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marmarta's review
adventurous
3.0
It's an anthology, so my rating is an average.
James Patrick Kelly, think like a dinosaur : somewhat creepy in a "wow men were creeps back then" way, but a decent story and a nice horror piece, an exploration of the creepier implications of teleportation 4/5
Patricia A. McKillip, Wonders of the Invisible World: fine, but too short. Time travelling academics trying to support themselves. Connie Willis did it better. 2/5
Robert Silberberg, Hot Times in Magma City. Decent but misogynistic and not that interesting to a non American. California is burning? So I've heard. 2/5
Stephen Baxter, Gossamer. A really good one, in the tradition of "people land in a weird place and find aliens". 4/5
Gregory Benfore, A Worm in the Well. Really nice piece of hard sf. You are tempted to calculate stuff yourself. 5/5
William Browning Spencer, Downloading Midnight. Also really misogynist at times (women are objects and not subject s), but engrossing at least. 3/5
Joe Haldemann, For White Hill. Really, really good. See? You can be an old dude writer and not be misogynist! Melancholy and interesting look at art. 5/5
William Barton, In Saturn Time. American masturbatory fantasy of the possible greatness of that country. 1/5
Ursula K. Le Guin, Coming of Age in Karhide. Good genderfuckery. Less revolutionary now than in 1996, but still great 5/5
Roger Żelazny, The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker. Classical sf. Nice and fun
4/5
Nancy Kress, Evolution. A story about pandemics and diseases. Hits different than in 1996, but good. 5/5
Robert Sheckley, The Day the Aliens Came. A bit of SF absurdism. Fine. 3/5
Joan Slonczewski, microbe. Amazing bio SF. Small but punchy. 5/5
Gene Wolfe, The Ziggurat. Boring drivel of a frustrated dude (probably divorce) who things women are animals and wants his own small (and weak) waifu to control. 0/5
James Patrick Kelly, think like a dinosaur : somewhat creepy in a "wow men were creeps back then" way, but a decent story and a nice horror piece, an exploration of the creepier implications of teleportation 4/5
Patricia A. McKillip, Wonders of the Invisible World: fine, but too short. Time travelling academics trying to support themselves. Connie Willis did it better. 2/5
Robert Silberberg, Hot Times in Magma City. Decent but misogynistic and not that interesting to a non American. California is burning? So I've heard. 2/5
Stephen Baxter, Gossamer. A really good one, in the tradition of "people land in a weird place and find aliens". 4/5
Gregory Benfore, A Worm in the Well. Really nice piece of hard sf. You are tempted to calculate stuff yourself. 5/5
William Browning Spencer, Downloading Midnight. Also really misogynist at times (women are objects and not subject s), but engrossing at least. 3/5
Joe Haldemann, For White Hill. Really, really good. See? You can be an old dude writer and not be misogynist! Melancholy and interesting look at art. 5/5
William Barton, In Saturn Time. American masturbatory fantasy of the possible greatness of that country. 1/5
Ursula K. Le Guin, Coming of Age in Karhide. Good genderfuckery. Less revolutionary now than in 1996, but still great 5/5
Roger Żelazny, The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker. Classical sf. Nice and fun
4/5
Nancy Kress, Evolution. A story about pandemics and diseases. Hits different than in 1996, but good. 5/5
Robert Sheckley, The Day the Aliens Came. A bit of SF absurdism. Fine. 3/5
Joan Slonczewski, microbe. Amazing bio SF. Small but punchy. 5/5
Gene Wolfe, The Ziggurat. Boring drivel of a frustrated dude (probably divorce) who things women are animals and wants his own small (and weak) waifu to control. 0/5
austinbeeman's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first volume of David G. Hartwell’s exceptional Year’s Best anthology series that would run from 1996 to 2013. Hartwell created this collection because he believed that …
For decades, until recently, there was usually one of more good year’s best anthologies available in paperback in the SF field. The last ones vanished with the deaths of distinguished editors Terry Carr and Donald A. Wollheim. There has been a notable gap. This book fills that need.
Hartwell also was convinced that modern SF collections had blurred the boundaries of science fiction. He wanted to reaffirm that true Science Fiction was still alive and well in 1996.
This a very strong collection with 3 truly superb stories. It is a serious launch for this new collection and I’m really looking forward to exploring future volumes.
Year’s Best SF is rated 89%.
11 good / 3 average / 0 poor.
Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly
Good. A man facilitates transporter technology for a race of dinosaur-like aliens and must make a horrible decision.
Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia A. McKillip
Good. A time traveler has a crisis of conscience we she must impersonate angels in a time when women are burned for witchcraft.
Hot Times in Magna City by Robert Silverberg
Good. An exceptionally thrilling tale of recovery convicts and drug-addicts who must fight volcanoes in future Los Angeles. Suspenseful, thrilling, but also deep. The explosions of magna correspond nicely to the addictions and pain that bubbles beneath the main characters. This is a interest tale to read in 2020, when convicts are conscripted to fight extreme California wildfires.
Gossmer by Stephen Baxter
Good. A couple of scientists crash onto Pluto and make a discovery that places their lives in danger. Unless they can invent a new way to get home.
A Worm in the Well by Gregory Benford
Good. A woman running a salvage ship is deeply in debt to a Japanacorp and tries to capture a wormhole trapped near the sun for a big payday.
Downloading Midnight by William Browning Spencer
Good. In a sexually conservative cyberpunk future, the only porn is AI copies of people. When one goes beserk and rampages through the “Highway,” two men are sent in to eliminate it and find a deeper mystery than they bargained for.
For White Hill by Joe Haldeman
Good. A masterpiece really. Two artists from different worlds fall in love while exploring a nearly dead planet earth which was destroyed by nanotechnology during a war.
In Saturn Time by William Barton
Average. An alternate history that postulates that the space program would have continued and grown if American presidential elections had go in a different direction.
Coming of Age in Karhide by Ursula K. Le Guin
Good. A companion piece to Le Guin masterpiece “The Left Hand of Darkness.” She returns to this world to detail a young person’s first Kemmer - where their asexual body becomes male or female to reproduce.
The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker by Roger Zelazny
Average. A space accident has Jeremy Baker being pulled to his destruction in a black hole. Along the way he meets an alien that may offer a second chance.
Evolution by Nancy Kress
Good. Antibiotic-immune diseases are making hospitals no-go zones. Mix in family dynamics, anti-science terrorism, and really well written characters. This is a very good story. And has quite a bit of resonance as I read it in 2020.
The Day the Aliens Came by Robert Sheckley
Average. Quirky and superficial tale with multiple alien races connect through madcap interactions
Microbe by Joan Slonczewski
Good. A woman scientist explored a dangerous world with the assistance of two AIs. One of which acts as her spacesuit.
The Ziggurat by Gene Wolfe
Good. Chilling, thrilling, suspenseful, and complex. A man waits alone in a cabin during a blizzard as his wife and three children arrive. They are brutally attacked by people (?) from another world or time (?). Propulsive and riveting, leading to a gut punch of an ending. Superb story!
For decades, until recently, there was usually one of more good year’s best anthologies available in paperback in the SF field. The last ones vanished with the deaths of distinguished editors Terry Carr and Donald A. Wollheim. There has been a notable gap. This book fills that need.
Hartwell also was convinced that modern SF collections had blurred the boundaries of science fiction. He wanted to reaffirm that true Science Fiction was still alive and well in 1996.
This a very strong collection with 3 truly superb stories. It is a serious launch for this new collection and I’m really looking forward to exploring future volumes.
Year’s Best SF is rated 89%.
11 good / 3 average / 0 poor.
Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly
Good. A man facilitates transporter technology for a race of dinosaur-like aliens and must make a horrible decision.
Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia A. McKillip
Good. A time traveler has a crisis of conscience we she must impersonate angels in a time when women are burned for witchcraft.
Hot Times in Magna City by Robert Silverberg
Good. An exceptionally thrilling tale of recovery convicts and drug-addicts who must fight volcanoes in future Los Angeles. Suspenseful, thrilling, but also deep. The explosions of magna correspond nicely to the addictions and pain that bubbles beneath the main characters. This is a interest tale to read in 2020, when convicts are conscripted to fight extreme California wildfires.
Gossmer by Stephen Baxter
Good. A couple of scientists crash onto Pluto and make a discovery that places their lives in danger. Unless they can invent a new way to get home.
A Worm in the Well by Gregory Benford
Good. A woman running a salvage ship is deeply in debt to a Japanacorp and tries to capture a wormhole trapped near the sun for a big payday.
Downloading Midnight by William Browning Spencer
Good. In a sexually conservative cyberpunk future, the only porn is AI copies of people. When one goes beserk and rampages through the “Highway,” two men are sent in to eliminate it and find a deeper mystery than they bargained for.
For White Hill by Joe Haldeman
Good. A masterpiece really. Two artists from different worlds fall in love while exploring a nearly dead planet earth which was destroyed by nanotechnology during a war.
In Saturn Time by William Barton
Average. An alternate history that postulates that the space program would have continued and grown if American presidential elections had go in a different direction.
Coming of Age in Karhide by Ursula K. Le Guin
Good. A companion piece to Le Guin masterpiece “The Left Hand of Darkness.” She returns to this world to detail a young person’s first Kemmer - where their asexual body becomes male or female to reproduce.
The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker by Roger Zelazny
Average. A space accident has Jeremy Baker being pulled to his destruction in a black hole. Along the way he meets an alien that may offer a second chance.
Evolution by Nancy Kress
Good. Antibiotic-immune diseases are making hospitals no-go zones. Mix in family dynamics, anti-science terrorism, and really well written characters. This is a very good story. And has quite a bit of resonance as I read it in 2020.
The Day the Aliens Came by Robert Sheckley
Average. Quirky and superficial tale with multiple alien races connect through madcap interactions
Microbe by Joan Slonczewski
Good. A woman scientist explored a dangerous world with the assistance of two AIs. One of which acts as her spacesuit.
The Ziggurat by Gene Wolfe
Good. Chilling, thrilling, suspenseful, and complex. A man waits alone in a cabin during a blizzard as his wife and three children arrive. They are brutally attacked by people (?) from another world or time (?). Propulsive and riveting, leading to a gut punch of an ending. Superb story!
tarana's review against another edition
3.0
Let me preface this with the fact that I'm not a fan of hard science fiction. That said, there were several outstanding stories. Think Like A Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly was pretty unique. It was a bit shocking. Robert Silverberg's story Hot Times in Magma City was good, but what made it great is his turn of phrase. Nancy Kress-Evolution - her story was excellent - I plan to read more by her. Robert Sheckley's story The Day The Aliens Came was quirky and enjoyable. Joan Slonczewski - Microbe! What's not to like about bagel creatures? So darn cute!
[b:Think Like a Dinosaur|13582015|Think Like a Dinosaur|James Patrick Kelly|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333782350i/13582015._SX50_.jpg|19167710]
[b:Hot Times in Magma City, 1990-95|17654196|Hot Times in Magma City, 1990-95|Robert Silverberg|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1376877859i/17654196._SX50_.jpg|24631056]
[b:Think Like a Dinosaur|13582015|Think Like a Dinosaur|James Patrick Kelly|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333782350i/13582015._SX50_.jpg|19167710]
[b:Hot Times in Magma City, 1990-95|17654196|Hot Times in Magma City, 1990-95|Robert Silverberg|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1376877859i/17654196._SX50_.jpg|24631056]
bloodravenlib's review against another edition
4.0
I took a guess on the date. However, when this anthology first came out, I bought it. I have been getting the other ones every year since. It is one of the best annual science fiction collections.
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