The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection

This is honestly one of the best books I've read (ever). It's taken me a while but part of that is that the stories are just so enjoyable to read that it's great to savour the stories and their ideas - it's a pleasure to take your time. In addition, just about all of the stories are very thought-provoking, staying with you for days afterwards. If you are at all interested in science fiction, I whole-heartedly recommend this volume. It's spurred me on to buy the others in this series.

I stopped reading this series years ago, but I randomly picked this one up at the book store and started to skim. Within minutes, I was hooked. This is a superb collection of short stories from a wide variety of authors that just made all my other "best" anthologies of the year hang their dog ears in shame.

You could call this an excellent example of this particular series perhaps, as the average for these stories is 3.86, and a couple I have read have gone over 4. Still, a rather good effort to put that together. You certainly won't be detecting much of a sense of humour in this one, though, in general. As usual, the highly useful summation and introduction gives information, and tries to round up for the reader the magazine sources for those that are mostly interested in core science fiction, without generally having to put up with fantasy/horror/slipstream etc., when they don't want too. He also talks a bit about books and other media, and I agree with most of this except for V for Vendetta, a movie of which this household approved. It sounds like Dozois hadn't read this, from his comment. By now you could fill one of these huge volumes with his intros, too, if he ever needs a project. Overall, a top notch editorial job on display here. Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : I ROW-BOAT - Cory Doctorow Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : JULIAN A CHRISTMAS STORY - Robert Charles Wilson Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : TIN MARSH - Michael Swanwick Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : THE DJINN'S WIFE - Ian McDonald Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : THE HOUSE BEYOND YOUR SKY - Benjamin Rosenbaum Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : WHERE THE GOLDEN APPLES GROW - Kage Baker Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : KIN - Bruce McAllister Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : SIGNAL TO NOISE - Alastair Reynolds Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : THE BIG ICE - Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : BOW SHOCK - Gregory Benford Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : IN THE RIVER - Justin Stanchfield Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : INCARNATION DAY - Walter Jon Williams Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : FAR AS YOU CAN GO - Greg Van Eekhout Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : GOOD MOUNTAIN - Robert Reed Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : I HOLD MY FATHER'S PAWS - David D. Levine Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : DEAD MEN WALKING - Paul J. McAuley Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : HOME MOVIES - Mary Rosenblum Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : DAMASCUS - Daryl Gregory Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : LIFE ON THE PRESERVATION - Jack Skillingstead Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : YELLOW CARD MAN - Paolo Bacigalupi Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : RIDING THE CROCODILE - Greg Egan Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : THE ILE OF DOGGES - Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : THE HIGHWAY MEN - Ken MacLeod Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : THE PACIFIC MYSTERY - Stephen Baxter Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : OKANOGGAN FALLS - Carolyn Ives Gilman Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : EVERY HOLE IS OUTLINED - John Barnes Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : THE TOWN ON BLIGHTED SEA - A. M. Dellamonica Year's Best Science Fiction 24 : NIGHTINGALE - Alastair Reynolds Asimovian reef revival survival. 4.5 out of 5 Conscripts in a fallen future like snakes more than Indy d

I agree with the previous review - this is the best Dozois collection in some time. Some of the highlights: "The Djinn's Wife" deals with a future India, where a young superstar marries a man who isn't actually real; Paolo Bacigalupi's "Yellow Card Man" involves a formerly successful Chinese businessman struggling to stay alive in a future Bangkok; "Incarnation Day" by Walter Jon Williams shows us what may happen if adults have the ultimate say on whether or not a child reaches maturity; Robert Charles Wilson's "Julian: A Christmas Story" is my favorite, a story set in the near future with two boys from very different types of families; Robert Reed's "Good Mountain" takes us so far into the future we see a group of people who may literally be outrunning the destruction of the Earth. Alastair Reynolds has two stories here. "Signal to Noise" is silly and uninteresting, but "Nightingale" is a fantastic space opera with a devestating shot of horror for a finale. John Barnes' "Every Hole is Outlined" ends up being a tender, but odd, love story. There is much to enjoy in this collection. I suggest you get this book and do just that.

"I, Row Boat," by Cory Doctorow. In this homage to Asimov, a battle of wits between a sentient coral reef and a sentient rowboat raises mind-bending questions about the nature of intelligence in a digitized future. B "Julian: A Christmas Story," by Robert Charles Wilson. A gloomy future America reverts to 19th century conditions thanks to the excesses of science and the deficiencies of religion. C "Tin Marsh," by Michael Swanwick. "The Shining" goes to Venus. Two weary prospectors, one well past the end of his rope, battle the elements, each other, and insanity. B "The Djinn's Wife," by Ian McDonald. Against the exotic backdrop of Delhi, a disastrous romance flares up and out between a famous dancer and a diplomat who happens to be an ethereal artificial intelligence. B+ "The House Beyond Your Sky," by Benjamin Rosenbaum. A haunting glimpse behind the curtain reveals that being the Creator ain't all it's cracked up to be. B "Where the Golden Apples Grow," by Kage Baker. The stark, inhospitable terrain of Mars almost comes alive as two stranded young colonists struggle to get home. B+ "Kin," by Bruce McAllister. Elegant vignette about a boy and a roach-like alien assassin explores the mysteries of personal relationships and the nature of good and evil. B "Signal to Noise," by Alastair Reynolds. Albeit touching and romantic, the plot doesn't quite measure up to the fascinating premise of a man who crosses over into a parallel universe to reconnect with his dead wife. B "The Big Ice," by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold. A frozen ocean of ice plays host to a scorching battle of wits between two politically powerful sibling rivals. B "Bow Shock," by Gregory Benford. Frustrated astrophysicist on verge of losing bid for tenure observes an object in space that grows curiouser and curioser. Masterful blend of science, subtlety, sensitivity and suspense. A+ "In the River," by Justin Stanchfield. Unfathomable (no pun intended) squid-like aliens welcome a genetically altered human scientist aboard their six-kilometer long, liquid-filled ship. B "Incarnation Day," by Walter Jon Williams. Some things never change. In a future society where parents raise virtual children, a rebellious digital teenager plays a high stakes game of chicken with her controlling mother. B "Far as You Can Go," by Greg Van Eekhout. In a broken down future world, a scavenger and his profoundly human robot companion risk what little they for a place in the sun. Simultaneously tender and terrifying. A "Good Mountain," by Robert Reed. A richly textured portrait of the distant future, in which worried travelers hope to outrun the fire and earthquakes that are consuming what little is left of their world. A "I Hold My Father's Paws," by David D. Levine. Several stories herein explore genetic engineering, but this one goes whole hog, as Americans change species for reasons ridiculous and--at least in one case--sublime. B "Dead Men Walking," by Paul J. McAuley. Rousing