The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume Twelve

by Jonathan Strahan, Rich Larson

The latest in a series that has been called “a must-read for fans of science fiction, fantasy, and short stories in general”

Science fiction is a portal that opens doors onto futures too rich and strange to imagine. Fantasy takes us through doorways of magic and wonder. For more than a decade award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan has sifted through tens of thousands of stories to select the best, the most interesting, the most engaging science fiction and fantasy to thrill and delight readers. 

Contents:
“The Mocking Tower”, Daniel Abraham (The Book of Swords)
“Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue”, Charlie Jane Anders (Boston Review)
“Probably Still the Chosen One”, Kelly Barnhill (Lightspeed)
“My English Name”, R. S. Benedict (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance”, Tobias Buckell (Cosmic Powers)
“Though She Be But Little”, C.S.E. Cooney (Uncanny)
“The Moon is Not a Battlefield”, Indrapramit Das (Infinity Wars)
“The Hermit of Houston”, Samuel R. Delany (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
“The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine”, Greg Egan (Asimov’s Science Fiction)
“Crispin’s Model”, Max Gladstone (Tor.com)
“Come See the Living Dryad”, Theodora Goss (Tor.com)
“Bring Your Own Spoon”, Saad Z. Hossain (The Djinn Falls in Love)
“Babylon”, Dave Hutchison, 2084
“The Faerie Tree”, Kathleen Kayembe (Lightspeed)
“Fairy Tale of Wood Street”, Caitlin R Kiernan (Sirenia Digest)
“The Worshipful Society of Glovers”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Uncanny)
“An Evening with Severyn Grimes”, Rich Larson (Asimov’s Science Fiction)
“The Chameleon’s Gloves”, Yoon Ha Lee (Cosmic Powers)
“The Smoke of Gold is Glory”, Scott Lynch (The Book of Swords)
“Sidewalks”, Maureen McHugh (Omni)
“Concessions”, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali (Strange Horizons)
“The Martian Obelisk”, Linda Nagata (Tor.com)
“The Secret Life of Bots”, Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld)
“A Series of Steaks”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld)
“Belladonna Nights”, Alastair Reynolds (The Weight of Words)
“Eminence”, Karl Schroeder (Chasing Shadows)
“The Lamentation of their Women”, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com)
“Confessions of a Con Girl”, Nick Wolven (Asimov’s Science Fiction)
“Carnival Nine”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

620 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2018

Reviews

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

This edition of the annual anthology includes the following stories (along with rating for each and appropriate song lyrics):

- Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell - 2/5 - on the journey of a thousand lifetimes
- Probably Still the Chosen One by Kelly Barnhill - 3/5 - we're still having fun, and you're still the one
- The Martian Obelisk by Linda Nagata - 2/5 - is there anybody out there?
- A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad - 4/5 - food, glorious food
- Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim - 3/5 - wind me up, so I can keep up with you
- Eminence by Karl Schroeder - 3/5 - grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
- The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee - 2/5 - we're gonna save the world tonight
- The Faerie Tree by Kathleen Kayembe - 3/5 - there's danger on the edge of town
- The Mocking Tower by Daniel Abraham - 4/5 - welcome to the Grand Illusion
- Sidewalks by Maureen F. McHugh - 4/5 - time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'
- My English Name by R. S. Benedict - 3/5 - by the merciless eyes I've deceived
- Crispin's Model by Max Gladstone - 3/5 - I'm a model, you know what I mean
- The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer - 3/5 - I've paid my dues, time after time
- Concessions by Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali - 3/5 - hey I remember walking in the sand
- Confessions of a Con Girl by Nick Wolven - 2/5 - Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to
- The Smoke of Gold is Glory by Scott Lynch - 3/5 - A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
- The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine by Greg Egan - 4/5 - meet the new boss; same as the old boss
- The Lamentation of Their Women by Kai Ashante Wilson - 2/5 - damn I see demons
- An Evening with Severyn Grimes by Rich Larson - 3/5 - I'm gettin jacked, I'm breakin myself
- Though She Be But Little by C. S. E. Cooney - 2/5 - crazy, but that's how it goes
- The Moon is Not a Battlefield by Indrapramit Das - 2/5 - floating weightless, coming home
- The Worshipful Society of Glovers by Mary Robinette Kowal - 4/5 - hand in glove we can go
- Come See the Living Dryad by Theodora Goss - 3/5 - there is trouble with the trees
- Fairy Tale of Wood Street by Caitlín R. Kiernan - 1/5 - come on wail, wail cotton tail
- Babylon by Dave Hutchinson - 3/5 - it don't matter if you're black or white
- Bring Your Own Spoon by Saad Z. Hossain - 3/5 - you better chow down or it's gonna get cold so eat it
- The Hermit of Houston by Samuel R. Delany - 1/5 - ...
- Belladonna Nights by Alastair Reynolds - 3/5 - remember me, once in a while, please promise me you'll try
- Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue by Charlie Jane Anders - 3/5 - Sheena was a man!

[Tijana]

Moram reći da sam prilično nezadovoljna jer ako je ovo najbolje što SF i F trenutno imaju da ponude... situacija nije sjajna. Prosto, nije dobar znak ako više od dve priče čitam očiju zamagljenih od besa.
Naravno da ima i dobrih i odličnih priča, ali ako je moj lični favorit zbog kompleksnosti i stila i originalno jezive vizije budućnosti i... pa radikalne sfičnosti generalno... uradak Dilejnija, a Dilejni ima 76 godina (živeo nam još toliko!) ipak se treba zapitati šta rade mlađi (uslovno mlađi, tako, do pedesete recimo).
Mlađi izrazito nemaju mašte.
Dobre su priče (osim Dilejnijeve), recimo:
- Tajni život botova, koji me je zasmejao već naslovom, i koji je zaista simpatična pričica o robotiću-majstoru, ali nije da puca od inventivnosti
- Krispinov model, koji je savremena i ženska adaptacija moje omiljene Lavkraftove priče (da, imam omiljenu Lavkraftovu priču, ne znam šta vam je tu problem)
- Sidewalks, čiji naslov sad ne bih da prevodim, i koja je super priča o jeziku i savremenom životu i putovanju kroz vreme, ne toliko zbog radnje (koja radnja?) koliko zbog glasa pripovedačice
- Serija šnicli, pravi lep SF iz bliske budućnosti
- uslovno, Bajka iz Šumske ulice (hej, ovo je moj prikaz i mogu da prenesem naslov kako oću), ali vrlo uslovno jer ja bih Ketlin Kirnan praštam i kad kao ovde poturi uvodno poglavlje romana umesto pripovetke

iii... to je to. Ima više kompetentno napisanih osrednjih priča, ali ovo je neka vajna antologija ZAR NE, i ima bar jedna koja lepo postavi svet ali nema nikakvu priču smeštenu u njemu (Mesec nije bojno polje), i nekoliko tekstova od kojih mi je padala klapna i kretala krv na nos a koji su uključivali:
- jednu antivaksersku priču (antivakserski SF zvuči kao contradictio in adjecto ali eto postoji)
- jednu fobičnu priču o migrantima ONI SU MEĐU NAMA AAAA na nivou onih "udala sam se za komunistu" paranoja iz pedesetih
- jednu ogavnu alegorijicu o smislu života
- jedno zabrinjavajuće fantaziranje o nasilju, ali baš zabrinjavajuće
- jednu najdosadniju priču o zmajevom blagu na svetu, ne znam kako ali piscu je uspelo da napiše dosadnu priču o zmajevima, eto svaka mu čast
- još jednu ogavnu alegorijicu o zlu lajkovanja na društvenim mrežama
- jednu priču Čarli Džejn Anders što komotno mogu da ostavim bez daljeg obrazloženja

...što sve zajedno procentualno baš nije dobar rezultat.
Ali eto, mogu da vas utešim, ako spadate u onaj deo čovečanstva koji voli Čarli Džejn Anders i naravoučenija-s-alegorijom, samo napred, nauživaćete se.

[Ivana Nešić]

Stvar s ovom antologijom je što je super ako ste npr poslednje 3 godine proveli ispod kamena pa ne znate koje su teme aktuelne. Onda uzmete i pročitate i sve saznate: i kako su belci u Kini popularni i kako je SJW užasan (ali i neophodan), a fejbuk još gori i migranti i terorizam i 3D štampa i Mars i okej, nije samo to, ali mora se priznati da zbirka zaista pokriva čitav spektar strašno aktuelnih tema. Sad da li je to realna slika popularnosti tema ili samo Stranov izbor? Morala bih da čitam mnogo više priča pa da znam, a to se neće desiti.
Moj osnovni problem je u tome što ima baš dosta priča koje se potroše na worldbuilding i onda radnja bude štura, kao da su priče zamišljene da budu tizeri ili počeci ili pilot epizode romana ili nedajbože serijala. To mi nije pošteno ni prema priči a bgm ni prema meni. Jer meni dosta energije ode da u glavi oživim nečiji univerzum, osetim se prevareno kad to bude za nigde ništa.
Drugi problem su mi priče koje su pamfleti i ne služe ničemu sem da nam kažu šta autora žulja, ali tome inače služi tviter, šta znam.
A tu je i jedna o osobama iz frik šoua koje su u frik šou dospele zbog svog stanja ili oboljenja. Tu f od fantastike nema i zaista ne kapiram.
Ali okej, zapravo se ne bunim. Ima dobrih, i pošto zbirka već postoji onda pročitam mnogo više priča nego što bih to inače uradila i ne mogu da zamislim koliko se neko potrudi da pročita SVE što se objavi i da napravi izbor.

[Andrea Santucci · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance **** 11/04/2018
Probably Still the Chosen One **** 12/04/2018
The Martian Obelisk *** 13/04/2018
A Series of Steaks ** 14/04/2018
Carnival Nine ***** 15/04/2018
Eminence * 16/04/2018
The Chameleon's Gloves * 17/04/2018
The Faerie Tree ** 19/04/2018
The Mocking Tower *** 28/04/2018
Sidewalks *** 29/04/2018
My English Name **** 30/04/2018
Crispin's Model ** 01/05/2018
The Secret Life of Bots ** 04/05/2018
Concessions ** 06/05/2018
Confessions of a Con Girl ** 07/07/2018
The Smoke of Gold Is Glory * 08/07/2018-9/07/2018
The Discrete Charm of the Turning Machine *** 10/07/2018

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This anthology begins with a triumphant proclamation that 2017 was an exceptional year for science fiction. It's been a while since I read modern sci fi myself (I tend to read people like Strugatsky, Lem, Dick, Le Guin, Pohl, Compton, Melzberg, Wyndham, etc), so I was very excited to check out what wonderful and weird things sci fi is coming up with currently.

It's terrible though, and if this is the best modern sci fi has to offer, then that's incredibly depressing.

The first story in this collection is a mess of nothing. The white noise of hard sci fi jargon wrapping up a plot that may have an end but certainly has no beginning or middle. A brief, lazy exchange about free will the closest it comes to a theme, all the more pathetic because it feels like even the writer doesn't care.

The second story in this collection begins with this line:
"You must wait here," the Highest of the High Priests told her. "We will return and bring you back to the Land of Nibiru once we have found the circlet to place upon your head."

The third story begins with an interesting premise - an artist making something despite the world seeming to be over - yet proceeds (nowhere) to become so pointless, saccharine and contrived that even as a short I felt my time was wasted.

A Series of Steaks is ok because it doesn't aim to be much more than a cute slice of life tale about making fake beef.

The fifth story tries and fails to make an interesting plot out of cryptocurrency.

The sixth story is military sci fi, which isn't my cup of tea.

Sidewalks, being about language (a favourite topic of mine) was almost decent, but most of the story is a rather cloying attempt to talk about social issues. Bizarrely, it doesn't actually join those two things together and make both of them work much better. Without spoiling it, anything good about the story seemed unintentional.

Crispin's Model is ok, if only for achieving the prose standard and plotting of a hacky pulp short from the sixties. It basically reads like a precocious teenage boy who has just discovered Lovecraft wrote a little homage.

And there's a lot of other junk here not even worth mentioning. Maybe I'm not the right audience for these, but even when I ignore my pet peeves (first person present tense should be restricted to trashy romance novels, not everything has to be written at a teenage reading level, and fantasy isn't sci fi) I struggle to figure out what these stories offer. Plots go nowhere, none of these ideas are original, and if you swapped the protagonists between these stories they'd still read the same. I think if you randomly plucked thirty people from the street and forced each of them to write a short the results would be better than this.

I'll be honest, I didn't read the last nine stories in this twenty-nine story collection. It had sapped all my will and the last dregs of hope by then. It's like slogging through the creative writing assignments of bunch of high-schoolers; forced, derivative, full of fluff, and entirely lacking in substance.

The most convincing piece of writing that I found in this collection was probably the sales pitch at the beginning - which almost convinced me to subscribe to some of the magazines it mentions. I'm giving it two stars because perhaps the last nine stories are brilliant, filled with original ideas and evocative, articulate writing, but I'd bet the extortionate price of this terrible collection they aren't. (Though I did receive my copy for free from netgalley.)

[Àkos Györkei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volt ami jobb volt, volt ami kevésbé. Sajnos inkább kevésbé. Amik kiemelkedtek vagy jó vagy rosszaságuk miatt:

Carnival Nine - A legjobb novella a regényben, szívszorító történet egy nagyon különleges világba ágyazva
The Lamentation of their Women - nem tudom ilyet hogy lehet ilyet beválogatni. Egy csaj és pasija a gettóból sátáni fegyverekkel elkezdenek fehéreket irtani, hogy végre lássanak fehér nőket sírni a híradóban. Ok.
The Secret Life of Bots - Izgi űrscifi, robotokkal, háborút elvesztő emberiséggel
The Worshipful Society of Glovers - varászlatos, viktoriánus fantasy, a kesztyűkészítéssel varázslás nagyon érdekes volt
Crispin’s Model - talán inkább horror, nagyon különleges a művészi szál benne
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - teljesen elrugaszkodott űrscifi, aranyos csattanóval

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since Goodreads is weird about short stories, this rating is just for Concessions, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali's two-part story for Strange Horizons, which starts here. She's a powerful writer and I loved the story and its bittersweet end. There's a link to part 2 at the bottom. Note the CW at the top of the page.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like short fiction? Short SFF? Do you feel like you’ve fallen behind with last year’s stories? Then this is the collection for you! Buckle up your seat belts, because you’re in for a long ride.

I mostly skipped over the stories I’d read before, although they tended to be good stories! I just felt like reading something new at the moment and I’m too pressed for time to want to re-read. That said, I’m going to start with the stories I’d previously read.

“Carnival Nine” by Caroline M. Yoachim was the only story in The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year that also appeared in my short list of best SFF from 2017. Of course, some of these other stories might have been included if I’d only read them in time. Anyway, “Carnival Nine” is a bittersweet story about family and growing old, told through the lives of wind-up puppets who only have so many turns each day. Each night the Maker turns their key, giving them a set number of turns for the day. Each puppet has to make the best of the turns they have.

“The Worshipful Society of Glovers” by Mary Robinette Kowal also made my list of Best of 2017 short stories. In Tudor era England, the fae are employed to provide enchantments for the nobility, which are all tied into gloves. Vaughn is a journeyman glover, and he desperately needs to become a master so he can make gloves for his sister Sarah, who has seizures. Kowal just has such excellent craft, and everything about this story was wonderful. The concept is so clever and intriguing, plus there’s a real heart to it.

Likewise, “The Martian Obelisk” by Linda Nagata and “The Secret Life of Bots” by Suzanne Palmer also made my list. In “The Martian Obelisk,” an elderly architect designs a memorial on Mars to last past the end of the human race, as civilization steadily declines. But is she right to have given up hope for the future? It’s a lovely little story full of hope and warmth, even when things look grim. “The Secret Life of Bots” is another hopeful tale. It alternates between the small concerns of an elderly maintenance bot tasked with tracking down the “Incidental” (a pesky biological that’s been causing problems) and the ship’s crew, facing a suicide mission that’s a last ditch effort to save humanity.

“Though She Be But Little” by C.S.E. Cooney is a very strange story! If you’re familiar with the work of Jeffery Fforde, it’s a bit like that, but less humorous. Some weird, apocalyptic scenario happened where the world… twisted. Emma Anne used to be an elderly widow, but now she’s a little girl with two talking stuffed animals. And there’s a child hunting monster after her. I liked the story, but it didn’t end up making my Best of 2017 list.

I originally read “Bring Your Own Spoon” by Saad Z. Hossain in the collection The Djinn Falls in Love, where it was one of my favorites. (The Djinn Falls in Love) – I reviewed this one in the collection The Djinn Falls in Love. Suffice to say it was one of my favorites of its anthology. In this sci-fi future, the very air is toxic and the vast majority of the population has never known real food, only artificial stuff that comes out of a processor. But a chef and a djinn begin to change things when they work together to create a restaurant in this delightful tale. The story was so much fun, and I’d love to read more set in the same universe!

The rest of the collection was new to me, although I had a few of the stories bookmarked and mentally marked down as “To Read.” Case in point, “Probably Still the Chosen One” by Kelly Barnhill. I’m so thankful I’ve finally read it, because it was a delightful subversion of the “Chosen One” trope. The heroine of the story is a girl who went through a kitchen cupboard and into a fantasy realm where she was proclaimed the Chosen One. In the midst of the kingdom’s great struggle, she is sent back to her own world for a week’s worth of safety. Only, time passes differently between worlds, and growing up and becoming a mother gives her a different perspective on her childhood adventures.

I loved quite a number of the new-to-me stories in this collection. It’s not “Best of” for no reason! Some of my favorites include “The Mocking Tower” by Daniel Abraham, “The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine” by Greg Egaen, “The Faerie Tree” by Kathleen Kayembe, “Concessions” by Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali and “A Series of Steaks” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad. All of these probably would have ended up on my list of favorite 2017 short stories if I’d only read them in time.

“The Mocking Tower” by Daniel Abraham is a very cleverly structured story that’s got enough of a heart to have an emotional impact as well as a intellectual one. “The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine” by Greg Egaen is a near future science fiction story where advances in computer technology have begun to lead to increased unemployment rates and a difficult job market. The protagonist is a father who’s just been fired and looking in vain for new work. While it took a while to grow on me, “The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine” ultimately left me thinking about how technology will impact our futures.

The greatest thing about “The Faerie Tree” by Kathleen Kayembe is the voice. It’s colloquial and distinctive, the sort you don’t hear that often in science fiction or fantasy. Atmosphere is the second greatest thing — it’s so creepy! The main character’s grandmother told her about the faeirie tree and the high price of a deal with them, but she might just have need… I hadn’t heard of this author before, but I need to read more by her!

I would love to read more stories set in the same world as “Concessions” by Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali. Like a number of other stories in the anthology, it’s a dystopia. The protagonist is a doctor eking out a living in a small settlement on the edge of the desert, in a future ravaged by religious wars. To go and live in a city where there’s more resources, she would have to renounce her faith.

One of my absolute favorite stories in this collection is “A Series of Steaks” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad. It’s just so great! I even had a dream about it the night after reading. The protagonist is a former art student who’s taken to creating forgery for a living. Only, she’s not forging art; she’s forging meat. In this near future, meat from actual livestock (as opposed to protein supplements) is a luxury. Armed with a high-tech bio-printer, she’s been making a living selling nearly authentic strips of beef. Then someone starts blackmailing her to make 200 T-bone steaks, a project bigger than any she’s risked before. The concept is so unique and just a tad hilarious. The execution is flawless, and I loved the characterization too. I really wish I’d read this story earlier!

However, as with any short story anthology, there’s quite a number that are middle of the pack. You know, those stories that you sort of like but don’t have strong feelings for. For instance, “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” by Tobias Buckell was an enjoyable story, although not the most memorable in the collection. In it, a maintenance robot encounters a billionaire CEO of a newly conquered regime who considers uploaded/digitized people subhuman. They take advantage of the protagonist’s robotic nature to demand help, putting it in quite the bind. It’s a clever and engaging story, but it’s not one I’d probably ever return to.

I wasn’t always sure about the writing style or pacing of “Sidewalks” by Maureen McHugh, but it sure had its powerful moments. The protagonist is a speech pathologist called in to interview a woman who appears to be speaking gibberish. The commentary on gender norms was interesting, and I loved the concept. The execution just never worked quite right for me.

“Crispin’s Model” by Max Gladstone is a dark, creepy tale. I’d actually been avoiding it for that reason! Horror isn’t really my thing. However, Max Gladstone is a more than capable writer, and I enjoyed the human element to the story. I mean, Max Gladstone always does creepy demonic beings well, but it’s his characters that keep me coming back time and time again. Still, I tend to prefer his novels to his short fiction. Maybe I just like it better when he has more room to work with.

“Confessions of a Con Girl” by Nick Wolven takes an idea that feels at least a bit familiar (people’s lives being determined by a social media/interaction generated score) but does well with it. The narrator is writing a report on how she came to be a “Con Girl,” i.e. had a score that slipped into the red. I think she’d internalized performative behavior to the point where she didn’t even realize she was being performative. The potentially unreliable narrator was the most interesting aspect of the story.

When I read a story by Yoon Ha Lee, I know I’ll get something that’s at least solid. Such is “The Chameleon’s Gloves.” It’s set in the same universe as Ninefox Gambit and follows Rhehan, a disgraced Kel who’s turned to thievery to make their way in the world. It’s not a bad story. It’s just not Yoon Ha Lee’s best, and it left me fairly cold.

“My English Name” by R. S. Benedict tells of a shape-shifting creature who lives among humans. But what happens when it falls in love? Nothing good can come of it.

“Come See the Living Dryad” by Theodora Goss is the only story in the collection that is arguably neither science fiction or fantasy, although it was published in a SFF venue. “Come See the Living Dryad” uses excerpts from books, diaries, and letters to tell two stories: the life of a murdered woman with a rare skin condition and her descendant who’s trying to uncover the mystery behind the murder.

I was excited to see that this collection included a story by Indra Das, since I’ve been trying to read more by him after experiencing the darkly fantastic The Devourers. “The Moon is Not a Battlefield” by Indrapramit Das is a slower paced, wonderfully written, reflective story. The story’s a conversation between a journalist and a solider who was taken from childhood and raised to defend India’s interests on the moon. It’s a very melancholy tale, but I’m glad I read it.

“Babylon” Dave Hutchison is a highly intriguing story about a Somali intelligence operative tasked with entering the borders of a highly fortified Europe. I know some blogger fans who like his Fractured Europe series, and after reading this short story, I think I will need to read more by Dave Hutchison.

Perhaps the most complex story in the collection is “The Hermit of Houston” by Samuel R. Delany. It asks a lot of the reader! It’s set in a strange, dystopic future that’s of course utterly normal to the narrator. Adding to the confusion, memory editing is common place. The story follows the relationship between two lovers, gradually showing you more and more of the future situation. Gender and sexuality are prominent themes. I feel like I only understood about half of “The Hermit of Houston.” Maybe I should have read it a second time.

The final story in the collection, “Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue” by Charlie Jane Anders, is another dark dystopia, but a little closer to home. In an incredibly near future, the government has decided to treat anyone they view as abnormal, claiming it’s the morally superior thing to do. The protagonist is Rebecca, a trans woman who thinks the Star Wars prequels are better than the Disney movies. She’s planning an art show in a coffee shop, complete with a manifesto, when she’s snatched off the street and brutally dehumanized. Overseeing her “treatment” is her childhood best friend, Jeffery, who maybe feels sort of bad about doing this to someone he actually knows. It’s a highly disturbing story, akin to Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

“Belladonna Nights” Alastair Reynolds takes place in a far future where post-humans consider a century to be a fairly brief amount of time. The narrator is at a thousand day reunion with the rest of their line (I think post-humans who came from the same individual), and encounters a mystery: someone keeps leaving belladonna flowers outside their door. And they think they know who it is…

I’m not a huge Caitlin R Kiernan fan, but I liked “Fairy Tale of Wood Street” okay. A woman wakes up one morning and sees that her lover has a tail. If you’re familiar with the mythology of the huldra, you’ll have some guesses as to what’s going on.

I’m also pretty tepid on “Eminence” by Karl Schroeder. There’s some interesting ideas about crypto-currencies, but I’m not sure how well it holds up as a story.

Of course, there’s also stories I had more of a negative tilt towards. For example, “The Smoke of Gold is Glory” by Scott Lynch. Sure, the ending is a bit poetic, but for most of the story, I felt like I was reading someone’s lengthy description of dungeon crawling in their RPG campaign. Look, hearing about other people’s RPG campaigns can sometimes be fun, but it can also be incredibly boring. This was the latter.

I’m not a huge fan of Kai Ashanti Wilson’s writing style. It’s the primary reason I’ve bounced off his books before, and it was yet again a factor in my tepid feelings towards “The Lamentation of their Women”. It’s a story about two people who make a deal with Satan and become bonded to these weapons that compel them to kill people. They decide that they don’t feel right about killing their own people, so decide to try and cheat Satan by going on what they view as “ethical” mass murder sprees against white policemen. They are morally grey characters, but its a dark morally grey. Honestly, this story was just too violent and sexual for me.

“An Evening with Severyn Grimes” by Rich Larson was well written had had some heist elements I enjoyed. But it also felt vaguely sexist. I’m just so tired of heroines being threatened with rape. So tired ya’ll. It’s seriously making me consider removing his new release from my TBR.

All in all, I did like most of the stories in the anthology! It’s perhaps not surprising for an anthology designed to be the cream of the crop, but there you go. I’d recommend it for anyone who wants an overview of some of the best SFF short fiction from 2017.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.

Review from The Illustrated Page.

[Shane · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this was a selection of the year’s best, I’d hate to see what didn’t make the cut. Maybe four of this bunch I found genuinely entertaining, with the rest ranging from dull to unfinishable.

[begemot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only listened to/read:
- the introduction;
- “The Martian Obelisk” by Linda Nagata - pretty good;
- “The Mocking Tower” by Daniel Abraham - pretty good.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

10. Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance, Tobias S. Buckell - very funny in parts.

Probably Still the Chosen One, Kelly Barnhill Not for me. Starts off with an 11 year old.

The Martian Obelisk, Linda Nagata Set in a very depressing era. Too close too home and this was written before the COVID pandemic.


A Series of Steaks, Vina Jie-Min Prasad I got bored with this one


Carnival Nine, Caroline M. Joachim Odd but striking in the use of turns of time.


Eminence, Karl Schroeder Anything to do with cryptocurrency makes my eyes glaze over and my brain shut down.


The Chameleon’s Gloves, Yoon Ha Lee An interesting glimpse into an unknown (for me) world. I would read more.


The Faerie Tree, Kathleen Kayembe Another one not for me.


The Mocking Tower, Daniel Abraham I lost the plot and didn’t like the characters.


Sidewalks, Maureen McHugh Too much time describing the main character and her life.



My English Name, R. S. Benedict. I think this one may have been too clever for me.


Crispin’s Model, Max Gladstone A stranglers handshake is going to stay with me for a while.


The Secret Life of Bots, Suzanne Palmer 944 items in the queue.


Concessions, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Nah


Confessions of a Con Girl, Nick Wolven another one not for me.


The Smoke of Gold is Glory, Scott Lynch Loved this one. Certainly the best of the bunch for me. Apart from the PC use of ‘they’ for one of the characters.


The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine, Greg Egan. All to do with money and what leads from the lack of it.


The Lamentation of their Women, Kai Ashante Wilson Another nope for me.


An Evening with Severyn Grimes, Rich Larson This runs a close second to The Smoke of Gold is Glory. Very well done indeed.


.Though She Be But Little, C. S. E. Cooney. Interesting and kept me reading although I didn’t really understand the ending.

The Moon is Not a Battlefield, Indrapramit Das Nope



The Worshipful Society of Glovers, Mary Robinette Kowal A nice tale with a Beginning, middle and end.


Come See the Living Dryad, Theodora Goss I liked the idea and the plot devices used but thought the denouement was weak.


Fairy Tale of Wood Street, Caitlín R. Kiernan very funny to start with and then got quite serious. One of the better in the selection.


Babylon, Dave Hutchison Meh.


Bring Your Own Spoon, Saad Z. Hossain Intriguing with the normal depressing dystopian future


The Hermit of Houston, Samuel R. Delany . I didn’t care for this one.


Belladonna Nights, Alastair Reynolds another meh


Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue, Charlie Jane Anders . Gender an issue and non conformity

[Luiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

About half the stories were good, and a few were great. The others, not so much. Although I think the average rating of the individual stories should be 3 stars or less, I have rated this at 4 stars because there were some real gems in here, and they should not be missed! A few individual highlights:

- Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell - 5/5 - Really good short story! Amazing world building, a really like the concepts used here (like the way transfer of consciousness into machines is used), and the use of relativity was really clever!

- A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad - 4/5 - Clever story about food printing in the near future. Both the technology and the plot are very interesting!

- Eminence by Karl Schroeder - 3/5 - Good story about cryptocurrency. The ideas were interesting enough, the setting and inclusivity displayed here is pretty good, but the plot and development was just ok.

- Sidewalks by Maureen F. McHugh - 3/5 - Solid sci-fi, even if it doesn’t appear at first! I really liked the linguistics angle used here.

- My English Name by R. S. Benedict - 4/5 - Haunting! Great narrative, setting the mood and unwrapping the story very slowly. The ending was only a little unsatisfying, but still good.

- Crispin's Model by Max Gladstone - 3/5 - Lovecraftian! Really, that’s the perfect description of the story.

- The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer - 5/5 - Amazing short story! Very imaginative, great action, a lot of fun! I reviewed it elsewhere because I had already read it before picking up this book. If you haven’t read it, or if you aren’t going to read this whole book, at least read this one!

- Confessions of a Con Girl by Nick Wolven - 3/5 - Amusing story, what a twist on the way things are in a liberal arts college! Towards the end it gets unsatisfying, but still pretty good.

- The Smoke of Gold is Glory by Scott Lynch - 4/5 - a standard fantasy story: a party going to get the treasure guarded by a dragon. But it was short, so it compressed all the tropes and ideas and stories into a small package, making it snappy and fun! Well written too!

- The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine by Greg Egan - 4/5 - Very funny story! It looks like a story about AI, but then it turns into a story about the future of work! Weird and interesting.

- Come See the Living Dryad by Theodora Goss - 4/5 - Very interesting way of exploring the story, as a historical investigation (archives, diaries, medical journals…).

- Belladonna Nights by Alastair Reynolds - 3/5 - Interesting sci-fi, about humans evolved into highly technological demigods.

I think on average, the sci-fi stories were good, the fantasy stories were not. For example, “Probably Still the Chosen One”, “Carnival Nine”, “The Faerie Tree”, were just sad, make me want to stop reading and drop the book. Some stories were messy and meandering and I just didn’t like: “Though She Be But Little”, “The Worshipful Society of Glovers”, “ Bring Your Own Spoon”, “The Hermit of Houston”. The other stories were ok, but not enough for me to write a review (my rating would be a 2 or 1).

On the whole ok. Maybe stick to the interesting stories only?

[Adyba · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell - 2/5
2. Probably Still the Chosen One by Kelly Barnhill - 3/5
3. The Martian Obelisk by Linda Nagata - 2/5
4. A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad - 4/5
5. Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim - 4/5
6. Eminence by Karl Schroeder - 2/5
7. The Chameleon's Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee - 3/5
8. The Faerie Tree by Kathleen Kayembe - 2/5
9. The Mocking Tower by Daniel Abraham - 4/5
10. Sidewalks by Maureen F. McHugh - 2/5
11. My English Name by R. S. Benedict - 2/5
12. Crispin's Model by Max Gladstone - 3/5
13. The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer 3/5
14. Concessions by Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali 3/5
15. Confessions of a Con Girl by Nick Wolven 4/5
16. The Smoke of Gold is Glory by Scott Lynch 3/5
17. The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine by Greg Egan 4/5
18. The Lamentation of Their Women by Kai Ashante Wilson 3/5
19. An Evening with Severyn Grimes by Rich Larson 3/5
20. Though She Be But Little by C. S. E. Cooney 2/5
21. The Moon is Not a Battlefield by Indrapramit Das 2/5
22. The Worshipful Society of Glovers by Mary Robinette Kowal 4/5
23. Come See the Living Dryad by Theodora Goss 3/5
24. Fairy Tale of Wood Street by Caitlín R. Kiernan 3/5
25. Babylon by Dave Hutchinson 2/5
26. Bring Your Own Spoon by Saad Z. Hossain 2/5
27. The Hermit of Houston by Samuel R. Delany 1/5
28. Belladonna Nights by Alastair Reynolds 3/5
29. Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue by Charlie Jane Anders 3/5

[Dea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories included in this collection I read and enjoyed elsewhere, so I won't list them here. Those that I especially liked and were new to me are listed below.


Probably Still the Chosen One, Kelly Barnhill – I would love to read a whole book series with this premise.
Carnival Nine, Caroline M. Yoachim – an incredibly interesting presentation of limitations of disability.
The Faerie Tree, Kathleen Kayembe
Sidewalks, Maureen McHugh – I would very much like to know more.
My English Name, R. S. Benedict – I hope the author is happy that I cried at the end of this one.
The Moon is Not a Battlefield, Indrapramit Das
The Worshipful Society of Glovers, Mary Robinette Kowal – I enjoyed it, but it left me asking 'so what?'.
Come See the Living Dryad, Theodora Goss – I am not big on true crime anything, except the forensic shows, but this showed me that I could be.
Bring Your Own Spoon, Saad Z. Hossain – food-centric narratives rarely stir something in me, heh, but this one made me very hungry for roasted fish and rice. Also hungry for collective action of common citizens doing good, had that rock stew theme going on.
Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue, Charlie Jane Anders – what a story to end on! A tight ball of anger and anxiety and powerlessness and perseverance.

[James Mourgos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Volume 12 of the Best Sciece /fiction and Fantasy of the Year (2018) has got to be the worst slugfest of a book I’ve ever read.

Majority of the book’s stories were incomplete endings, lots of talking and not a lot of action. Most of the fantasy stories were so flowered and self-absorbed I had to skip a large portion of them.

The story with the dragon in his castle and everyone who ventures to get his gold dies. These adventurers want to try. It runs along pretty good until everyone dies except the narrator. How convenient.

Another about a woman murdered who was in a freak show, who was suffering from a disease that turns her tree-like. A hundred years later her descendent tries to figure out who murdered her as the actual “murderer” was not even there. Near the end, the story ends incompletely. Did the husband do it or not? Undecided. Annoying.

Took me months to slog through this waste of Kindle energy. Don’t bother!

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Strahan is probably the most prolific editor currently working in the science fiction and fantasy genres. As such, he has considerable influence on what these genres are and where they are headed. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year series, for example, helped define the market from 2006-2019. Volume 12, which collects stories published in 2017, draws stories from online magazines and e-publishers. It offers a strong response to the “Sad Puppies” movement, which offered right-wing slates for the Hugo Awards from 2013-2016. The stories are replete with characters representing under-represented cultures and gender orientations. Several stories offer commentary on race, caste, and class. There are stories by such familiar writers as Samuel R. Delany, Daniel Abraham, Greg Egan, and N. K. Jemisin. I especially enjoyed “Sidewalks” by Maureen McHugh, which tells us of a speech therapist who encounters a woman speaking Old English. Recommended. 4 stars.

[Jeff Frane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to get a taste of what's being published in short sf/f these days because I mostly read novels. This seemed like a good place to start and it was an interesting, if lengthy read. I have to give due credit to Jonathan Strahan, who must have read a few thousand stories last year to whittle it down to these. They're virtually all actual short stories, rather than novelettes or novellas, which allows the editor to offer a really diverse selection, from fairy tales to hard sf and I got to sample a great many authors I'd not run across before. Some of my favorites were by Kelly Barnhill, Linda Nagata, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Yoon Ha Lee, Suzanne Palmer, Greg Egan, Rich Larson, and Mary Robinette Kowal. There were a few stories I simply didn't enjoy, which is unsurprising, and only one I couldn't finish, which is actually very surprising given how many there are here.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any anthology, I liked some of these stories much more than others.

I think my favorite story was the one by Scott Lynch. I hate Scott Lynch. I want to crack open his skull and consume his brain meat and thereby absorb his creativity and writing prowess. But if I did that, i wouldn't get to read any more stories by Scott Lynch. And that would be a goddamn travesty.

It's a dilemma.

(Note: This is not meant to be taken literally and I do not in fact wish to harm Scott Lynch in any way. Just in case some idiot somewhere thinks I was being serious. I wasn't. Come on now.)

[Lada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite stories:
The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer (writing with heart and humor)
Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim (powerful metaphor for life... and choices)
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell (fun, plus black hole!)
A lot of stories though were painful or sad or both. I suppose with a short story it is more likely that one ends up with a sad or ambiguous ending, but there were quite a few of those.

[Stephen Burridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of stories published in 2017. As always with anthologies of this kind, I enjoyed some much more than others. My general feeling on finishing this volume is that it is perhaps less strong than others in the series. I think the best stories in the second half of the book, read most recently, were by Delany, Kiernan, Goss, and Wolven (I read the book over several years.)

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

My pick for the best stories worth rereading:
"My English Name", R.S.Benedict.
"Crispin's Model", Max Gladstone.
"The Smoke Of Gold Is Glory", Scott Lynch.
"Bellodonna Nights", Alastair Reynolds.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best of the year goes to Charlie Jane Anders' "Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue."

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Anthology

Great selection of stories with widely different settings ranging from high fantasy to far future science fiction. Many of the stories are highly relevant.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

These stories are just ok. Short stories don't let you get to learn the concepts or the characters very well.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few good stories, a lot of garbage

[Lucía · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times it feels heavy

[Anthony J Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't finish before I had to return it, but there are a lot of cool short stories in here.

[Squeaky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly enjoyable stories I, uh, enjoyed, reading. Some surprises.

[Al Menaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skipped all the fantasy stories. Sci-fi stories varied, some OK, some good, some compelling.

[Lbech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but not as good as other years. What's also apparent is the sci-fi coming out of China and authors with Asian last names are dynamite good.