The Year's Best Science Fiction, Thirteenth Annual Collection [Hardcover]

Gardner R. Dozois (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Year's Best Science Fiction | Publication Date: June 1996

The marvels of tomorrows past and tomorrows yet to come abound in this delightful volume. With two dozen imaginative and moving tales, this collection includes the work of the finest writers in the field, among them

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Once again, Dozois serves up a pleasurable mix of established luminaries as well as the newer stars of the SF realm. In Dan Simmons's "Looking for Kelly Dahl," an elementary school teacher journeys from despair to love with a former student who has the ability to teleport to parallel earths where dinosaurs never fell, no one else exists or the 1970s never ended. Maureen McHugh also offers a tale of redemption in an alternate Civil War era, but this time, the underground railroad rescues white former slave owners who have relocated by the thousands to die of exposure on the frontier. In the tradition of the best SF, Geoff Ryman explores homelessness in a credibly violent future where beggars are routinely crucified by hungry mobs. Fans will especially appreciate Dozois's introduction of talented young writers who have yet to publish their own collections or novels. Notable among these is David Murasek, whose novella, "We Were Out of Our Minds with Joy," imagines the couple of the next century almost having it all?that is, until they are issued a permit to have a child. But the truth is that all of the 24 short stories or novellas are rewarding, which is really the most outstanding feature of this collection.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

From newcomers to veterans, 22 writers have crafted 24 short stories and novellas recognized for their excellence in themes such as hard science, pulp fiction, and first contact. The writers include Ursula K. LeGuin and Greg Egan, Joe Haldeman, Allen Steele, Poul Anderson, Terry Bisson, Maureen F. McHugh, and Mary Rosenblum. This well-chosen collection of 1995's best sf shorts is highly recommended.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 13th edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312144512
• ISBN-13: 978-0312144517
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #596,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WARNING - Most Other Reviewers Are Reviewing #17 not #13, March 8, 2005

By 

Rence Reeves (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Thirteenth Annual Collection (Hardcover)

I don't know what happened here, but most of these other reviews are for the wrong book. Only the three oldest reviews are for the right edition. The Product Description is for the right one(#13) but the Editorial Review by Amazon.com is for #17 as are 15 out of 20 of the Reader Reviews.

The table of contents for #13 is:

A WOMAN'S LIBERATION by Ursula K. Le Guin
STARSHIP DAY by Ian R. MacLeod
A PLACE WITH SHADE by Robert Reed
LUMINOUS by Greg Egan
THE PROMISE OF GOD by Michael F. Flynn
DEATH IN THE PROMISED LAND by Pat Cadigan
THE WHITE HILL by Joe Haldeman
SOME LIKE IT COLD by John Kessel
THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN FUTURE by Allen Steele
THE LINCOLN TRAIN by Maureen F. McHugh
WE WERE OUT OF OUR MINDS WITH JOY by David Marusek
RADIO WAVES by Michael Swanwick
WANG'S CARPETS by Greg Egan
CASTING AT PEGASUS by Mary Rosenblum
LOOKING FOR KELLY DAHL by Dan Simmons
THINK LIKE A DINOSAUR by James Patrick Kelly
COMING OF AGE IN KARHIDE by Ursula K. Le Guin
GENESIS by Poul Anderson
FEIGENBAUM NUMBER by Nancy Kress
HOME by Geoff Ryman
THERE ARE NO DEAD by Terr Bisson
RECORDING ANGEL by Paul J. McAuley
ELVIS BEARPAW'S LUCK by William Sanders
MORTIMER GRAY'S HISTORY OF DEATH by Brian Stableford

There's more than just a few modern classics here. They are:

McHugh's Hugo and Locus Award winning THE LINCOLN TRAIN
Kelly's Hugo Award winning THINK LIKE A DINOSAUR
Marusek's WE WERE OUT OF OUR MINDS WITH JOY
Bisson's THERE ARE NO DEAD
Egan's WANG'S CARPETS
Le Guin's A WOMEN'S LIBERATION
And the Hugo Award winning THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN FUTURE by Steele

There's some others which are really good (STARSHIP DAY comes to mind) and a few stinkers (Rosenblum's 'choppy' prose comes to mind), but when gathering 24 stories from any given year that is bound to happen.

Oddly there are no Nebula Award winners in this edition.

#13(1995) is perhaps the best of all of Gardner's Annuals. A recent discussion at the Asimov's Magazine website, which Gardner was still editing at the time, found most people liking #13 the best. It's odd to find a decade's best stories being those from mid-decade, it's always been the earlier or later years which defined any other decade. In that discussion over at Asimov's #12(1994) and #14(1996) were the other most popular of the Annuals, so that further illustrates just how good the short SF of the mid-nineties was.

I buy one of these big daddies every year and can never wait to start in on Gardner's Annual Summation. In fact, Spouse has to drive home because I can't wait until we get home to start reading. I GOTTA READ IT NOW! The Summation alone is ALMOST worth the price, I say "almost" because these puppies aren't cheap when they're hot off the presses. But, you now have the opportunity to buy these bad boys cheap.

If you're a student of SF this book is an absolute must. You get samples of everything going on in the genre AND that very in-depth Summation.

If you're simply a fan this book really isn't a must because there are stories which some people would hardly consider as being Science Fiction, but there's always that Summation. The Hartwell SF Annuals are probably more to your liking as far as being strictly SF. But then again, this particular edition doesn't have much of that "fluffy" stuff as compared to many of the other editions.

It's a great collection of stories. Buy it, you'll spend a lot less than I did.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great collection of stories., June 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Thirteenth Annual Collection (Hardcover)

Although I did not enjoy every story, I respected them. Meaning the ones I did not like I am sure someone else would. The ones I liked best were "Think Like a Dinosaur", "The Lincoln Train", "Genesis", & "Feigenbaum's Number". Although I'd like to say the title character in "Looking for Kelly Dahl" is quite interesting & memorable. "Think Like a Dinosaur" is good for people who liked the idea in Tom Godwin "The Cold Equation's", but thought it was sappy. It also has interesting aliens. "The Lincoln Train" introduced me to Maureen F. McHugh (which is a mixed blessing), still it's a good Alternate History story vividly written. Poul Anderson has written some of my most & most hated novels. Still "Genesis" is an interesting far future tale. My favorite part is more alternate history involved. "Feigenbaum's number" introduced me to Nancy Kress (mostly a good thing) it mixes math & Platonism. These stories (especially the Kress) are more emotional then I am used to sf being. Still it is a fairly varied mixture that even contains some hard sf. My only complaint is that he could have chosen less confusing stories that were under ten pages. (or just not included stories that short since he obviously doesn't like them that short)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dozois the Thirteenth, May 16, 2011

By 

John M. Ford "johnDC" (near DC, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Thirteenth Annual Collection (Hardcover)

These 24 stories from 1995 are arguably the best of the year's science fiction. The book opens with a summary of the year's important events in SF. Each story is introduced by well-written author bio, descriptions of the author's other publications and an enticing story preview. Dozois business as usual.

Four of my favorites:

Joe Haldeman's "For White Hill" seems like just another love story on the home planet Earth. Two lovers are attracted by their different approaches to life.

Greg Egan stretches the imagination with "Wang's Carpets," a new kind of life that exists in the same physical world as humans, but several layers of abstraction away from us. Sort of...

James Patrick Kelly's "Think Like a Dinosaur" has become a classic. Comparisons to Tom Goodwin's "The Cold Equations" are appropriate. I find Kelly's story more chilling. Being able to think--and act--like an alien is a matter of empathy.

Terry Bisson's "There Are No Dead" feels like Stephen King's Stand By Me distilled into a Ray Bradbury short story. It has its own logic.

This is a pretty good collection. There is a range of style and setting to the stories. It's likely that at least one will hit you from an unexpected direction. A friendly hit, most likely. The "Honorable Mentions" at the end of the book point to good stories from 1995 that Dozois couldn't find room for. You might enjoy tracking some of them down.