Science Fiction: The Best of 2001

A short introduction here about Year's Bests and mentioning they hope there was room for a third. There was for me, as some different stories here, and a rather good volume indeed to start, averaging 3.82. Starts and finishes with the best stories with Kelly's Undone, and Dan Simmons' story of a really big mountain. SF Best of 2001 : Undone - James Patrick Kelly SF Best of 2001 : Know How Can Do - Michael Blumlein SF Best of 2001 : From Here You Can See the Sunquists - Richard Wadholm SF Best of 2001 : Keepers of Earth - Robin Wayne Bailey SF Best of 2001 : Anomalies - Gregory Benford SF Best of 2001 : One of Her Paths - Ian Watson SF Best of 2001 : The Dog Said Bow-Wow - Michael Swanwick SF Best of 2001 : And No Such Things Grow Here - Nancy Kress SF Best of 2001 : Sun-Cloud - Stephen Baxter SF Best of 2001 : Into Greenwood - Jim Grimsley SF Best of 2001 : On K2 with Kanakaredes - Dan Simmons Future escape a problem of many dimensions. 4.5 out of 5 Madam I'm Adam, and smart for a worm, too. 4 out of 5 Self-referential trip. 3 out of 5 Alpha not a tractor. 3.5 out of 5 Error observation religion. 4 out of 5 Q-Space solo separation Tee-Cee colony baby avatar Voice. 4 out of 5 Canine anti-tech adventures. 4 out of 5 The seeds of crime bear fitter fruit. 4 out of 5 Corpuscle calling. 3.5 out of 5 Alien family fortunes. 3 out of 5 On a really big mountain, a human and an alien mountaineer come to an understanding. 4.5 out of 5 4.5 out of 5

I had high hopes for "Science Fiction: The Best of 2001," the anthology edited by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber. The main reason I was so enthused about the book was due to the presence of science fiction legend Silverberg as co-editor; I figured, "This guy knows sci-fi." Well, I was not disappointed. "2001" is a marvelous collection of 11 tales about humans, extraterrestrials, robots, and/or genetically engineered creatures.My favorite tales in the anthology are as follows: Michael Blumlein's "Know How, Can Do," told in the first-person by a genetically engineered "chimeric life form"; Richard Wadholm's "From Here You Can See the Sunquists," about a couple's visit to a town that is enveloped by a temporal anomaly; Robin Wayne Bailey's "Keepers of Earth," the story of a devastated earth, abandoned by humanity and populated by robots; Michael Swanwick's "The Dog Said Bow-Wow," in which a genetically engineered superdog has an adventure in a future London; Nancy Kress's "And No Such Things Grow Here," which opens with the protagonist learning that her sister has been arrested for GMFA (Genetic Modification Felony Actions); and Dan Simmons's "On K2 with Kanakaredes," the rather touching story of an interspecies mountain climbing expedition.But the best story in the collection, in my opinion, is Jim Grimsley's haunting "Into Greenwood." This tale takes place on a planet where neutered, genetically altered humans serve as symbionts for a race of intelligent trees. "Into Greenwood" is a superb blend of a compelling sci-fi concept, great character development, and wonderful descriptive writing. I recommend "Science Fiction: The Best of 2001" both for pleasure reading and as a classroom literature text.

For less than eight dollars--and way ahead of the competition--Silverberg has pulled together a terrific best of the year collection.