Scan barcode
A review by spacenoirdetective
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois
4.0
We got some medley of stories here, same as all the rest.
The Great
* Off on a Starship by William Barton - One of my favorite stories from this volume. A great, lighthearted tale of a boy who runs away on a starship and has adventures and makes a robot wife who loves him and makes him ice cream. You can't get any more of a 1960s homage than that.
* Calling Your Name by Howard Waldrop - A really funny comedy story about a man who slips into another dimension. This could be a modern Twilight Zone episode.
* June Sixteenth at Anna's by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - I don't know what it is about this story that sticks in my head so much. Perhaps it's indicative of the vanity of self proclaimed bohemians who make a big deal out of the slightest bit of fame. Either way, it's a story of grief and memory. Lovely writing.
* The Green Leopard Plague by Walter Jon Williams - absolutely fucking kickass action adventure mystery story taking place both in the near future and the future a few centuries from that as a young girl looks into the real origins of a plague which was anything but an ailment.
* The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi - A devastating dystopian future in which a girl is modified to be a human musical instrument, in exquisite pain in a feudal, fractured America. Bacigalupi is destined to write great things and I cannot wait to read Windup Girl because of this story.
* The Cookie Monster by Vernor Vinge - Another winner. Great, interesting, and totally real main character. A young, ambitious lower class girl with a big attitude meets a virtual reality scenario she did not expect when she took this job. Mind bending reality twists abound. Think Matrix meets Office Space.
* It's All True by John Kessel - A time traveler meets Orson Welles. A tidy little tale.
* The Eyes of America by Geoffrey A. Landis - Edison Vs. Tesla alternate world story. The showdown between the two escalates technology ahead of what we experienced by that time, for sure. Thoroughly entertaining.
* "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Heart" by Kage Baker - another winner from Baker. She is incapable of writing a bad short story.
AND THE REST...
* Rogue Farm by Charles Stross - What? People become something like the Borg on floating cubes that merge them together and they float over farms in future England? Was there a story here?
* The Ice by Steven Popkes - Future hockey player finds out he's a clone. Well written and bittersweet. Not terribly interesting, though.
* EJ-ES by Nancy Kress - Mediocre tale of a mediocre alien society. This reminded me a lot of that Enterprise episode where they find the retard mutant humans who live in a cave. Whoopedy whoop.
* The Bellman by John Varley - Murder mystery, space cops, boring and disgusting.
* The Bear's Baby by Judith Moffett - Aliens land and stop us from procreating! OH NO. Seriously though, this story never felt realistic.
* Dead Worlds by Jack Skillingstead - Bizarre and depressing but well written story about a man suffering from scientifically exploring other worlds from a lab.
* King Dragon by Michael Swanwick - Dark, grimy, rather hopeless dystopia ruled by a sentient aircraft. Didn't particularly care for this one.
* Singletons in Love by Paul Melko - Singularity makes for hard dating, apparently.
* Anomalous Structures of My Dreams by M. Shayne Bell - an okay story about two hospital patients and some weird subconscious shit
* Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove - I don't care for Turtledove's writing. Ever. I tried to read this but bleh.
* Birth Days by Geoff Ryman - Gay men learn they can have butt babies. Through science. Butt babies. And then they go to Brazil. To have butt babies. And did I mention there are butt babies? BUTT BABIES.
* Awake in the Night by John C. Wright - ethereal and atmospheric Night Land inspired fiction. Emulates 1920s weird fiction style well.
* The Long Way Home by James Van Pelt - Intelligently written post nuclear apocalypse story.
* Night of Time [Marrow) by Robert Reed - an insane genius clones himself ala the Brazil Boys and they are not too happy about it.
* Strong Medicine by William Shunn - Old doctor is angry at nanotech for replacing him and is going to kill himself out of self pity. Then, totally randomly, a nuclear bomb blast goes off in the distance and he goes flying and I shit you not, this gives him happiness and purpose again. What. The. Fuck.
* Send Me a Mentagram by Dominic Green - A ship in the Antarctic has a deadly disease and a mystery...can it be solved? Maybe!
* And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon by Paul Di Filippo - Appliances get intelligent and somewhat sassy. Di Fillipo is usually clever, this is no exception
I confess to not reading the following:
* Flashmen by Terry Dowling
* Dragonhead by Nicholas A. DiChario
* Dear Abbey by Terry Bisson
The Great
* Off on a Starship by William Barton - One of my favorite stories from this volume. A great, lighthearted tale of a boy who runs away on a starship and has adventures and makes a robot wife who loves him and makes him ice cream. You can't get any more of a 1960s homage than that.
* Calling Your Name by Howard Waldrop - A really funny comedy story about a man who slips into another dimension. This could be a modern Twilight Zone episode.
* June Sixteenth at Anna's by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - I don't know what it is about this story that sticks in my head so much. Perhaps it's indicative of the vanity of self proclaimed bohemians who make a big deal out of the slightest bit of fame. Either way, it's a story of grief and memory. Lovely writing.
* The Green Leopard Plague by Walter Jon Williams - absolutely fucking kickass action adventure mystery story taking place both in the near future and the future a few centuries from that as a young girl looks into the real origins of a plague which was anything but an ailment.
* The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi - A devastating dystopian future in which a girl is modified to be a human musical instrument, in exquisite pain in a feudal, fractured America. Bacigalupi is destined to write great things and I cannot wait to read Windup Girl because of this story.
* The Cookie Monster by Vernor Vinge - Another winner. Great, interesting, and totally real main character. A young, ambitious lower class girl with a big attitude meets a virtual reality scenario she did not expect when she took this job. Mind bending reality twists abound. Think Matrix meets Office Space.
* It's All True by John Kessel - A time traveler meets Orson Welles. A tidy little tale.
* The Eyes of America by Geoffrey A. Landis - Edison Vs. Tesla alternate world story. The showdown between the two escalates technology ahead of what we experienced by that time, for sure. Thoroughly entertaining.
* "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Heart" by Kage Baker - another winner from Baker. She is incapable of writing a bad short story.
AND THE REST...
* Rogue Farm by Charles Stross - What? People become something like the Borg on floating cubes that merge them together and they float over farms in future England? Was there a story here?
* The Ice by Steven Popkes - Future hockey player finds out he's a clone. Well written and bittersweet. Not terribly interesting, though.
* EJ-ES by Nancy Kress - Mediocre tale of a mediocre alien society. This reminded me a lot of that Enterprise episode where they find the retard mutant humans who live in a cave. Whoopedy whoop.
* The Bellman by John Varley - Murder mystery, space cops, boring and disgusting.
* The Bear's Baby by Judith Moffett - Aliens land and stop us from procreating! OH NO. Seriously though, this story never felt realistic.
* Dead Worlds by Jack Skillingstead - Bizarre and depressing but well written story about a man suffering from scientifically exploring other worlds from a lab.
* King Dragon by Michael Swanwick - Dark, grimy, rather hopeless dystopia ruled by a sentient aircraft. Didn't particularly care for this one.
* Singletons in Love by Paul Melko - Singularity makes for hard dating, apparently.
* Anomalous Structures of My Dreams by M. Shayne Bell - an okay story about two hospital patients and some weird subconscious shit
* Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove - I don't care for Turtledove's writing. Ever. I tried to read this but bleh.
* Birth Days by Geoff Ryman - Gay men learn they can have butt babies. Through science. Butt babies. And then they go to Brazil. To have butt babies. And did I mention there are butt babies? BUTT BABIES.
* Awake in the Night by John C. Wright - ethereal and atmospheric Night Land inspired fiction. Emulates 1920s weird fiction style well.
* The Long Way Home by James Van Pelt - Intelligently written post nuclear apocalypse story.
* Night of Time [Marrow) by Robert Reed - an insane genius clones himself ala the Brazil Boys and they are not too happy about it.
* Strong Medicine by William Shunn - Old doctor is angry at nanotech for replacing him and is going to kill himself out of self pity. Then, totally randomly, a nuclear bomb blast goes off in the distance and he goes flying and I shit you not, this gives him happiness and purpose again. What. The. Fuck.
* Send Me a Mentagram by Dominic Green - A ship in the Antarctic has a deadly disease and a mystery...can it be solved? Maybe!
* And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon by Paul Di Filippo - Appliances get intelligent and somewhat sassy. Di Fillipo is usually clever, this is no exception
I confess to not reading the following:
* Flashmen by Terry Dowling
* Dragonhead by Nicholas A. DiChario
* Dear Abbey by Terry Bisson