Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2006 Edition

by Rich Horton (Editor)

The best stories of the year: here is a collection of the best science fiction prose written in 2005, by some of the genre's greatest authors, and selected by Rich Horton, a contributing reviewer to many of the field's most respected magazines. In this volume you'll find stories by James Patrick Kelly, Wil McCarthy, Susan Palwick, Tom Purdom, Robert Reed, Michael Swanwick, James Van Pelt, Howard Waldrop, Alastair Reynolds, Ian McDonald, Mary Rosenblum, Stephen Leigh and Joe Haldeman.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Fernando Sacchetto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acho que 2005 não foi um ano tão bom assim pra ficção científica hein

[BL834 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Either 2006 was a terrible year for SF short stories, or Mr. Horton and I strongly disagree on what constitutes "good" SF. None of the stories rose above three stars (IMO).

[Bill Gerros · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me 2 attempts to get through. Some very interesting stories and some that were just meh. I wonder what some of these authors have done since this anthology?

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any anthology there are some stories that I like better than others. "The Fate of Mice" reads like a well known novel but it has a surprise ending involving a six year old girl. As one looks into alternate futures or plans of existence "The Inn at Mount Ether" provides food for thought. "Search Engine" provides a look at a dystopian future. A darker short story is "Bliss" about domestic abuse and drug abuse. As for colonizing Mars "Understanding Space and Time" the last story in this 15 short story volume is a story of an ill-fated outpost and its future. One could consider it the ending book end that started with the first story "Triceratops Summer" where an experiment goes off the rail.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of stories with a generous variety of sci-fi themes and styles, ranging from time travel, love, and self reflection. Read it if you can get your hands on it.

Favorite stories in this collection:

Triceratops Summer
Heartwired
The Fate of Mice
The King of Where-I-Go
The Policeman's Daughter
Search Engine
Understanding Space and Time

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. I really enjoyed about half of them and some just made me roll my eyes.

Audio

[Giovanni M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story in this is pound-for-pound sci-fi brilliance. The last story took my thoughts to dizzying heights.

[Donnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story selection was alright, but there were more typos than my 2nd grade school journal.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bank Run was my favorite.

[briz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really the best? Somehow, this feels like an incomplete view of all the possible great spec fic that was out there in 2006. Few of the stories are really dazzling: Alastair Reynold's story is playful and full of cosmic wonder, a very old timey sci fi feel to it; as is Palwick's "The Fate of Mice". "Finished" was touching. There were a few B-grade, OK stories - "Triceratops Summer", "The Policeman's Daughter" - but there was quite a lot of unimaginative, unpolished stuff. I was surprised. Haldeman's short-short, for example, was flat and uninspiring. (I remember the drabbles of fanfic, where the whole point seemed to be leveraging sparse, stylish prose to make something mysterious and evocative; this short-short was just... short.)

Overall, I'm a bit baffled; the editor, Horton, mentions Strange Horizons magazine (a place where I've read a number of stronger stories), but it doesn't seem like he picked much from it. And what about Abyss & Apex? These magazines consistently have great pieces. This supposed "Best Of..." didn't feel very "best" at all.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an experiment to get me to read outside my comfort level. I've never been a science fiction reader, so I thought I'd try. And this seemed the best way, short stories, a variety of authors, and supposedly the "best" of a particular year. I chose this year because...well...it was the copy I could find in our library system. So. I'm still not a science fiction fan, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I thought science fiction was all space crafts and aliens and Star Trekkie stuff. Not so! There were several stories here that I thought were inventive, thoughtful and even somewhat fun. I'm not going to be able to remember authors though, so I still won't be good at referring someone to a good science fiction author. But it was fun to stretch.

[Ketan Shah]

A mixed bag with some pretty good stories but some that seemed like filler. Three of the better stories Robert Reed's Finished ,Will McCarthy's The Policemans Daughter and The Jenna Set by Daniel Kaysen deal with the issue of identity in the digital world. Howard Waldrop , James Van Pelt and Michael Swanwyck contribute 3 of the best stories in the anthology with characters who are affected by make use of time travel and alternate realities to their own advantage. Fans of Flowers for Algernon should read Susan Palwicks entry as it specifically references Daniel keye's seminal story.The other stories seem lacklustre in comparison.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was tough to pick a rating for this collection, because some of the stories are 5-star stories, and some are 2's. I should really give it a 3, but I really enjoyed reading an anthology for once, in a genre I haven't read many short-stories from. So I'm going to be benevolent and give it 4 stars.

Read my full review.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile anthology of stories, some touching, some provocative, some much better than others. Two, "The Fate of Mice" and "Triceratops Summer", are worth the price of purchase alone. A mixed bag but a great time-passer.

[Douglas Summers-Stay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially liked "Triceratops Summer," which I took to be about the meaning of our actions in the face of the reality of death. Also "The Fate of Mice" which was a response to "Flowers for Algernon."

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/751420.html

[Clayton Yuen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any collection, especially science fiction short stories, you are bound to hit upon a good one and a bad. On the whole, this 2006 collection rated 4 stars . . . . mostly a good read!

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly poor - believe there was better in the year

[Falbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little too heavy on the fantasy, and a little light on the hard science.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun selection of short sci-fi stories. One of my favorite ones was the Alastair Reynolds novella at the end.