Reviews for The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels

The average rating for The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-08-21 00:00:00 Tabitha Ansley Modern science fiction writers try to do too much all at once. By modern I mean anything after 1990. Before then, they came up with a nice idea and wrote a story round their single idea set either in the present or on a planet that only had three things different from Earth or in the future which only had three things different in it than 1975. These days, that’s all way too simple. If you’re writing about another planet it has to have a complex thoroughly worked-out ecology based on methane and involving magnetic semipoles connected by superstrings. If you’re writing about the future you have to cram thirtyfive edgy inventions into your first three paragraphs (and please, that old internet-in-your-eyeballs is so passe now), to assure the reader that when you talk about the year 2278 you don’t just mean they replaced all those concrete buildings with shiny mirrored ones and they now have flying taxis. All of this franticness gives me a headache. It is like they think they have to invent a whole new original world in every story. Still, of course there are many great sf stories being written, and this book had lots of excellent ones. My favourites were Greg Bear: "Blood Music" (which became a really bonkers novel, read that instead) Lucius Shepard: "Salvador" Bruce Sterling: "Dinner in Audoghast" John Crowley: "Snow" Eileen Gunn: "Stable Strategies for Middle Management" Mike Resnick: "Kirinyaga" Terry Bisson: "Bears Discover Fire" Connie Willis: "Even the Queen" Joe Haldeman: "None So Blind" Brian Stableford: "Mortimer Gray's History of Death" Michael Swanwick: "The Dead" Stephen Baxter: "People Came From Earth" David Marusek: "The Wedding Album"

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-13 00:00:00 Evan Mitchell Summary: Dozois published annual anthologies with the best published SF short works from several magazines ever since 1985. From 20 of these anthologies covering the years 1983-2002, he chose those 36 stories which impressed him as a reader the most. Obviously these are not absolutely the best stories of those years, because he didn't grab everyone in his anthologies. This is the first volume of three, where the second publishes novellas which were excluded from this first volume, and the third covering the years from 2003 to 2017. Together, they summarize and conclude those 35 years of anthologies, as there won't be no more from this master of his trade: Sadly, he passed away in 2018, may he rest in peace. Please note, that review links will lead to my blog (GR doesn't like single stories and often deletes reviews, so I've pushed those to the external site). What is to be expected from this anthology? First of all, a huge amount of stories. Also not only Science Fiction stories despite of the title - many of the stories are not exactly SF but magical realism or borderline SF at the best. Dozois tended to select literary stories which might not be to everyone's taste, but fit mine very well. As with every anthology, it is a mixed bag - some of the stories just didn't fit my taste, and I could have easily selected a better story from the according annual anthology. But I liked most and found more than a handful new favourites. Also, it is a extremely good retrospective of those years. So, if you trust Mr Dozois more than the Hugo or other awards like me, I can really recommend this huge anthology which is well worth the price and the time invested. My favourite ★★★★★ stories were Kirinyaga • 1988 • SF novelette by Mike Resnick • review Guest of Honor • 1993 • SF novelette by Robert Reed • review Wang's Carpets • 1995 • Posthuman first contact novelette by Greg Egan • review The Undiscovered • 1997 • Alternate History novelette about Shakespeare writing Hamlet at the Cherokee by William Sanders • review Story of Your Life • 1998 • first contact SF novella by Ted Chiang • review Lobsters • 2001 • Near future novelette by Charles Stross • review Breathmoss • 2002 • SF novella by Ian R. MacLeod • review Weakest ☆ or ★ stories None So Blind • 1994 • Near Future SF short story by Joe Haldeman • review The Lincoln Train • 1995 • Alternate History short story by Maureen F. McHugh • I didn't get this story at all; Lincoln didn't die after his assassination, but that had no consequence for the story. The Wedding Album • 1999 • novella by David Marusek • clones in holograms are freed by human rights movement - this started as an interesting story, but got longer and longer and the reused names confused me completely Contents (stories are ordered from oldest to newest): 1 • ★★★★ • Blood Music • 1983 • Near Future SF novelette about nano computers gone rogue by Greg Bear • review 19 • ★★★+ • “A Cabin on the Coast” • 1981 • magical realism short story about the passage to the fairy world by Gene Wolfe • review 28 • ★★★★ • Salvador • 1984 • Near Future SF short story about drug induced haluzinating soldiers by Lucius Shepard •  review 42 • ★★★+ • Trinity • 1984 • SF novella about a way of scientific search for God by Nancy Kress • review 78 • ★★ • Flying Saucer Rock and Roll • 1985 • Vintage novelette about exactly that title by Howard Waldrop • review 93 • ★★★ • Dinner in Audoghast • 1985 • Historical fiction short story by Bruce Sterling • review 103 • ★★ • Roadside Rescue • 1985 • SF short story by Pat Cadigan • review  109 • ★★★★ • Snow • 1985 • short story about recording lifes for the afterworld by John Crowley • review 121 • ★★★★ • The Winter Market • 1985 • Cyberpunk novelette about uploading minds by William Gibson • review 137 • ★★★ • The Pure Product • 1986 • Time Travel novelette about a murdering traveler in the 1980s by John Kessel • review 152 • ★★ • Stable Strategies for Middle Management • 1988 • Absurdist fiction short story covering Kafka's metamorphosis by Eileen Gunn 162 • ★★★★★ • Kirinyaga • 1988 • SF novelette about a Kenyan tribe in space by Mike Resnick • review  177 • ★★★★ • Tales from the Venia Woods • 1989 • Alternative History of an eternal Roman Empire short story by Robert Silverberg • review  191 • ★★★+ • Bears Discover Fire • 1990 • magical realism short story by Terry Bisson • review 199 • ★★★ • Even the Queen • 1992 • Near Future short story by Connie Willis • review 213 • ★★★★★ • Guest of Honor • 1993 • SF novelette by Robert Reed • review 238 • ★ • None So Blind • 1994 • Near Future SF short story by Joe Haldeman • review 246 • ★★★★ • Mortimer Gray's History of Death • 1995 • Posthuman SF novella by Brian Stableford • review 293 • ★ • The Lincoln Train • 1995 • Alternate History short story by Maureen F. McHugh • I didn't get this story at all; Lincoln didn't die after his assassination, but that had no consequence for the story. 303 • ★★★★★ • Wang's Carpets • 1995 • Posthuman first contact novelette by Greg Egan • review 328 • ★★★★ • Coming of Age in Karhide • 1995 • Hainish novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin • review 342 • ★★★★ •  The Dead • 1996 • Zomedy short story by Michael Swanwick about Zombies as the new workforce • review 352 • ★★★+ • Recording Angel • 1996 • First contact short story by Ian McDonald • review 363 • ★★★★★ • A Dry, Quiet War • 1996 • Spaghetti Western in Space novelette by Tony Daniel • review 380 • ★★★★★ • The Undiscovered • 1997 • Alternate History novelette about Shakespeare writing Hamlet at the Cherokee by William Sanders • review 400 • ★★★ • Second Skin • 1997 • Quiet War short story by Paul J. McAuley • review 418 • ★★★★★ • Story of Your Life • 1998 • first contact SF novella by Ted Chiang • review 454 • ★★+ • People Came from Earth • 1999 • SF short story by Stephen Baxter • review 464 • ☆ (DNFed) • The Wedding Album • 1999 • novella by David Marusek • clones in holograms are freed by human rights movement - this started as an interesting story, but got longer and longer and the reused names confused me completely 502 • ★★★+ • 10 to 16 to 1 • 1999 • Time travel novelette by James Patrick Kelly • review 520 • ★★★+ • Daddy's World • 1999 • Posthuman novelette by Walter Jon Williams • review 541 • ★★★+ • The Real World • 2000 • SF novelette by Steven Utley • review 561 • ★★★+ • Have Not Have • 2001 • SF novelette by Geoff Ryman • review 577 • ★★★★★ • Lobsters • 2001 • Near future novelette by Charles Stross • review 597 • ★★★★+ • Breathmoss • 2002 • SF novella by Ian R. MacLeod • review 647 • ★★+ • Lambing Season • 2002 • First contact short story by Molly Gloss • review