Customer Reviews

The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens: First Annual Collection (Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy for Teens)

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

 

 

I think that introducing young people to science fiction and fantasy is something the genres are neglecting. Unfortunately the selection of stories is poor. It is also heavily slanted, very heavily, toward fantasy. There is not one nuts and bolts hard science fiction in the lot. It is also more slanted toward feminine than masculine.

I enjoy fantasy, I also see a need for more stories appealing to young females, but not to such an extent as represented here in the first anthology series aimed at teen readers both male and female.

Of the stories Bradley Denton's "Sergeant Chip," seems best and is the most typically science fiction. "Sleeping Dragons" is the best fantasy. There is a good alternate history thrown into the mix. Several of the other fantasy stories make a good effort but the ratio of dreck to good stories is unfavorable.

For a better anthology of just science fiction try The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction. For better fantasy try The Year's Best Fantasy series by Hartwell and Cramer. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame series is also suitable for young adults and includes some fantasy.

Jane Yolen's Briar Rose is one of my all time favorite books and Patrick Nielsen Hayden is normally a great editor or co-editor of other collections. I don't know how they messed up so badly in this one.

Gary Denton

I bought this book for my just-turned 13 year old son.

I always favor books with many stories so that, if one author or story doesn't appeal to you, others in the same book may.

This was the case with my son, who liked most of the stories but disliked a few.

Overall, this was a great purchase in that it gave my son a good flavor for the genre.

Recommended.

The stories in this compilation are very juvenile. I would not suggest this book for anyone over the age of 15, and yet some of the subject material and swearing would not be suitable for children, either. This book suffers (in most cases) from the incongruity of decent stories and poor writing, lacking literary merit. While some of the language is passable, overall, I would not recomend this book to serious readers, unless you are just looking for some light pleasure reading. (Some very very light, not too terribly pleasurable pleasure reading.)

An excellent cross section of materials for the YA reader. I would recommend this to any instructor looking for a Reader that covers most of the pedagogy for YA literature.

Ten of these eleven enjoyable stories targeting young adults (but older readers will appreciate them too) were initially published in varying publications in 2004; one story "They" by Rudyard Kipling is a century old (interesting to historiographic compare to the modern writers). The stories are mostly fantasy and even the few science fiction contributions like "Sergeant Chip" have a fantasy like feel to them. The authors are a who's who of the genres with each providing a strong effort. Settings vary from Grandma's handbag (think Men in Black II) to the New York Forty-Second Street Public Library to a K-9 point of view on war. Some, as is typical of fantasy, use horror elements to enhance the plot. Each tale is well written and the editors provide the titles of other similar stories that teens would most likely enjoy. An honorable mention list adds to the experience of fostering reading amongst young adults. This is a terrific collection for young and old readers.

Harriet Klausner

This could probably be more correct title The Year's Best Fantasy and Science Fiction, given the preponderance of the former, and dragons and spear-carrying warriors on the cover.

Not a big shock given Yolen as an editor, I suppose. She has gone with what she likes or what is currently more popular. Couple of alternate-history sfish stories, and a couple of others, including the excellent Seargeant Chip novella, which makes up in length for SF what was lacking in numbers, at least.

A pretty reasonable quality anthology, given the obvious limitations on selection of stories compared to a standard Year's Best to make it American standard kid-safe or friendly to some degree or other.

They don't actually definite what they mean by teen, but it would seem to mean thirteen as opposed to seventeen I would think.

Year's Best SFF for Teens : The Faery Handbag - Kelly Link
Year's Best SFF for Teens : Blood Wolf - S. M. Stirling
Year's Best SFF for Teens : Sleeping Dragons - Lynette Aspey
Year's Best SFF for Teens : Endings - Garth Nix
Year's Best SFF for Teens : Dancer in the Dark - David Gerrold
Year's Best SFF for Teens : A Piece of Flesh - Adam Stemple
Year's Best SFF for Teens : CATNYP - Delia Sherman
Year's Best SFF for Teens : They - Rudyard Kipling
Year's Best SFF for Teens : The Wings of Meister Wilhelm - Theodora Goss,
Year's Best SFF for Teens : Displaced Persons - Leah Bobet
Year's Best SFF for Teens : Sergeant Chip - Bradley Denton

Accessory home hunt.

4 out of 5


Sea leg strategy.

3 out of 5


Superpowered alien egg boy happy at home.

4 out of 5


Same names again.

3 out of 5


Line of fairy defense.

3.5 out of 5


Burning for a change.

3.5 out of 5


Changer library danger.

3 out of 5


Shadow Kids.

3.5 out of 5


Glider escape.

3 out of 5


Oz monkey amputation breeding brooding.

4 out of 5


Dog's days of war PR betrayal promotion.

4.5 out of 5

(call this 3.75)



3.5 out of 5

I bought this book for my 13 yr. old granddaughter. She was delighted. She told me it was absolutely the best science fiction book she had ever read.

So what do I buy her next??(a rhetorical question)