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jmercury's review against another edition
5.0
While the first few stories lag in interest and quality, most of this anthology is of excellent writing and thoughtfulness. The stories are written by a diverse group of authors, and to my pleasure the protagonists stretch across the range of human experience: women, women of color, men of color, and sexual minorities narrate and star alongside the straight white male staples of science fiction. This attention to diverse viewpoints offers an enriching and engaging spread of fiction for the modern reader.
Highlights of the anthology:
Useless Things, by Maureen F. McHugh
Butterfly Bomb, by Dominic Green
Infinities, by Vandana Singh
The Island, by Peter Watts
Lion Walk, by Mary Rosenblum
Three Leaves of Aloe, by Rand B. Lee
It Takes Two, by Nicola Griffith
Solace, by James Van Pelt
Hair, by Adam Roberts
Highlights of the anthology:
Useless Things, by Maureen F. McHugh
Butterfly Bomb, by Dominic Green
Infinities, by Vandana Singh
The Island, by Peter Watts
Lion Walk, by Mary Rosenblum
Three Leaves of Aloe, by Rand B. Lee
It Takes Two, by Nicola Griffith
Solace, by James Van Pelt
Hair, by Adam Roberts
kimu's review against another edition
5.0
Gardner Dozois' YBSF compilations are some of the best short story collections out there. I'm a huge fan of short fiction and of sci fi short fiction in particular and have been a long-time reader of this series. However, the past several years, I've fallen behind on reading YBSF collections because they're so giant and I can't easily cart them around with me. Hooray for e-books! I read through this from cover to cover and, although not every story was to my personal taste, I really enjoyed it. I'm very glad to get back to reading YBSF. Dozois always had a fine touch as editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine and, although he retired from Asimov's several years ago, his fantastic skills at story selection and compilation are well displayed by this collection.
eabourland's review against another edition
5.0
Some very good stories in here; among my favorites is Maureen McHugh's "Useless Things" -- an understated and somewhat grim story about things we do to get by. She's a good writer.
The solecisms strewn through the book are distracting. "Fair" for "fare"; multiple misuses of the possessive nominative pronoun -- it's for its. These stories deserve more respect, especially from an editor who, as the book jacket boasts, has received a Hugo Award for Best Editor "fifteen times".
On the other hand, editor Gardner Dozois has written a lovely summation of the condition of fantasy and SF publishing as of 2009 -- the year these stories were gathered. He's a good writer and a good editor. I think he needs to pay a little more attention to close editing of copy -- this is my only, small criticism.
There are fewer readers, it seems, every year. Writers must read if they are to write well. If you want to write stories, you should seek stories you love, and read them, and then read more and more. Readers should read because they find joy in doing so. Back when I was a kid, this joy in reading felt natural. I wonder what has happened to the love of reading good stories?
I look forward to reading more of the books in this series. I have a lot of gratitude for Mr. Dozois for reading these stories, selecting them, and presenting them in these books.
The solecisms strewn through the book are distracting. "Fair" for "fare"; multiple misuses of the possessive nominative pronoun -- it's for its. These stories deserve more respect, especially from an editor who, as the book jacket boasts, has received a Hugo Award for Best Editor "fifteen times".
On the other hand, editor Gardner Dozois has written a lovely summation of the condition of fantasy and SF publishing as of 2009 -- the year these stories were gathered. He's a good writer and a good editor. I think he needs to pay a little more attention to close editing of copy -- this is my only, small criticism.
There are fewer readers, it seems, every year. Writers must read if they are to write well. If you want to write stories, you should seek stories you love, and read them, and then read more and more. Readers should read because they find joy in doing so. Back when I was a kid, this joy in reading felt natural. I wonder what has happened to the love of reading good stories?
I look forward to reading more of the books in this series. I have a lot of gratitude for Mr. Dozois for reading these stories, selecting them, and presenting them in these books.
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