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A review by sjstuart
The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction by
4.0
This is a selection of [a:Gardner Dozois|12052|Gardner R. Dozois|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1247758142p2/12052.jpg]' favorite stories from the first twenty years (1983 to 2002) of The Year's Best Science Fiction. Those annual anthologies had themselves already skimmed the cream off of each year's crop of stories, so ideally, this should be filled with nothing but masterpieces of the form. But, of course, there's no accounting for taste. Dozois admits up front that he has selected many of his own personal favorites, rather than choosing exclusively award winners, and his introductory notes display some tendency towards choosing breakout stories by rising stars, rather than gems written by authors at the peak of their power.
And clearly, there's no accounting for taste, whether mine or the editor's. All of these stories are well written, and are enjoyed by a large fraction of readers. But I was surprised at how many in this collection I considered to be below average. Some are not really even sci fi, like [a:Gene Wolfe|23069|Gene Wolfe|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1207670073p2/23069.jpg]'s "A Cabin on the Coast" and [a:Bruce Sterling|34429|Bruce Sterling|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1379306689p2/34429.jpg]'s "Dinner in Audoghast". Others are overly gimmicky riffs on a single idea, like the ridiculous extrapolation to real-time bioengineering for corporate ladder-climbing in [a:Eileen Gunn|1307441|Eileen Gunn|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-e0ba3b90c110cd67123d6a850d85373e.png]'s "Stable Strategies for Middle Management", or [a:Michael Swanwick|14454|Michael Swanwick|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1257630257p2/14454.jpg]'s "The Dead", in which reanimated corpses take over labor markets from taxi driving to prostitution. [a:Terry Bisson|73422|Terry Bisson|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png]'s "Bears Discover Fire" is about exactly what it sounds like it's about, except it's less imaginative that you'd imagine. In this case it's clearly my taste that demands accounting for, however, as this story won Hugo and Nebula awards.
I'm never a big fan of alternate history, but if you enjoy that sort of thing, you can read here about what would have happened if Rome had never fallen ([a:Robert Silverberg|4338|Robert Silverberg|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1366300348p2/4338.jpg]'s "Tales from the Venia Woods"), how Shakespeare would have followed his muse if he had been somewhat inexplicably stranded among a tribe of American Indians ([a:William Sanders|142010|William Sanders|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png]' "The Undiscovered"), or how Southern slavers would have been treated after the Civil War if Lincoln had not been assassinated ([a:Maureen F. McHugh|4625773|Maureen McHugh|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png]'s "The Lincoln Train")
For every disappointment, though, there was a story that I greatly enjoyed. My favorite new discovery is [a:Ted Chiang|130698|Ted Chiang|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1208187207p2/130698.jpg]'s "Story of Your Life". In fact, I think it displaces [a:Asimov|16667|Isaac Asimov|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1341965730p2/16667.jpg]'s "The Last Question" as my favorite sci-fi short story of all time. I think it must have been custom-written for me, as it combines linguistics, first contact, some physics and a nonlinear narrative structure, with a human story that is as poignant as the aliens are intriguing. I really need to find and read more by Ted Chiang.
Other favorites included "Mortimer Gray's History of Death" by [a:Brian Stableford|6458461|Brian Stableford|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png], which is a fascinating look at the topic of death from many different facets, and includes many intriguing speculations about the effect of human mortality on our culture and civilization throughout history. I also really enjoyed [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg]'s "Coming of Age in Karhide". Like much of her best work, it's about gender, and sex, and how these inevitably skew the way you see and think about everything. In a similar vein, and just as good, is [a:Ian R. MacLeod|207286|Ian R. MacLeod|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1365105518p2/207286.jpg]'s "Breathmoss", which can be enjoyed either for the lushly descriptive alien world, the intricate social dynamics, or the plot that slowly comes full circle as the girl who comes of age throughout the story eventually returns the favors given by her mentor.
Some of the most memorable stories are those that speculate on how everything will change once we can digitize our minds. In this category is [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg]'s "Lobsters", which you can't read (even for the third time) without feeling like you're drinking from a firehose. This story (and the novelization in [b:Accelerando|17863|Accelerando (Singularity)|Charles Stross|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388240687s/17863.jpg|930555]) are what first set me to devouring the decidedly mixed bag of everything else Stross had written. The story is well worth reading for the frenetic pace that brilliantly conveys the cusp-of-singularity pace of progress, and for an idea density large enough to collapse and form a singularity on its own. But the story ends up feeling a little bit underdeveloped, if only because not all of the speculations can be followed up on. There are enough rifles hanging above the fireplace to give Chekhov fits. Also in this category are [a:David Marusek|278272|David Marusek|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1317097046p2/278272.jpg]'s "The Wedding Album" and [a:Walter Jon Williams|48960|Walter Jon Williams|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1275489992p2/48960.jpg]' "Daddy's World", both from the existentialist sub-genre that focuses on the shock of discovering that you are, in fact, the clone and not the original. "Daddy's World", in particular, does a brilliant job of imagining both the soaring freedom and the crushing despair that might come with living in a digital world.
This only covers about half the stories in the book. It's a large collection. Most of the rest are solid, enjoyable, or thought-provoking to various degrees, but neither flawless nor badly flawed. On average, the quality is probably only a little higher than any one of the annual volumes picked at random, suggesting that variation between readers makes it pointless to try to define the top end of the field very precisely. On the whole, it's a great collection, well worth seeking out.
And clearly, there's no accounting for taste, whether mine or the editor's. All of these stories are well written, and are enjoyed by a large fraction of readers. But I was surprised at how many in this collection I considered to be below average. Some are not really even sci fi, like [a:Gene Wolfe|23069|Gene Wolfe|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1207670073p2/23069.jpg]'s "A Cabin on the Coast" and [a:Bruce Sterling|34429|Bruce Sterling|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1379306689p2/34429.jpg]'s "Dinner in Audoghast". Others are overly gimmicky riffs on a single idea, like the ridiculous extrapolation to real-time bioengineering for corporate ladder-climbing in [a:Eileen Gunn|1307441|Eileen Gunn|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-e0ba3b90c110cd67123d6a850d85373e.png]'s "Stable Strategies for Middle Management", or [a:Michael Swanwick|14454|Michael Swanwick|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1257630257p2/14454.jpg]'s "The Dead", in which reanimated corpses take over labor markets from taxi driving to prostitution. [a:Terry Bisson|73422|Terry Bisson|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png]'s "Bears Discover Fire" is about exactly what it sounds like it's about, except it's less imaginative that you'd imagine. In this case it's clearly my taste that demands accounting for, however, as this story won Hugo and Nebula awards.
I'm never a big fan of alternate history, but if you enjoy that sort of thing, you can read here about what would have happened if Rome had never fallen ([a:Robert Silverberg|4338|Robert Silverberg|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1366300348p2/4338.jpg]'s "Tales from the Venia Woods"), how Shakespeare would have followed his muse if he had been somewhat inexplicably stranded among a tribe of American Indians ([a:William Sanders|142010|William Sanders|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png]' "The Undiscovered"), or how Southern slavers would have been treated after the Civil War if Lincoln had not been assassinated ([a:Maureen F. McHugh|4625773|Maureen McHugh|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png]'s "The Lincoln Train")
For every disappointment, though, there was a story that I greatly enjoyed. My favorite new discovery is [a:Ted Chiang|130698|Ted Chiang|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1208187207p2/130698.jpg]'s "Story of Your Life". In fact, I think it displaces [a:Asimov|16667|Isaac Asimov|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1341965730p2/16667.jpg]'s "The Last Question" as my favorite sci-fi short story of all time. I think it must have been custom-written for me, as it combines linguistics, first contact, some physics and a nonlinear narrative structure, with a human story that is as poignant as the aliens are intriguing. I really need to find and read more by Ted Chiang.
Other favorites included "Mortimer Gray's History of Death" by [a:Brian Stableford|6458461|Brian Stableford|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png], which is a fascinating look at the topic of death from many different facets, and includes many intriguing speculations about the effect of human mortality on our culture and civilization throughout history. I also really enjoyed [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg]'s "Coming of Age in Karhide". Like much of her best work, it's about gender, and sex, and how these inevitably skew the way you see and think about everything. In a similar vein, and just as good, is [a:Ian R. MacLeod|207286|Ian R. MacLeod|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1365105518p2/207286.jpg]'s "Breathmoss", which can be enjoyed either for the lushly descriptive alien world, the intricate social dynamics, or the plot that slowly comes full circle as the girl who comes of age throughout the story eventually returns the favors given by her mentor.
Some of the most memorable stories are those that speculate on how everything will change once we can digitize our minds. In this category is [a:Charles Stross|8794|Charles Stross|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg]'s "Lobsters", which you can't read (even for the third time) without feeling like you're drinking from a firehose. This story (and the novelization in [b:Accelerando|17863|Accelerando (Singularity)|Charles Stross|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388240687s/17863.jpg|930555]) are what first set me to devouring the decidedly mixed bag of everything else Stross had written. The story is well worth reading for the frenetic pace that brilliantly conveys the cusp-of-singularity pace of progress, and for an idea density large enough to collapse and form a singularity on its own. But the story ends up feeling a little bit underdeveloped, if only because not all of the speculations can be followed up on. There are enough rifles hanging above the fireplace to give Chekhov fits. Also in this category are [a:David Marusek|278272|David Marusek|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1317097046p2/278272.jpg]'s "The Wedding Album" and [a:Walter Jon Williams|48960|Walter Jon Williams|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1275489992p2/48960.jpg]' "Daddy's World", both from the existentialist sub-genre that focuses on the shock of discovering that you are, in fact, the clone and not the original. "Daddy's World", in particular, does a brilliant job of imagining both the soaring freedom and the crushing despair that might come with living in a digital world.
This only covers about half the stories in the book. It's a large collection. Most of the rest are solid, enjoyable, or thought-provoking to various degrees, but neither flawless nor badly flawed. On average, the quality is probably only a little higher than any one of the annual volumes picked at random, suggesting that variation between readers makes it pointless to try to define the top end of the field very precisely. On the whole, it's a great collection, well worth seeking out.