14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's the best SF of the year again, December 2, 2005
Another year, and another set of "Year's Best" anthologies. While I've always enjoyed David Hartwell's anthologies, last year was the first time that I read the more venerable one edited by Gardner Dozois. However, I enjoyed last year's so much that I just had to check out this year's, the 22nd annual edition. As was last year's, it is an imposing book, with twenty-nine stories in it, all from acclaimed science fiction authors. Unfortunately, I find this year's edition not quite as good as last year's. There were a few stories in it that just didn't do anything for me. On the other hand, there were definitely some stand-outs.
In a rarity for me, some of my favourite stories in the book were more on the hard science side than is usual for my taste. There is Stephen Baxter's excellent "Mayflower II," which deals with a generation ship on a trip to the far reaches of the galaxy and beyond, and what happens in the meantime. On the very edge of the solar system, there is a colony that has hidden itself away the alien Qax who had conquered the Earth. Now, the Coalition of Interim Governance has freed Earth, and is on its way to the colony. Five generation ships are dispatched to save as many of the colony's citizens as possible. On Rusel's ship, the "Pharaoh" of the ship has decided that they are going to journey all the way across the galaxy, a trip that will take many thousands of years. The story is Rusel's, and how he becomes virtually immortal, and how the citizens of the ship begin to devolve as time goes on. It's a truly horrifying story in a way, demonstrating what isolated societies can become over time. For a while, I was beginning to get bored with the story, as it's not really my favourite type of story and it was quite long. However, I soon got wrapped up in this society, and Rusel's severance from his own humanity. It's a slow story in some ways, but the ideas behind it just grab you and don't let you go. It's probably the best story in the book.
Another great story is "The Clapping Hands of God" by Michael F. Flynn. In this one, a gate has opened to another world. Teams of scientists go through these gates to explore the worlds, but this one just happens to be inhabited by an intelligent species. Hassan Maklouf is the leader of this particular expedition, and he is in charge of making sure they are not seen by the inhabitants, as well as making all the decisions. The studies are going well, with some progress being made on studying their language as well as their culture. Theories are presented for why they act in certain ways, especially when an apparently martial rally is seen. This is followed by what appears to be a couple spending their last night together. Then things really start to go wrong, as Hassan discovers that they aren't the only invaders here. There are two main characters in this story, Hassan and a female anthropologist, Iman. There are some romantic sparks between them, even as they both try to act like proper Moslems. However, the broader story is their conflict once things start to go wrong, as Iman is the humanitarian scientist and Hassan is the practical one. The ending is tragic, all the more so because of the hints of their relationship earlier in the story. It was very nice to see a story where the characters' religions were just part of their character, rather than a main part of the story. While these two are the main characters, all of the other scientists are also well done, giving the story a broad tapestry on which to weave its magic.
While those two stories were the best of the lot in my opinion, other strong stories included "The Tribes of Bela" by Albert Cowdrey (a series of grisly murders on a remote mining colony are symptoms of a planet that's trying to reclaim itself and expel the invaders), "Leviathan Wept," by Daniel Abraham (a member of a futuristic anti-terrorism squad discovers that fanaticism comes in all shapes and sizes, including possibly his own), and "Investments," by Walter Jon Williams (a space opera that gives us illegal business dealings as well as a star cluster shooting out x-rays that could destroy the planet, making the investigation of the business dealings kind of moot). Most of the other stories in this volume were also quite good, or at least readable.
Some choices I did disagree with, however. As I said above, "Mother Aegypt" isn't one of Baker's best stories. It has a strong first three-quarters, but then fell apart for me at the end. "Start the Clock," by Benjamin Rosenbaum, was a nice little story but I didn't find the world that believable and thus I wouldn't include it among the best of the year. Finally, I didn't really care for "The Defenders," by Colin P. Davies, when I first read it in Asimov's. It didn't improve when I read it again here. It was decent, but again not one of the best.
One thing I do have to say about the quality of this anthology, however, is that the copy editing was horrendous. Typos were all over the place, a few words were wrong here and there. I usually don't notice these things, as I'm sure they exist in almost every book that's out there. When I do notice them, however, it must really be bad. That being said, I really did enjoy this anthology, and while it's not as good as the 21st edition, it is definitely worth picking up if you like science fiction. Dozois is one of the best editors out there, and it shows once again.
David Roy
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59 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good and Bad, July 13, 2005
A hard edition to rate. There's an awful lot of gloom and doom, but the atmosphere and characters are generally vivid and plots tight with unambiguous endings.
"Inappropriate Behavior" by Pat Murphy. Spot the looney! A mental patient must overcome her sane doctor to save a shipwrecked anthropologist. B
"Start the Clock" by Benjamin Rosenbaum. In a future USA where reality, time and the Internet freely mingle, some kids never grow up-literally. C
"The Third Party" by David Moles. Planet resembling early 20th century Earth beset by space faring capitalists and socialist missionaries, with the hero getting caught in the crossfire big time. Stunning characters and atmosphere. A
"The Voluntary State" by Christopher Rowe. Life on this chaotic alternate Earth is only slightly less perplexing to the characters than to me. D
"Shiva in Shadow" by Nancy Kress. The shadowy nether regions of their own minds prove more baffling and dangerous than even the anomalous black hole being explored by two space scientists and a ship captain. Brilliant juxtaposition of infinite space and interior man. A+
"The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi. Bioengineered super humans render the animal kingdom obsolete, but a surprising visitor disturbs their illusions of grandeur. Poignantly asks, will science make us more than men, or less? A
"The Clapping Hands of God" by Michael F. Flynn. Scientists travel through wormhole to secretly observe a planet inhabited by gentle humanoids, yet danger fills the air. The artfully drawn aliens are fascinating. A
"Tourism" by M. John Harrison. Gritty lowlifes hang out in a seamy otherworld bar with nothing much to do but generate more atmosphere. C
"Scout's Honor" by Terry Bisson. Elegantly plotted time travel story in which a scientist becomes best buds with a Neanderthal. A
"Men Are Trouble" by James Patrick Kelly. Earth is dominated by avian aliens who have plucked away all the men. Hard-boiled detective story just can't get off the ground. C
"Mother Aegypt" by Kage Baker. Characters leap off the page in this medieval spellbinder about black magic true and false. A
"Synthetic Serendipity" by Vernor Vinge. Baby boomers flounder in the new Net society. This one rings uncomfortably true. B
"Skin Deep" by Mary Rosenblum. Tender interplay between a horribly disfigured boy and a surgeon with new techniques and mysterious motives. B
"Delhi" by Vandana Singh. The author captures the mood of Delhi as dwellers past and future come alive for a current day resident who can't quite understand what he sees. C
"The Tribes of Bela" by Albert E. Cowdrey. The natives are restless, to say the least, on a distant planet being mined by a company from Earth. And some natives they are! Superb space adventure with lots of action and a great ending. A
"Sitka" by William Sanders. The call of the wily. Grim and fatalistic alternate history with Lenin and Jack London up to no good in Sitka. B
"Leviathan Wept" by Daniel Abraham. Dismal picture of life in our near future, when terrorism rules as if by design. Chilling, real, almost unbearable to read. A
"The Defenders" by Colin P. Davies. Old man teaches his granddaughter a bitter life lesson in this complex and mystical vignette. A
"Mayflower II" by Stephen Baxter. The entire religious and political evolution and devolution of Western culture play out in microcosm aboard a starship where generations of humans are escaping to a new home twenty thousand years away-all related, alas, with the rationalistic and cynical vigor so typical in this edition. Still, mesmerizing and elegantly crafted in all respects, so reluctantly, A+
"Riding the White Bull" by Caitlin R. Kiernan. A profanity-laced narrative seriously detracts from this already marginal story, a tangled nightmare of social collapse and personal despair in the face of a gruesome alien attack. D
"Falling Star" by Brendan Dubois. Technology collapses and society reverts to the "Old Ways", which Mr. Dozois describes as "bigotry, intolerance, and fear." Apparently this is the totality of his conception of faith, yet he serves up story after story dramatizing the futility of science--a rather hopeless vision. C
"The Dragons of Summer Gulch" by Robert Reed. A fantasy world resembling the Old West has all sorts of characters scrambling for control of some relics--for all sorts of reasons. B
"The Oceans of the Blind" by James L. Cambias. This first contact story has three wonderful elements: snappy shifts in point of view between the aliens and humans, a perfect balance of humor and horror, and fascinating alien adaptation at the bottom of a deep, dark and dangerous ocean. A+
"The Garden: A Hwarhath Science Fictional Romance" by Eleanor Arnason. Feminist editorial masquerades as fiction. D
"Footvote" by Peter F. Hamilton. Angry leftist editorial with barely the pretense of masquerade. D
"Sisyphus and the stranger" by Paul Di Fillipo. Albert Camus plies his existential trade in an alternate world where the French Empire rules all. B
"Ten Sigmas" by Paul Melko. Slice(s) of life for a "massively parallel human" is somewhat over my head, but intriguing nonetheless. B
"Investments" by Walter Jon Williams. Political intrigue and a desperate fight against cosmic forces in a far-flung pan-galactic empire. C
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