A review by arkron
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Second Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois

4.0


Every year, Mr Dozois pulls together a huge anthology of last year's best SF stories. I came to wait for July when it appears and at the same time fear it because it is really huge and takes a lot of time digging through it and reviewing it. I can't say if this year is stronger or weaker than other years, but I was missing a mind-blowing story in it. There were some really awesome ones, lots of good stories and only one that I didn't like, so the overall assessment is that I really liked the anthology.
Please note, that the links below leave GR and lead to detailed reviews at my book blog.

My favourite ★★★★★ stories were

  • Passage of Earth by Michael Swanwick • review

  • Slipping by Lauren Beukes • review

  • Shooting the Apocalypse by Paolo Bacigalupi • review


Weakest ☆ or ★ stories

  • Weather by Susan Palwick • review


Contents:

  1. ★★★1/2 • “The Fifth Dragon” • novelette by Ian McDonald • dominating families struggle for control on the Moon • review

  2. ★★★1/2 • “The Rider” • Near SF novelette by Jérôme Cigut • AIs use humans as tools on their struggle for supremacy • review

  3. ★★★ • “The Days of the War, as Red as Blood, as Dark as Bile” • Space Opera short story by Aliette de Bodard • set in Xuyan future history, a mindship connects to a girl • review

  4. ★★★★ • “The Burial of Sir John Mawe at Cassini” • alternate universe short story by Chaz Brenchley • Victorian British Empire on Old Mars • review

  5. ★★★★ • “The Regular” • Near Future SF novella by Ken Liu • Cyborg detective resolves prostitute murder • review

  6. ★★ • “The Woman from the Ocean” • short story by Karl Bunker • humanity isn't capable to differentiate between us and them anymore • review

  7. ★★★★1/2 • “Shooting the Apocalypse” • CliFi novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi • Arizona's state border is closed for Texan water refugees • review

  8. ★ • “Weather” • posthumanity short story by Susan Palwick • speaking to the cyber-dead • review

  9. ★★★ • “The Hand is Quicker” • Near SF novelette by Elizabeth Bear • perception control • review

  10. ★★★★ • “The Man Who Sold the Moon” • novella by Cory Doctorow • 3D printing iglos for the burning man • review

  11. ★★★ • “Vladimir Chong Chooses to Die” • Central Station short story by Lavie Tidhar • drowning in memories, Vladimir wants to commit suicide • review

  12. ★★★★ • “Beside the Damned River” • short story by D. J. Cockburn • European bounty hunter strands in Thai community • review

  13. ★★ • “The Colonel” • novelette by Peter Watts • bridge between Blindsight and Echopraxia • review

  14. ★★★★ • “Entanglement” • novella by Vandana Singh • optimistic CliFi featuring ordinary people around the world • review

  15. ★★★1/2 • “White Curtain” • shortstory by Pavel Amnuel • theory vs. practice of changing the futures • review

  16. ★★★★1/2 • “Slipping” • Near SF sports short story by Lauren Beukes • review

  17. ★★★★★ • “Passage of Earth” • first encounter short story by Michael Swanwick • dissecting and digesting intelligent alien worms • review

  18. ★★★ • “Amicae Aeternum” • near future SF short story by Ellen Klages • review

  19. ★★★★ • “In Babelsberg” • short story by Alastair Reynolds • referencing Fritz Lang's movie "Metropolis" • review

  20. ★★★ • “Sadness” by Timons Esaias • absurd posthumanity • review

  21. ★★★★ • “West to East” • short story by Jay Lake  • the author's last story • review

  22. ★★★★ • “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)” • Rachel Swirsky • future golem incorporating the ego of a daughter • review

  23. ★★★1/2 • “Covenant” • Near SF short story by Elizabeth Bear • neurological serial killer turned to be prey • review

  24. ★★★1/2 • “Jubilee” • novelette by Karl Schroeder • hibernated Rome-Julia • review

  25. ★★★ •  “Los Piratas del Mar de Plastico (Pirates of the Plastic Ocean)” • short story by Paul Graham Raven • economy locusts in Spain • review

  26. ★★★ •  “Red Lights, and Rain” • short story by Gareth L. Powell • time travelling vampires in Amsterdam • review

  27. ★★★1/2 • “Coma Kings” • short story by Jessica Barber • gaming addiction • review

  28. ★★ • “The Prodigal Son” • novella set in the Arkwright series by Allen Steele • son needs to get faith for a privately financed starship program • review

  29. ★★★ •  “God Decay” • short story by Rich Larson • cyborg has medical problems • review

  30. ★★★ •  “Blood Wedding” • 2014 • novelette by Robert Reed • review

  31. ★★★★ • “THE LONG HAUL from the Annals of Transportation, The Pacific Monthly, May 2009” • alternative history short story by Ken Liu • review

  32. ★★★ •  “Shadow Flock” • near SF novelette by Greg Egan • heist thriller using drones • review

  33. ★★1/2 • “Thing and Sick” • novelette by Adam Roberts • Fermi's paradox mixed with Kant's conceptualism in cold Antarctica • review

  34. ★★★★ • “Communion” • short story by Mary Anne Mohanraj • cannibalistic funeral ritus of aliens • review

  35. ★★★ • “Someday” • SF short story by James Patrick Kelly • human reproduction on a colonial planet • review

  36. ★★★ • “Yesterday's Kin” • first contact SF novella by Nancy Kress • review