Reviewing short SF since 2000
Heartwarming story from van Pelt, in which a son looks back on his relationship with his now dementia-suffering father through the lens of SF and a fascination with UFOs.
Some nice writing, but the story ends up like a (not very good) teen movie from the 1980s.
van Pelt, a teacher himself, fondly relates the history of the Hareton school, from it’s early days as a small school on a hillside, through to a much larger building, extended and developed over many years.
A touch of the Miss Jean Brodie for the 21st Century
Robert Reed. The Caldera of Good Fortune. Reed further mines The Great Ship in his
Robert Reed. A Billion Eves. A complex and initially very satisfying story. The story beings
Ian McDonald. Little Goddess. The (PDF) issue gets off to a strong start with the
Peter Friend. The Christmas Tree. A short fantastical piece in which the arrival of a
Ruth Nestvold. Looking Through Lace. Anthropological and xeno-linguistic SF are probably to Asimovs what Scientist
Pressure of work has been keeping away from my SF bookshop haunts of late and
Oracles. Robert Reed. One of the reasons why I started summarising short SF stories I
Robert Charles Wilson being the pick of the bunch for me.
Shane Tourtellotte. Footsteps. A lunar variation on the Locked Room Murder Mystery – except that
Pat Forde. In Spirit. An attempt to make sense of September 11th. Three decades hence,
The issue starts with Part I (of IV) of Robert J. Sawyer’s novel ‘Hominids’, and
May Be Some Time. Brenda W. Clough Last year Scott of the Antartic turned out
Editorial Stanley Schmidt’s editorial ponders the ‘danger’ inherent in politics when the ideologies of political
This is a very strong collection. Adams has trawled 25 years worth of high quality SF to put together the volume, and there’s an awful lot of good reading to be had.
Stories by : Alastair Reynolds, Daniel Kaysen, Douglas Lain, Howard Waldrop, James Patrick Kelly, James Van Pelt, Joe Haldeman, Leah Bobet, Mary Rosenblum, Michael Swanwick, Robert Reed, Stephen Leigh, Susan Palwick, Tom Purdom, Wil McCarthy.
Stories by : Bruce Sterling, Gene Wolfe., Greg Egan, Gregory Benford, Gwyneth Jones, Ian McDonald, James Van Pelt, Johanna Sinisalo, John Hemry, John Kessel, Kage Baker, Karen Joy Fowler, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Ken MacLeod, Marc Laidlaw, Nancy Kress, Palle Juul Holm, Peter Watts, Robin Hitchock, Stephen Baxter, Terry Bisson, Tim Pratt, Tony Ballantyne, William Shunn.
As ever, chock full of high quality SF, with the annual summation providing SF with an ongoing reference and reading tome which we should not take for granted. Here’s to the next 25 years! Stories by : Alastair Reynolds, Benjamin Rosenbaum and David Ackert, Brian Stableford, Bruce Sterling, Chris Roberson, David Moles, Elizabeth Bear, Greg Egan, Gregory Benford, Gwyneth Jones, Ian McDonald, James Van Pelt, John Barnes, Justin Stanchfield, Kage Baker, Keith Brooke, Ken MacLeod, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Michael Swanwick, Nancy Kress, Neal Asher, Pat Cadigan, Robert Reed, Robert Silverberg, Stephen Baxter, Ted Chiang, Ted Kosmatka, Tom Purdom, Una McCormack, Vandana Singh
Stories by : Charles Stross, Dominic Green, Geoff Ryman, Geoffrey A. Landis, Harry Turtledove, Howard Waldrop, Jack Skillingstead, James Van Pelt, John C. Wright, John Kessel, John Varley, Judith Moffett, Kage Baker, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, M. Shayne Bell, Michael Swanwick, Nancy Kress, Nick DiChario, Paolo Bacigalupi, Paul Di Filippo, Paul Melko, Robert Reed, Steven Popkes, Terry Bisson, Terry Dowling, Vernor Vinge, Walter Jon Williams, William Barton, William Shunn.
Stories by : Alastair Reynolds, Alex Irvine, Bruce Sterling, Charles Coleman Finlay, Charles Stross, Chris Beckett, Eleanor Arnason, Geoff Ryman, Greg Egan, Gregory Benford, Ian McDonald, Ian R. Macleod, James Van Pelt, John Kessel, John Meaney, Kage Baker, Maureen F. McHugh, Michael Swanwick, Molly Gloss, Nancy Kress, Paul McAuley, Richard Wadholm, Robert Reed, Steven Popkes, Walter Jon Williams
Jack Dann picks up the editorial reins from Vonda N. McIntyre in the Nebula Awards Showcase series. There’s a lot of high quality fiction in this volume, and the only real beef is that the stories are from 2002, which means that in a number of cases you are reading stories which appeared in the Year’s Best anthologies two years ago.