Customer Reviews

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Second Annual Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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

A nice collection, 4+ stars on the stories...but a very poor ebook conversion. The least the publisher could do is to provide a useful table of contents. This one is terribly mangled and nearly unusable. It bears little resemblance to a list of titles and authors, and contains a vast number of subtitles of sections within stories, but with no distinction between real story titles. Apparently an unsupervised computer program created it.

The text is also rife with typographical errors. Apparently this text was scanned from a hard copy without benefit of either spell check or human review. Shamefully lazy effort by the publisher.

Jammed chock-full of science fiction goodness, the 22nd Annual Edition of "The Year's Best Science Fiction" (2004) is exactly what any lover of science fiction will dream of. One of the themes I noticed in this edition is science fiction-based mystery stories. The settings ranged from the past to the present and on into the distant future. One piece - from Eleanore Arnason - called "The Garden" is a particularly interesting piece, since it is a science fiction story based from the point of view of aliens. The last story - a novella by Walter Jon Williams named "Investments" - particularly caught my interest. It is one of the mystery stories I mentioned earlier, and something about it left me ... unsettled. I can't figure out what or why, but I plan to re-read this story a few times and see if I can't pick up on what it was that affected me so profoundly. His writing style is reminiscent of Modesitt, so that could have been part of what captured my imagination so deeply.

Basically, if you like science fiction, pick up this book. You will not regret it - and maybe you'll even find a new favorite author (like I did with Kage Baker and her amusing story "Mother Aegypt.")

Each year this succession of trangressional thoughts and assumptions proves that award winning performance is well deserved. As always the anthology provides readers with insight into what is happening in scientific fictional accounts on the accord of what is actual realism. The evidence provided through the unusual accounts of the mind, through imagination if you will, shows that existence stands within the bounds of uncomfortable realism. Dozois fascinates the common critic in his match of intellect against Dr. Igbus, well-known Psychology professor from Stanford and writer of "Great Minds Think Alike", and proves that he has a grasp on the genre of science fiction.

Dozois continues his long running series with this latest massive compendium. Other reviewers have commented on the stories. But for me, the main and continued attraction of this series has been his lengthy analysis of the science fiction and fantasy field. It masquerades as the Introduction. But it really is akin to a "State of the Union" address.

No other author provides such a comprehensive assessment of the field. And it's not just in terms of critiquing the stories published in that year. But also of his take on overall trends, especially an assessment of the viability of the magazines, fanzines and small publishers.

A really solid entry in the Year's Best Science Fiction Series, resplendent with epic introduction and 'season overview'. Very consistent, this one. Nothing brilliant, but nothing poor, either. Just all around good, really, with an average of 3.80. Bacigalupi and Moles the two best.

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Inappropriate Behavior - Pat Murphy

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Start the Clock - Benjamin Rosenbaum

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Third Party - David Moles

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Voluntary State - Christopher Rowe

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Shiva in Shadow - Nancy Kress

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The People of Sand and Slag - Paolo Bacigalupi

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Clapping Hands of God - Michael F. Flynn

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Tourism - M. John Harrison

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Scout's Honor - Terry Bisson

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Men Are Trouble - James Patrick Kelly

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Mother Aegypt - Kage Baker

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Synthetic Serendipity - Vernor Vinge

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Skin Deep - Mary Rosenblum

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Delhi - Vandana Singh

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Tribes of Bela - Albert E. Cowdrey

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Sitka - William Sanders

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Leviathan Wept - Daniel Abraham

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Defenders - Colin P. Davies

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Mayflower II - Stephen Baxter

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Riding the White Bull - Caitlin R. Kiernan

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Falling Star - Brendan DuBois

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Dragons of Summer Gulch - Robert Reed

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Ocean of the Blind - James L. Cambias

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : The Garden: A Hwarhath Science Fictional Romance - Eleanor Arnason

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Footvote - Peter F. Hamilton

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Sisyphus and the Stranger - Paul Di Filippo

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Ten Sigmas - Paul Melko

Year's Best Science Fiction 22 : Investments - Walter Jon Williams

An autistic girl, operating a remote robot as part of an experiment finds a stranded man that needs rescuing. The man running this experiment has problems with priorities.

3.5 out of 5

Arrested development decision.

3.5 out of 5

Barbarians are smarter than they look.

4.5 out of 5

Southern Somatype.

3 out of 5

Stellar observation science ship conflict upload event horizon existence.

4 out of 5

Immortal ruined future's lack of taste for pets.

4.5 out of 5

World walking war woe.

4 out of 5

Shadow operators.

3 out of 5

Time travel for the NT, low battery means HS.

4 out of 5

Dame overload detection devilish.

4 out of 5

Devil too chicken for Company.

3 out of 5

Adult education.

3 out of 5

Filial facsimile repair choice declined.

4 out of 5

Past advice.

4 out of 5

Bearpig breeding betrayal last stand.

4 out of 5

Jack London calling war Time expedition.

3.5 out of 5

Organisation network conflict is complex.

4 out of 5

Conflict evolution sacrifice.

4 out of 5

Long trip oversight.

4 out of 5

Unreliable First Contact takeover takedown agent story.

4 out of 5

After a serious virus destroys computer chips, years later an old astronaut has to deal with the religious idiot peasants in his town.

4 out of 5

Dracaleology weaponry.

4 out of 5

Deep sea sneak suit surveillance story search snaring slice.

4 out of 5

Alien girl stay at home story.

4 out of 5

Exodus rules.

4 out of 5

Frenchie N-Ray cultural conquest.

3.5 out of 5

Millions of me.

3 out of 5

Korporate korruption x-radiation.

4 out of 5

A collection of recent sci fi, ranging across various topics. I've always been a fan of hard sci fi, and this collection contained a number of entertaining stories. A good value for the $$$.

Gardner Dozois routinely edits the best collection of the years short SF. If that's what you want then his is the one you buy first, all others second.

Each year this series is always one of the best anthologies on the market as evidenced by the numerous awards including several over the last year. As always the compilation provides readers with insight into what is happening in the genre. The twenty-eight chosen tales run the gamut displaying a widening genre that proves no boundaries exist except that of the imagination. The stories are all well written and fun to read especially contrasting styles and sub-genres. Of most interest to at least this reader is the increase of contributions that initially appeared on-line; fans will be hard pressed to figure out which first appeared in electronic media vs. print without the insightful introduction that laments the slow decline of publications. As usual Mr. Dozois does his terrific yeomen job (sort of reminding this reviewer he and me need to get a life beyond the classic bookworm) of bringing together a broad sample of science fiction that showcases the trends of 2004 inside of superb tales.

Harriet Klausner