Le meraviglie dell'invisibile

by David G. Hartwell (Editor), Roger Zelazny (Contributor), William Browning Spencer (Contributor)

Da tempo non veniva pubblicata, negli Stati Uniti, un'antologia avvincente e corposa come questa. David G. Hartwell ha scelto per voi il meglio della fantascienza classica, avventurosa e speculativa pubblicata durante l'anno precedente, e il nostro Millemondi l'ha tradotta. Quattordici grandi storie del tempo e dello spazio.

Indice:
James Patrick Kelly - Pensare da dinosauri [Think like a dinosaur]
Patricia A. McKillip - Meraviglie dell'invisibile [Wonders of the invisible worlds]
Robert Silverberg - Momenti caldi a Magma City [Hot times in Magma City]
Stephen Baxter - Ragnatele [Gossamer]
Gregory Benford - Il buco del verme [A worm in the well]
William Browning Spencer - Piccola realta' / Grande realta' [Downloading Midnight]
Joe Haldemann - Per White Hill [For White Hill]
William Barton - Nell'era dei Saturno [In Saturn time]
Ursula K. Le Guin - Come si diventa adulti a Karhide [Coming of age in Karhide]
Roger Zelazny - Le tre discese di Jeremy Baker [The three descents of Jeremy Baker]
Nancy Kress - Evoluzione [Evolution]
Robert Sheckley - Quando arrivano gli alieni [The day the aliens came]
Joan Slonczewski - Il pianeta dei microbi [Microbe]
Gene Wolfe - Lo Ziggurat [The Ziggurat]

Copertina di Marco Patrito

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Short Story Collection, Speculative Fiction

395 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 11, 1996

About the author

David Geddes Hartwell was an American editor of science fiction and fantasy. He worked for Signet (1971-1973), Berkley Putnam (1973-1978), Pocket (where he founded the Timescape imprint, 1978-1983, and created the Pocket Books Star Trek publishing line), and Tor (where he spearheaded Tor's Canadian publishing initiative, and was also influential in bringing many Australian writers to the US market, 1984-date), and has published numerous anthologies. He chaired the board of directors of the World Fantasy Convention and, with Gordon Van Gelder, was the administrator of the Philip K. Dick Award. He held a Ph.D. in comparative medieval literature.

He lived in Pleasantville, New York with his wife Kathryn Cramer and their two children.

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Hartwell started this series off in 1996 because he thought that science fiction was being seduced away from its true vocation by the sexy better looking aliens of literariness. The giant Gardner Dozois year's best anthology was getting soft. It printed stories which were all style and no machinery. David wanted gadgets and physics. Yeah, hard sf. Yeah, that's right. Wanna make something of that? Step out of this pod into the bleak cold vacuum of space and say that.

My two faves in this first of these "harder" sf year's bestoids were

Evolution • by Nancy Kress - she's ALWAYS worth reading

and

Hot Times in Magma City • by Robert Silverberg - this guy has been alive longer than anyone and has written more than anyone and STILL in the 1990s was knocking out funny exciting long stories like this. He must have access to some immortality drug. I want that too. Imagine living long enough to find out how everything turns out. If a woman ever gets to be president of America, if Manny ever beats Karen to become the number one GR reviewer. I wonder.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an oddly modest beginning to what turned out to be a very longrunning series, and to be honest, doesn't have a bad tale in it. (Even the Robert Sheckley is entertaining in its own unique way. The weakest is the McKillip story which is a little too ambivalent about what it's trying to say.)
This is possibly because of the comparative brevity of this book compared to its descendants, which are weightier, fulsome beasts; the tyrannosaurs of the Year's Best evolutionary line.
The quality stories of the year have here been represented by a mixture of The Great and The Good, and the lesser knowns. It is, however, 'Year's Best American SF' since The Great and The Good, and the lesser knowns involved (with the exception of Baxter, correct me if I am wrong) are all American.
A third of the authors are women, and as to the ethnic mix, it's difficult for me to be absolutely sure about this as there are some authors new to me, but I suspect that everyone is white.
So, it's 'Year's Best Mostly White Male American SF' if we're being truthful.
This imbalance to a certain extent is redressed in later and larger volumes, although the male american whites still do tend to dominate the pack.



James Patrick Kelly - Think Like a Dinosaur ( Asimov's, 1995)
Patricia A. McKillip - Wonders of the Invisible World (Full Spectrum 5, 1995)
Robert Silverberg - Hot Times in Magma City ( Omni Online, 1995)
Stephen Baxter - Gossamer ( Science Fiction Age, 1995)
Gregory Benford - A Worm in the Well (Analog, 1995)
William Browning Spencer - Downloading Midnight (Tomorrow, 1995)
Joe Haldeman - For White Hill (Far Futures, 1995)
William Barton - In Saturn Time (Amazing Stories - The Anthology, 1995)
Ursula K. Le Guin - Coming of Age in Karhide (New Legends, 1995)
Roger Zelazny - The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker (F&SF, 1995)
Nancy Kress - Evolution (Asimov's , 1995)
Robert Sheckley - The Day the Aliens Came (New Legends, 1995)
Joan Slonczewski - Microbe ( Analog, 1995)
Gene Wolfe - The Ziggurat ( Full Spectrum 5, 1995)




James Patrick Kelly - Think Like a Dinosaur ( Asimov's, 1995)

Humanity have been given the secret of matter transmission from a highly advanced race of dinosaurs. Reminiscent of themes in Rogue Moon and Christopher Priest’s ‘The Prestige’, it seems that when people are scanned and transmitted elsewhere, there original bodies have to be disposed of. The dinos are fine with this. Humans have to learn to grow up.

Patricia A. McKillip - Wonders of the Invisible World (Full Spectrum 5, 1995)

‘A strange and memorable thing. After outpourings of prayer, with the utmost fervor and fasting, there appeared an Angel, whose face shone like the noonday sun. His features were those of a man, and beardless; his head encircled by a splendid tiara; on his shoulders were wings; his garments were white and shining; his robe reached to his ankles; and about his loins was a belt not unlike the girdles of the peoples of the East.’ wrote Cotton Mather in 1685. McKillip seeks to provide a rational explanation of this vision with time-travellers of a sort who – coming from a secular future free of religious belief – are hired by a researcher to appear to people of faith in the past in order to record and study the effect that such visitations had on people. It’s a decent enough story but it’s not clear what point McKillip is trying to make given the denouement.

Robert Silverberg - Hot Times in Magma City ( Omni Online, 1995)

In a future US, the San Andreas fault has become a hotspot (literally) of volcanic activity. A team of community service junkies in various stages of recovery are employed to both monitor activity and have been trained by Icelandic volcano specialists to dam the lava as it emerges. There is a clever connection between the lava bursting under pressure from the landscape and the anger and demons pent-up within the team and its leader.

Stephen Baxter - Gossamer ( Science Fiction Age, 1995)

Following a wormhole malfunction, two women in a small ship are forced to crash on the surface of Pluto. They have enough supplies to survive until a rescue ship arrives but the discovery of what may be life puts their rescue in jeopardy as the PTB would rather let them die than attempt a rescue which may destroy the fragile ecosystem. They must therefore try and effect their own escape.
An excellent bit of Hard SF speculation from Baxter who postulates the life on Pluto spinning webs to its tidally locked moon, Charon, in order to access its water deposits.

Gregory Benford - A Worm in the Well (Analog, 1995)

An excellent piece of Hard SF from Benford in which a female captain, desperate to pay of her debts to a sinister organisation with a Japanese name (they always work well) contracts to a flyby of what appears to be a wormhole trapped in the corona of the Sun. An excellent piece, eminently readable and well characterised.

William Browning Spencer - Downloading Midnight (Tomorrow, 1995)

In the future, porn is provided by VR personalities moulded by AIs from scans of living humans. Occasionally, the avatars go rogue and haunt the virtual universe. Captain Armageddon is such a one. He needs to be tracked down and wiped.
It’s a rich textured tale set in a world which has gone through an age of Decadence where people can not have a sexual relationship until several stages of contracts and arrangements have been completed.

Joe Haldeman - For White Hill (Far Futures, 1995)

One of the best in this collection, this is a love story between two artists invited to construct a piece on an Earth ravaged by nanophages during what appears to be an ongoing war, Haldeman's perennial theme. The enemy is seldom mentioned but the results of their destruction are the backdrop to this tale. Beautifully written.


William Barton - In Saturn Time (Amazing Stories - The Anthology, 1995)

In an alternate timeline, Udall became President after Nixon and initiated a far more ambitious space programme. An ageing astronaut tells the story of the missions he has been a part of.

Ursula K. Le Guin - Coming of Age in Karhide (New Legends, 1995)

A beautiful and poetic tale set in Le Guin's Gain universe on the planet featured in her excellent 'The Left Hand of Darkness', featuring a coming of age of one of the gendermorphing denizens.

Roger Zelazny - The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker (F&SF, 1995)

Zelazny's last published story apparently, in which he plays with Hard SF concepts, black holes, enigmatic aliens and the nature of time, all in his own distinctive way.

Nancy Kress - Evolution (Asimov's , 1995)

A captivating human drama in a near future where antibiotic-resistant bacteria are making hospitals no-go areas. It's refreshingly character-driven though

Robert Sheckley - The Day the Aliens Came (New Legends, 1995)

I still don't get Robert Sheckley. Ok. I get the jokes. I get the weird surrealist concept of peculiar aliens with British/US surnames and the improbability of the entire premise, but does this have some further meaning. Is it a metaphor for the degradation of the Anglo-Saxon genome , or is it a celebration of diversity and the melting pot of human races?
I have no clue.

Joan Slonczewski - Microbe (Analog , 1995)

Slonczewski uses her background as a microbiologist to give us this small gem, set in the universe of 'A Door Into Ocean'. An expedition to another world finds a fascinating ecosystem based on triple helix DNA. The most dangerous predator on the planet however appears to be a microbe.

Gene Wolfe - The Ziggurat ( Full Spectrum 5, 1995)

Emery is staying alone in a cabin in the American wilderness, awaiting the arrival of his soon-to-be ex-wife and her three children. Just before she arrives, Emery's cabin is robbed by three hooded figures, one of whom shoots at him with his own gun.
Ostensibly this is an SF tale about desperate stranded travellers, from the future it is suggested, although (being Wolfe) there are levels of meaning. Emery is a complex character, and the story is told from his perspective, so one has to be careful to read between the lines.

[Ari Pérez · Rating 3 out of 5]

[***] Think Like a Dinosaur • (1995) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly
[***] Wonders of the Invisible World • (1995) • short story by Patricia A. McKillip
[**] Hot Times in Magma City • (1995) • novella by Robert Silverberg
[**] Gossamer • [Xeelee] • (1995) • short story by Stephen Baxter
[***] A Worm in the Well • (1995) • novelette by Gregory Benford
[****] • Downloading Midnight • (1995) • novelette by William Browning Spencer
[***] For White Hill • (1995) • novella by Joe Haldeman
[**] In Saturn Time • (1995) • short story by William Barton
[***] Coming of Age in Karhide • [Hainish] • (1995) • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
[**] The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker • (1995) • short story by Roger Zelazny
[**] Evolution • (1995) • novelette by Nancy Kress
[*] The Day the Aliens Came • (1995) • short story by Robert Sheckley
[**] Microbe • [Elysium Cycle] • (1995) • short story by Joan Slonczewski
[****] The Ziggurat • (1995) • novella by Gene Wolfe

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent collection, but it seemed like a number of the stories felt a bit more "old school" than the 1996 date would imply. This may be because, for the most part, the authors are "big names" with well established bodies of work (Gene Wolfe, Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Joe Haldeman, Roger Zelazny, et al.). So, if you're looking for top science fiction stories by new authors (for mid-90s values of "new"), this is not the collection. I especially enjoyed "Downloading Midnight" (William Browning Spencer). " Think Like a Dinosaur" (James Patrick Kelly), "Evolution" (Nancy Kress), "hot Times in Magma City" (Silverberg) and "The Ziggurat" (Wolfe) - although I found the protagonist in the last one somewhat problematic. Average out to 3 stars.

[Adam Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology, I had already read most of these in Gardner Dozois's competing Best of series, but it was fun to revisit these classic tales. Highlights: Kelly's Think Like A Dinosaur, Silverberg's Hot Times in Magma City, Wolfe's Ziggurat

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a best-of-the-year annual, THE YEAR'S BEST SF 1 didn't seem to have that many great stories, despite having a lineup of top named authors. There were two standouts in my mind, "Think Like a Dinosaur" by James Patrick Kelly, which reminds me of "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin, and "Coming of Age in Karhide" by Ursula K. Le Guin which is a great supplemental story to THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS. Second-tier favorites were "Evolution" by Nancy Kress and "The Ziggurat" by Gene Wolfe.

I wrote a long review comparing "Think Like a Dinosaur" to "The Cold Equations" for my blog
https://classicsofsciencefiction.com/...

[George Berguño · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Hartwell, who died earlier this year (2016), will be remembered as one of the great anthologists of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Year’s Best SF 1 was the first in a series of eighteen collections of science fiction short stories that Hartwell compiled from 1996 to 2013. At the start of the series Hartwell clarified that he wanted to present stories that were patently genre SF; therefore, no fantasy and no science fantasy. He moaned that other anthologists had so blurred the boundaries between SF and other genres that one might conclude science fiction was in crisis. So this series was meant to demonstrate that, not only does SF have very distinct boundaries, but that the genre was very much alive and vibrant.

Volume 1 of Year’s Best SF gathers fourteen stories and novellas, most of them from well known authors, and a handful from relatively new writers. There are some fine stories by Robert Sheckley, Joan Slonczewski and Gene Wolfe. Ursula Le Guin’s Coming of Age in Karhide, is especially noteworthy; a beautiful tale of sexual awakening on the planet Winter (the same setting of Le Guin’s novel The Left Hand of Darkness). The story that, to my mind, had the greatest punch was Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly; a story that is reminiscent of Tom Goodwin’s The Cold Equations. However, the standout story in this volume is Joe Haldeman’s For White Hill, a love story set against the backdrop of a dying earth. Perhaps I should add that very few science fiction authors, apart from Theodore Sturgeon, have dealt with the subject of love in an original way. But Joe Haldeman does it brilliantly, and I was so moved by his novella that, in retrospect, I would have bought the book for this story alone.

On a more critical note, I thought the inclusion of Roger Zelazny’s The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker was somewhat odd. In my opinion, this is a science fantasy and should therefore not have been included, despite its entertainment value. A spaceship is torn apart by a black hole and Jeremy Baker, the sole survivor, is about to be sucked in by the overwhelming gravitational force, when an alien makes mental contact with him. The alien explains that there is a chance that Jeremy may survive because the aliens have been experimenting with the black hole. To be precise, they have been transporting tens of thousands of suns and planets and shooting them into the black hole. Well, I hate it when the hero or heroine who is about to die is saved by some last minute, far-fetched, pseudo-scientific resource. What is particularly frustrating about Zelazny’s story is that it happens three times. Towards the end, Jeremy asks the alien (‘Nik’) if he could implant telekinetic powers in his mind. The alien then suggests that Jeremy take a nap. You guessed it: when Jeremy wakes up he has telekinetic abilities!

Nevertheless, putting Zelazny’s science fantasy to one side, the remaining thirteen stories are all very good to excellent and thus highly recommended. Indeed, having read most of David Hartwell’s anthologies, I recommend you do likewise.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first of a distinguished series. While I enjoyed most of the stories, now that I sit down to write the review I realise that I don't remember many of them, and I only finished it the other day.

The novella Hot Times in Magma City by Robert Silverberg is one of the memorable ones. While the premise is unlikely - people in a recovery program acting as emergency responders, as part of their community service in a Los Angeles wracked with volcanic activity - it's a powerful story. Told from the viewpoint of the group's leader, it shows the addicts trying to pull themselves together as they meet the challenges of their task, and more or less succeeding.

"Downloading Midnight", by William Browning Spencer, an author I haven't encountered before as far as I remember, is a cyberpunk novelette with a noir feel. It suffers from one of the usual issues with cyberpunk - the difficulty of explaining why people in cyberspace are in any actual danger - but manages to handwave it adequately and tell a good human story.

"Coming of Age in Karhide", by Ursula K. Le Guin, is the only one in the volume I remember reading before (in the author's collected short fiction, I think). It's one of her mind-stretching ones, set in the same world as The Left Hand of Darkness (where people periodically change gender), and very much a "this is what it's like to grow up in this setting" piece rather than a strongly plotted, linear story. Such is Le Guin's mastery of style and ability to convey feeling that it works anyway.

The remaining story in the volume that I can remember without looking at the book is the novella The Ziggurat, by Gene Wolfe. I'm on record as saying that I seldom understand or like Wolfe's stories, but maybe I'm getting used to them; I didn't hate this, and I followed it pretty well. The problem I have with Wolfe, though, is that his characters always seem alienated from their emotions, and while they will act from emotional reasons, they never seem to express emotions clearly or have emotional self-insight. Also, their actions sometimes seem alien and creepy, partly because of this emotional disconnect; violence comes as if out of nowhere, or, as here, a man decides, seemingly unilaterally, that he and a woman who has been his enemy are going to have a relationship, despite the earlier death-dealing violence between her group and his. It's as if all his characters are somewhere on the autism spectrum, or as if I am (which I'm not) whenever I read a Wolfe story.

Since I picked this up for 99c, I wasn't disappointed, but later volumes had a higher proportion of memorable stories.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to jump back to the beginning of this series, to see if I'd be more impressed with the first stories Hartwell collected. And you know, I was! Sort of. I enjoyed all of the stories, except for Gene Wolf's, "The Ziggurat". Not sure why, except that I've given Gene SO many chances. His novella "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" is one of the best stories I've ever read, so it's taken me years to realize that I've enjoyed NOTHING else that he's written. A shame, really...

The rest of the stories were good, more or less, with the exception of Joe Haldeman's novella and Ursula K. Guin's vignette. Those were both fantastic. "For White Hill" by Haldeman is a love story between doomed artists on a doomed Earth, and Ursula does what she does best with a beautiful little slice-of-life story from the planet Winter, "Coming of Age in Karhide". It's odd; I've enjoyed every one of Ursula K. Guin's stories that I've come across, and yet somehow I've avoided actually hunting any new ones down. I guess I've been giving Wolfe all the chances I should have given to Guin. Live and learn

[Jeppe Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit hit and miss. I felt Hartwell chose some of the stories mainly because they were by big name authors and less so on the storys own merit. The good thing is that none of the stories feel dated even though they are 25 years old. My favourite stories were by James Patrick Kelly, Joe Haldeman, Nancy Kress and Gene Wolfe.

[Austin Beeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first volume of David G. Hartwell’s exceptional Year’s Best anthology series that would run from 1996 to 2013. Hartwell created this collection because he believed that …

For decades, until recently, there was usually one of more good year’s best anthologies available in paperback in the SF field. The last ones vanished with the deaths of distinguished editors Terry Carr and Donald A. Wollheim. There has been a notable gap. This book fills that need.

Hartwell also was convinced that modern SF collections had blurred the boundaries of science fiction. He wanted to reaffirm that true Science Fiction was still alive and well in 1996.

This a very strong collection with 3 truly superb stories. It is a serious launch for this new collection and I’m really looking forward to exploring future volumes.

Year’s Best SF is rated 89%.

11 good / 3 average / 0 poor.

Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly

Good. A man facilitates transporter technology for a race of dinosaur-like aliens and must make a horrible decision.

Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia A. McKillip

Good. A time traveler has a crisis of conscience we she must impersonate angels in a time when women are burned for witchcraft.

Hot Times in Magna City by Robert Silverberg

Good. An exceptionally thrilling tale of recovery convicts and drug-addicts who must fight volcanoes in future Los Angeles. Suspenseful, thrilling, but also deep. The explosions of magna correspond nicely to the addictions and pain that bubbles beneath the main characters. This is a interest tale to read in 2020, when convicts are conscripted to fight extreme California wildfires.

Gossmer by Stephen Baxter

Good. A couple of scientists crash onto Pluto and make a discovery that places their lives in danger. Unless they can invent a new way to get home.

A Worm in the Well by Gregory Benford

Good. A woman running a salvage ship is deeply in debt to a Japanacorp and tries to capture a wormhole trapped near the sun for a big payday.

Downloading Midnight by William Browning Spencer

Good. In a sexually conservative cyberpunk future, the only porn is AI copies of people. When one goes beserk and rampages through the “Highway,” two men are sent in to eliminate it and find a deeper mystery than they bargained for.

For White Hill by Joe Haldeman

Good. A masterpiece really. Two artists from different worlds fall in love while exploring a nearly dead planet earth which was destroyed by nanotechnology during a war.

In Saturn Time by William Barton

Average. An alternate history that postulates that the space program would have continued and grown if American presidential elections had go in a different direction.

Coming of Age in Karhide by Ursula K. Le Guin

Good. A companion piece to Le Guin masterpiece “The Left Hand of Darkness.” She returns to this world to detail a young person’s first Kemmer - where their asexual body becomes male or female to reproduce.

The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker by Roger Zelazny

Average. A space accident has Jeremy Baker being pulled to his destruction in a black hole. Along the way he meets an alien that may offer a second chance.

Evolution by Nancy Kress

Good. Antibiotic-immune diseases are making hospitals no-go zones. Mix in family dynamics, anti-science terrorism, and really well written characters. This is a very good story. And has quite a bit of resonance as I read it in 2020.

The Day the Aliens Came by Robert Sheckley

Average. Quirky and superficial tale with multiple alien races connect through madcap interactions

Microbe by Joan Slonczewski

Good. A woman scientist explored a dangerous world with the assistance of two AIs. One of which acts as her spacesuit.

The Ziggurat by Gene Wolfe

Good. Chilling, thrilling, suspenseful, and complex. A man waits alone in a cabin during a blizzard as his wife and three children arrive. They are brutally attacked by people (?) from another world or time (?). Propulsive and riveting, leading to a gut punch of an ending. Superb story!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this highly because the peaks are so high. The best stories here (Think Like a Dinosaur, Downloading Midnight, For White Hill) are truly remarkable science fiction and the book deserves to be read for their presence alone. Without further ado, let's talk about the stories.


Think Like a Dinosaur (James Patrick Kelly) - a masterpiece of a short story. This is what short-form scifi should be about.

Wonders of the Invisible World (Patricia A. McKillip) - a most fascinating, ambiguous ending, which I enjoyed.

Hot Times in Magma City (Robert Silverberg) - Really meh, I found the way humans reacted to the scenario to be implausible and the characters tiresome.

Gossamer (Stephen Baxter) - Tightly written hard sf, not bad but not special.

A Worm in the Well (Gregory Benford) - another tightly written hard sf story, nothing amazing but well-written.

Downloading Midnight (William Browning Spencer) - Wow. A lot of wows. There's layers upon layers of fascinating ideas here that are woven into this novella quite well without obnoxious exposition. Intensely disturbing too.

For White Hill (Joe Haldeman) - A beautifully written story/novella, a joy to read.

In Saturn Time (William Barton) - Not memorable.

Coming of Age in Karhide (Ursula K. Le Guin) - Well-written but not one I would re-read.

The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker (Roger Zelazny) - There's some interesting stuff here but quickly forgotten.

Evolution (Nancy Kress) - Quite timely to read now in that it is all about the human result to a pandemic. Unfortunately the human actions are so implausible throughout that it was impossible to suspend disbelief. Amazing, her humanity are even stupider in the fact of a pandemic than ours were!

The Day the Aliens Came (Robert Sheckley) - The sort of jokey scifi that I don't find entertaining.

Microbe (Joan Slonczewski) - Wasn't enthralled by the concept, felt like no more than a thought experiment.

The Ziggurat (Gene Wolfe) - At the surface level it's a stupid, offensive story. There is great debate as to what the deeper layers are (I had to go online to start reading the debate because the surface level was so bizarre and objectionable), but frankly I couldn't reconcile any plausible reading of the story that would make it a good one, and while it seems to have its fans I didn't come across any interpretation that stood up under inspection.

[Darshil Chauhan]

DNF. Overall does what it claims but just too old at this point and not for me.

1 4.5/5 - great story, quickly told, hits the mark
2 2.5/5 - pretty weak. Didn’t evoke strong emotions in me. Maybe I didn’t get it, but it was just meh.
3 - 3/5 The prose is getting on my nerve. There is a distance in the prose that’s blocking me from empathizing with a character or even just be interested in the story. There is a good story underneath, but I’m having trouble reaching it. I have to keep rereading sentences to understand and, as if that’s not enough, when I do understand I am not impressed. I find myself skipping words and sentences unconsciously just to get to something interesting. So much infodump. The second half of the story was excellent. The prose was much more powerful when it was talking about humans and not lava-related infodumps. It also made clear the theme with explicit comparison between fighting lava and addiction recovery. Just wish the story was shorter, with less info dump and fewer names of places.
4. Gossamer by Stephen Baxter - 3/5 - proper hard SF problem solving. A relatively quick and easy read. Not engaging enough for me.

[D J Rout · Rating 4 out of 5]

As noted earlier, this anthology from more than twenty years go shows how the field has declined in recent times. The two standout stories are by Robert Silverber and Gene Wolfe, but this is to be expected. Ursula K LeGuin puts in an appearance with some thing rabbitingh on about menstruation or something in a context of funny names. Nancy Kress produces a story that starts off being about science and ends up being a fictional autobiography of some self-absorbed dumb chick.

As much as I castigate these stories, and I'm castigating the ones that aren't completely forgettable, compared to the field today these storeis are excellent. A good book to get if you want to reminisce about what the field was like before ComicCon completely gripped the fans' imagination and every show on TV was a metaphor for badly we treat gay people.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find the SciFy short story the most difficult genre to get on top of. But I keep trying. I only finished 7 of the 14 stories in this volume but it was not abandoned. I just ran out of time. I might come back to it. Of those 7 stories read there were two gems.

Gossamer Stephen Baxter.
Two women in space, Lvov and Cobh are forced to land on Pluto and they find evidence of life which has formed a beautiful web between Pluto and its moon Charon. They realise they won’t be rescued in time if they report this because there is something precious (life on Pluto) to be protected. So they do something clever to get away from Pluto and are able to report what they have found. The human element was good and the descriptions of the web lovely but the science was beyond me.

Think like a dinosaur. James Patrick Kelly.
Enjoyed it. It is a slight story but well told and well padded. Two characters. Both characters tell a personal secret. The narrator, Michael, is untrustworthy and his story may not be genuine. The other character, Kamala, has no reason to lie. The point in the narrative is to help Kamala relax but I see no point in the story for such detailed stories within a short story.
Dinosaurs are those who organise the program and they have a different and alien value system to humans although Michael seems to be able to adjust fairly well. Otherwise I see no point in Dinosaurs filling this role. They could be any other invented alien.

Wonders of the Invisible world Patricia A McKillip.
Loved the opening!
‘I am the angel sent to Cotton Mather.’
Loved the time travel. A touch of Connie Willis but a world away from her style.
The two time periods are perfectly linked and there is a threatening feel to it but I need some of it explained to me. But still a gem.

Hot Times in Magma City Robert Silverberg
Lots of testosterone but I didn’t mind. Exciting but with events that give emotional satisfaction. Los Angeles, volcanic eruptions bursting out after some underground disturbance and whole districts and freeways have been destroyed. We follow a group of people in a half way house who need to do community work as part of their rehabilitation. The other gem.

[Kit Sheffield · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know whether it was the style at the time, or a deliberate choice by the editor, but most of the stories in this collection just sort of end abruptly or wander off, in either case without a definite conclusion.

Worse yet, for the reader, most of the are not particularly memorable. The exceptions: Stephen Baxter's Gossamer was overly long, but a very powerful story. A good mix of hard science, speculative fiction, and moral questions. Nancy Kress's Evolution got bogged down in details some, but features powerful themes both medical and societal, and felt ahead of its time in how it portrayed a society fraying. Finally, Gene Wolfe's The Ziggurat was an interesting read; unfortunately, the protagonist is a complete prick that wish would just die.

The others, I think I will forget them all in a month.

[Tom Britz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this Year's Best. It started off with a bang then slowly deflated like a balloon with a small leak. A leak that lasted far too long in my opinion. "Think Like A Dinosaur" By James Patrick Kelly is a fantastic tale and deservedly won a Hugo Award. "Hot Times In Magma City" by Robert Silverberg was a distant second place winner, In My Opinion, and then the bottom fell out. "The Ziggurat" by Gene Wolf was readable, though not very plausible, the characters never fleshed out at all and this was close to a hundred page story. Even Ursula K. LeGuin, made an appearance, and though I'm not a fan of hers, I did not care for her story, "Coming of Age In Karhide" at all. This is David G. Hartwell's first Year's Best SF, I do hope he gets better.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took my time reading these stories throughout the summer, and have some really good memories from that experience. Reading the "A Worm In the Well" while baking in the heat on the beach in St Augustine will stick my mind. "Downloading Midnight" is the standout surprise for me. There's not much written about it online but I found it's take on a future society extremely retro-cyberpunk reading in 2025. "The Ziggurat" was a journey and the first I'd ever read of Gene Wolf.

I'm delighted I discovered this series and look forward to reading the rest of them.

[Prip · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” -> is very good
Patricia A. McKillip: “Wonders of the Invisible World” -> is very good
Robert Silverberg: “Hot Times in Magma City” -> solid. Surprisingly relevant and swap volcanoes for forest fires and…yeah
Stephen Baxter: “Gossamer” -> simple
Gregory Benford: “A Worm in the Well” -> pedestrian
William Browning Spencer: “Downloading Midnight” -> not my favorite

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of the stories. I like the mystery of wondering where a sci-fi short story is headed.

I was really looking forward to the Gene Wolfe story at the end and I enjoyed it ...until... it wrapped up. And then it became a, "Wait, what?" ending... and not the 'oo that was a good plot twist' variety.
The suspense was great up to a point.

[Alan Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of short stories. Not all of them kept my interest, but the good by far outweighed the ok stories. Will likely come back to them again someday.

[Charl · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are the kind of stories I read SF for; solid science, interesting premises, and plausible characters. Everyone of them excellent.

[Thomas Wyatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth your time

The collected stories in this volume aren't great, actually they aren't interesting or good SF. Later volumes have way better stories.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of hard sci-fi stories from 1995. Solidly good throughout, but nothing I would call great. A nice variety of settings, situations, and themes.

[Bill Borre]

"Wonders of the Invisible World" by Patricia A. McKillip - A time researcher finds herself thoughtful after visiting Cotton Mather as an angel.

[Antonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

Half the stories were good, half sucked and I didn't even bother to read them.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book itself, as well as each of the stories, has a short introduction by the editor.

• James Patrick Kelly: "Think Like a Dinosaur" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995) A clever and chilling story that plays with the concept of self. Must remember to explore more of his works if possible.

• Patricia A. McKillip: "Wonders of the Invisible World" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995) The Woman who brought us Riddlemaster of Hed brings us this postmodern religious tale. I am not sure what happens in this story that name checks Cotton Mather and references brain scans and not sure I care to find out with a reread.

• Robert Silverberg: "Hot Times in Magma City" (Originally in Omni Online, 1995) Hartwell in his intro writes :” one which represents Silverberg at the height of his talent: this is essentially a compressed novel, conforming to the limitations of classical drama. Additionally, there is the air of classic Theodore Sturgeon about this story in the choice and treatment of the central character. In a year of impressive novellas from major talents in the SF field, few are as impressive as this piece first presented by Omni Online.” And it’s a tight little tale that is saying something deeper than the surface premise of this day in the life of a first responder.

• Stephen Baxter: "Gossamer" (Originally in Science Fiction Age, 1995) Hartwell takes care to point out this as representative “Hard SF” that relies on an adherence to the minutiae of what’s scientifically possible and expanding it forward into speculation. Personally, I find the boundary between hard and soft to simply be: is there ‘an’ explanation and some internal truths in the story universe. Star Trek has an internal logic that is by our standards impossible, the Expanse is merely highly unlikely. Trek breezily explains away inertia and the speed of light barrier, the Expanse uses detailed calculations to truthfully describe in system travel but then has a Deus Ex Machina moments of ‘magical’ travel. Are they both soft? Both hard? It’s like obscenity, you know it when you see it? Anyway, this piece is an entertaining ‘explorers in trouble’ story that is quite satisfying.

• Gregory Benford: "A Worm in the Well" (Originally in Analog, 1995) I liked this short piece about a scavenger ship pilot taking a dangerous but lucrative job. Great AI interaction makes this especially timely as I write this years later in 2023.

• William Browning Spencer: "Downloading Midnight" (Originally in Tomorrow, 1995) a relatively obscure writer working out of his normal metier gives a complex view into a future of entertainment that bears close scrutiny. Like the previous entry, may be asking questions more relevant now than when written.

• Joe Haldeman: "For White Hill" (Originally in Far Futures, 1995) As the title says, a far future best described as post-apocalyptic, post exodus. It deals in art on a very large scale. Art that mourns and remembers a time before. I love the idea of this and imagine I’ll come back to it again.

• William Barton: "In Saturn Time" (Originally in Amazing Stories: The Anthology, 1995) Hartwell calls this an alternate history story that uses time and premise similarly to Bellay’s “Looking Backward” which as a side note, is totally worth your time if you’ve never read it.

• Ursula K. Le Guin: "Coming of Age in Karhide" (Originally in New Legends, 1995) What do I need to say about Ursula? Nothing. You either know and love her or you have her on your TBR. Maybe the selling point of this story is it revisits Winter, the setting of “Left Hand of Darkness”.

• Roger Zelazny: "The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker" (Originally in F&SF, 1995) Zelazny said in his notes for this story that it is an attempt to combine 3 interesting hard SF ideas into one piece. It has the typical breezy dialogue in the face of deadly peril that marks much of Roger’s work and is a definite must read in my book.

• Nancy Kress: "Evolution" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995) A sort of medical drama that also feels very current in it’s examination of mass hysteria in an endemic atmosphere.

• Robert Sheckley: "The Day the Aliens Came" (Originally in New Legends, 1995) Sheckley was well into the latter part of his career at this point and so the slightly cynical writer self insert plays well and authentically as anything can in this bizarre short story.

• Joan Slonczewski: "Microbe" (Originally in Analog, 1995) A story of exploration and seeking of strange life forms.

• Gene Wolfe: "The Ziggurat" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995) I’ve read this story several times over the years. A simple story that takes place in a remote mountain cabin. It has a sadness that wasn’t apparent to me the first read.

I have been a fan of these collections since they were in the low single digits and to this day haven't read them all but they are all on my TBR and they are all worth reading, especially these many years later.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

• James Patrick Kelly: "Think Like a Dinosaur" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995) A clever and chilling story that plays with the concept of self. Must remember to explore more of his works if possible.
• Patricia A. McKillip: "Wonders of the Invisible World" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995) The Woman who brought us Riddlemaster of Hed brings us this postmodern religious tale. I am not sure what happens in this story that name checks Cotton Mather and references brain scans and not sure I care to find out with a reread.
• Robert Silverberg: "Hot Times in Magma City" (Originally in Omni Online, 1995) Hartwell in his intro writes :” one which represents Silverberg at the height of his talent: this is essentially a compressed novel, conforming to the limitations of classical drama. Additionally, there is the air of classic Theodore Sturgeon about this story in the choice and treatment of the central character. In a year of impressive novellas from major talents in the SF field, few are as impressive as this piece first presented by Omni Online.” And it’s a tight little tale that is saying something deeper than the surface premise of this day in the life of a first responder.
• Stephen Baxter: "Gossamer" (Originally in Science Fiction Age, 1995) Hartwell takes care to point out this as representative “Hard SF” that relies on an adherence to the minutiae of what’s scientifically possible and expanding it forward into speculation. Personally, I find the boundary between hard and soft to simply be: is ther ‘an’ explanation and some internal truths in the story universe. Star Trek has an internal logic that is by our standards impossible, the Expanse is merely highly unlikely. Trek explains away inertia and the speed of light barrier, the Expanse uses detailed calculations to truthfully describe in system travel but then has a Deus Ex Machina moments of ‘magical’ travel. Are they both soft? Both hard? It’s like obscenity, you know it when you see it? Because I can say for sure that much of Zelazny’s (for instance) works are definitely ‘soft’ in that his science is primarily psychology. Anyway, this piece is an entertaining ‘explorers in trouble’ story that is quite satisfying.
• Gregory Benford: "A Worm in the Well" (Originally in Analog, 1995) I liked this short piece about a scavenger ship pilot taking a dangerous but lucrative job. Great AI interaction makes this especially timely as I write this years later in 2023.
• William Browning Spencer: "Downloading Midnight" (Originally in Tomorrow, 1995) a relatively obscure writer working out of his normal metier gives a complex view into a future of entertainment that bears close scrutiny. Like the previous entry, may be asking questions more relevant now than when written.
• Joe Haldeman: "For White Hill" (Originally in Far Futures, 1995) As the title says, a far future best described as post-apocalyptic, post exodus. It deals in art on a very large scale. Art that mourns and remembers a time before. I love the idea of this and imagine I’ll come back to it again.
• William Barton: "In Saturn Time" (Originally in Amazing Stories: The Anthology, 1995) Hartwell calls this an alternate history story that uses time and premise similarly to Bellay’s “Looking Backward” which as a side note, is totally worth your time if you’ve never read it.
• Ursula K. Le Guin: "Coming of Age in Karhide" (Originally in New Legends, 1995) What do I need to say about Ursula? Nothing. You either know and love her or you have her on your TBR. Maybe the selling point of this story is it revisits Winter, the setting of “Left Hand of Darkness”.
• Roger Zelazny: "The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker" (Originally in F&SF, 1995) Zelazny said in his notes for this story that it is an attempt to combine 3 interesting hard SF ideas into one piece. It has the typical breezy dialogue in the face of deadly peril that marks much of Roger’s work and is a definite must read in my book.
• Nancy Kress: "Evolution" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995) A sort of medical drama that also feels very current in it’s examination of mass hysteria in an endemic atmosphere.
• Robert Sheckley: "The Day the Aliens Came" (Originally in New Legends, 1995) Sheckley was well into the latter part of his career at this point and so the slightly cynical writer self insert plays well and authentically as anything can in this bizarre short story.
• Joan Slonczewski: "Microbe" (Originally in Analog, 1995) A story of exploration and seeking of strange life forms.
• Gene Wolfe: "The Ziggurat" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995) I’ve read this story several times over the years. A simple story that takes place in a remote mountain cabin. It has a sadness that wasn’t apparent to me the first read.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me preface this with the fact that I'm not a fan of hard science fiction. That said, there were several outstanding stories. Think Like A Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly was pretty unique. It was a bit shocking. Robert Silverberg's story Hot Times in Magma City was good, but what made it great is his turn of phrase. Nancy Kress-Evolution - her story was excellent - I plan to read more by her. Robert Sheckley's story The Day The Aliens Came was quirky and enjoyable. Joan Slonczewski - Microbe! What's not to like about bagel creatures? So darn cute!

Think Like a Dinosaur
Hot Times in Magma City, 1990-95

[Bob Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 14 stories from 1995 published in various science fiction magazines from that year and before. This was the first volume of such stories compiled by David Hartwell. He writes in the Introduction these stories are distinguished from fantasy and science fantasy in that the stories are about humans (for the most part) with human feelings in very human situations. The "science fiction" is part of the story but not the focus of the story. These stories are fine stories without the science fiction, but the SF gives them an extra bounce.

As in any collection, you'll enjoy some more than others. A great opportunity to meet new writers with new ideas.