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60 reviews for:
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019
John Joseph Adams, Carmen Maria Machado
4.01 AVERAGE
60 reviews for:
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019
John Joseph Adams, Carmen Maria Machado
4.01 AVERAGE
Another wonderful BASF&F. The stories collected here are wide-ranging; I didn't love every one of them, but the joy of a collection like this is that it lets you sample a wide swath of stories you might otherwise have missed out on. My favorite was THROUGH THE FLASH, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, which I would do a disservice by trying to summarize, but I can't remember the last time a short story affected me so much.
A wonderful collection of a diverse range of voices and styles that really feels future-focused. I will forever love this book for introducing me to Nana Kwame Adjeh-Brenyah who absolutely writes fire.
Another stellar collection. There’s a story in here for everyone. Some of my favorites included:
-‘What Gentle Women Dare’
-‘On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog’
-‘Godmeat’
-‘Sister Rosetta Tharp and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good’
Looking forward to the stories in the 2020 collection!
-‘What Gentle Women Dare’
-‘On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog’
-‘Godmeat’
-‘Sister Rosetta Tharp and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good’
Looking forward to the stories in the 2020 collection!
Tough to come down on a particular star rating for this year's installment. On the one hand, this year more than most really felt like I was seeing the guest editor's preferences on the page -- even more than last year. I really liked that, because I feel like I know Carmen Machado's style even better now... but also, some of these stories, I very much didn't like and so there's that tough thing of admiring the style but not necessarily enjoying it? Don't get me wrong, there are some absolutely TREMENDOUS stories in here and I'm so smitten with the BASFF series for continuing to introduce me to amazing new authors (nearly 3/4 were new to BASFF and many of those were also new to me), but some years hit better than others and this one was just good.
I will admit that I did not read every story in its entirety. When it comes to anthologies, I view them like a buffet. At this buffet, I'm looking to sample a bunch of different things before deciding what I want more of. I certainly discovered some great new authors from this collection, but if I felt like a story's plot or writing style weren't working for me, I would move on.
That being said, these were some of the highlights from the collection:
The Storyteller's Replacement by N.K. Jemisin - I had read this before from her collection of stories, but it was well worth a revisit and a standout from the collection. She's not a new-to-me author, but this served as a gentle reminder that I need to read more from her backlist.
Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar - One of the longer stories in the collection. I am very intrigued to read more by this author, particularly her collection, Tender.
The Kite Maker by Brenda Peynado - She has a collection called The Rock Eaters coming out soon that I'm eager to read. This was a heartbreaking story that involved gentle praying mantis like creatures that try to co-habitate with humans on earth. But humans suck so it isn't easy for them to belong.
STET by Sarah Gailey - This is a short story that takes place in the footnotes and editorial notes of a paragraph about autonomous cars. It is so well-executed in terms of craft, easily my favorite story in the collection.
Dead Air by Nino Cipri - A horror story that takes place in the form of interview transcripts. You get to see a queer relationship evolve while slowly getting closer to a dark secret. I thought it was propulsive and cinematic, even given the format. Now I NEED to read Finna.
That being said, these were some of the highlights from the collection:
The Storyteller's Replacement by N.K. Jemisin - I had read this before from her collection of stories, but it was well worth a revisit and a standout from the collection. She's not a new-to-me author, but this served as a gentle reminder that I need to read more from her backlist.
Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar - One of the longer stories in the collection. I am very intrigued to read more by this author, particularly her collection, Tender.
The Kite Maker by Brenda Peynado - She has a collection called The Rock Eaters coming out soon that I'm eager to read. This was a heartbreaking story that involved gentle praying mantis like creatures that try to co-habitate with humans on earth. But humans suck so it isn't easy for them to belong.
STET by Sarah Gailey - This is a short story that takes place in the footnotes and editorial notes of a paragraph about autonomous cars. It is so well-executed in terms of craft, easily my favorite story in the collection.
Dead Air by Nino Cipri - A horror story that takes place in the form of interview transcripts. You get to see a queer relationship evolve while slowly getting closer to a dark secret. I thought it was propulsive and cinematic, even given the format. Now I NEED to read Finna.
As with any collection of essays or short stories, there will be some that you really enjoy and some that you don't like as much.
My favorites, in no particular order:
-Godmeat by Martin Cahill
-What Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson
-When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz
-On the Day you Spend Forever with your Dog by Adam Shannon
-Variations on a Theme from Turandot by Ada Hoffman
This review is more for my own recollection than an attempt to provide insight to other potential readers, for which I apologize. On the whole, this collection was wonderful and surprising, it made me gasp and cry and smile in vindication.
My favorites, in no particular order:
-Godmeat by Martin Cahill
-What Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson
-When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz
-On the Day you Spend Forever with your Dog by Adam Shannon
-Variations on a Theme from Turandot by Ada Hoffman
This review is more for my own recollection than an attempt to provide insight to other potential readers, for which I apologize. On the whole, this collection was wonderful and surprising, it made me gasp and cry and smile in vindication.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The best "Best X" anthology I've read in recent memory, with lots of stylistic variation and creativity.
My standouts are:
STET by Sarah Gailey, in which the footnotes and edit tracking in a seemingly dry document sneakily tell the story of the tragic "choice" made by an autonomous vehicle. (previously read)
Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women by Theodore McCombs, shows glimpses of the violence done to women by men, even when those women can't be killed. What does such a world do with a woman who has been sentenced to die for the crime of killing her child?
When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz, in which a CDC drone finds a new way to fulfill its mission when its government agency no longer exists. The world is one of slow apocalypse (Gibson's "Jackpot" of pandemic and overdrive capitalism and climate change and ... and ... and) but the tone is hopeful, as the Robot learns and forges new alliances.
What Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson, in which a sex worker scraping a living in Liverpool in 1763 encounters an entity that surveys her about the state of the world, and humanity, and a possible remedy. It reminded me of Tiptree ... and the author specifically cited the Screwfly Solution as one touchpoint.
My standouts are:
STET by Sarah Gailey, in which the footnotes and edit tracking in a seemingly dry document sneakily tell the story of the tragic "choice" made by an autonomous vehicle. (previously read)
Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women by Theodore McCombs, shows glimpses of the violence done to women by men, even when those women can't be killed. What does such a world do with a woman who has been sentenced to die for the crime of killing her child?
When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz, in which a CDC drone finds a new way to fulfill its mission when its government agency no longer exists. The world is one of slow apocalypse (Gibson's "Jackpot" of pandemic and overdrive capitalism and climate change and ... and ... and) but the tone is hopeful, as the Robot learns and forges new alliances.
What Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson, in which a sex worker scraping a living in Liverpool in 1763 encounters an entity that surveys her about the state of the world, and humanity, and a possible remedy. It reminded me of Tiptree ... and the author specifically cited the Screwfly Solution as one touchpoint.
Some of my favorite stories:
"Pitcher Plant" by Adam-Troy Castro
"Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women" by Theodore McCombs
"Variations on a Theme from Turandot" by Ada Hoffmann
"Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good" by LaShawn M. Wanak
"The Kite Maker" by Brenda Peynado
"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by P. Djèlí Clark
"Dead Air" by Nino Cipri
"Skinned" by Lesley Nneka Arimah
"Godmeat" by Martin Cahill
"On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog" by Adam R. Shannon
But really, there were only two stories out of twenty that I really bounced off of, which is much better than usual for an anthology.
"Pitcher Plant" by Adam-Troy Castro
"Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women" by Theodore McCombs
"Variations on a Theme from Turandot" by Ada Hoffmann
"Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good" by LaShawn M. Wanak
"The Kite Maker" by Brenda Peynado
"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by P. Djèlí Clark
"Dead Air" by Nino Cipri
"Skinned" by Lesley Nneka Arimah
"Godmeat" by Martin Cahill
"On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog" by Adam R. Shannon
But really, there were only two stories out of twenty that I really bounced off of, which is much better than usual for an anthology.