes for sketches, not fleshed out enough to be trues stories, but I know that is something of a personal taste issue.
The real joy of this collection, though, is that it has introduced me to so many authors I may otherwise never have come across but are now no-questions-asked purchases. I can't wait to get to the other tor.com "some of the best" volumes.
I've reviewed the tales individually as I've gone along, so will just give the ratings here.
Clover by Charlie Jane Anders - 5/5
The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allen - 4/5
The Destroyer by Tara Isabella Burton 4/5
Traumphysik by Monica Byrne 2/5
The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell - 4/5
Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard 3/5
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 5/5
Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das 5/5
Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half Savage by Alix E. Harrow 5/5
The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin 5/5
Everything that isn't winter by Margaret Killjoy 4/5/
The Weight of Memories by Cixin Liu 3/5
The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr 4/5
The Caretakers by David Nickle 3/5
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny 4/5
meat+drink by Daniel Polansky 3/5
The Three Lines of Sonata James by Lettie Prell 4/5
The Great Detective by Delia Sherman 3/5
Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter 4/5
The Weather by Caughlan Smith 3/5
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar 5/5
Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra 5/5
La beaute sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine 5/5
That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn 5/5
A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong 5/5
There's not a single story on here that i would consider poor - the vast majority I scored 4- or 5- stars and, for those I didn't, it was more that they were simply not my type of thing. For instance, there were a couple that I thought more vignettes for sketches, not fleshed out enough to be trues stories, but I know that is something of a personal taste issue.
The real joy of this collection, though, is that it has introduced me to so many authors I may otherwise never have come across but are now no-questions-asked purchases. I can't wait to get to the other tor.com "some of the best" volumes.
I've reviewed the tales individually as I've gone along, so will just give the ratings here.
Clover by Charlie Jane Anders - 5/5
The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allen - 4/5
The Destroyer by Tara Isabella Burton 4/5
Traumphysik by Monica Byrne 2/5
The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell - 4/5
Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard 3/5
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 5/5
Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das 5/5
Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half Savage by Alix E. Harrow 5/5
The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin 5/5
Everything that isn't winter by Margaret Killjoy 4/5/
The Weight of Memories by Cixin Liu 3/5
The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr 4/5
The Caretakers by David Nickle 3/5
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny 4/5
meat+drink by Daniel Polansky 3/5
The Three Lines of Sonata James by Lettie Prell 4/5
The Great Detective by Delia Sherman 3/5
Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter 4/5
The Weather by Caughlan Smith 3/5
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar 5/5
Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra 5/5
La beaute sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine 5/5
That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn 5/5
A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong 5/5
dr_matthew_lloyd's review
4.0
Reviewing any kind of collection of short stories by a variety of authors is tough, but it is made even more so when the only connecting theme is publisher and year. Tor.com is usually a solid publisher, but they publish plenty of stuff that's not within my interests. That being said, the majority of this volume is great, although it may be that the final two stories are particularly good, so I am left off on a high note.
Other standout stories for me include Charlie Jane Anders' "Clover" (although I have recently read the excellent All The Birds In The Sky and thus was anticipating that one), Nina Allan's "The Art of Space Travel", and "Finnegan's Field" by Angela Slater. Its the sort of volume where you might prefer just dipping into stories you think you'll like, although you might miss greats you wouldn't expect.
Other standout stories for me include Charlie Jane Anders' "Clover" (although I have recently read the excellent All The Birds In The Sky and thus was anticipating that one), Nina Allan's "The Art of Space Travel", and "Finnegan's Field" by Angela Slater. Its the sort of volume where you might prefer just dipping into stories you think you'll like, although you might miss greats you wouldn't expect.
bsparks2112's review
3.0
This was a pretty good collection of Tor.com's short fiction - this is the third one of their annual collections I've downloaded (for free, no less, so that's already one thing going for it), and I'd say that I enjoyed this one overall more than the 2015 collection, thought maybe not quite as much as 2014's. Just like last year's, the format of the collection (assorted short stories/novelettes in wildly varying genres organized roughly alphabetically by author) has advantages and drawbacks: the variety is nice, since you never quite know what's coming next, which lends itself to pleasant surprises; the drawback being that some of the shifts in genre and tone are utterly jarring, and the quality does fluctuate between stories and writers. Some of the stories are really great, though; my favorites were “The City Born Great” by N. K. Jemisin; “The Art of Space Travel” by Nina Allan; “Finnegan’s Field” by Angela Slatter; “A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers” by Alyssa Wong; and “Everything That Isn’t Winter” by Margaret Killjoy. These are offset by several others that seemed to end before they had a chance to go anywhere; some others went on far too long for their own good. Still, not a bad assortment overall.
larisa2021's review
5.0
Tor doesn't mess around when they release "best of" annual collections. Always amazing works that often function as gateways to new favorite authors, series, and worlds.