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A review by alexandrapierce
The Best of World SF: Volume 1 by Lavie Tidhar
4.0
This book was sent to me by the publisher at no cost.
Lavie Tidhar has constructed a really great anthology here. As a good unthemed SF anthology, it's runs the gamut: outrageous far-future stories and terrifying near-future ones, stories that could almost be happening today and ones that require a complete wrench in how you think about the world. When I can't read an anthology straight through - when I have to pause between stories because they're so powerful, or strange, or just different - that's a pretty good sign.
Going over every story in the anthology would be boring, and not really useful. So let me just point to a few of my favourites:
Chen Qiufan's "Debtless" was DEEPLY weird and distressing and starts out as one thing then turns into something completely different. I thought I knew what was happening but I really didn't, even at the end. Remarkable worldbuilding (hats off to the translator, as always).
"Fandom for Robots", Vina Joe-Min Prasad: has always been a favourite and fits in well with Breq and Murderbot, and the Yoon Ha Lee's servitors. An AI writing fanfiction; why not.
Vandana Singh's "Delhi": one of those stories that could be happening right now, and you'd never know. Beautifully written.
Ekaterina Sedia, "The Bank of Burkina Faso": according to Tidhar's intro, other editors didn't know what to do with this story. I don't know how to react to that, because this story is fantastic and plays with email scams ("Hello dearest, help me get money from the bank...") in a weird and wonderful and heartfelt way.
"Prime Meridian", Silvia Moreno-Garcia: it's always hit and miss for me with Moreno-Garcia's work; some I adore, some not so much. This is definitely in the "I love it" category; near future, life and death and family and love, struggle and ambition, and so damned realistic.
In some ways it saddens me that this is a "best of world SF" because it's... just SF. Maybe it's because I'm Australian and, despite being Anglo and a native English speaker, I am still outside of the American (at best American / English) bubble. There are things that mark Australians that make us less viable to those markets, apparently - words and ideas that don't translate. As each of the writers in this anthology has experienced, undoubtedly to a greater extent than white Australians experience. Anyway - as an anthology this was great, as an example of what not-American / English writers can do it's a rather pointed reminder that good writing is not culturally, ethnically, racially, or anything else bound.
Lavie Tidhar has constructed a really great anthology here. As a good unthemed SF anthology, it's runs the gamut: outrageous far-future stories and terrifying near-future ones, stories that could almost be happening today and ones that require a complete wrench in how you think about the world. When I can't read an anthology straight through - when I have to pause between stories because they're so powerful, or strange, or just different - that's a pretty good sign.
Going over every story in the anthology would be boring, and not really useful. So let me just point to a few of my favourites:
Chen Qiufan's "Debtless" was DEEPLY weird and distressing and starts out as one thing then turns into something completely different. I thought I knew what was happening but I really didn't, even at the end. Remarkable worldbuilding (hats off to the translator, as always).
"Fandom for Robots", Vina Joe-Min Prasad: has always been a favourite and fits in well with Breq and Murderbot, and the Yoon Ha Lee's servitors. An AI writing fanfiction; why not.
Vandana Singh's "Delhi": one of those stories that could be happening right now, and you'd never know. Beautifully written.
Ekaterina Sedia, "The Bank of Burkina Faso": according to Tidhar's intro, other editors didn't know what to do with this story. I don't know how to react to that, because this story is fantastic and plays with email scams ("Hello dearest, help me get money from the bank...") in a weird and wonderful and heartfelt way.
"Prime Meridian", Silvia Moreno-Garcia: it's always hit and miss for me with Moreno-Garcia's work; some I adore, some not so much. This is definitely in the "I love it" category; near future, life and death and family and love, struggle and ambition, and so damned realistic.
In some ways it saddens me that this is a "best of world SF" because it's... just SF. Maybe it's because I'm Australian and, despite being Anglo and a native English speaker, I am still outside of the American (at best American / English) bubble. There are things that mark Australians that make us less viable to those markets, apparently - words and ideas that don't translate. As each of the writers in this anthology has experienced, undoubtedly to a greater extent than white Australians experience. Anyway - as an anthology this was great, as an example of what not-American / English writers can do it's a rather pointed reminder that good writing is not culturally, ethnically, racially, or anything else bound.