I know I'm getting on in years and what passes for SF and/or Fantasy today is nothing like what it used to be. But even so, this anthology was overall a disappointment. The only reason I gave it 3 stars is for the 4 stories that rated 5 stars: good ol' SF as it used to be and should be. There are quite a few that are nowhere near being SF or Fantasy. And it is depressing to note that in the list below there are 9 each that I could only rank as 1 or 2 stars and 8 that are a mere 3 stars. For an anthology that boasts of compiling the best of the year, it was either a very bad year, or the compilation criteria were seriously flawed.
For a change, I made notes while reading so, here are some details. Not spoilers, because some of these stories are already quite spoiled beyond repair.
The Contrary Gardener - Christopher Rowe - 3 star
Dystopian. But a unique blend of back to the agrarian future, machines in rebellion and farmers against Big Brother (who are also farmers)
The Woman Who Fooled Death Five Times - Eleanor Arnason - 3 star
More like a myth or fable than SF or even fantasy. Good writing, though.
Close Encounters - Andy Duncan - 1 star
Sorta reporter-meets-Spielberg-movie-character. Homage to the movie? Didn't quite work for me.
Great-Grandmother In The Cellar - Peter S. Beagle - 3 star
Excellent, though more horror-fantasy than anything else, which lopped a star off. Very evocative writing.
The Easthound - Nalo Hopkinson - 3 star
Also very good. Walking Dead told by a child whose fate it is to become one, and she knows it. Everybody becomes one. Horror. Fantasy?
GOGGLES - Caitlin R. Kiernan - 2 star
Post-apocalyptic, again child's POV. Dark. Dismal.
Bricks, Sticks, Straw - Gwyneth Jones - 2 star
Unusual take on how an AI would try to retain its sanity if cut off from its controllers (us). Good, if a bit confusingly abstract.
A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones - Genevieve Valentine - 2 star
Closer to 'real' SF than most, so far. Colonists on Europa who've evolved beyond humanity but are still human. And a lot of India in here in a positive way for a change, via a long-distance friendship/romance between the Europan and a doomed Indian mission controller back in Bangalore. Certainly something different.
The Grinnell Method - Molly Gloss - 1 star
Again apocalyptic- an ornithologist is witness to an unspecified, unexplained catastrophe that rips a hole in the sky. Too elliptical for me. I like answers to my mysteries.
Beautiful Boys - Theodora Goss - 3 star
Amusing look at the aliens-are-among-us genre, a mashup of the bodice-ripping romance and the scientific study. Light.
The Education of A Witch - Ellen Klages - 2 star
More fantasy, more child's POV. Not much more than that.
Macy Minnot's Last Christmas - Paul McAuley - 2 star
Nice writing and imaginative about mankind's colonisation of the solar system, but ultimately more a 'reminiscence' than a true a-ha.
What Did Tessimond Tell You? - Adam Roberts - 5 star!!
Finally, a true SF story with a great a-ha! a la Asimov or Clarke. Loved it! Best one so far.
Adventure Story - Neil Gaiman - 2 star
Short and sweet and Gaiman-esque. But again, leaves the reader hanging - no resolution. Best of Gaiman in 2012? Surely not.
Katabasis - Robert Reed - 1 star
Enormously long-winded and boring. Gave up on it. Imagine giving up on a short story.
Troll Blood - Peter Dickinson - 4 star
Started off dry and pedantic, but then picked up nicely and satisfyingly. I liked it ultimately.
The Color Least Used By Nature - Ted Kosmatka - 3 star
Nice writing but how does this qualify as fantasy let alone SF? More a tale of love and pain and revenge. Barely a scratch of fantasy courtesy the walking trees.
Jack Shade in the Forest of Souls - Rachel Pollack - 3 star
Nice. Horror-fantasy about a ‘Traveler’ tasked to save a soul, confronting his own demons and so on and so forth. But, nice.
Two Houses - Kelly Link - 1 star
Didn’t work for me. Too confusing and un-straightforward. I like elliptical writing as much as the next guy, but it still needs to have a point.
Blood Drive - Jeffrey Ford - 4 stars
Superb satirical piece around the US mania for guns and its (il)logical conclusion. Wonderful. But SF? Not so much.
Mantis Wives - Kij Johnson - 1 star
What is this? Wyndham meets Vanity Fair? Avoid.
Immersion - Aliette de Bodard - 2 star
Interesting concept around ‘immerser’ tech that cloaks you and transforms you. But way too long-winded and ultimately unsatisfying.
About Fairies - Pat Murphy - 1 star
An alt-fairy story (no, not that kind of fairy). Meh.
Let Maps To Others - KJ Parker - 5 star!!
Classic. Great. The sort of story that shows you how to write a long short story and still keep the reader’s interest. Quite a GoT / Tolkien world created in an entertaining short story.
Joke In Four Panels - Robert Shearman - 1 star
An alt-Snoopy-Charlie Brown story. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Charlie Brown ain’t broke. This story is pointless.
Reindeer Mountain - Karin Tidbeck - 1 star
I suppose you could classify this one as fantasy-horror but it would be a stretch. Nah.
Domestic Magic - Steve Rasnic Tem & Melanie Tem - 2 star
Yet another child POV one about a brother with a mother who is ‘gifted’ magic-wise but loony and a sister who gets them into trouble. And, of course, the narrator is the one who inherits the whatever. Not a really spoiler there: you can see it coming in para two or three.
Swift, Brutal Retaliation - Meghan McCarron - 2 star
Disturbing story about a pair of sisters haunted by the poltergeist spirit of their dead brother. This may be the modern realistic face of brutal horror writing but it sure as hell ain’t SF or Fantasy, as I once knew them. I miss them.
Nahiku West - Linda Nagata - 5 star!!
Finally, a crisp murder-mystery-political-thriller set in a genuine, believable SF world! It’s been too long coming in this book. But worth ploughing through the last 3 or 4 to get to this one. Savour it.
Fade To White - Catherynne M. Valente - 3 star
Mad Men meets Orwellian SF. Good writing about a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future where the men with good genes are selected to procreate for the sake of re-populating a shattered USA. Not bad.
Significant Dust - Margo Lanagan - 1 star
Again, how does this constitute SF? Angsty story about guilt and pain and all that, but if I wanted that I wouldn’t be reading this book. Nah.
Mono no aware - Ken Liu - 5 star!!
This almost Clarke-ian story doesn’t deserve to be at the end of the book. It should be right up front to pull the reader in. Because, it sure does. On the other hand, reading this to complete the book, leaves one with a sweet taste, one which most of the rest of this anthology does nothing to promote. This is a great story.
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