The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019

by Carmen Maria Machado (Editor), John Joseph Adams (Series Editor), Silvia Park

This omnivorous selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and World Fantasy Award finalist Carmen Maria Machado is a display of the most boundary-pushing, genre-blurring, stylistically singular science fiction and fantasy stories published in the last year. By sending us to alternate universes and chronicling ordinary magic, introducing us to mythical beasts and talking animals, and engaging with a wide spectrum of emotion from tenderness to fear, each of these stories challenge the way we see our place in the cosmos. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019 represents a wide range of the most accomplished voices working in science fiction and fantasy, in fiction, today—each story dazzles with ambition, striking prose, and the promise of the other and the unencountered.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Anthologies, Horror, Speculative Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Carmen Maria Machado's debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize, LA Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction, and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize, and the Crawford Award. In 2018, the New York Times listed Her Body and Other Parties as a member of "The New Vanguard," one of "15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century."

Her essays, fiction, and criticism have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Granta, Tin House, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, The Believer, Guernica, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Michener-Copernicus Foundation, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the CINTAS Foundation, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Millay Colony for the Arts. She is the Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Philadelphia with her wife.

Reviews

[Mike Reinking · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t get the 5 star reviews. The stories in this collection are universally terrible. Not uplifting or positive, generally depressing. The only “thought provoking moment” that I had while reading this book was “why am I reading this book?” The stories are dull and a labor to get through. If this represents the future of these genres, then the future is not very bright. There are plenty of imaginative stories here but not fun, entertaining ones.

[Sasha]

Here's an issue with the way a series like this works. Each year, the cover features the name of a new bright writer in the SFF sphere. In this 2019 collection's case, it's Carmen Maria Machado. That is the guest editor. But the guest editor is not doing the majority of the selection for this volume.

John Joseph Adams is the series editor. Every year, he reads a ton of short stories published in the SFF space. He selects the 80 that he considers to be the best of the year. The guest editor then selects 20 from that 80, and this top 20 ends up printed in this collection.

The upshot is that a single person, the same one every year, performs the initial reduction, through the filter of their own taste and ideas about what makes SFF short stories the best. And Adams's taste doesn't appear to match mine.

The stories here aren't bad per se. They are just "the best" with the big caveat of being the best in one person's opinion.

After reading the first four stories in this collection (and giving the The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022 a shot several months ago), I'm concluding that the series editor and I don't align on what makes a great short story.

A reader who is more aligned with literary academia than me might enjoy them way more.

[Michael J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I'm disappointed with this collection. However, it remains a good cross-section of some of the themes concurrent to contemporary science-fiction and fantasy short fiction.
There are two stories in here that deserve a bigger audience: my absolute favorite "Nine Last Days On Planet Earth" by Daryl Gregory and "Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing The Stumps Down Good" by Lashawn M Wanak.
I just expect to find more "above average" and "beyond expectations" stories than I did here. Of course, that is my personal opinion. Keep in mind this collection is also subjective, the personal opinion of the editor. I can't fault the selection process with a preliminary series editor (John Joseph Adams) selecting 80 stories, removing the author's name and the sources and then having the yearly editor (for 2019 it's Carmen Maria Mahado) pick the final 20 to publish in the collection.
Of 20 stories, only 11 hit the mark with me. While 55% is not a bad average and I don't regret reading this - - my expectations are much higher for a collection labeled "Best". Here's the breakdown.
Five Star Rating = 2 stories (what I consider exceptional)
Four Star Rating = 6 stories (what I consider above average)
Three And One-Half Star Rating = 3 stories
Three Stars = 5 stories (what I consider good, meets my expectations)
Two And One-Half Stars = 2 stories (what I consider below average)
One Star = 2 stories (what I consider mediocre, don't bother)
If you want to know more and don't mind reading a lengthy review (my apologies) then keep going . . . . . . .
The collection opens up with "Pitcher Plant", a short but engrossing tale of a thief/killer/escape artist breaking into an ever-changing fortress of traps in order to dispatch an ancient foe. There are some fascinating descriptions and images and writer Adam-Troy Castro is incredibly skillful. This story straddles the genres of fantasy and science-fiction and raises more questions than it tries to answer. Very mysterious, and I would love to know more. In the afterword, Castro mentions returning to both the setting and characters for a future story/novel, and I would certainly welcome that. Four Stars.
Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite authors, and "What Everyone Knows" is a good story. But I question its placement in a Best Of anthology. Really? One of the year's best? A godzilla-like monster is nuked to death and a young girl watching on television sees something to make her curious. That prompts her to become a scientist and explore the same site fifteen years later. Three Stars.
I feel the exact same way about "The Storyteller's Replacement" by N.K. Jemisin. Another good story, but surely not one to designate as one of the best. If this is what's in store in the remainder of this anthology, then I conclude it must have been a really lean year (2018) for short fiction. Jemisin puts her spin on an Arabian Knights type of fable. Three Stars.
"Poor Unfortunate Fools" by Silvia Park is different and creative in both subject and the manner in which the story is told from scientific reports. A clinical approach, yet the emotions behind the objects of study (marrows, a.k.a. male and female mermaids) manages to leak through. The objects of study have more personality than the reporters. Mating habits, sex life and reproductive cycles are the subject. Good, not great. Three Stars.
An unexplained event in 1899 Boston makes women invulnerable and impossible to die. This causes problems for the criminal justice system and the wife of the constable comes up with a role-reversal (for the times) solution. Interesting, especially the side notes on six male criminals hanged for vicious crimes against women (who did not die) but I can't determine the authors intent or point of the story. I give "Six Hangings In The Land Of Unkillable Women" by Theodore McCombs Three Stars.
Finally, an above average story emerges in "Hard Mary" by Sofia Samatar. A group of young Amish women discover an abandoned a.i-enhanced robot behind a barn, keep it hidden amongst themselves, converse and teach it Amish ways, and proceed to make opportunistic Amish modifications to its structure and put it to work in menial servitude. There's more to the story under the surface, including a devastated future earth that's hinted at more than its explored, and the differing principles and values among the group. The name of the manufacturing corporation that developed the robot is quite ironic. Four Stars.
I like the concept behind "Variations On A Theme From Turnandot" by Ada Hoffman but feel the story-telling style made it seem tedious and mundane. A soprano in a popular stage opera changes her lines in the final scene, driving the director crazy and building a repeat audience who want to see the latest variation. She feels a connection between herself and the character she portrays and works towards changing the ending to a more satisfactory conclusion. Apparently, the actors become the actual characters they are portraying. Too repetitive and choppy. Two And One-Half Stars.
"Through The Flash" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah reminded me of the movie GROUNDHOG DAY as if it took place following a nuclear fallout. Everyone in the story is confined to the "grid" in which they resided, cannot venture outside of those boundaries, and is doomed to wake up everyday in the same place just like the time loop in the movie. People get frustrated and start killing each other in vicious ways, only to repeat the murder-ressurection cycle again and again. Main character Ama is interesting but her values and actions seem to be contradictory. I like this concept but not the way it's executed. Nothing is really resolved and the ending just reflects the beginning, like a loop. Maybe that was the author's point. Yet the comments in the afterword reveal much higher ambitions. Those did not come across to me in the story. Two And One-Half Stars.
At last! A story that I can recommend to others: "Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing The Stumps Down Good" by Lashawn M. Wanak. That is a very descriptive title and a pretty succinct elevator pitch for the story - - but there's so much more to it than that. This is suspenseful, mysterious, contains action and a plot that moves forward, and provides engaging reading. During World War II airborne spores migrate indoors, congeal into stumps that resemble human figures and are widespread enough that a government agency is created to contain them. It's a crazy and inventive premise, but Wanak molds that into something special with a reflection of the racism of the times and likable characters with heart. It's about the power of music: to heal, to inspire, to embolden, to ease the troubled times. Five Stars.
This is more like it. Two good entries in a row. "The Kite Maker" by Brenda Peynado is a solid story. A mass migration of aliens escaping a doomed planet land on Earth, allow themselves to be subjugated by humans, and live in segregated housing although they do mingle and interact despite some general prejudice along with frequent abuse by neo-Nazi like gangs. A single mother and toy shop owner feeling guilty for their treatment does her best to understand and accept the differences. Four Stars.
"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" starts out strong with an interesting concept. Writer P. Dejeli Clark throws a fantasy element into his historical fiction. An actual historical document notes the purchase by George Washington of nine teeth from Negro slaves. Clark adds a fantasy element about removed teeth retaining the spirit of their original owner, and their memories passing onto whoever wears the teeth. He then gives a backstory to each slave and what images and physical feelings their teeth brought to Washington. In the afterword, Clark mentions using fiction "to illuminate the larger truths of our fractured past." However, his storytelling method wrings too much emotion out of the story as he relates these events as if the reader were perusing a facts-only entry on Wikipedia. No dialogue. No internal thoughts expressed. Yes, Washington does experience the memories of the former owners but doesn't go any further. If Clark had only shown us what indirect impact this had on the beliefs and values of Washington and what lessons he learned of the fractured past -- this could have been an incredible story. Alas. Three Stars.
There is some fascinating interplay as a friendship develops between an intelligent robotic drone and a crow in "When Robot And Crow Saved East St. Louis" by Annalee Newitz. They even find a common language and can converse and understand each other. The story takes place during a future depression when funding has been cut for many federal programs, including the CDC infectious disease early detection of which Robot was a part. A nice commentary on reaching across the aisle and learning to understand different points of view. Three And One-Half Stars.
I was absolutely fascinated by Unman Malik's version of Pakistan in "Dead Lovers On Each Blade, Hung" in a blend of reality with fantasy which grows darker and darker as the story moves forward ending in some scenes of pure horror. Ritualistic medicine, junkies, and snake fantasists. What a mix.! Four Stars.
I'm sure there are better stories from Sarah Gailey than "Stet". Why that story was included in a
"Best" collection baffles me. Thankfully, it's mercifully short - just six pages. It's one highly academic paragraph on artificial intelligence in motor vehicles of the future peppered with footnotes every sentence, and followed by five pages of those footnotes with written commentary from alleged editor and writer. More tedious to read than it is clever. You can easily skip this one. In the author afterword, Gailey states that she wrote this in anger following a heated discussion of genre fiction versus literary fiction. It's her attempt to blend the two, and it just doesn't work. One Star.
"What Gentle Women Dare" by Kelly Robson is an engaging read with an extreme solution proposed on the final pages. A bit of diatribe seasoned enough with engaging conversation to make the medicine go down. In 1763 Liverpool, a street whore meets the Devil in the guise of a gentlewoman and bartering ensues. Three And One-Half Stars.
"Nine Last Days On Planet Earth" by Daryl Gregory tells a dysfunctional family saga over the course of 53 years from the point-of-view of a ten-year-old budding scientist with an admirable sense of wonder through his final days. What makes this such a wonderful story, and succinctly told, is the overlay of an alien invasion of Earth in 1975 by a meteoric shower of seed pods. Throughout the story the conspiracy theories speculate this is the advent of an alien invasion of earth, sending plants first in order to infiltrate the environment and provide an alien food source for the conquerors. Turns out the theories were wrong. It's something completely different and positive rather than negative, passive rather than aggressive. I'd recommend this story to everyone. It's heart warming and uplifting. Five Stars.
"Dead Air" is another story that I disagree with its inclusion in this anthology. You have probably read more than one spooky/paranormal/ghost story similar to this. The only difference is in the storytelling method employed by Nino Cipri. It's told in short entries, a series of transcriptions taken from phone and video recordings of two female lovers, one obsessed with a "social experiment" interview process who falls in love with the other, who harbors a dark secret. The characters are not endearing. The story is contrived in many places in order to make it work. One Star.
The societal norm in Lesley Nneka Arimah's "Skinned" is for women to go about completely nude from the age of puberty until married. That makes it easy to identify single women from married women (except for the servile class of women who must always be naked and display identifying body markings) and puts extreme pressure on those who remain unmarried as they grow older. Main character Ejem isn't interested in the married life and finds herself disrespected and ostracized by her childhood friends. She finds a solution to her problem, yet even this is not entirely satisfying. A powerful story. Four Stars.
Martin Cahill's "Godmeat" is an interesting fable-like story of a chef serving up the remains of old gods to the wanna-be new gods, with a twisty yet predictable ending. Three And One-Half Stars.
The final story, "On The Day You Spend Forever With Your Dog" by Adam R. Shannon will surely bring a tear to the eye of any pet owner who's had to put down an aging and terminal animal companion. Told in second person, it gets a bit repetitive (although that is one of its points) as a pet owner utilizes time travel to revisit the beginning and ending days of a beloved dog. Four Stars.

[Marie-Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 stars. This anthology is so weighted with unsuccessful, awkward, sometimes seemingly unfinished work that I have to go beyond calling it uneven to labeling it poor overall.

Only two stories here strike me as outstanding: P. Djèlí Clark's brief, beautifully restrained yet fully imagined "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" and Sofia Samatar's "Hard Mary", which is probably the best thing I've ever read by her (haven't really been a fan up to now, finding most of her work too diffuse, always promising more than it delivers). Usman Malik's "Dead Lovers on Every Blade, Hung" is good, although it moves into overwritten, slightly turgid territory by the end, losing a considerable amount of its power and momentum, and Daryl Gregory's "Nine Last Days on Planet Earth", while nothing new in terms of theme or style for him, is a solid story nonetheless.

The rest of the material here ranges from ambitious and moderately interesting but ultimately unsuccessful ("Skinned" by the talented Lesley Nneka Arimah, "Dead Air" by Nino Cipri, "Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women" by Theodore McCombs, and "Through the Flash" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah) to desultory, standard genre magazine filler (some of it by writers who can do much better!) to utter dreck.

I think this may be the worst of the five volumes making up this series so far. Oh well, there's always next year.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit that I did not read every story in its entirety. When it comes to anthologies, I view them like a buffet. At this buffet, I'm looking to sample a bunch of different things before deciding what I want more of. I certainly discovered some great new authors from this collection, but if I felt like a story's plot or writing style weren't working for me, I would move on.

That being said, these were some of the highlights from the collection:

The Storyteller's Replacement by N.K. Jemisin - I had read this before from her collection of stories, but it was well worth a revisit and a standout from the collection. She's not a new-to-me author, but this served as a gentle reminder that I need to read more from her backlist.

Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar - One of the longer stories in the collection. I am very intrigued to read more by this author, particularly her collection, Tender.

The Kite Maker by Brenda Peynado - She has a collection called The Rock Eaters coming out soon that I'm eager to read. This was a heartbreaking story that involved gentle praying mantis like creatures that try to co-habitate with humans on earth. But humans suck so it isn't easy for them to belong.

STET by Sarah Gailey - This is a short story that takes place in the footnotes and editorial notes of a paragraph about autonomous cars. It is so well-executed in terms of craft, easily my favorite story in the collection.

Dead Air by Nino Cipri - A horror story that takes place in the form of interview transcripts. You get to see a queer relationship evolve while slowly getting closer to a dark secret. I thought it was propulsive and cinematic, even given the format. Now I NEED to read Finna.

[Joe Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This year's collection is a terrific plethora of short stories, the best one in years. Carmen Maria Machado has put together stories that color outside the lines, and stories that color excellently inside the lines.

Choosing a favorite is tough, but luckily, you don't have to. My personal one is Adam-Troy Castro's "Pitcher Plant," an enthralling, lingering horror story.

Wait. On second thought, my favorite is Annalee Newitz's "When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis." I'm not just saying that because of my last name.

I'm also not just saying it because of this excellent quote: "The crows think humans are idiots, but they appreciate your garbage."

Best of all, this collection is a showcase of authors you've never read before. If you came to the book for Martin Cahill, you'll come away looking for more from Nana Kwame Adjai-Brenyah, or any of the other 18 authors.

This book is a win all around. It's not just a must-have, it's a must-have-right-now.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really hit or miss for me. But I suppose it always is. Here are the stories that I loved. I am teaching these in my Advanced Creative Writing Workshops this year.

Through the Flash by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz
Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar
What Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson
Godmeat by Martin Cahill
Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung by Usman Malik
On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog by Adam R. Shannon
Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women by Theodore McCombs

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fucking STRONG antho for what SFF looks like and reads like in 2019. Radical, violent feminism, Eldritch forces mixed into everyday lives, and the slow misreadings of beautiful things by the modern world emerged as themes. Carman Maria Machado emerged as a great guest editor and selector of fairy tales, which is unsurprising. Some of the fantasy stories selected had paces I wasn't vibing with: "Dead Air', "Pitcher Plant", "Hard Mary", for example. But having stories like that is expected. What this antho had in addition was aaaaawesome pieces.

"Godmeat" by Martin Cahill? Bright, brilliant aesthetic and details.
"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by P. Djèlí Clark? Fantastic use of historical language and details with summary instead of scene.
"The Kite Maker" by Brenda Peynado? Great alien worldbuilding and story concept to explore soft power and xenophobia.
"Through the Flash" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenhyah? Incredibly bold and difficult story to write that did not feel cheap or disgusting.
"Nine Last Days" on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory? Gay and heartwarming piece about invasive species that I smiled throughout.
"Poor Unfortunate Fools" by Silvia Park? One of the best stories I've read this year.
One of the best, no doubt in my mind. Stellar.

Thank you editors! I liked this.

Connection: Carman Maria Machado was an instructor at the Iowa Young Writer's Workshop when I attended.

[Jacks McNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this anthology. All kinds of inventive and brave authors taking risks in their worldbuilding, and a lot of stories by or about folks of color and other frequently marginalized identities. Many of the stories are pretty dark - I would not describe this as an uplifting book - but I would describe it as a fascinating one.

[John Devlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Gardner Dozois is dead and his sci-fi anthology was the one I read every year.
This anthology is not as good, but it has some diverse stories, some interesting premises, and fair bit of thoughtfulness.

Not sure I’ll read another, but when the occasion arises that I want to trip through a bevy of stories I wouldn’t say Never to these anthologies.

[Dan Altomare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably closer to 2.5. The quality of story was pretty varied and I just couldn’t get into most of them. Made finishing the book feel like a chore.

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the 2018 edition better, but the stories in this volume are excellent as well. While nothing in here was bad, there were a few that stood out more than others. Below are my mini reviews of the ones that make the book worth reading:

-What Everyone Knows by Seanan McGuire
I have it from reliable sources that Seanan McGuire is amazing, but despite my faith in my friend's
recommendations, this is my first encounter with their work. That is going to have to change. This story is a clever diversion from typical monster tropes and meditation on the nature of love and parenthood.

-Poor Unfortunate Fools by Sylvia Park
I normally have a difficult time with stories written in footnotes, but this one is so unique I couldn't help but love it. Park's take on merpeople lore is hyper realistic and strange. I wanted to know so much more about this universe.

-Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women
A little hard to follow sometimes, but +10 points for the title. Also the concept is too cool to not mention, even if it gets a tad convoluted.

-Through the Flash by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Again, difficult to follow, but I loved the random bursts of extreme violence. In that regard it reads more like a slasher fic.

-Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good by LaShawn M. Wanak
This was the anthology of amazing titles with quality stories to match. I so loved everything about this concept. The characters felt alive and had voices that leapt off the pages.

-The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djeli Clark
This story is alone is worth the price of the book. The prose is astonishingly gorgeous, fraught, and emotional. It's definitely one that I want to revisit in the future, as well as locate anything else this author has written.

-Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung by Usman Malik
I honestly didn't love this story as much as the others. It was good, just not one of my favorites. However, once again, I needed to mention the title, because it is my favorite in this whole anthology.

-Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory
Mo the alien plant is awesome. Sure, I could talk about the nuanced discussions of life, aging, and family dynamics in the context of being queer, which are also present, but mostly, Mo the alien plant is awesome.

-Dead Air by Nino Cipri
Much like Poor Unfortunate Fools, I have a difficult time with stories written in the style of an interview. But Dead Air is downright creepy, a true testament to supernatural horror. Plus, starting an audio diary/interview series with all my sexual partners in the name of art sounds like something I would at least entertain the thought of doing, even if I didn't actually go through with it.

-On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog by Adam R. Shannon
I recently lost my childhood dog to old age. Reading this story in the wake of his death made me wish this was a nonfiction anthology, so I could replicate the plot. I, too, want to invent time travel so I could relive the years I spent with my old man pupper.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a great experience to read such diverse and thought-provoking modern sci-fi stories, from a range of authors both familiar and not. However, this collection took quite a bit of energy to get through. Almost all the stories involved heavy social and/or political themes, which of course is a great element to have, but they began to weigh on me as I went from story to story. I think it's a case where the whole is *lesser* than the sum of its parts.

Anyway, here's a rating and impressions for each story:

Pitcher Plant - 4/5 - Amazing atmosphere and a good “twist” but the ending was a little unconvincing.
What Everyone Knows - 5/5 - Now I want to read the anthology this story came from.
The Storyteller's Replacement - 2/5 - I feel like I didn't have enough brain cells to fully get the message.
Poor Unfortunate Souls - 3/5 - Pretty engaging, but also kind of grotesque.
Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women - 3/5 - Had a great premise and nice prose, but I'm disappointed it just stopped before reaching the denouement.
Hard Mary - 2/5 - Eh.
Variations on a Theme from Turandot - 2/5 - A little too pretentious for me.
Through the Flesh - 5/5 - Probably my favorite overall. Great exploration of a Groundhog Day-esque idea with an apocalyptic twist.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie - 3/5 - I was expecting the twist to be more anti-capitalist than anti-war/anti-government but the story was still pretty neat.
The Kite Maker - 4/5 - Not the most unique premise, but good execution.
The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington - 2/5 - Just wasn't very engaged with this one.
When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis - 4/5 - Really fun story, I liked the humor as well as the satire.
Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung - 4/5 - Absolutely bonkers, had a hard time understanding it at first, but the climax was very tense and exciting.
STET - 1/5 - Way too trite for me.
What Gentle Women Dare - 1/5 - Why?
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth - 5/5 - Started slow but got super emotional by the end. I think it would work as a full novel or at least novella. Also I wish it would’ve stopped sooner - people aging and nearing death is big sad :’(
Dead Air - 3/5 - Creepy to some degree but too vague on the details.
Skinned - 3/5 - This one was kind of exhausting in how not subtle it was. Points for having good class commentary though.
Godmeat - 3/5 - Cool premise and ending, but the execution was a little lacking I guess.
On the Day You Spend Forever With Your Dog - 2/5 - Maybe if I was a dog person I would get it, but... eh.

[Christine McCune · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with any collection of essays or short stories, there will be some that you really enjoy and some that you don't like as much.

My favorites, in no particular order:
-Godmeat by Martin Cahill
-What Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson
-When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz
-On the Day you Spend Forever with your Dog by Adam Shannon
-Variations on a Theme from Turandot by Ada Hoffman

This review is more for my own recollection than an attempt to provide insight to other potential readers, for which I apologize. On the whole, this collection was wonderful and surprising, it made me gasp and cry and smile in vindication.

[Abe]

Didn't read them all, but favorites were:

Pitcher Plant - Adam Troy-Castro
Godmeat - Martin Cahill
Dead Lovers On Each Blade, Hung - Usman Malik
Hard Mary - Sofia Samatar
The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington - P Djeli Clark
Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good - LaShawn Wanak

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like all of them, and it occurs to me that this indicates a good selection process in the two tiers of editing. I'm sure a lot of people liked different stories than I did.

Samatar's "Hard Mary" and Clark's "Nine Negro Teeth" stood out.

I think I'll go and look for the 2009 or 1999 versions and compare ...

[Nayad Monroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to give a rating for this entire anthology, since - as usual for an assortment of stories by different authors - I loved some of the stories, liked most of them, and could not get into a few. To keep things positive, I’ll mention only the three stories I loved the most:

- “When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis” by Annalee Newitz

- “What Gentle Women Dare” by Kelly Robson

- “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” by Daryl Gregory

As far as I’m concerned, it would be worthwhile to buy the book just for these three stories! But luckily, there are many more good stories included, and even the ones that didn’t suit my taste might become your favorites. 😊

[Toshiro Paliama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great series though this is not my favourite year. I enjoyed The Kite Maker and Six Hangings In The Land Of Unkillable Women. I loved What Everyone Knows. And Adam R. Shannon’s On The Day You Spend Forever With Your Dog just killed me.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gets all the stars. I've been reading this anthology since its start. I like how there is a different guest editor every year because the collection definitely reflects the editor's tastes. This one was my favorite (my second favorite was the first installment, when Joe Hill was guest editor).

This collection had such incredible diversity. Stories from a variety of racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds as well as queer and genderfluid folks, and each story was saturated with talent. I cannot recommend this collection highly enough.

[Awallens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some great stories in it. There were a few duds, but overall an excellent collection.

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of these stories won't be for everyone. But they will definitely make you think ... what it means to be human or maybe just humane.

[Angela]

First time I've ever read an anthology like this and overall I really enjoyed it. Pretty wide variety of stuff, a lot of it really good. And I really enjoyed the author's notes at the end.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this over a span of ten months so my memory of the earlier stories is a bit hazy, but overall this was a really great collection. Favorites: "Through the Flash," "Poor Unfortunate Fools," "Skinned." "On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog" wasn't a favorite but it was really sweet.

[Laine · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent excellent collection. loved nearly all of the stories. def checking some of these authors out again.

[Tristan]

This was also finished about a year ago--a great read, as every entry in this series I've read has been. It's been too long for me to comment on individual stories though.

[Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a library sale for $1 a while ago and finally got around to reading it as I'm getting interested in the craft of short stories and have only read a few anthologies. This is definitely a solid collection. It doesn't seem to have had the best reception on here, so maybe I'm a little biased as without having much experience reading short fiction, the average story seems more impressive to me than it might to the average reader. As with any anthology, some stories are better than others, but I was able to at least appreciate all of them. Common threads linking the stories are a focus on theme (sometimes to the story's detriment) and excellent prose—whether this is down to the preferences of the guest editor Carmen Maria Machado, or the usual editor, John Joseph Adams, I can't really say, as I haven't read either of their own work before.

A foreword by the guest editor opens the collection by discussing the relationship of speculative to literary fiction and whether or not they're mutually exclusive. Of course, Machado says that they are not and, of course, I agree. However as I made my way through the collection I became a bit frustrated that I was seeing the same types of stories over and over again. Namely, works of urban fantasy (i.e., set on Earth) or near-future sci-fi (i.e., set on Earth) that explore socially conscious topics pertinent to the current cultural zeitgeist (or at least as it existed in the late 2010s), usually with deliriously high concepts, like a culture where women are naked until marriage, or where infectious "stumps" are destroyed with the power of gospel singing. I have no problem with this type of story in principle, but repeat anything enough and it begins to get annoying, like seeing an author use the wonderful word "myriad" too often. I began to wonder if the only type of SFF Machado really thinks "literary" are these "low-fantasy" or near-future, high-concept sci-fi stories. The only stories that can unambiguously be categorized as secondary-world fantasy are Skinned by Lesley Nneka Arimah and Godmeat by Martin Cahill, and the former is still very much urban fantasy (i.e., similar enough to Earth to make no real difference). While Machado may decry the pretentious gatekeeping of literary snobs vs. speculative fiction, I think perhaps her own preferences of SF are implicitly biased against secondary-world stories—perhaps because of their unfortunate association with derivative LOTR and D&D clones.

Anyway, breakdown of my thoughts for each story as follows:
Pitcher Plant by Adam-Troy Castro ★★★★☆
A great opening story, maybe more horror than fantasy (like several other stories in the collection from Nightmare Magazine). A lot of creative and interesting descriptions, and a great twist.
What Everyone Knows by Seanan MacGuire ★★★☆☆
I liked that the protagonist of this was a biologist (there are actually a lot of biologist characters in this anthology), but I didn't find her particularly realistic (how does she get money?). The story itself was interesting, but not particularly inspiring, and the ending was juvenile and disappointing.
The Storyteller's Replacement by N. K. Jemisin ★★★☆☆
One of the shortest stories in the collection, and ultimate somewhat forgettable. Jemisin's writing is great as usual but she gets a bit bogged down in the meta-ness of the story and in the end it winds up something of a head-scratcher (and not in a good way).
Poor Unfortunate Fools by Silvia Park ★★★★☆
A much better attempt at writing marine biologists than MacGuire's story, and an eerily similar concept (the relationship of humans to a near-intelligent nonhuman creature) to one that I've been toying with for a short story. It's a bit too long, but Park's ability to give the merpeople characters individual personalities makes the story memorable.
Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women by Theodore McCombs ★★★☆☆
This story was fairly forgettable. It's an ur-example of the overly high-concept low-fantasy feminist story that I became tired of by the end of this anthology. What happens when women cannot be killed? It's an interesting question and the issue it highlights is important. However the execution of the story itself was not as memorable as some of the later stories in this vein.
Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar ★★★★☆
This story seems to be getting some of the most praise in the anthology. It's certainly good, but I think it went on a bit too long, and Samatar's much-lauded prose was a bit sparse for me at times, especially when it came to her dialogue and characterizations.
Variations on a Theme from Turandot by Ada Hoffman ★★★★☆
I was initially skeptical of this story because it was confusing, but by the end I was sold. A very interesting meta-structured time-warp kind of story (maybe?). I'd be interested in reading more from this author.
Through the Flash by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ★★★★★
This was the first story that I can say confidently was an absolute banger. The prose and dialogue throughout are excellent, along with the slow revelation of the f'd up world and characters inhabiting the story. This one was just my style of dark. Loved it.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good by LaShawn M. Wanak ★★★☆☆
This was a decent story that reminded me of Jemisin's The City We Became in its being of such ludicrously high concept that I had a hard time taking it seriously. First we must accept that there are "stumps" that grow places and explode and kill people. Ok. Then we must accept that singing makes them explode faster so that they can be controlled. Okkk... Then it turns out they contain memories and they actually should be exploded?... Or something?... IDK, this one was a bit too silly for me, and coming off Adjei-Brenyah's story, the prose and dialogue left a bit to be desired.
The Kite Maker by Brenda Peynado ★★★☆☆
Another decent but not wowza story. We finally get some real aliens, but we're still on Earth. The writing is suffused with some melodramatic pathos that I just wasn't ready to feel. I wouldn't come back to this story.
The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djeli Clark ★★☆☆☆
I've heard a lot about this author, but this story didn't impress me much. It isn't really a story at all, honestly, just a made-up list of things that happened to some unfortunate people who wound up in Washington's dentures. Social commentary fatigue began to set in here.
When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz ★★☆☆☆
I guess this was really the low point of the book. This story didn't do anything for me either. Overly saccharine and lacking thematic heft in comparison to the other stories in the anthology.
Dead Lovers on Each Blade, Hung by Usman Malik ★★★★★
Another banger (or should I say smanger?). This story was excellent. The prose does a lot of heavy lifting. The perfect balance of description, dialogue, and narration, with a great voice and a heavy dose of suspenseful atmosphere. The Pakistani setting was different and evocative. As a herpetologist I loved the focus on snakes and the inclusion of a herpetologist character, and the effort to portray snakes as something more than just a creepy crawly, even in a horror story.
STET by Sarah Gailey ★★★☆☆
This "story" was a bit of a doozy, composed of a short "article" interspersed with footnotes, which is where the real story lies. The playing with form was interesting. I also share the author's skepticism over self-driving cars. However, I wasn't a huge fan of Gailey's putdowns re: wildlife conservation. Yes, of course an autonomous car shouldn't save an endangered woodpecker over a human child. But aren't there other comparisons we can make that don't make light of species endagerment?
What Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson ★★★☆☆
This story didn't do a lot for me. Interesting atmosphere and protagonist. I've certainly thought that the solution to violence is to "kill all men", myself. However that being the ultimate conclusion of the story struck me as a bit simplistic and silly.
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory ★★★★★
A fantastic story that reminded me of the iconic first 10 minutes of "Up", but set in the midst of an alien invasion. The prose and dialogue are on point, emotions are delivered masterfully, and of course it's another story featuring a biologist protagonist. It has the best ending of any of the stories in the anthology.
Dead Air by Nino Cipri ★★☆☆☆
Eh. I actually kind of dug the found-footage structure of this story. It was an interesting idea I hadn't seen attempted before. The dialogue is a bit Twittery and millennialish for my taste. Mostly I didn't like the ending. I couldn't really tell what happened. In her notes the author says there are monsters in the story, but the story is incredibly vague on this point. As such there isn't a satisfying conclusion, and that's what horror stories like this live or die on.
Skinned by Lesley Nneka Arimah ★★★★☆
For me this is probably the best of the high-concept social-commentary SF here. Women are naked from the age of 15 (or even earlier, ugh) until "claimed" by a husband. Yeah, it's heavy-handed commentary. However the author's exploration of this society is very well-thought-out and nuanced, coming from multiple angles and perspectives. The ending is a bit sudden, but it worked for me.
Godmeat by Martin Cahill ★★★☆☆
I was excited to finally get a real secondary-world fantasy story, but I can't say I liked this one all that much. The themes are something of a muddle, and despite the world feeling rather vast, the scope of the story itself feels somewhat constrained. I know that's vague, but this one just wasn't for me.
On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog by Adam R. Shannon ★★★★☆
Certainly a great story to close the collection with. Maybe I'm just not enough of a dog person, but the story didn't hit me hard as it was clearly intended to. A bit melodramatic. The time travel aspect of it is also confusing. However the writing itself is beautiful and the observations of dog-and-man interactions are excellent. Good stuff.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall Review: 3.63/5... Rounding up to 4 stars.

Reoccurring themes: Life as a Woman, The Nature of Time, Queerness

My favorite stories ranked!

1. On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog (5/5)
- A beautiful masterpiece communicating the love for one’s day and the nature of time in terms of encryption.

2. The Storyteller’s Replacement by N.K. Jemisin (5/5)
- Game of Thrones with more feminism.

3. Poor Unfortunate Souls by Silvia Park (5/5)
- I am really in to cryptozoological tales and mermaids.

4. Hard Mary by Sofia Samatar (4.5/5)
- Rural, religious, Amish sci-fi is a thing I didn’t know I wanted. It would have ranked higher had parts of the story been less confusing.

5. Sister Rosetta Thorpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Done by LaShawn W. Wanak (4/5)
- Very well done, but I think the ending was a little ill-explained.

6. When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis by Annalee Newitz (4/5)
- This story was very cute like a mix between Big Hero 6 and Wall-E

7. Pitcher Plant by Adam- Troy Castro (4/5)
- I am a sucker for personifications of death.

8. Skinned by Lesley Norma Arimah (4/5)
- This story reminded me so much of Americanah!

9. Godmeat by Martin Cahill (4/5)
- A modern Greek Epic

10. The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington (4/5)
- The story of replacement body parts and transplants are always an interesting thought study.

11. Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women by Theodore McCombs (4/5)
- The idea of women as endless survivors!

12. Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory (4/5)!
- An environmental take on aliens is kind of cool.

13. STET by Sarah Galley (4/5)
- Interesting format. To tell a story using footnotes and a scholarly article. I had to google STET.

14. When Gentle Women Dare by Kelly Robson (3/5)
- A crass story that gets a little wild. Reminds me of The Grownup by Gillian Flynn.

15. Dead Air by Nino Ciprl (3/5)
- This one was super interesting, but boy I wish I knew what happened. I wish it had been more detailed.

16. The Kite Maker by Brenda Peynafo (3/5)
- Very Ender’s game in terms of feeling Xenophobic guilt.

17. Variation on of Theme from Turandot by Ada Hoffmann (3/5)
- I just really don’t feel one way or another about this story. Perhaps knowing the Opera would have helped.

18. Dead Lovers On Each Blade Hung by Usman Malik (3/5)
- The portrayal of drug addicts was amazing and unique. The mythology and child bride components just went to far.

19. Through the Flash by Nana Kwame Adjei- Brenyah (2.5/5)
- The lore behind this story really needed more type than the short story form permitted. It was also gross and brutal at times.

[Eli Poteet · Rating 3 out of 5]

i made it most of the way thru this collection of stories but honestly found it very difficult. it was thicker than id anticipated, the quality of paper intentially a thin quality. i acknowledge this is a collection but i feel like the subject matters and subgenres varied to such a degree i couldnt make concrete effort to register each seperate creation appropriately. the collection of authors social locations is phenomonal though. and the editor of this years book is someone whos work i wish to read. my favorite story was in the first half, the one about merpeople. i found the story to be very queer and unexpected. i expected it to be trite but instead was impressed to find it a touch horrifying and violent and sad. i would recommend that spec story to others.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tantalizing collection of fantasy and science fiction that vivaciously bleed through genre, form, and style. Vicious mer-people are observed in reports by human biologists seeking to protect and understand them; mennonite children covet a fallen robot to be a secret friend and new community member, from an insidious corporation; a boy with shifting parental alliances grows to an openly gay man and biologist in the nine decades of Earth subsumed by alien flora; an eighteenth century prostitute encounters a vision of Satan or of womanhood avenged; a young woman and a new partner reflect on their relationship and a haunted childhood town in found audio tape; the final year of the 1800’s in Boston sees all women bear immortality and the murkiness of becoming avengers against patriarchal violence; a young black girl is the most powerful and feared person in a time locked suburb; a Pakistani man is wrenched from streets of addiction to the mysteries of venom derived cures, to the eeriness of lost family and lost demons; the story of the enslaved people that rebelled against George Washington even as he took their teeth for his own. The kind of collection that makes me remember why I fell in love with the fantastical.

[Phillip Murrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title is a lie! This isn't the "best" American Science Fiction and Fantasy. No. It's the most "pretentious" SFF. I've never come across a collection with so many stories I did not finish in all my years of reading. Few entries were even mildly interesting. There were some good tales. "Through the Flash" was legitimately entertaining. I would read more from that world. "The Kite Maker" also kept my eyes on the pages. Finally, "When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis" was a winner. That was it. Three out of twenty stories were good. The others didn't even belong in the "Top Half Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy." Don't believe me? Answer this, what images spring to mind when you hear fantasy and sci-fi? I suspect elves, orcs, and dwarves for the former and spaceships and laser guns for the latter. There are zero stories with mythological creatures (unless you count "Godmeat" or possibly an appearance by Satan). "The Kite Maker" had aliens and crashed spaceships, but nothing off Earth. In other words, I'm a jilted reader with a severe case of buyer's remorse after a blatant bait and switch. 2020 just keeps providing me with good news.