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austinbeeman's review
4.0
THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION: ELEVENTH ANNUAL COLLECTION.
RATED 85% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 3.96 OF 5
23 STORIES : 6 GREAT / 12 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 1 DNF
Addictive drugs that let you relive the past. Hillbilly sex with aliens. The poignant cost of aging that even technology cannot completely alleviate. Bioengineered rainforest. And just who or what is Road Dog? These are some of exciting science fiction stories that made Gardner Dozois’ Best of 1993.
There are so many amazing anthologies from the Science Fiction Century that choosing the next book to read is often quite difficult. This book was chosen because I had not yet found any Great Stories from 1993 and this was an easy way to solve this problem.
The anthology is solid from front to back with six Great Stories and another couple stories that were just short of that standard.
The Six Stories that Made the Great List: See all 200+stories here. https://www.shortsf.com/beststories
Papa • (1993) • novelette by Ian R. MacLeod. A tender and moving story about a man living day-to-day with the help of technology and AI. When his grandchildren arrive, it injects a vibrancy into his life that is not his normal. This is a simple structure for a tale and one that didn’t need to science fiction, but is richer for the SF elements.
Love Toys of the Gods • (1993) • short story by Pat Cadigan. A very funny story. Jimmy-Ray just had the best sex of his life — with an alien - and he’s about to discover that he is not alone.
Chaff • (1993) • novelette by Greg Egan. Bio-Engineering has spiraled out of control, turning a section of the Amazon into a dense morass that operates as a living organism that intelligently repels anyone from the outside. One man has to try to find a way to penetrate that “El Nido” and capture a scientist.
There and Then • [Silurian Tales] • (1993) • novelette by Steven Utley. Another superb story from Utley’s Silurian Tales series. A quietly human story of a writer coasting through his time in the Silurian expedition until he is assigned to chaperone documentarians that have just arrived. Through his experience, we get vignettes of the kind of people and their relationships. The intense and mundane moments of scientific work.
Lieserl • [Xeelee] • (1993) • short story by Stephen Baxter. Lieserl story is told in two alternating parts. In the first, she is a powerful explorer and scientist. At times, she is even inside the sun. In the second part, she is a born and ages with impossible speed, driving onward towards a poignant and important destiny.
Flashback • (1993) • novelette by Dan Simmons. Flashback is an addictive drug that is dominating the lives of all Americans. It allows the user to replay a moment from their past. Some people use it sexually, others to remember loved ones, but always this enveloping of past compromises the users future. Simmons tells a harrowing story of a entire family caught in various versions of their Flashbacks.
***
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eleventh Annual Collection is rated 85% positive
23 STORIES : 6 GREAT / 12 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 1 DNF
Papa • (1993) • novelette by Ian R. MacLeod
Great. A tender and moving story about a man living day-to-day with the help of technology and AI. When his grandchildren arrive, it injects a vibrancy into his life that is not his normal. This is a simple structure for a tale and one that didn’t need to science fiction, but is richer for the SF elements.
Sacred Cow • (1993) • short story by Bruce Sterling
Good. An Indian low budget film crew travel through an England devastated and depopulated by mad cow disease.
Dancing on Air • (1993) • novella by Nancy Kress
Good. Unsolved ballerina murders, many of whom have altered their bodies to get an advantage. An enhanced guard dog’s POV. Painful dynamics between mother and daughter.
A Visit to the Farside • (1993) • short story by Don Webb
Average. A not particularly memorable story on a moonrise with Soviet and American sectors.
Alien Bootlegger • (1993) • novella by Rebecca Ore
Good. When aliens move in on the moonshine business, bloodshed is the inevitable result.
Death on the Nile • (1993) • novelette by Connie Willis
Good. Did the passengers enroute to Egypt actually die during the flight? Because Egypt is haunting and dreamlike.
Friendship Bridge • (1993) • novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
DNF. I know I read this, but cannot for the life of me remember anything about it. Not a good sign, usually. I have to count this as a DNF
Into the Miranda Rift • (1993) • novella by G. David Nordley
Good. A grand trek for survival for a small space exploration team, through a giant satellite of Uranus.
Mwalimu in the Squared Circle • (1993) • short story by Mike Resnick
Good. Alternate history. Julius Nyrere accepts Idi Amin's challenge to a boxing match to end the war.
Guest of Honor • (1991) • novelette by Robert Reed
Good. A woman, built of the conglomeration of a large numbers of the world’s elite, tells the stories of her travel adventures around the universe. Adventures too dangerous for the elite.
Love Toys of the Gods • (1993) • short story by Pat Cadigan
Great. A very funny story. Jimmy-Ray just had the best sex of his life — with an alien - and he’s about to discover that he is not alone.
Chaff • (1993) • novelette by Greg Egan
Great. Bio-Engineering has spiraled out of control, turning a section of the Amazon into a dense morass that operates as a living organism that intelligently repels anyone from the outside. One man has to try to find a way to penetrate that “El Nido” and capture a scientist.
Georgia on My Mind • (1993) • novelette by Charles Sheffield
Good. This story covers the discovery of letters and remaining parts of a working Babbage Difference Engine in a farm house in New Zealand. This is a lot to like her for most of this story. Great characters and superb mood-building. The ending just seemed far too abrupt.
Cush • (1993) • novelette by Neal Barrett, Jr.
Average. A deformed child in backwoods poverty seems to have the ability to make impossible things happen for the people around him, but without consciously doing much.
On the Collection of Humans • (1994) • short fiction by Mark Rich
Average. Quirky little article about the ideal ways aliens can capture humans for study.
There and Then • [Silurian Tales] • (1993) • novelette by Steven Utley
Great. Another superb story from Utley’s Silurian Tales series. A quietly human story of a writer coasting through his time in the Silurian expedition until he is assigned to chaperone documentarians that have just arrived. Through his experience, we get vignettes of the kind of people and their relationships. The intense and mundane moments of scientific work.
The Night We Buried Road Dog • (1993) • novella by Jack Cady
Good. A superb ghost story about two friends who are both car junkies. They tear through the Americana night and see signs of a mysterious figure named Road Dog - although some people doubt his existence. Hypnotic and captivating, but not science fiction.
Feedback • (1993) • novelette by Joe Haldeman
Good. A very wealthy man hires an artist. They’ll plan to use a technology where the artist rides along within the body of customer to collaborate. As the stressful and draining process continues, it becomes apparently that something more sinister is going on behind the scenes.
Lieserl • [Xeelee] • (1993) • short story by Stephen Baxter
Great. Lieserl story is told in two alternating parts. In the first, she is a powerful explorer and scientist. At times, she is even inside the sun. In the second part, she is a born and ages with impossible speed, driving onward towards a poignant and important destiny.
Flashback • (1993) • novelette by Dan Simmons
Great. Flashback is an addictive drug that is dominating the lives of all Americans. It allows the user to replay a moment from their past. Some people use it sexually, others to remember loved ones, but always this enveloping of past compromises the users future. Simmons tells a harrowing story of a entire family caught in various versions of their Flashbacks.
A Child's Christmas in Florida • (1993) • short story by William Browning Spencer
Poor. Killing turtles, poor children awaiting Omen Day. Never found a way to connect with anything happening here.
Whispers • (1993) • novelette by David B. Kisor and Maureen F. McHugh
Good. An American doctor in China cares for the victims of a global plague, but there seems to be strange effects for the infected who were not vaccinated.
Wall, Stone, Craft • (1993) • novella by Walter Jon Williams
Good. Alternate History. Lord Byron is the military hero of Waterloo instead of a poet. He stays in the home of Mary Shelley and the two of them clash on many ideological issues. Excellent characters with interesting conversations, but just falls short of being something special.
RATED 85% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 3.96 OF 5
23 STORIES : 6 GREAT / 12 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 1 DNF
Addictive drugs that let you relive the past. Hillbilly sex with aliens. The poignant cost of aging that even technology cannot completely alleviate. Bioengineered rainforest. And just who or what is Road Dog? These are some of exciting science fiction stories that made Gardner Dozois’ Best of 1993.
There are so many amazing anthologies from the Science Fiction Century that choosing the next book to read is often quite difficult. This book was chosen because I had not yet found any Great Stories from 1993 and this was an easy way to solve this problem.
The anthology is solid from front to back with six Great Stories and another couple stories that were just short of that standard.
The Six Stories that Made the Great List: See all 200+stories here. https://www.shortsf.com/beststories
Papa • (1993) • novelette by Ian R. MacLeod. A tender and moving story about a man living day-to-day with the help of technology and AI. When his grandchildren arrive, it injects a vibrancy into his life that is not his normal. This is a simple structure for a tale and one that didn’t need to science fiction, but is richer for the SF elements.
Love Toys of the Gods • (1993) • short story by Pat Cadigan. A very funny story. Jimmy-Ray just had the best sex of his life — with an alien - and he’s about to discover that he is not alone.
Chaff • (1993) • novelette by Greg Egan. Bio-Engineering has spiraled out of control, turning a section of the Amazon into a dense morass that operates as a living organism that intelligently repels anyone from the outside. One man has to try to find a way to penetrate that “El Nido” and capture a scientist.
There and Then • [Silurian Tales] • (1993) • novelette by Steven Utley. Another superb story from Utley’s Silurian Tales series. A quietly human story of a writer coasting through his time in the Silurian expedition until he is assigned to chaperone documentarians that have just arrived. Through his experience, we get vignettes of the kind of people and their relationships. The intense and mundane moments of scientific work.
Lieserl • [Xeelee] • (1993) • short story by Stephen Baxter. Lieserl story is told in two alternating parts. In the first, she is a powerful explorer and scientist. At times, she is even inside the sun. In the second part, she is a born and ages with impossible speed, driving onward towards a poignant and important destiny.
Flashback • (1993) • novelette by Dan Simmons. Flashback is an addictive drug that is dominating the lives of all Americans. It allows the user to replay a moment from their past. Some people use it sexually, others to remember loved ones, but always this enveloping of past compromises the users future. Simmons tells a harrowing story of a entire family caught in various versions of their Flashbacks.
***
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eleventh Annual Collection is rated 85% positive
23 STORIES : 6 GREAT / 12 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 1 DNF
Papa • (1993) • novelette by Ian R. MacLeod
Great. A tender and moving story about a man living day-to-day with the help of technology and AI. When his grandchildren arrive, it injects a vibrancy into his life that is not his normal. This is a simple structure for a tale and one that didn’t need to science fiction, but is richer for the SF elements.
Sacred Cow • (1993) • short story by Bruce Sterling
Good. An Indian low budget film crew travel through an England devastated and depopulated by mad cow disease.
Dancing on Air • (1993) • novella by Nancy Kress
Good. Unsolved ballerina murders, many of whom have altered their bodies to get an advantage. An enhanced guard dog’s POV. Painful dynamics between mother and daughter.
A Visit to the Farside • (1993) • short story by Don Webb
Average. A not particularly memorable story on a moonrise with Soviet and American sectors.
Alien Bootlegger • (1993) • novella by Rebecca Ore
Good. When aliens move in on the moonshine business, bloodshed is the inevitable result.
Death on the Nile • (1993) • novelette by Connie Willis
Good. Did the passengers enroute to Egypt actually die during the flight? Because Egypt is haunting and dreamlike.
Friendship Bridge • (1993) • novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
DNF. I know I read this, but cannot for the life of me remember anything about it. Not a good sign, usually. I have to count this as a DNF
Into the Miranda Rift • (1993) • novella by G. David Nordley
Good. A grand trek for survival for a small space exploration team, through a giant satellite of Uranus.
Mwalimu in the Squared Circle • (1993) • short story by Mike Resnick
Good. Alternate history. Julius Nyrere accepts Idi Amin's challenge to a boxing match to end the war.
Guest of Honor • (1991) • novelette by Robert Reed
Good. A woman, built of the conglomeration of a large numbers of the world’s elite, tells the stories of her travel adventures around the universe. Adventures too dangerous for the elite.
Love Toys of the Gods • (1993) • short story by Pat Cadigan
Great. A very funny story. Jimmy-Ray just had the best sex of his life — with an alien - and he’s about to discover that he is not alone.
Chaff • (1993) • novelette by Greg Egan
Great. Bio-Engineering has spiraled out of control, turning a section of the Amazon into a dense morass that operates as a living organism that intelligently repels anyone from the outside. One man has to try to find a way to penetrate that “El Nido” and capture a scientist.
Georgia on My Mind • (1993) • novelette by Charles Sheffield
Good. This story covers the discovery of letters and remaining parts of a working Babbage Difference Engine in a farm house in New Zealand. This is a lot to like her for most of this story. Great characters and superb mood-building. The ending just seemed far too abrupt.
Cush • (1993) • novelette by Neal Barrett, Jr.
Average. A deformed child in backwoods poverty seems to have the ability to make impossible things happen for the people around him, but without consciously doing much.
On the Collection of Humans • (1994) • short fiction by Mark Rich
Average. Quirky little article about the ideal ways aliens can capture humans for study.
There and Then • [Silurian Tales] • (1993) • novelette by Steven Utley
Great. Another superb story from Utley’s Silurian Tales series. A quietly human story of a writer coasting through his time in the Silurian expedition until he is assigned to chaperone documentarians that have just arrived. Through his experience, we get vignettes of the kind of people and their relationships. The intense and mundane moments of scientific work.
The Night We Buried Road Dog • (1993) • novella by Jack Cady
Good. A superb ghost story about two friends who are both car junkies. They tear through the Americana night and see signs of a mysterious figure named Road Dog - although some people doubt his existence. Hypnotic and captivating, but not science fiction.
Feedback • (1993) • novelette by Joe Haldeman
Good. A very wealthy man hires an artist. They’ll plan to use a technology where the artist rides along within the body of customer to collaborate. As the stressful and draining process continues, it becomes apparently that something more sinister is going on behind the scenes.
Lieserl • [Xeelee] • (1993) • short story by Stephen Baxter
Great. Lieserl story is told in two alternating parts. In the first, she is a powerful explorer and scientist. At times, she is even inside the sun. In the second part, she is a born and ages with impossible speed, driving onward towards a poignant and important destiny.
Flashback • (1993) • novelette by Dan Simmons
Great. Flashback is an addictive drug that is dominating the lives of all Americans. It allows the user to replay a moment from their past. Some people use it sexually, others to remember loved ones, but always this enveloping of past compromises the users future. Simmons tells a harrowing story of a entire family caught in various versions of their Flashbacks.
A Child's Christmas in Florida • (1993) • short story by William Browning Spencer
Poor. Killing turtles, poor children awaiting Omen Day. Never found a way to connect with anything happening here.
Whispers • (1993) • novelette by David B. Kisor and Maureen F. McHugh
Good. An American doctor in China cares for the victims of a global plague, but there seems to be strange effects for the infected who were not vaccinated.
Wall, Stone, Craft • (1993) • novella by Walter Jon Williams
Good. Alternate History. Lord Byron is the military hero of Waterloo instead of a poet. He stays in the home of Mary Shelley and the two of them clash on many ideological issues. Excellent characters with interesting conversations, but just falls short of being something special.
mermahoney's review
4.0
Overall thoughts: A solid collection with some stand-outs and thought-provoking ideas. Some stories are definitely tied to the 90s in their themes and inspirations, though this still works for the most part. Only one story really failed for me. Just 5 of 24 authors were women (another indication of publication era, I suppose)
"Papa" - cool future world and some interesting issues raised, a little slow getting there,
"Sacred Cow" - clever premise for an alt-future tale.
"Dancing on Air" - I enjoyed this contemporary tale a lot, esp. liked the two narrative viewpoints.
"A visit to the Farside" - Cold War flavored tale, with a good twist.
“Alien Bootlegger”- What happens when an extraterrestrial tries to set up in the moonshine business? it gets pretty gonzo. Fun characters and I liked how the story was told from multiple points of view.
"Death on the Nile" a little gem by Connie Willis. When I finished I had to go back and reread parts and I'm still thinking about it today.
"Friendship Bridge" The sci-fi aspect was cool, I kind of wished that was explored more. The end pulled things together a bit clunkily (is that a word?). The story is set in a central Asian country in turmoil, so it both shows its age and is timely, alas.
"Into the Miranda Rift - Cavers on Uranus' moon Miranda. A cool, otherworldly setting, a grueling journey.
"Mwalimu in the Squared Circle"- meh, not for me.
"Guest of Honor" - Interesting future world how people might deal with immortality (resonated at bit with the earlier "Papa").
"Love Toys of the Gods" - Funny and maybe very true consideration of what we'd do if aliens really did visit us.
"Chaff" - I liked the concept, a neat consideration of future biotechnology and genetic tinkering but the ending didn't quite pull it all together.
"Georgia on My Mind - fun mystery merging sci-fi and history of science. I had a moment when they mentioned the brother of my post doc advisor as head of one of the computing organizations. That was cool.
"Cush" - definitely falls in the New Weird category. I liked it a lot, even though I'm not completely sure what happened at the end.
"On the Collection of Humans" - very short and nicely done.
"There and Then- Time travel to a gentler time, though it seems some problems are timeless. I liked he visit to the (distant) past and enjoyed the perspective of the narrator.
"The Night We Buried Road Dog" - this was more of a ghost story or paranormal mystery, bit I liked it and the narrator's voice.
“Feedback” Joe Haldeman - Creepy, effective story about future technology, unfortunately the misogyny is a feature, not a bug. Content warning
“Lieserl” - touching, even wonderful, story about how we might use human bioengineering to our benefit in the future, but there’s still a human cost.
“Flashback” Dan Simmons - imaginative and depressing, but possibly realistic, dystopia about drugs and the decline of the USA. Digs at Reagan era policies did not go unappreciated.
“A child’s Christmas in Florida” - not sure this is sci-fi, or how I’d categorize it, however it did leave me like o.O so that was good. Content warning
“Whispers” - this was a cool medical mystery about a future global plague, I liked the narrative POV, the ending didn’t quite payoff though, needed a bit more something for me, maybe just more concrete resolution (ah well).
"Wall, Stone, Craft" - alt-history take on some well known writers of the 19th century and how they might have interacted. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I'd known more about the actual history and knew where this departed.
"Papa" - cool future world and some interesting issues raised, a little slow getting there,
"Sacred Cow" - clever premise for an alt-future tale.
"Dancing on Air" - I enjoyed this contemporary tale a lot, esp. liked the two narrative viewpoints.
"A visit to the Farside" - Cold War flavored tale, with a good twist.
“Alien Bootlegger”- What happens when an extraterrestrial tries to set up in the moonshine business? it gets pretty gonzo. Fun characters and I liked how the story was told from multiple points of view.
"Death on the Nile" a little gem by Connie Willis. When I finished I had to go back and reread parts and I'm still thinking about it today.
"Friendship Bridge" The sci-fi aspect was cool, I kind of wished that was explored more. The end pulled things together a bit clunkily (is that a word?). The story is set in a central Asian country in turmoil, so it both shows its age and is timely, alas.
"Into the Miranda Rift - Cavers on Uranus' moon Miranda. A cool, otherworldly setting, a grueling journey.
"Mwalimu in the Squared Circle"- meh, not for me.
"Guest of Honor" - Interesting future world how people might deal with immortality (resonated at bit with the earlier "Papa").
"Love Toys of the Gods" - Funny and maybe very true consideration of what we'd do if aliens really did visit us.
"Chaff" - I liked the concept, a neat consideration of future biotechnology and genetic tinkering but the ending didn't quite pull it all together.
"Georgia on My Mind - fun mystery merging sci-fi and history of science. I had a moment when they mentioned the brother of my post doc advisor as head of one of the computing organizations. That was cool.
"Cush" - definitely falls in the New Weird category. I liked it a lot, even though I'm not completely sure what happened at the end.
"On the Collection of Humans" - very short and nicely done.
"There and Then- Time travel to a gentler time, though it seems some problems are timeless. I liked he visit to the (distant) past and enjoyed the perspective of the narrator.
"The Night We Buried Road Dog" - this was more of a ghost story or paranormal mystery, bit I liked it and the narrator's voice.
“Feedback” Joe Haldeman - Creepy, effective story about future technology, unfortunately the misogyny is a feature, not a bug. Content warning
Spoiler
2 murders, one by stabbing“Lieserl” - touching, even wonderful, story about how we might use human bioengineering to our benefit in the future, but there’s still a human cost.
“Flashback” Dan Simmons - imaginative and depressing, but possibly realistic, dystopia about drugs and the decline of the USA. Digs at Reagan era policies did not go unappreciated.
“A child’s Christmas in Florida” - not sure this is sci-fi, or how I’d categorize it, however it did leave me like o.O so that was good. Content warning
Spoiler
death of small animals“Whispers” - this was a cool medical mystery about a future global plague, I liked the narrative POV, the ending didn’t quite payoff though, needed a bit more something for me, maybe just more concrete resolution (ah well).
"Wall, Stone, Craft" - alt-history take on some well known writers of the 19th century and how they might have interacted. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I'd known more about the actual history and knew where this departed.
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