The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Two

Let me preface by stating that I don't often read the science fiction and fantasy genre, so I can't explain what drew me to this particular anthology. While the book cover wasn't particularly attractive the featured authors listed upon it was intriguing. I picked up the book, read Johnathan Strahan's introduction and the first three pages of the first story, "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang. I was hooked, so I then took the book home. Having just finished the anthology, Chiang's story is one of my five favorites along with "The Prophet of Flores" by Ted Kosmatka; "Winter's Wife" by Elizabeth Hand; "The Coat of Stars" by Holly Black and "Dead Horse Point" by Daryl Gregory. While I enjoyed many of the other 19 stories I must confess a couple stories had me scratching my head as I worked through unfamiliar terminology (less the story's fault than my own ignorance of the genre). In summary, "The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol. 2" provides a good value for your entertainment dollar. I found almost all 24 stories accessible to a newcomer. I intend to recommend this book to friends of mine who have a longer history with science fiction and fantasy stories. Rating: 4 stars.

Impressive and, honestly, intimidating this tome of stellar science fiction and fantasy features masters of the genres at their best in twenty four dazzling tales of other worlds. If readers want some of the most impressive recently published tales of the SF/F genres without having to hunt them down through the multitude of anthologies and magazines printed this year this is an excellent buy. If the first tale, Ted Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", is any indication then this anthology is one to savor like a fine box of chocolates. When a merchant stumbles upon a strange shop in Baghdad that is home to a gateway between the past, future and present he is treated not just to a triad of tales about what other visitors have found inside the gateway, but he also gets the opportunity to travel back to his own past, to find closure to the one event in his life that haunts him. A rare gem of a story it expertly straddles the line between fantasy and science fiction as well as tragic and hopeful. "The Last and Only, or Mr. Moskowitz Becomes French" by Peter S. Beagle seems to be more of a philosophical study on identity than a tale that's recognizable fantasy. No one knows why, but Mr. Moskowitz began ("from the bones out") to turn French. So much so that even those born in France sought out his approval. Strange and well written, it still didn't capture my interest as much as I'd hoped. Charles Stross' "Trunk and Disorderly", as one might guess is a humor piece. Completely out of control (much like its lead, "Ralph MacDonald Suzuki... a genuine Japanese Highland Laird from old Scotland...") "Trunk and Disorderly" is a hilarious adventure of debauchery, nobility and robots gone wrong that's best read without any drinks nearby. "Glory" by Greg Egan sums itself up with a line from its own prose, "There's more to life than mathematics...but not much more." A hard science fiction love note to math, and the sciences that heavily rely upon them, this tale of alien exploration and archeology is at times mind boggling in level and at other times, perfection down to the last little atom. Despite the heavy importance of the math the story is told in the characters' actions, allowing the story to reach the reader and not be lost under the weight of technicality. Daryl Gregory's "Dead Horse Point" is very personal, heart wrenching and incredibly interesting. Julia is a special woman. Incredibly brilliant she's breaking new ground in science and on the verge of something world changing. But her brilliance comes with a downside. She lives an autistic-like life, completely aware, capable and down right normal one moment and mentally gone, incapable of even the simplest of tasks, completely lost in a mental world of science and unbreakable concentration. Gregory captures the strength and potential inside what many others would consider to be a horrible disease in desperate need of a cure. He also shows the effects it can have on even the most loyal

The second volume in this series is slighly down on the first, 3.67 as compared to 3.71. Or to put it another way, 17 above average stories compared to 18, 6 average stories compared to 4, and 1 dodgy story compared to 2. In an anthology of science fiction and fantasy, it delivers as advertised, as half the stories are science fiction, and half are fantasy. In fact, in somewhat of a surprise, it appears I have rated the fantasy stories 1 point higher as a group than the SF. So, looking at the separately, each half of this anthology rates as high or around 4, as opposed to rounding up to get there. There's a broad range in both genres, from the fluffy and completely disposable Goss speculation, to the is it or isn't it fantasy-but-quite-possibly-twisted horror of Rickert, and from Egan's space blasting posthuman mathematicians to Sterling's not too far future dodgy Eastern Europeans. Three standout stories here, and perhaps I might get asked to give up my no-membership in the Greg Egan fan club by first comparing him to Kelly Link in the Starry Rift, and now going on to suggest that perhaps Daniel Abraham has the best tale here. Anyone got a new excerpt from Incandescence to help banish the stench of da fairy pollution? :) SF and F Best 02 : The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate - Ted Chiang SF and F Best 02 : The Last and Only or Mr. Moskowitz Becomes French - Peter S. Beagle SF and F Best 02 : Trunk and Disorderly - Charles Stross SF and F Best 02 : Glory - Greg Egan SF and F Best 02 : Dead Horse Point - Daryl Gregory SF and F Best 02 : The Dreaming Wind - Jeffrey Ford SF and F Best 02 : The Coat of Stars - Holly Black SF and F Best 02 : The Prophet of Flores - Ted Kosmatka SF and F Best 02 : Wizard's Six - Alex Irvine SF and F Best 02 : The Cambist and Lord Iron A Fairy Tale of Economics - Daniel Abraham SF and F Best 02 : By Fools Like Me - Nancy Kress SF and F Best 02 : Kiosk - Bruce Sterling SF and F Best 02 : Singing of Mount Abora - Theodora Goss SF and F Best 02 : The Witch's Headstone - Neil Gaiman SF and F Best 02 : Last Contact - Stephen Baxter SF and F Best 02 : Jaysus Christ Reanimator - Ken Macleod SF and F Best 02 : Sorrel's Heart - Susan Palwick SF and F Best 02 : Urdumheim - Michael Swanwick SF and F Best 02 : Holiday - M. Rickert SF and F Best 02 : The Valley of the Gardens - Tony Daniel SF and F Best 02 : Winter's Wife - Elizabeth Hand SF and F Best 02 : The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small - Chris Roberson SF and F Best 02 : Orm the Beautiful - Elizabeth Bear SF and F Best 02 : The Constable of Abal - Kelly Link Wormhole time tender's raconteur replay. 4 out of 5 Going fairy froggy. 3 out of 5 Dwarf mammoths are heavy. Supreme planetary overlords have bloody big houses. Multigendered metalflesh relations are jolly complex, old chap. 4 out of 5 Antimatter lightspeed starblast instantiation means mathematical archaeology discovery decision. 4.5 out of 5 Girl, Interru

I loved this anthology. It and Vol. 1 were two of the best anthologies I have ever read and I have read hundreds of them. The selected writings are exceedingly well written.