The Year's Best Science Fiction
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Gardner Dozois, winner of nine Hugo Awards for best editor, pulls together the finest works of contemporary science fiction. This annual anthology, considered to be the definitive collection of the genre, blends together a wide variety of authors and styles. Space opera, Asimov, international science fiction writers, and hard sf are all found in this collection of 28 stories.Publishers WeeklyThis annual anthology remains the best one-stop shop for short fiction, and it's a must for fans of literary SF. The notion of intelligence links several stories. Nancy Kress, in "Computer Virus," posits an intelligent computer program trying to save its life, but it does so by risking that of a child. The dense and busy "Lobsters" by Charles Stross considers the implications of denying intelligent uploaded constructs here, of lobsters human rights or autonomy. Michael Blumlein's zany "Know How, Can Do," easily the best story, posits a self-aware worm linked to a human brain, told from the point of view of the worm, "Flowers for Algernon"-style, as it acquires human intelligence, language and emotions. Alternative realities remain a productive theme. In "The Two Dicks," Paul McAuley posits an alternative reality where Philip K. Dick, who in this world wrote mainstream fiction instead of SF, meets Nixon. Ken MacLeod's ambitious, character-driven "The Human Front," set in an alternative reality just a little different from ours, describes a man's growth toward adulthood in a war-torn Britain. Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, Maureen F. McHugh and Paul Di Filippo also contribute especially memorable tales. Although one could quibble with Dozois's choices and there are one or two clunkers in here this anthology is an enjoyable read that overall maintains high standards of quality and variety. It's essential for SF fans who simply don't have time to separate the wheat from the chaff on their own. (July 23) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Summation: 1998xiOceanic1Approaching Perimelasma37Craphound56Jedella Ghost72Taklamakan87The Island of the Immortals118Sea Change, with Monsters126Divided By Infinity161US181The Days of Solomon Gursky191The Cuckoo's Boys234The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness277The Very Pulse of the Machine289Story of Your Life304Voivodoi339Saddlepoint: Roughneck349This Side of Independence393Unborn Again404Grist416La Cenerentola462Down in the Dark476Free in Asveroth510The Dancing Floor524The Summer Isles544Honorable Mentions: 1998603
