The Year's Best Science Fiction, 22nd Annual Collection
I picked up the 22nd collection of The Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois, at Half Price Books a couple of weeks ago, not having read any of this series of collections before. I'm so glad I did. This is a wonderful way to find great short science fiction. I have subscriptions to Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's, and Analog, which brings lots of good short SF to my door, but this series introduces lots of fiction that I would not be able to find on my own.
Some favorites from this collection: "The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi, "Scout's Honor" by Terry Bisson, "Leviathan Wept" by Daniel Abraham, "Shiva in Shadow" by Nancy Kress, "Riding the White Bull" by Caitlin R. Kiernan, "Footvote" by Peter F. Hamilton, and "Mayflower II" by Stephen Baxter.
The stories by Bisson, Kress, Kiernan, Hamilton, and Baxter are really fantastic, filled with lovely writing and fascinating ideas. And this particular combination of authors illustrates just what I like about this collection. Bisson and Baxter are familiar names to me and I have other instances of their work already, but the others--Kress, Kiernan, and Hamilton--are new to me. So the collection is extremely useful in introducing new work by familiar authors and in introducing new authors to a broader public (and to me).
All of these stories (and the many stories I didn't mention here--there wasn't a single story I didn't enjoy) are well worth reading and worth being singled out for the collection; Bacigalupi and Abraham's stories are ones, however, that deserve special mention. I plan to incorporate both of these stories into my fall literature course. Bacigalupi's story is about human relationships with animals, both sentimental and practical, and Abraham's story is a political thriller about terrorism and religion. Both raise questions I want to address in my class and manage to do so in new (especially to a group of students who don't really read SF) and interesting ways.
Since beginning to read this collection, I've bought as many of the others of this series as I've been able to by browsing my local Half Price Books stores. I can't wait to read more.
Some favorites from this collection: "The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi, "Scout's Honor" by Terry Bisson, "Leviathan Wept" by Daniel Abraham, "Shiva in Shadow" by Nancy Kress, "Riding the White Bull" by Caitlin R. Kiernan, "Footvote" by Peter F. Hamilton, and "Mayflower II" by Stephen Baxter.
The stories by Bisson, Kress, Kiernan, Hamilton, and Baxter are really fantastic, filled with lovely writing and fascinating ideas. And this particular combination of authors illustrates just what I like about this collection. Bisson and Baxter are familiar names to me and I have other instances of their work already, but the others--Kress, Kiernan, and Hamilton--are new to me. So the collection is extremely useful in introducing new work by familiar authors and in introducing new authors to a broader public (and to me).
All of these stories (and the many stories I didn't mention here--there wasn't a single story I didn't enjoy) are well worth reading and worth being singled out for the collection; Bacigalupi and Abraham's stories are ones, however, that deserve special mention. I plan to incorporate both of these stories into my fall literature course. Bacigalupi's story is about human relationships with animals, both sentimental and practical, and Abraham's story is a political thriller about terrorism and religion. Both raise questions I want to address in my class and manage to do so in new (especially to a group of students who don't really read SF) and interesting ways.
Since beginning to read this collection, I've bought as many of the others of this series as I've been able to by browsing my local Half Price Books stores. I can't wait to read more.