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The Year's Best Military & Adventure SF #1
The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera: First Annual Edition
The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera: First Annual Edition. Book One of a new Series (Year's Best Military and Adventure SF), featuring the best stories of the year from the top magazine and online venues with a military and adventure science fiction theme. With an introduction by best-selling military science fiction author David Drake and selected by editor David Afsharirad from the top short story markets in the field, here are the most thrilling, pulse-pounding, and thought-provoking stories of the past year. Stories of future military men and women, space opera on a grand scale, and edge-of-your-seat adventure tales in the pulp tradition, from giants of the genre to brilliant up-and-comers.
Contents:
Preface (The Year's Best Military SF & Space Opera) • essay by David Afsharirad
Excitement! Adventure! Science Fiction! • essay by David Drake
Codename: Delphi [The Red] (2014) / short story by Linda Nagata
Persephone Descending (2014) / novelette by Derek Kunsken
The End of the Silk Road (2014) / novelette by David D. Levine
Picket Ship (2014) / novelette by Brad R.Torgersen
Decaying Orbit (2014) / short story by Robert R. Chase
Morrigan in the Sunglare (2014) / short story by Seth Dickinson
Light and Shadow (2014) / short story by Linda Nagata
Icarus at Noon (2014) / short story by Eric Leif Davin
Soft Casualty [Freehold Short Fiction] (2014) / short story by Michael Z. Williamson
Palm Strike's Last Case (2014) / novelette by Charlie Jane Anders
Brood (2013) / novelette by Stephen Gaskell
Stealing Arturo (2014) / novelette by William Ledbetter
Rules of Engagement (2014) / novelette by Matthew Johnson
Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind) (2014) / novelette by Holly Black
War Dog (2014) / short story by Mike Barretta [as by Michael Barretta]
.
Contents:
Preface (The Year's Best Military SF & Space Opera) • essay by David Afsharirad
Excitement! Adventure! Science Fiction! • essay by David Drake
Codename: Delphi [The Red] (2014) / short story by Linda Nagata
Persephone Descending (2014) / novelette by Derek Kunsken
The End of the Silk Road (2014) / novelette by David D. Levine
Picket Ship (2014) / novelette by Brad R.Torgersen
Decaying Orbit (2014) / short story by Robert R. Chase
Morrigan in the Sunglare (2014) / short story by Seth Dickinson
Light and Shadow (2014) / short story by Linda Nagata
Icarus at Noon (2014) / short story by Eric Leif Davin
Soft Casualty [Freehold Short Fiction] (2014) / short story by Michael Z. Williamson
Palm Strike's Last Case (2014) / novelette by Charlie Jane Anders
Brood (2013) / novelette by Stephen Gaskell
Stealing Arturo (2014) / novelette by William Ledbetter
Rules of Engagement (2014) / novelette by Matthew Johnson
Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind) (2014) / novelette by Holly Black
War Dog (2014) / short story by Mike Barretta [as by Michael Barretta]
.
576 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
18 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 25, 2015
A high quality anthology with one especially exceptional space opera story, "Persephone Descending" by Derek Künsken, which got my vote for for the contest. Künsken imagined a harsh and dangerous Venus on the frontiers of human civilization that is teeming with vivid and alien life as a woman tries to survive the people and planet trying to kill her. Completely awesome.
"Soft Casualty" by Michael Z. Williamson is probably the runner-up for me, with his blend of mil-sci-fi and horror.
Linda Nagata had not one but two excellent military sci-fi stories in the anthology.
"The End of the Silk Road" by David D. Levine was a very entertaining story styled like an old fashioned pulp planetary romance.
Palm Strike's Last Case by Charlie Jane Anders is half sci-fi and half superhero story and is a wonderful example of both.
"Soft Casualty" by Michael Z. Williamson is probably the runner-up for me, with his blend of mil-sci-fi and horror.
Linda Nagata had not one but two excellent military sci-fi stories in the anthology.
"The End of the Silk Road" by David D. Levine was a very entertaining story styled like an old fashioned pulp planetary romance.
Palm Strike's Last Case by Charlie Jane Anders is half sci-fi and half superhero story and is a wonderful example of both.
December 11, 2017
Sometime in early 2015 I read David Levine's the End of the Silk Road. It was a good story but what really caught my attention was how a very modern story was located in the Venus of old SF - the Venus made famous by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I thought I have to read more such stories, but it wasn't a subgenre I was too keen on - the fact it took the world over 4 decades to create something that can stand next to Tarkovsky's Solaris (not counting Scott's Alien) had turned me off the genre. Then, early this year I discovered StarShipSofa and read Hurley's the Stars are Legion. I was amazed by what the writers were doing with the genre now. And, I got to hear Levine narrate his story on the podcast somewhere in June this year. This time around I actually looked up for books that collected similar stories. And ended up with The Year's Best Military SF and Space Opera.
This is a representative collection of everything good that happened in these sub-genres in 2014. It includes some very famous authors and also a handful of authors I had never heard of before. Stories themselves are all very different - at least one trying to be more horror than SF. A couple of stories did not work for me at all, but the other 13 more than made up for them. A novelette by Charlie Jane Anders Palm Strike's Last Case is collected here as well. This one mashes genres much better than the novel All the Birds in the Sky - here they were Superhero fantasy and SF. It is a fantastic collection, just go read it.
This is a representative collection of everything good that happened in these sub-genres in 2014. It includes some very famous authors and also a handful of authors I had never heard of before. Stories themselves are all very different - at least one trying to be more horror than SF. A couple of stories did not work for me at all, but the other 13 more than made up for them. A novelette by Charlie Jane Anders Palm Strike's Last Case is collected here as well. This one mashes genres much better than the novel All the Birds in the Sky - here they were Superhero fantasy and SF. It is a fantastic collection, just go read it.
July 21, 2015
Of the several short stories in here I really liked about half of them. Linda Nagata's Codename: Delphi and Light and Shadow were both really good and seemed to take place in the same universe. Seth Dickinson's Morrigan In The Sunglare was another contender for my favorite, as was Rule of Engagement by Matthew Johnson. Michael Z. Williamson's Soft Casualty succeeded in being psychologically horrifying. While Ten Rule For Being an Intergalactic Smuggler By Holly Black was every kids dream after seeing Han Solo for the first time. Yet my favorite story in this anthology has got to be War Dog by Michael Barretta. The blend of an alien future, with racial and religious persecution once more reigning in the southern US after another Civil War, canine-human hybrids bred for war, and a dash of zombies made for a story and world I wanted to explore more of.
February 21, 2024
This has been on my hard drive for a month short of seven years. I’ve passed it up and passed it up, and the non-hoarder minimalist in me screamed “either read it or delete it.” So, I read it. It’s the whole short-story thing. I struggle with short stories, but after years of seemingly staring at me from the labyrinth that is my 2017 folder, I knew it was now or not at all.
In Linda Nagata’s “Code Name: Delphi,” a young woman named Karen attempts to pay off student loan debt by fighting a war five thousand miles from where she is. She uses video cameras, drones, and real soldiers to do battle. There’s plenty of tension here, and this is an ok start to the book.
“Persephone Descending” is a novelette by Derek Kunsken. It pits a young Earth woman against the planet Venus with its acidic horrors and corrosive atmosphere. The author pulled me into the story immediately by describing a plane crash in which the female pilot flung herself out of the plane in a desperate attempt to save herself, knowing that Venus’s hostile conditions would make that more than difficult. The story grows more tense as you realize that a rogue drone is attempting to kill her, and only by falling closer to the planet’s surface can she escape. But of course, to draw closer to the surface also spells death. This is a good story that pits a courageous woman against extremely hostile elements and even alien life.
David D. Levine’s “The End of the Silk Road” is fascinating because it takes a completely different look at Venus than did the previous story. In this story, Earthlings visit Venus all the time and interact with the alien life. The world building in this story is attention getting. The main character, a private detective, gets a job on the planet running down the activities of a Venusian drug runner. His client’s wife is an ex-girlfriend whom he never got over. That complicates his stay on the planet. The editors of “Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine” should have chosen this for one of their issues. It’s even better because it’s a mystery set on another world.
“The Picket Ship” by Brad R. Torgersen is a gloriously action-packed piece about an embattled group of humans defending themselves from a bug-like alien race. He writes well, and it’s worth your time.
In Robert R. Chase’s “Decaying Orbit,” there are three factions of humanity who are at war with themselves. This story wasn’t particularly memorable for me. There’s one more in this collection that didn’t do much for me, and it’s the next story in the collection.
“Morrigan in the Sunglare” by Seth Dickson felt a bit trippy to me or something—can’t quite explain my reaction to it.
Linda Nagata makes a second appearance here with “Light and Shadow.” It’s a thought-provoking look at the ways in which humanity seems to enhance itself—enhancements that could prove far more harmful than helpful.
Eric Leif Davin’s “Icarus at Noon” is what you read when you want to read about a nonconformist who refuses to collapse and just accept things as they are. The main character is a long-time space explorer. Robots and automated systems have largely replaced human space exploration in this story. But this last explorer determines to fulfill one last mission even if it costs him his life. That would be superior to simply dawning virtual reality glasses and pretending to explore things from Earth. It’s worth reading.
“Soft Casualty” by Michael Z. Williamson creeped me out. You absolutely need to read this, especially if you’ve ever worried about how unhealthy the food you eat is. This one will rattle you. I promise.
“Palm Strike’s Last Case” by Charlie Jane Anders is a great story that combines a private detective-like character with a superhero-like character. It’s worth reading if only so you can enjoy the relationship between Strike and a 12-year-old girl who saves his life.
Stephen Gaskell’s “Brood” is another mankind against bugs—big ugly bugs. It also deals with a relationship between a brother and sister.
“Stealing Arturo” by William Ledbetter is a great story that looks at an engineer who steals a space station to liberate its citizenry from the totalitarian drug-dispensing leadership of the station. The characters are great, especially the pre-adolescent girl.
Matthew Johnson’s “Rules of engagement” was a military piece I didn’t get into for whatever reason. It looks at the impact of brain implants in soldiers.
Holly Black captured me right from her title with “Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind). Told in the first person, it’s the story of a young woman who wanted to learn to be a smuggler like her uncle. She wanted to learn the rules to do it well. In her first experience as a stowaway, she learned there are no rules. The 10 rules include “when someone says they’ll pay double your normal rate, that means they’ll pay half what you’d have charged them if you knew the whole story. Rule four is “If your ship gets raided by space pirates, don’t hide in a cargo hold.” Naturally, that’s where the young woman hid when her uncle’s smuggler ship took on pirates. This is a memorably written story that makes me now want to read her books.
Michael Barretta’s “War Dog” is a story about a genetically engineered dog that can walk on two legs when it wants to, hug humans, and talk to humans. One such dog is a neighbor to a veteran. He warns the dog that the authorities will be trying to kill life forms, and the chemicals used for the kill would harm the dog. The two ultimately engage in a relationship that is more couple than dog and handler. A bit creepy, but well enough written that you can accept it. The author’s world building here is fascinating for the short amount of space he had to build it. This occurs during a second civil war, and there once again is a group known as the Confederate States of America. It was a memorable story with a sad ending.
In Linda Nagata’s “Code Name: Delphi,” a young woman named Karen attempts to pay off student loan debt by fighting a war five thousand miles from where she is. She uses video cameras, drones, and real soldiers to do battle. There’s plenty of tension here, and this is an ok start to the book.
“Persephone Descending” is a novelette by Derek Kunsken. It pits a young Earth woman against the planet Venus with its acidic horrors and corrosive atmosphere. The author pulled me into the story immediately by describing a plane crash in which the female pilot flung herself out of the plane in a desperate attempt to save herself, knowing that Venus’s hostile conditions would make that more than difficult. The story grows more tense as you realize that a rogue drone is attempting to kill her, and only by falling closer to the planet’s surface can she escape. But of course, to draw closer to the surface also spells death. This is a good story that pits a courageous woman against extremely hostile elements and even alien life.
David D. Levine’s “The End of the Silk Road” is fascinating because it takes a completely different look at Venus than did the previous story. In this story, Earthlings visit Venus all the time and interact with the alien life. The world building in this story is attention getting. The main character, a private detective, gets a job on the planet running down the activities of a Venusian drug runner. His client’s wife is an ex-girlfriend whom he never got over. That complicates his stay on the planet. The editors of “Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine” should have chosen this for one of their issues. It’s even better because it’s a mystery set on another world.
“The Picket Ship” by Brad R. Torgersen is a gloriously action-packed piece about an embattled group of humans defending themselves from a bug-like alien race. He writes well, and it’s worth your time.
In Robert R. Chase’s “Decaying Orbit,” there are three factions of humanity who are at war with themselves. This story wasn’t particularly memorable for me. There’s one more in this collection that didn’t do much for me, and it’s the next story in the collection.
“Morrigan in the Sunglare” by Seth Dickson felt a bit trippy to me or something—can’t quite explain my reaction to it.
Linda Nagata makes a second appearance here with “Light and Shadow.” It’s a thought-provoking look at the ways in which humanity seems to enhance itself—enhancements that could prove far more harmful than helpful.
Eric Leif Davin’s “Icarus at Noon” is what you read when you want to read about a nonconformist who refuses to collapse and just accept things as they are. The main character is a long-time space explorer. Robots and automated systems have largely replaced human space exploration in this story. But this last explorer determines to fulfill one last mission even if it costs him his life. That would be superior to simply dawning virtual reality glasses and pretending to explore things from Earth. It’s worth reading.
“Soft Casualty” by Michael Z. Williamson creeped me out. You absolutely need to read this, especially if you’ve ever worried about how unhealthy the food you eat is. This one will rattle you. I promise.
“Palm Strike’s Last Case” by Charlie Jane Anders is a great story that combines a private detective-like character with a superhero-like character. It’s worth reading if only so you can enjoy the relationship between Strike and a 12-year-old girl who saves his life.
Stephen Gaskell’s “Brood” is another mankind against bugs—big ugly bugs. It also deals with a relationship between a brother and sister.
“Stealing Arturo” by William Ledbetter is a great story that looks at an engineer who steals a space station to liberate its citizenry from the totalitarian drug-dispensing leadership of the station. The characters are great, especially the pre-adolescent girl.
Matthew Johnson’s “Rules of engagement” was a military piece I didn’t get into for whatever reason. It looks at the impact of brain implants in soldiers.
Holly Black captured me right from her title with “Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind). Told in the first person, it’s the story of a young woman who wanted to learn to be a smuggler like her uncle. She wanted to learn the rules to do it well. In her first experience as a stowaway, she learned there are no rules. The 10 rules include “when someone says they’ll pay double your normal rate, that means they’ll pay half what you’d have charged them if you knew the whole story. Rule four is “If your ship gets raided by space pirates, don’t hide in a cargo hold.” Naturally, that’s where the young woman hid when her uncle’s smuggler ship took on pirates. This is a memorably written story that makes me now want to read her books.
Michael Barretta’s “War Dog” is a story about a genetically engineered dog that can walk on two legs when it wants to, hug humans, and talk to humans. One such dog is a neighbor to a veteran. He warns the dog that the authorities will be trying to kill life forms, and the chemicals used for the kill would harm the dog. The two ultimately engage in a relationship that is more couple than dog and handler. A bit creepy, but well enough written that you can accept it. The author’s world building here is fascinating for the short amount of space he had to build it. This occurs during a second civil war, and there once again is a group known as the Confederate States of America. It was a memorable story with a sad ending.
July 23, 2017
This is by far the best short fiction anthology of 2014.
David Afsharirad is here to a good start, outshining the established classics (Dozois, Strahan, etc).
Okay, there are only 15 stories, making this also the shortest anthology, and of these only 3 standouts (the Black, the Levine, and the Anders), but except two naive barely-SF military stories, the remaining 10 are above average and worth the read.
Will definitely continue following this series.
David Afsharirad is here to a good start, outshining the established classics (Dozois, Strahan, etc).
Okay, there are only 15 stories, making this also the shortest anthology, and of these only 3 standouts (the Black, the Levine, and the Anders), but except two naive barely-SF military stories, the remaining 10 are above average and worth the read.
Will definitely continue following this series.
February 10, 2017
Borrowed from the library. Great, well-balanced collection with a few stories worth revisiting (and some new (to me) authors to pursue).
May 11, 2018
Some really amazing stories!
May 22, 2022
Not a big miltary SF fan but I found this on sale some time ago, and it became relevant for something I was writing. Plus most anthologies are a mixed bag, as this editor points out. I wouldn't listen to me on this one, is what I'm saying haha :D
I will say that I loved the convention of having a little italicised blurb-like paragraph at the beginning of each story introducing the reader to the world, character and story. Because my biggest issue with anthologies and short story collections is having to reset and rebuild your imagination every few pages. The blurbs made each new story way more enticing. These days seems like I want reading to be made as easy as possible so I can digest those sweet sweet observations, insights and mad ideas haha
I will say that I loved the convention of having a little italicised blurb-like paragraph at the beginning of each story introducing the reader to the world, character and story. Because my biggest issue with anthologies and short story collections is having to reset and rebuild your imagination every few pages. The blurbs made each new story way more enticing. These days seems like I want reading to be made as easy as possible so I can digest those sweet sweet observations, insights and mad ideas haha
July 16, 2025
A great collection of short fiction for fans of military SF. There are some very recognizable award winning authors in here doing great work (Linda Nagata, with two stories). Some other standout favorites were William Ledbetter's 'Stealing Arturo', Matthew Johnson's 'Rules of Engagement', Michael Baretta's 'War Dog', Brad Torgersen's 'Picket Ship', and Robert Chase's 'Decaying Orbit'. A lot of what's here feels like it could easily fit into larger sf world's these authors have created, and there were only a couple of stories I found to be a slog despite their short length.
September 15, 2021
Like any short story collection... some are engaging and too short, some are in an unfamiliar or uncomfortable style and feel like a forever slog to get through and get. Which is good for the soul... some experience out of the comfort zone broadens horizons. My favorite was the last one (which is why you stick it out through the tough slog), Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind).
March 21, 2019
There were 2 or 3 of the stories in this collection I didn't care for all that much, but the rest were great reads, and I'd be willing to wager any sicif fan will find multiple stories in this collection to enjoy, so if you're a fan, and you have the opportunity to read this one, go ahead, you're bound to like something.
October 19, 2018
Overall great collection, some very memorable stories.
June 23, 2020
I read all of this book and rather wish I hadn't. I should've just read the Linda Ngata stories and the Charlie Jane Anders story and lied about the rest.
July 28, 2023
I liked "Persephone Descending" by Derek Kunsken and "Stealing Arturo" by William Ledbetter
September 8, 2015
I had thought of 5 out of 5 but... looking back on the book you have to realize some were good, and some were meh. For the most part the Military SF ones were well done and some needed some work, like the last entry on "I-Wars" and what that all meant, as well as the crumbling of the USA and so on. I think with more of an explanation on How Things Came To Be then maybe I would have followed the story better, rather than try and piece together what the author was trying to convey. I picked that part up but overall still left me wondering how to apply it to the story and how it mattered. In any case the book is spread 50/50 between Space Opera stories as well as Military SF and again, some are pretty damn good, makes me want to adjust my own writing to come off better or extrapolate ideas I don't usually care about given past real world experiences and how I apply it to my own stories. Some have the "Cool gadgets" but most authors seem to forget military SF is not only about the tech, but the humans that drive the story, and not so much the tech. Some again were really good, and some were again.... meh. But it still was worth the money spent,
February 13, 2016
This is a superb anthology. The stories range from very hard, technological military sci-fi (the opening Codename: Delphi by Linda Nagata, to the classic space operas Persephone Descending by Derek Künsken and my favorite in the collection, The Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind by Holly Black--which I want much more of, by the way. There's even a wonderfully crafted noir detective thriller set in the mid-1930s...albeit a 1930s wherein Earth already has colonies on Mars and Venus. The stories are each very individual and beautifully written, and I had a hard time not starting a new one each time I finished a previous one. I highly recommend this volume.
June 12, 2015
I got hold of this via Baen's Monthly ebook bundle deal and listened to The Baen Free Radio podcast on the book. A collection of the so-called "best" is always tricky, because tastes vary from person to person and the stories are both SF military or space opera. I enjoyed the book, some stories more than others. The one I voted for (on the Baen's website) was "Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler" by Holly Black. I liked most of the other tales, but that was the one I enjoyed most. Read for yourself and vote!
June 18, 2015
Short stories, ranging from "meh" to well-written and thought-provoking. Most of these weren't much to write home about, but I really enjoyed two stories by Linda Nagata (whose other work I'll have to investigate), William Ledbetter's utterly charming "Stealing Arturo", and my personal favorite, about a geo-engineer turned vigilante hell-bent on revenge, Charlie Jane Anders.
March 14, 2016
Not my usual genre, but it's good to step out of the old comfort zone once in awhile.
My favorites were "Light and Shadow" by Linda Nagata and "Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (The Successful Kind)" by Holly Black.
I liked the ones with elements of noir, but the more tech-heavy ones weren't my style, but then again, this is outside of my usual genre. A pretty decent collection.
My favorites were "Light and Shadow" by Linda Nagata and "Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (The Successful Kind)" by Holly Black.
I liked the ones with elements of noir, but the more tech-heavy ones weren't my style, but then again, this is outside of my usual genre. A pretty decent collection.
July 24, 2015
My favorites were Code Name: Delphi (Nagata), Light and Shadow (Nagata), Soft Casualty (Williamson), Stealing Arturo (Ledbetter), Rules of Engagement (Johnson), Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (Black), and War Dog (Barretta).
October 5, 2015
As with most anthologies, I liked sone of the stories more than others. The stories did, with a couple exceptions, tend to be a bit dark. It was all in all a good read if you enjoy the genre like I do.
July 5, 2015
My review of this one is on the way to MilSciFi.com - check it out there!
January 25, 2016
Not a bad book, but as other reviewers have said, some of the stories are not as good as others. Not sure what one I liked the best but a couple I had read before on the Baen website.
July 3, 2015
Some really awesome stories -- and I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were quite a few stories with women in good roles.
November 30, 2015
I found a couple authors I would like to read.
December 13, 2015
Right in my wheelhouse. This book was just a joy to read and left me wanting more.
January 18, 2016
a look at the best short fiction from Baen in Mil-SF & Space Opera
January 5, 2017
Good anthology, recommended. see Paul di Filippo's review for comments:
http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2015/...
http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2015/...
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews