Customer Reviews

Year's Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Breathmoss,Ian MacLeod. Overlong coming of age story set in a far future world inhabited almost completely by women. Heavy atmosphere, light plot. C-

The Most Famous Little Girl in the World, Nancy Kress. The grim backdrop of war and terrorism over the next seventy years is much more interesting than the story about two cousins who take a lifetime to patch up their differences. C

The Passenger, Paul McAuley. Engaging but essentially routine yarn about a space ship salvage crew whose strange new passenger is either malevolent or cute as a button. C+

The Political Officer, Charles Finlay. Political intrigue aboard a Soviet-flavored military spaceship where each officer seems to have his own insidious agenda. B-

Lambing Season, Molly Gloss. Kindhearted shepherdess encounters alien. Another promising premise wasted in an inconclusive, overly subtle plot. C-

Coelacanths,Robert Reed. Variously constructed humans subsist in a hostile, multi-dimensional far future world. Weighty speculation on the fine line between evolution and devolution, natural and supernatural. B

Presence, Maureen McHugh. Realistic, heartrending character study of a couple dealing with Alzheimers, a new cure, and its unsettling side effect. B+

Halo, Charles Stross. Cacophonous, dense, hard science narrative concerns a cybernetic teenager who flees to Jupiter to escape Mom, who just doesnt understand her! C-

In Paradise, Bruce Sterling. USA circa 2022Romance in the land of the not so free and the home of Homeland Security. Sorry, but not even close to Sterling offerings from previous volumes. C

The Old Cosmonaut by Ian McDonald. An old cosmonauts pipe dream of pioneering Mars is strangely fulfilled. C

Stories for Men, John Kessel. Men on a vast matriarchal lunar colony must chose between easy, killer sex and socio-political equality. Quite the conundrum! Great characters, plot, social commentary and psychological exploration. A

To Become a Warrior, Chris Beckett. In a socially stratified future England, a gang of world-shifting thugs offers an alienated lowlife some ancient means of payback. Fast-paced narrative with fascinating characters and street jargon. A

The Clear Blue Seas of Luna, Gregory Binford. A (mumbo) jumbo ode to terraforming. Zzzz

V.A.O., Geoff Ryman. Life stinks for Gen-Y geriatrics, so they hack their way out. Vivid characters, snappy dialog, diabolical schemes, and something sorely lacking in this volumehumor. A

Winters Are Hard, Steven Popkes. Man has self physically altered so he can sleep with she-wolves and slaughter wild elk. Can happiness ensue? C

At the Money,Richard Wadholm. Monotonous tale of cosmic radioactive waste arbitrage in an ultra-free market far future. Zzzz

Agent Provacateur, Alexander Irvine. A boy alters and unalters history around WW2. C

Singleton, Greg Egan. All you need to enjoy this AI saga of making babies the new-fashioned way is a couple doctorates in quantum theory and philosophy. C-

Slow Life, Michael Swanick. A plucky explorer discovers life on Titan. Well drawn setting but well worn plot. C

A Flock of Birds, James Van Pelt. Gripping, realistic, poetic, and touching look at the aftermath of an all-out biological war, set in a desolate 2011 Denver. A

The Potter of Bones, Eleanor Arnason. This fantasy story about evolution unfolds about as rapidly. In (yet another) female dominated society, a potter literally pieces together a theory of how her rodent-like race of homosexual furballs came into being. Super. D

The Whisper of Disks, John Meaney. The Bryonic Woman: genius makes jillions thanks to her jazzed up genes. C

The Hotel at Harlans Landing, Kage Baker. Ultracreepy goings-on in a remote logging town in the 1930s. Well crafted horror, and at long last, a crisp, clear ending. B+

The Millennium Party, Walter Jon Williams. A wry and refreshingly brief look at the digitalization of man, far, far in the future. B

Turquoise Days, Alistair Reynolds. Better late than never. A majestic tale of an inscrutably sentient ocean and its interplay with humans both kind and evil. A page-turner with unforgettable imagery. A+

I can't tell you what a letdown this anthology is. Almost every story is either too self-consciously literary, plotless, or more concerned with creating atmosphere than providing a compelling reason to continue reading. I read every story - some more than once - but few were particularly memorable.

Of course that's only my opinion; more sophisticated readers and graduates of writing seminars and workshops will love the "crafted imagery" and "inspired strangeness" of Dozois' choices.

"BREATHMOSS." On a virtually all-female world, a young girl comes-of-age and recognizes her destiny.

A long, slow story, dense with made-up words with almost no clue or context, and descriptive paragraphs that go on and on, Breathmoss is more of a fantasy novella than a science fiction story. Atmospheric? Yes. Interesting? No.

"STORIES FOR MEN." Seventeen-year-old Erno lives in in a female-dominated moon colony where males are prized mainly for the ability to pleasure women - and yet he's not happy.

This is one of better stories. It's a novella, with a plot, memorable characters, things happening, lives and societies hang in the balance - in a way. The ending was timid, to put it mildly. And maybe I'm too sensitive - but is there some law out there requiring all science fiction stories have strong, intelligent females putting up with weak, spoiled boys?

"TURQUOISE DAYS." Naqi and her sister are scientists on the isolated water-world of Turquoise where the ocean is more aware of outsiders than they realize.

It's a very low-key story of love and loss and so placid that I could hardly stay awake the two times I read it. An evil man comes to this peaceful world with evil intentions. Good ending, though, if you can reach it.

Those three stories account for over 25% of the book. There are 26 stories in total and they're not all so dreary as the novellas, although they do try.

"THE PASSENGER." Maris Delgado and her space-salvage crew find a passenger in a long-abandoned vessel who is more than she appears to be.

Good short story, in comparison to all those "I'm a writer creating atmosphere" stories, but let's face it: the mysterious stranger picked up by a ship isn't a new idea and there's no one moment here that adds much.

"COELACANTHS." Evolution of humanity into several species of brave, self-reliant women burdened with bumbling boys, and cartoonish males.

Four parallel stories with humanity living in some hazy far distant and distinctly unrecognizable universe where they may be no more than a sort of virus or vermin. There's this naked over-the-top male narrator ranting about humanity's advances and I don't know what it all adds up to and I don't care. Stories like this, I think, are more likely than not, jokes on the readers.

I'd just finished reading "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, vol. 1 1929-1964" and what a contrast! The old-fashioned writers were amazingly entertaining. There are dozens of outstanding memorable stories there.

When I compare "Coelacanths" with James Blish's "Surface Tensions" I see the great gulf between writers trying to show off for other writers and a writer like Blish telling a riveting story.

This anthology is writing seminar and writing workshop stuff. I wince when I think of a casual reader who wants to find out if science fiction is for him or her, and unfortunately finds this book. It's poison.

"Slow Life" starts off well, with a small group of explorers collecting data on Titan. However, when one of the characters is contacted by an alien collective intelligence in her sleep, the story turns sour, and despite a decent sense of humor, it comes to a silly overly excited conclusion.

"A Flock Of Birds" has a great atmosphere, with a handful of individuals wandering the barren landscape of an America after a devastating war. The careful attention to his tasks as a birder parallel his devotion to keeping a fellow survivor alive. The returning flocks of birds become an obvious yet still affecting metaphor against the images of a New York City marathon from a video that is played multiple times over the course of the story. That in ten years, a birder could forget what a pigeon looks like seems ridiculous, but one could argue that this shows the true depth of his psychological damage, which was carefully masked until this point.

"The Potter Of Bones" has an interesting story set in an alternate matriarchal past; however, the narration is very intrusive (e.g. "This story is about...," "At this point, the story needs to describe...," disjointed transitions, indications that this is a work of non-fiction cobbled together from artifacts by some of the characters, followed by lengthy fictive exchanges and descriptions, etc), and (with the exception of some clever debates between the potter and the Goddess in her dreams) the dialogue is reminiscent of the stilted exchanges of characters in a video game. For instance, the most common response people think or say to the red-furred potter is "Hah!"

"The Whisper of Disks" is another strong offering taken from Interzone, taking place through multiple generations of an eccentric family's existence. Though the protagonist becomes one of the most powerful women alive, she is unable to discover much about her past, but through a series of vignettes across time, we see that she intuits what she cannot know about her genetic history.

"The Hotel At Harlan's Landing" is a somewhat entertaining but easily forgettable tale of the supernatural which seems closer to the genre of horror than that of sci-fi.

"The Millennium Party" could probably be called flash fiction, being as it is so short. It is more a skeletal idea put to paper rather than an actual story.

"Turquoise Days" completes the collection, following the shortest story with what appears to be the longest. Published as a chapbook, it seems unnecessarily long, though it has a few memorable passages.

Some years I've finished Year's Best Science Fiction within a week of it being published. This year's edition took me seven months to plod through. That word, "plod," captures the problem I had with the book. Some of the stories in this collection ("A Flock of Birds," "The Potter of Bones," "V.A.O.," and "Turquoise Days") are over far too soon. Others end up dragging on for weeks (real time). There often just wasn't a spark in them that captured my interest. The overall effect, unfortunately, is a bit leaden. It is, as always, a must for anyone looking for a thorough survey of the year's short SF, but overall I found Hartwell and Cramer's _Year's Best SF 8_ to be a much more enjoyable take on the year.

This collection is a resource both for readers and writers of contemporary science fiction. Emerging and established writers are assembled with an emphasis on the diverse range of styles and forms being utilized. From brief, nearly mainstream literary shorts to sprawling pulpy novellas, there is something to appeal and to repel nearly every taste. This book serves as a window into the personal tastes of Mr. Dozois, who offers a critical survey of the year in movies to the year in reprints, to the state of the genre publishing industry. In addition to any "writer's market" books, this collection provides insight into what writing is selling at most of the professional sci-fi markets. If you don't have the money to subscribe to every magazine or website you are considering submitting to, or more likely, don't have the time to read absolutely everything from each magazine, this book is a good alternative and a worthy aid when deciding which market best suits your length, style, etc. Finally, if the 26 stories within leave you wanting more (admittedly, Dozois seems to have included a disproportionate number of stories from his own periodical), Dozois offers a daunting list of honorable mentions, some of which he discusses briefly in his introductory summation. As for the stories themselves:

"Breathmoss" is a fairly well told coming of age tale of a girl in a patiently detailed exotic world.

"The Most Famous Little Girl In The World" has a distinctly literary tone, and despite its mixture of post 9/11 paranoia and confusing possibly-alien-caused apocalyptic scenarios, it remains solidly character driven. The first person narrative restricts our understanding of this world in the near future (the story spans decades detailing the interaction of two cousins who dislike each other), which may or may not be a good thing.

"The Passenger" hints at issues of class disparity without being heavy-handed, and uses "hard science" (i.e. descriptions of technology) to further the plot rather than just create a "futuristic" atmosphere. Well done.

"The Political Officer" features several macho characters, and intrigue based on competing ideas of who has legitimate control of the ship and the mission. Its not surprising something goes terribly wrong. Despite the author's efforts to redeem them, none of the characters are likeable...and the lengthy "tension-building" scenes seem largely extraneous.

"Lambing Season" is tightly written, and at barely 10 pages its concise style is reflected in its brevity. Molly Glass has honed her literary style quite well, and she presents a rancher's encounter with an alien with fine realism and emotional resonance. Wonderful.

"Coelacanths" is set in the far future, where humans, despite all their adaptations and technological accouterments, struggle to survive let alone understand the multi-dimensional world that has evolved around them. Other characters emerge, ranging from adventurous/fatalistic sub-atomic dust motes to some sort of evolved yet imprisoned humanoids. In telling the story of each of the numerous beings permeating or failing to permeate the boundaries of each other, "Coelacanths" offers a message seemingly against the infinite proliferation of humankind across the cosmos. While the story is neither the best written or the most entertaining in the collection, it does present ideas that merit at least cursory perusal if not careful scrutiny.

"Presence" by Marueen F. McHugh is a moving portrait of a wife tending to her husband who has a fairly aggressive case of dementia. When presented with a potential curative, her husband recovers quite a bit, but loses most of his pre-existing scrupulous personality. If not for the existence of the sci-fi element of the Alzheimer's drug, you would think you were reading one of the better entries in Glimmer Train Stories or Prairie Schooner. This is easily one of the best stories in the collection.

"Halo" is by Charles Stross, who has taken the sci-fi world by storm, publishing a flurry of stories in quick succession in the top magazines, not to mention a novel and more. I think his style will be polarizing, his distinctive fervent voice entertaining or distracting depending on the reader. I fall into the latter camp, finding his use of present day neologisms and pop culture highly annoying, especially when he ignores the actual meaning of words new to our cultural lexicon by recontextualizing them as flippant jargon. "Blog," "otaku," and many other words suffer this fate. The writing is a strange hybrid of technology the science and pseudo-science mashed together depending on if it is an area Stross has a grip on (e.g. computers, networks, trans-human singularity theory, avatars) or not (e.g. statistics). Also the relationships between the characters are quite interesting; however, the characters themselves are shot through with self-conscious quirky-ness. I have yet to read his story "Lobster" which should probably be read before this so I should probably reserve judgment of such an energetic and evolving (albeit somewhat schizophrenic) writing style. Despite being high concept, "Halo" has the breezy mania of a television program for young children. I have yet to finish it.

"In Paradise" by Bruce Sterling is a superlative brief love story (no really) set in an all to believable American security dystopia in the near future, told with a humorous and tireless tone.

"The Old Cosmonaut And The Construction Worker Dream Of Mars" is a surreal story, with out of body experiences, disruptions in time and space, virtual-reality intergalactic construction, incontinent dogs, and much more. The writing is imagistic which works quite well at dispensing wonder and reflecting the multiple meanings of "dream" with regard to exploration of the inner self, one's connection to community, and one's connection with place (in this case Mars). When presenting the grand myth of heroic idealistic space travel, the writing gives the narrative a bit of a breathless tone, which is somewhat off-putting; though, overall this is an enjoyable read for anyone who shares the feelings of the characters.

...

In the introduction to this collection, editor Gardner Dozois bemoans the popular perception that sci fi is a genre that is dying. But with weak selections such as these, it's a miracle the genre isnt dead already.
If this is the best sci fi can do, then the genre is in alot of trouble. Its a sad day for science fiction when the best stories of the year, contain pitifully little science. In most of the stories, science is none existent, or has a negligable role in the plots (and this even from some so called 'masters' of hard sci fi). Although there were a (very) few gems in this collection, most of the stories are pointless, aimless, lack any kind of meaningfull conclusion, and leave the reader thinking (to paraphrase Simon Cowell) "Well, so what?".

A great, standard example of one of these anthologies, with a 3.84 average. Even better, it contains a 5 star story, and multiple 4.5s, which is what you would hope to get. Not usually much of Kage Baker's Company stories, either, but I liked this one, and nothing in those below I thought was below average, either.

Another top class publication.

Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Breathmoss - Ian R. MacLeod
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Most Famous Little Girl in the World - Nancy Kress
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Passenger - Paul McAuley
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Political Officer - Charles Coleman Finlay
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Lambing Season - Molly Gloss
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Coelacanths - Robert Reed
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Presence - Maureen F. McHugh
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Halo - Charles Stross
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : In Paradise - Bruce Sterling
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Old Cosmonaut and the Construction Worker Dream of Mars - Ian McDonald
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Stories for Men - John Kessel
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : To Become a Warrior - Chris Beckett
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Clear Blue Seas of Luna - Gregory Benford
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : V.A.O. - Geoff Ryman
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Winters Are Hard - Steven Popkes
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : At the Money - Richard Wadholm
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Agent Provocateur - Alexander Irvine
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Singleton - Greg Egan
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Slow Life - Michael Swanwick
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : A Flock of Birds - James Van Pelt
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Potter of Bones - Eleanor Arnason
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Whisper of Discs - John Meaney
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Hotel at Harlan's Landing - Kage Baker
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : The Millennium Party - Walter Jon Williams
Year's Best Science Fiction 20 : Turquoise Days - Alastair Reynolds


Aliens, interstellar travel Gateways, all pretty run of the mill, according to girl, but boys are freaks.

3 out of 5


Alien abduction civility.

4 out of 5


Gene wizard girl discovery conflict.

4.5 out of 5


Departmental ship conflict leaves you with that glowing feeling.

4 out of 5


Starmandog.

3.5 out of 5


Life history lesson appearance.

3 out of 5


Alzheimer's recovery.

4 out of 5


Life aboard the Field Circus for Amber, with some occasional advice from dad.

5 out of 5


Phone dead? Let's walk instead.

3 out of 5


Quantum areopossibilities are probably worth a lot of dog wee and needles in the skull.

4.5 out of 5


Cousinly sexist society xx gene fight club.

4.5 out of 5


Thursday's child multiversal murder mission cardie killer failure.

4 out of 5


Seleneoforming metamorphosis takeover takedown

4 out of 5


Age Rage and dodgy blokes.

3.5 out of 5


Wolfman Jack's back. In jail.

4 out of 5


Heavy elemental deal.

4 out of 5


Uncertain saviour.

4 out of 5


A scientist couple decide to have an artificial child, some years after a natural pregnancy miscarries.

"Carlos said breezily, 'Why not? There are so many others now. Sophie. Linus. Theo. Probably a hundred we don't even know about. It's not as if Ben's child won't have playmates.' Adai ' Autonomously Developing Artificial Intelligences ' had been appearing in a blaze of controversy every few months for the last four years. A Swiss researcher, Isabelle Schib, had taken the old models of morphogenesis that had led to software like Zelda, refined the technique by several orders of magnitude, and applied it to human genetic data. Wedded to sophisticated prosthetic bodies, Isabelle's creations inhabited the physical world and learnt from their experience, just like any other child."

There is plenty of discrimination, but their daughter has plans for all the other quantum branches in the long run, given the technology she has already.

4 out of 5


Flying first contact breakdown breakthrough confession comeback

4 out of 5


Pneumonia, with pigeons.

3.5 out of 5


Plays with colored people.

3 out of 5


Hanging on for starflight, Gus.

4 out of 5


Community, bar Company.

4 out of 5


Just the right brain for the occasion.

3.5 out of 5


I sea we have a problem.

3.5 out of 5

I look forward to Mr. Dozois' collections more than I do to Thanksgiving or Christmas, but this year's selections are made up mostly of stories that are technically very well-written, but seem to lack essential elements of any work of fiction, such as theme or climax. Stories by Kress, Finlay, Gloss, McHugh, Sterling and others simply lack the creative spark that excites or provokes the reader. I finished many of these stories and said to myself, "So what?" Just because one is a good writer does not automatically mean one produces good stories. Even John Kessel's gender-dystopia "Stories for Men" ends too abruptly to do this wonderful tale justice.

Some gems are to be found here, however. Ian R. MacLeod's "Breathmoss" is intricate and surprising, an entire universe in fifty pages. Robert Reed's "Coelacanths" is daring and provocative. Ian McDonald's "The Old Cosmonaut..." is elegant and lyrical. James Van Pelt's "A Flock of Birds" shows the appearance of hope in a very unusual way when the world is literally falling apart, and Eleanor Arnason's "The Potter of Bones" is bold and stimulating. I enjoyed less than half of these stories, my lowest score yet for this excellent annual collection. Hope things improve by next July.

This is the second collection I bought and read by Garner Dozois. His 17th Annual collection was also 4 stars and INMO a little better... see my review from my Sci Fi list. I'm on a reading buying budget to add to our family library so this is an easy inexpensive way to buy top Sci Fi short stories/novellas and have an "expert" select what he considers the very best. Gardner also gives a short bio of each author and their awards as well as a nice list of honorable mentions, so the reader can do further research if he/she wants to buy writings from other authors.

I am a 40 year amateur astronomer so it was with interest I read the last story in the collection Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds who is a scientist and a PHD astronomer. I enjoyed this novella about a living ocean of minds of previous species in an organic goo on a far distant planet plus a battle from space against the planet Turquoise and the attempted destruction of the living mind goo in the ocean. I really enjoyed it. 5 star

I had previously bought and reviewed (5 stars) the book The Martian Race by Gregory Benford so it was with interest I read The Clear Blue Seas of Luna by him in this collection. I enjoyed it BUT.... Im a life member of the Mars Society so I laughed at the possibility of Terraforming the moon. Terraforming the moon....I think EXTREMLY difficult almost near impossible....Mars easier! Jusy keep an open mind and enjoy this fictional story. 4 star

Also Breathmoss by Ian R MacLeod was very interesting and enjoyable. A breathed in moss that alows breathing in a poor atmosphere on an alien planet. Interesting idea. 4 star

I liked Winters Are Hard by Steven Popkes about a man that wins the Colorado lottery and uses 10 million dollars to get his body genetically altered ( some fur, stronger legs and joints, etc) so he can react more with a wolf pack and goes Elk hunting with them armed only with a knife. Kind of a sad ending as I gained much empathy with the main character and the wolves. The story told through a reporters eye. 5 star plus... this story just hit me the right way.

There are many other good stories but I won't go through each of them.There were 25 short stories/novellas. INMO about 60% of the short stories were either 4 or 5 stars, about 30% 3 star short stories and two 2 star duds I couldn't get into. Not every reader is going to like all the Sci Fi but INMO readers will enjoy the majority of the short stories/novellas.

I bought The Years Greatest Sci Fi 23rd Annual collection edited by Gardner Dozois. Will review. I plan to buy more of his collections at reduced prices as I can afford them for our family library.

The Years Best Science Fiction Twentieth Annual Collection....3.5 to 4 stars

"Stories For Men" is a lengthy novella set (like many of the stories in this collection) on a lunar colony. This colony was derived to eliminate patriarchy and its trappings (e.g. violence), though they are replaced primarily with hedonism and a general disenfranchising of men. When the archetype of "Man" creeps back into the colony as the result of its most disgruntled stand up comic, one young man explores the costs and benefits of becoming a "real man" in this context. The depiction of this "reverse discrimination" both highlights gender inequity in today's world and vaguely reinforces it (by promoting the vision of women `run amok' without the proper moral constraints). A pretty brisk and entertaining read regardless of what you think its "message" is.

"To Become A Warrior" is a nice stylistic change of pace, with great dialogue written in the dialect of the British soccer hooligan. Reading the story is like hearing it barked into your ear at the pub. Great writing with humor and pathos, suggesting a clash between class and personal values without even trying, make this a quick and worthwhile read.

"The Clear Blue Seas Of Luna" has moments that border on literary experimentation with the confluence of multiple and shifting points of view. There are sections where the different characters are actually part of the same character (though not multiple personalities, nothing to gimmicky) thereby presenting the first, second, and third person simultaneously. During one of the climactic chase sections, even the planet itself seems to become both a setting and a character. The only problem with this is that none of the individual portions of Benjan or his computer interface/ship thing, or the planet emerge as solid individuals. The "bad guys" are depicted simply as foils to the culmination of the rest of the aforementioned characters, having simplistic generalizations as their sole character traits. Though it has its faults, the story does take some interesting creative risks at presenting the multifaceted yet in some ways static world of its protagonist.

"V.A.O" takes place in a technology driven security state, where a group of senior citizens (who retain much of their devotion to the pop culture of their 00s youth) struggle against a strange combination of fear of death, a lack of cultural memory, surveillance, and neglect which takes forms as varied as corrupt doctors to nagging talking toilets. Despite numerous typos, and a mildly "cranky" tone, this chapbook was absorbing.

"Winters Are Hard" is about a man who, after winning the state lottery, becomes a man/wolf, and the effects that the media has on his life and his relationship with his pack. Told from the point of view of the reporter who breaks his story, with some gripping scenes (e.g. when the pack goes on a hunt).

"At The Money" takes us to a world where the market economy drives every decision, and where the stock market never closes; except, instead of stocks, people trade in futures of rare or possibly non-existent decaying isotopes, vacuum states, anti-money, and perhaps each others lives. Despite the intrigue, the characters seem rather flat, and the complicated descriptions of the wheeling and dealing are likely to set many a reader to skimming.

"Agent Provocateur" is about Heisenberg and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, as explained through a boy's decision to effect the outcome of World War II and his father's death depending on whether or not he catches a homerun ball by his favorite bookish baseball player, who could go on to be a spy, perhaps killing Heisenberg. Brief, fairly well written, but the idea is hokey.

"Singleton" by Greg Egan is one of the most thought provoking stories in the collection. Much like the existential fear of death familiar to many of us, Egan's protagonist is paralyzed by a fear of infinite versions of self, failing, succeeding, and essentially competing in a deterministic fashion in the multiverse. Being a scientist he tries to deal with his fears rationally, creating a device capable of shielding an individual from multiple versions of reality and of self. When his brilliant wife becomes barren, they decide to adopt an artificial child, their emotions driving them to use the device to protect her. Later this decision leads to the child rebelling and going missing for several years. Fantastic attention to detail, well developed characters, plausible and inventive future innovations in science with the action taking placing with a thorny political atmosphere in the background, this is a story of great depth, though its ideology is not at all invasive as it is so intertwined with the motives of the characters.

...