Year's Best SF 13 (Mass Market Paperback)

by David G. Hartwell (Author), Kathryn Cramer (Author)
Key Phrases: orchid seed, orchid flower, honest peril, Brother Porter, Lord Deathlok, Father Nolan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The thirteenth annual collection of the previous year's finest short-form sf is at hand. Once again, award-winning editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have gathered together a stunning array of science fiction that spans a veritable universe of astonishing visions and bold ideas. Hitherto unexplored galaxies of the mind are courageously traversed by some of the most exciting new talents in the field—while well-established masters rocket to remarkable new heights of artistry and originality. The stars are closer and more breathtaking than ever before—and a miraculous future now rests in your hands—within the pages of Year's Best SF 13.

About the Author

David G. Hartwell is a senior editor at Tor/Forge Books. He is the author of Age of Wonders and the editor of many anthologies, including The Dark Descent, The World Treasury of Science Fiction, and a number of Christmas anthologies. He has won the Eaton Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Science Fiction Chronicle Poll, has been nominated for the Hugo Award thirty-one times to date, and has won the Hugo Award for Best Editor.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Eos; 1- edition (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061252093
• ISBN-13: 978-0061252099
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #452,918 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The good, the bad, and the ugly, December 30, 2008

By	Roket Pad (Seattle) - See all my reviews

I guess it's a matter of taste. The anthology has a broad variety of sci-fi. Some of it I really liked.

I particularly disliked Memorare by Gene Wolfe, which never seemed to end and had dialog that grated at my bones.

I particularly liked Plotters and Shooters by Kage Baker, which surprised me and made me laugh. I never would have guessed this would interest me.

I don't normally read anothologies, so I can't compare it to anything. Sampling so much stuff reminded me how much I like my favorite authors, though, and warned me from straying from them for too long.

I did feel that the story introductions were annoying. Knowing something about the author and their normal writing is fine. But the short descriptions of the story didn't always match the tone and often ruined the atmosphere that the author would try to set in the next sentence. Why do I need a teaser for something I'm about to read?

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars hartwell's folly, July 14, 2008

By	Thomas D. Gulch "tdgulch" (Pennsauken, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am seriously considering avoiding anthologies edited by Hartwell. I opened his book and about 2 pages in, they have a whole page
ranting about how someone deposited a fraudulent check drawn on their (his) bank account. That' really too bad, but what in the heck is this doing in a years best anthology? His pick for best SF short story of the year is some mediocre story by his personal god, gene wolfe, which is for the most part incoherent. Then in the preface to the greg egan story 'preface', hartwell says "he tends to write what we sometimes call neuropsych hard sf". Well, jolly good for you mr.hartwell, I applaud that amazing creation of a new genre of science fiction. How dumb do you think
most sf readers are?
There are only about 5 stories in this volume worth reading.
I generally buy this as a time killer until Dozois comes out with his anthology of The Years Best Science Fiction. Maybe it is me, I just came off of a jag reading most of Iain M. Banks books, but a lot of the stories
in Hartwell's anthology are just childish or inane. The story by Nancy Kress was very dismaying - the characters in her story are at best cartoons, which was dismaying considering some of her previous work.
This book is ok if you are really jonesing for some SF, but don't expect to be thrilled.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of Time, June 26, 2009

By	William Bridges (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I did not consider most of the stories to be Sci-Fi. Worst stories I have ever read.