It’s interesting that most ‘Year’s Best’ anthologies tend to feature one or two of the old guard or the big names of SF, and this volume is no exception. In other cases, there may be ulterior motives, since the likes of Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, Will Gibson and Moorcock etc, still swing a lot of weight, and publishers will – one assumes – be keen to feature these names in a publication which is likely to sell to hardcore fans more than anyone else.
One has to say though that the quality of the work from the establishment writers (apologies to Mr Moorcock, who will no doubt quail at the thought of having become the establishment) is exceedingly high, particularly in the case of Moorcock, Silverberg and Gibson. There are one or two stories whose inclusion as ‘Year’s Best’ I would question, but then, I’m sure that’s going to be the case for most readers. It would have been nice, I think though, to have seen more fresh blood since there were only two or three writers in this volume who were new to me.
1997 seems to be the year of relationships in SF, since quite a few of these tales have a romantic element. Let’s hope it was just a passing fad.
Petting Zoo (1997) Gene Wolfe (Return of the Dinosaurs, May 1997, ed. Martin H. Greenberg, Mike Resnick, )
A young boy illicitly recreates an intelligent, slightly purple, T.Rex and rides off on a voyage of mayhem. However, there are consequences.
The Wisdom of Old Earth (1997) Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s Dec 1997)
Post-humans getting back to nature try to experience what it is to be human and mortal again. Very poetic and not a little weird.
The Firefly Tree (1997) Jack Williamson (Science Fiction Age – May 1997)
Very poetic story about a young boy and a fabulous plant he discovers, which could be the First Contact between man and an intergalactic civilisation. Who will believe him when his dad is a dope farmer?
Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City (1997) William Gibson (New Worlds 1997)
A wonderful Ballard-esque tour through – as the title would suggest – thirteen (one imagines) photographs of a Far-East cardboard city where the residents have exploited the properties of boxes to the nth degree. Gibson always has an arty sharp visual side to his writing, which is more than usually evident here.
Quite marvellous.
The Nostalginauts (1997) shortstory by Sharon N. Farber [as by S. N. Dyer ] (Asimovs, March 1997)
A character-driven piece about time-travellers who can visit from the future, but only for a short time, insubstantially and with no sound, and only from 25 years ahead. This gives rise to a fashion of visiting one’s wedding or prom night, holding up pictures or messages from the future.
Guest Law (1997) novelette by John C. Wright (Asimovs July 1997)
More baroque technofabulousness, as a ship, piloted by the decadent and mannered hi-tech survivors of humanity, encounters another ship, and evokes the ‘Guest Law’ in order to receive the captn of the ship into their midst in mutual safety. Earth, it appears, is now controlled by machine intelligence and humanity is spread across space, living in ships and habitats.
The Voice (1997) shortstory by Gregory Benford (Science Fiction Age, May 1997)
An interesting concept of humans rediscovering written text after having been reliant on an inner ‘internet’ called The Voice. The Voice, however, seems to be resistant to the idea of humans reading for themselves.
Yeyuka (1997) shortstory by Greg Egan (Meanjin v56 #1)
Egan’s short stories can be compared with Ian Watson’s – not simply because they tend to be examinations of character within a Hard SF framework, but because they cover odd concepts, places and situations.
Here, a cancer surgeon, carrying a ring that guarantees him constant monitoring and medication goes to Africa where he finds the technology far behind that of Australia and the developed world. Very detailed. Very clever.
An Office Romance (1997) shortstory by Terry Bisson (Playboy, February 1997)
A very clever, witty and somewhat romantic story from Bisson, who posits a romance behind the windows of Windows in a future where we can immerse ourselves in an Office Environment, a place which is sometimes more real than real.
Itsy Bitsy Spider (1997) shortstory by James Patrick Kelly (Asimovs, June 1997)
Kelly decides to examine the emotive subject of Alzheimers, and how one might address it in the future, but this story is far more than that. It’s an examination of a relationship, and the way in which we all – consciously, deliberately or by means beyond our control – forget things from our past.
Beauty in the Night (1997) novelette by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction Age, September 1997)
A wonderful poetic piece from Silverberg set in a future Salisbury where aliens have occupied the Earth and rearranged Stonehenge to their own alien configuration. A young man, fuelled by revenge against his brutal quisling father, sets out to kill one of the invaders.
Mr. Pale (1997) shortstory by Ray Bradbury (Driving Blind, Avon, 1997)
As is to be expected, a late tale from Bradbury with all the exoticism and poetry of his earlier years. Death is found travelling on a starship, having consigned the Earth to flames, but Death himself is dying. Should the Doctor try to save him?
The Pipes of Pan (1997) novelette by Brian Stableford (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1997)
An interesting story, a little steampunkish, set in a world where children’s growth has been retarded in an effort to deal with the population programme.
Always True to Thee, in My Fashion (1997) shortstory by Nancy Kress (Asimov's Science Fiction, January 1997)
Imagine that moods could be changed by designer drugs and that the fashion is set by designers for the following season. A relationship in this world is examined, revealing a great deal about the attitudes and motives of the narrator.
Canary Land (1997) novelette by Tom Purdom (Asimov's Science Fiction, January 1997)
A dense, complex piece involving music, gene patents, big business and espionage.
Universal Emulators (1997) shortstory by Tom Cool (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1997)
Beautifully written, this is another of the stories in this volume that looks at a relationship. In this world, one can hire someone to be you, to take over half your life and deal with a heavy workload, or make your wife fall in love with you.
Fair Verona (1997) novelette by R. Garcia y Robertson (Asimov's Science Fiction, October/November 1997)
The narrator spends his time between living virtually in medieval Verona and taking rich clients on Wyevern hunts on an alien world. The Wyverns are collared are radio controlled so they are effectively harmless, until Tony is dragged from his game to find his client ripped to pieces by a Wyvern, and his own life as a witness on the line.
Great Western (1997) novelette by Kim Newman (New Worlds 1997)
An odd alternate Earth tale is which modern England becomes a parallel of the Wild West, with corrupt Reeves, evil squires, beleaguered widows running farms, and a gun-totin’ motorbike riding hero riding to the rescue.
Turnover (1997) shortstory by Geoffrey A. Landis (Interzone, January 1997)
A rather daft story about a Professor and her handsome assistant examining larval occurrences on Venus. Couldn’t see the point of it. Another story featuring relationships in this volume.
The Mendelian Lamp Case [Dr Phil D'Amato] (1997) novelette by Paul Levinson (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, April 1997)
One feels that this should really have been worked up onto a novel. It doesn’t read like a short story and seems rushed into an implausible conclusion. The overall premise is that the Amish, through extensive selective breeding, have created a new sustainable green technology, and can for instance use fire flies that will light the inside of one’s home.Marvellous idea. Not that well employed.
Kiss Me (1997) shortstory by Katherine MacLean (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, February 1997)
It’s well-written, amusing, and casts a cynical eye on the motivations of young women. MacLean is an SF veteran, and it’s no surprise that there is a retro feel to this story, harking back to some of the quirky ‘feel good’ stories of the 40s and 50s. It’s another short piece which focuses on (at least one half of) a relationship, but should it really be in a Year’s Best anthology?
London Bone (1997) novelette by Michael Moorcock (New Worlds 1997)
Moorcock, as Hartwell points out, is a major figure in British and International SF and fantasy. Here is a mature work which is not only a love letter to London itself, but a commentary perhaps on London society, with its obsession the facile and superficial. Ray, the narrator, is a dealer in services, providing tours and shows for jaded tourists and is offered a chance to be finance a lucrative deal. Under a disused site in Southwark some strange bones have been discovered, fused together by a chemical process and scrimshawed with figures of matchstick men, and these bits of bone are being sought by collectors. It’s a memorable piece which also manages to take a sideswipe at many of our more overhyped sacred cows such as Madonna. It may in its own way be a commentary on modern society’s penchant for feeding on its own remains, regurgitating the old bones rather than producing anything truly new and original. It is perhaps significant that Andrew Lloyd-Webber, regularly the subject of claims that he has plagiarised the work of earlier (and conveniently dead) composers, comes under Moorcock’s hammer, and is described as having gone bankrupt following the failure of his popularity and his last show ‘Dogs’.
It’s a marvellous piece, full of witty one-liners and snapshots from London’s real and imaginary past.