I've been reading Science Fiction since I was 6 years old, beginning with A Journey to the Mushroom Planet. I grew up with it, through a lot of interesting changes and artistic development. The Year's Best Science Fiction anthology was something I looked forward to reading each summer and when editor Gardner Dozois journeyed on, I wondered if the attempt to continue should be made. As an editor, Dozois left a legacy for Science Fiction that helped to not only change the way it is viewed as literature, but uplifted the quality of the work, and his extensive review of the year past in book, pulp, TV and film was as important as the stories he chose to include. I both mourned the loss of this wonderful asset to the genre, and dreaded that anyone would attempt to continue the tradition, so when I read that Jonathon Strahan was going to reboot the concept, I wasn't sure, but was willing to give it a try and eagerly awaited the new publication.

I was not disappointed. Strahan has done what I thought was impossible, edited a Year's Best collection that is a worthy successor to the name. The stories chosen represent the high artistry concept in Dozois collections, while perhaps pushing the literary quality even further through the inclusion of some of the best writers in the field, for example Bear, Jemisin, Liu, Singh, Yoachim. My favorite, it is hard to choose, might be The Archcronology of Love, but they are all challenging and satisfying reads. The kind of stories that make you go back and make note of the author, and then put the book down to think about what you just read. And Strahan also does that delightful thing that Dozois did, the subtle link between stories.

Perhaps Strahan did not included quite a extensive review in depth of the year past in publication and media, but he includes a very long list of stories you might also like to read, any of which were probably worthy of inclusion in this anthology, so the reading pleasure can go on as long as you like. If you are hesitating about reading Strahan's anthology, I recommend it. It is truly a worthy successor to a long tradition, different in good ways, and similar in being of the highest quality. I look forward to next year's anthology with great anticipation.

I give this 4 stars because there are several five star stories, plenty of 4 star stories, and just as many 3 star stories (in my opinion), so it keeps the review mathematically honest. If the reader is a science fiction fan, I recommend that they should buy this book for the following reasons: 1st reason: Above average number of good stories. Second reason: SF Anthologies seem to be in some kind of crisis mode or death spiral since Gardner Dozois passed away in 2018: Neil Clark's volume 9 has turned into vapor ware and this volume's editor, Johnathan Strahan, anthologizes no more. Purchase the new versions of any anthologies of SF short stories so that the publisher, editor and authors earn royalties, thereby encouraging more. There's a weird 3 page "story" in this volume: "It's 2059, and the Rich Kids Are Still Winning" by Ted Chiang which starts on page123. It appears more of a sociological rant than science fiction. Just putting "2059" in the title doesn't make a story science fiction. Enjoy the remaining stories and remember to pay a few extra bucks for a new book and help feed the starving editors and authors.

love sci-fi short stories

All the stories are well written. But a lot of them didn't feel like true science fiction. Didn't really connect.

The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Volume 1 is a huge anthology of science fiction short (and not-s-short stories) that was refreshing in its breadth and speaks to a bright future for science fiction. With twenty-eight stories, it’s about twice the size of most anthologies. That is a mixed blessing in that I sometimes felt it was taking me too long to read. There’s Mount TBR piled so high and I am spending days and days on one book. However, I can’t think of a story that I wish I had not read.

There are a few stories that will haunt me, though. “Song of the Birds” by Saleem Haddad had me sobbing as I began to realize what the song revealed. It was one of the more heartbreaking stories I have read in years, in part because it projects a future where we don’t even try to solve our hard problems. Of course, it’s not the only story that predicts an entirely predictable grim future where today’s metropolises are underwater and scarcity is everywhere.

There are stories that seem like they are just the day after tomorrow. “Thoughts and Prayer” by Ken Liu was heartbreaking, but seemed very much of today, a family tragedy made worse by social media trolls and deep fakes. Others are farther afield, a couple going to the moon for their honeymoon and a woman leading an investigation of what went wrong at a failed interplanetary colony. One of the most affecting was the story of sentient machines taking measurements deep at sea and suddenly realizing they have been cut off…and one of them’s desperate and bold effort to find her way home. “Painter of Trees” by Suzanne Palmer is a simple story, but probably will stick with me the longest, about how colonization can lead to extinction even when you wish it would not.

I loved most of the stories in The Year’s Best Science Fiction and didn’t dislike any of them. It really is an outstanding collection of short stories and from a widely diverse group of authors. The only thing I disliked was the Introduction which seemed more like a State of the Union of Science Fiction address, with far too much detail on the ins and outs of publishing, books published, speeches given, writers passed, and awards given than an introduction to an anthology. I would much rather just get to the excellent stories.

I received an e-galley of The Year’s Best Science Fiction from the publisher through NetGalley

The Year’s Best Science Fiction at Gallery | Saga Books

Jonathan Strahan

An excellent book of science fiction and speculative fiction to read. The beginning of the volume is the standard industrial discussion given in most science fiction anthologies of the year. There are introductions of the authors at the beginning of each short story. At the end of this volume there is a recommended list of reading of science fiction.

I enjoyed reading it. The stories are excellent with some authors that I knew and those I didn’t know. I definitely have some authors to add to my authors to watch for list (for my reading pleasure). I know I will be looking for volume 2 next year! This is a must read for all science fiction lovers!

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review or any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

I came on here to see what people were thinking about this awful collection. Even those who like this book must be able to see that is one poorly written identity-based political statement after another, thinly disguised as stories.

Now, there's nothing wrong with stories taking a certain viewpoint and an author using that story to push a certain worldview, but the stories picked for this volume use the sledgehammer approach, with no subtlety or literary quality to almost any story in this book. It is one poorly written, mediocre screed after another.

If a writer wants to make a point, they need to do so within the confines of a well-thought out story, one that's entertaining, with developed characters! Growing up reading New Wave SF of the 60's I'm certainly used to and OK with, heck I know going in it's coming, a left-leaning world view. But the great writers of SF know how to couch their messages inside of a great story......not these authors! This was like reading the winners of an amateur writing contest, or an "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future" anthology.

I'd sum it up like this: The stories in this book did not start out as creative impulses to write a beautiful story using SF tropes to entertain, and along the way maybe educate, an audience. They almost all very obviously started out backwards, first with the thought of some political idea that the writer (I can't say 'author'!) decided they needed to impart in their wisdom to an audience that needs to be educated, and THEN had a weak, thin "story" built around those ideas.

I won't buy anything in this series again. The editor quite obviously chooses stories not on quality, but on the writers' identities, cultural backgrounds, and personal beliefs. Strahan stretches and stretches to try to be 'inclusive' and include stories from so many different cultures, but doesn't realize that this hinders, not helps, authors from around the world. Choose the best stories, period! Don't force a quota of ''cultural inclusiveness' so that stories of less quality are included.

It's called "The Year's Best Science Fiction." That's it. Not

"The World's Most Inclusive, Look at Me, I'm a Guilty White Dude but I'm Woke, See All the Colors of the Rainbow I Included! Collection"

Also, I can save anyone on the fence about this book the trouble. In case you didn't know it:

1) Rich people are bad! Evil! And if they're rich and white, oh my, kill 'em! (Really. In one story a crowd tears apart a rich family w/KIDS at an airport......)

2) Global warming! Did you know it's coming! We're all going to be drowned soon!

3) Did you know we should take care of ecology and Nature? Yes, it's true! Simplistic and a golden oldie of a story idea in SF, but in case you didn't catch the news, you will be informed herein.

4) Oh, and who's at fault for all that bad stuff? Rich White People, of course, dummy.

5) Did I mention Global Warming? We'll all be drowned soon!

{For the record I have no doubt the warming is real, but as to what extent, and if it's truly going to be as disastrous as some make it out to be, that's up in the air. Color me skeptical based on the fact that I've read this "End is Nigh!' stuff in SF since the 70's, yet somehow we all move on. Add in where the funding for the science comes from, and a LOT of scientific bias, and I have a feeling there'll be problems but not nearly as apocalyptic as many warn.}

Most disappointing were the terrible stories included from who are usually great writers: Elizabeth Bear, Ted Chiang, and Greg Egan. As the most recognizable names here, I was looking forward to some quality finally, but their stories flop, especially Chiang's, which is not even a story but more of a lecture. He's probably the greatest SF writer of the last 20 years, but just drops a lecture about Evil Rich People on us.

There are a few good stories here.

Out of 28 stories

(a lot-----apparently Strahan doesn't believe in longer forms which would allow more character and plot development---the better to squeeze in a few more authors from some underrepresented population, you see.........)

I can say that 6 were pretty good.

In order appearance:

"The Last Voyage of 'Skidbladnir' was well-written and had some style, although the story ends without much development. A Good Idea that has nowhere to go.

""A Catalog of Storms" had a mood and certain intriguing style. Unfortunately, the author didn't really know where to go with what was an interesting concept.

'The Robots of Eden" succesfully used a SF trope to make a good point about where exactly we are heading w/technology. Irritating for the first few pages with unlikeable characters, it grows and expands and ends well, as the narrator/tion takes an interesting turn.

"Now Wait for This Week" was a fun take on Groundhog Day. I'm not sure it went anywhere or had much point, but I enjoyed it.

"The Work of Wolves" is similar to "Robots" in that it also relies on the use of the narrator for effect, and at 31 pages is the second longest in the book, not surprisingly also being one of the best, and definitely the most developed story here. It is an example of how his over-reliance on short, short stories hurts this collection, as they are limited in terms of plot/character by the page/word count. (They're called novellettes and novellas, Mr. Strahan!).

And again not surprisingly, the longest story at 32 pages, "At the Fall" which had a great idea, although it was filled w/holes and needed another 10 pages or so to fill it out. Great idea for a story, though. Dud of an ending, however.

So there you have it. A few decent stories, but mostly amateurish and preachy.

For Dozois-lovers, try this if you want, but it'll leave you frustrated and missing the standard of literary quality Gardner upheld; if you're a woke Millennial or Guilty White Person or just love being told how and what to think you may enjoy all the preaching; if you prefer your SF short, warmed over, with little depth and development, hey!, maybe this collection is for you.

However, if you enjoy adult, sophisticated, literary stories with well-developed characters, depth of plot, and ones that use SF tropes to examine the human condition, save your money!

I'm reading through my collection of Mr. Dozois's yearly series, and am on #15 from 2000. His Intro alone is more interesting than this entire book. I'm looking forward to rereading all of them.

No TOC or publishing info. Never seen this before.

The sad death of Gardner Dozois means that we will never see another of his annual anthologies again, as a reader of them since my teens in the mid 80s, this fills me with sadness. His shadow looms large over this volume. That said, Strahan - who, in his introduction, graciously acknowledges Dozois' mentorship - is a very accomplished editor in his own right and, I think, a worthy successor. Some of the stories in this collection are almost certainly different to the ones Dozois would have chosen, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

There are stories from such established names as Greg Egan, Peter Watts, Elizabeth Bear and Ted Chiang. Others from newer stalwarts such as NK Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders and Ken Liu. And yet others from those who it may be useful to keep an eye on in the future. What strikes me most about this volume is the breadth of different voices that make sf their own. Refreshingly, so many of them do not come from the stereotypical idea of who an sf writer should be; sf is for everyone, not just for those who look, or live, or think, a certain way. And I believe everyone should be able to find something they can enjoy in these pages.

As such, it is inevitable that there will always be stories in such collections that are not to an individual reader's taste, but I found the majority of them to be enjoyable, or at the very least interesting. But, as with Dozois' volumes, the main value of these annual collections to me is that they give a view into what sf is doing today, and where it may go in the future. And, in more ways than one, I think the future is in safe hands.

Compared to Gardner Dozois' year's best collections, these stories are mostly lacking the technological optimism normally inherent in SF, instead displaying dystopian futures. It is more social fiction than science fiction, and apparently our societies don't give the authors much hope for a good future. The stories are mostly very good though; it's their common underlying pessimism I was surprised about.

An entertaining collection with lots of variety. Seemed to be a strong tilt toward stories on the personal and social side as opposed to the technical.

Boring, politically correct stories disguised as Si-fis.

Excellent eclectic and beautifully varied selection. Pity there was no room for a Novella. Johnathan Strahan's previous year selections of both Fantasy and Science fiction often did not jell quite right. But this collection fires on all cylinders, taking a broad modern view of a changing and exciting genre.