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amoniker's review against another edition
4.0
Several stories in this collection were excellent, and almost all of them were enjoyable.
The enchanting story "The Map" by Gene Wolfe convinced me to put his Book of the New Sun series on my reading list, which I've been told is a masterpiece.
"Trojan Horse" by Michael Swanwick was another good one, and the theme of identity reminded me of the great story "Hardfought" by Greg Bear from the Year's Best First Annual collection.
There were a few whirlwind stories with singular, delirious aesthetics: "New Rose Hotel" by William Gibson, "Rock On" by Pat Cadigan, and "Black Coral" by Lucius Shepard.
"Company in the Wings" by R. A. Lafferty wasn't really a sci-fi story, but was playful with mythology and imagination, and seemed like a good excuse for the author to invent a hundred funny names. There were some beautiful, musical phrases in that one.
I enjoyed every story in the collection except for "Blued Moon" by Connie Willis, because the style seemed flat to me, and the main idea of the story (its title) hinged on a nonsensical idea, but one that wasn't whimsical or magical enough to carry the tale.
Gardner Dozois wrote in his first collection that a friend told him to always save the best story for last, and he did with "The Lucky Strike" by Kim Stanley Robinson, which imagines what it might have been like if a bombardier had been courageous enough to flub the drop of the atomic bomb. The tension as the fateful hour approaches and the protagonist's racing thoughts were very well written.
The enchanting story "The Map" by Gene Wolfe convinced me to put his Book of the New Sun series on my reading list, which I've been told is a masterpiece.
"Trojan Horse" by Michael Swanwick was another good one, and the theme of identity reminded me of the great story "Hardfought" by Greg Bear from the Year's Best First Annual collection.
There were a few whirlwind stories with singular, delirious aesthetics: "New Rose Hotel" by William Gibson, "Rock On" by Pat Cadigan, and "Black Coral" by Lucius Shepard.
"Company in the Wings" by R. A. Lafferty wasn't really a sci-fi story, but was playful with mythology and imagination, and seemed like a good excuse for the author to invent a hundred funny names. There were some beautiful, musical phrases in that one.
I enjoyed every story in the collection except for "Blued Moon" by Connie Willis, because the style seemed flat to me, and the main idea of the story (its title) hinged on a nonsensical idea, but one that wasn't whimsical or magical enough to carry the tale.
Gardner Dozois wrote in his first collection that a friend told him to always save the best story for last, and he did with "The Lucky Strike" by Kim Stanley Robinson, which imagines what it might have been like if a bombardier had been courageous enough to flub the drop of the atomic bomb. The tension as the fateful hour approaches and the protagonist's racing thoughts were very well written.
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