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The Best Science Fiction of the Year, Volume 6
Visit a future where you can rent out your body, just like an apartment ... join a robot dog repurposed for mining as it fights to stay alive after being judged as defective ... follow a woman who must race across the surface of an alien world alone and through deadly flora and fawna to save the life of her mentor ... discover what happens when an autonomous undersea drone sent to find life on Enceladus begins demonstrating signs of an emerging consciousness ... find out what happens when you have your boyfriend test out your newest playbot.
For decades, science fiction has compelled us to imagine futures both inspiring and cautionary. Whether it's a warning message from a survey ship, a harrowing journey to a new world, or the adventures of well-meaning AI, science fiction inspires the imagination and delivers a lens through which we can view ourselves and the world around us. With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Six, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and thirty-three of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2020.
For decades, science fiction has compelled us to imagine futures both inspiring and cautionary. Whether it's a warning message from a survey ship, a harrowing journey to a new world, or the adventures of well-meaning AI, science fiction inspires the imagination and delivers a lens through which we can view ourselves and the world around us. With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Six, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and thirty-three of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2020.
865 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 15, 2021
71 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Neil Clarke
400 books399 followersNeil Clarke is best known as the editor and publisher of the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning
Clarkesworld Magazine.
Launched in October 2006, the online magazine has been a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine four times (winning three times), the World Fantasy Award four times (winning once), and the British Fantasy Award once (winning once). Neil is also a ten-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form (winning once in 2022), three-time winner of the Chesley Award for Best Art Director, and a recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award. In the fifteen years since Clarkesworld Magazine launched, numerous stories that he has published have been nominated for or won the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Locus, BSFA, Shirley Jackson, WSFA Small Press, and Stoker Awards.
Additionally, Neil edits Forever —a digital-only, reprint science fiction magazine he launched in 2015. His anthologies include: Upgraded, Galactic Empires, Touchable Unreality, More Human than Human, The Final Frontier, Not One of Us, The Eagle has Landed, , and the Best Science Fiction of the Year series. His next anthology, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven will published in early 2023.
He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.
Additionally, Neil edits Forever —a digital-only, reprint science fiction magazine he launched in 2015. His anthologies include: Upgraded, Galactic Empires, Touchable Unreality, More Human than Human, The Final Frontier, Not One of Us, The Eagle has Landed, , and the Best Science Fiction of the Year series. His next anthology, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven will published in early 2023.
He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 29, 2023
This is a good anthology, recommended!
- HOW QUINI THE SQUID MISPLACED HIS KLOBUČAR by Rich Larson
“A dark, fast-moving novelette about a high-tech heist in future Spain, planned by a professional thief interested in revenge more than money. The object in question is in the hands of a dangerous crime lord.“
I liked that this was set in Barcelona, it helped me relate to the story, as I‘ve been there several times. I liked the virtual reality aspect of the heist and the transgender part. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/01/15/how-qu...
- RHIZOME, BY STARLIGHT by Fran Wilde
Our MC lives on her own in an apocalyptic world, on a mountaintop surrounded by water and made of glas (a skyscraper?) where a presumably genetically enhanced and malicious kudzu is encroaching on her greenhouse. She is fighting for her life. Stay or leave? The ending had me wishing for more story, because of who and how the MC turned out to be. ★★★★½
Interview with the author about her story: http://defyingdoomsday.twelfthplanetp...
- THE LONG TAIL by Aliette de Bodard
“A story about memory and war and transfers of memories between shifts (and statistics!).“
After a war involving nanites, salvaging a wreck and looking for a cure. Short, but able to engage me and to emphasize with the main character. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.wired.com/story/future-of...
- SALVAGE by Andy Dudak
Humans have spread across many planets. Their observation of the universe endangered its existence. I know too little of quantum physics to understand the logic behind this concept. Anyway, aliens appeared and turned humans into statues, to prevent them from destroying the universe. Inside of these statues humans still live their simulated lives. Our MC is one of the few humans that have survived this event. She goes around and interacts with these statues to give them a choice—continue the simulation, move to a different, more pleasing simulation or end their existence. This could have been the content of the story, but our MC is stopped by other humans, as what she does is apparently not quite legal and the story goes on another quite different tangent from there. I struggled. It took me unusually long to finish this story and it didn‘t really satisfy me. The MC has a dark secret herself, which is hinted at, but not resolved in a meaningful way. The main issue is probably that I didn‘t really get the point of this story.
- ELSEWHERE by James S.A. Corey
A daughter visits her dying father with the help of an avatar. The story tells us why she can’t be by his side in person. I liked this one. Emotional, relatable. ★★★★½
- THIS WORLD IS MADE FOR MONSTERS by M. Rickert
Aliens visit a small village, a yearly festival ensues to celebrate the occasion. Low key, looking at the effects on the village. Fairly odd, I am missing a highlight, it didn‘t really engage me. ★★★☆☆
- FAIRY TALES FOR ROBOTS by Sofia Samatar
A fairytale collection for a soon to awaken robot, giving purpose, potential and warnings. I didn’t care for the story. At 10.000+ words too long, very unemotional, only telling without showing. ★★☆☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
- THE TRANSLATOR, AT LOW TIDE by Vajra Chandrasekera
Another climate-change/end-of-civilisation story, presumably set in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Lyrical, sad and a little horrific. The translator nears the end of his life and reflects.
2021 FINALIST: THEODORE A. STURGEON MEMORIAL AWARD. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chan...
- BEYOND THESE STARS OTHER TRIBULATIONS OF LOVE by Usman T. Malik
Bari has to look after his mother, but he is also off into space. Interesting idea, although I wonder how this split consciousness would be possible, considering time dilation and distance. How would that work technically, besides probably making you loose a grip on reality fast? Maybe a bit short to do the idea justice. ★★★☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.wired.com/story/future-of...
I liked his The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn.
Author’s website: www.usmanmalik.org
- UMA by Ken Liu
“A Utility Maintenance Avatar is vaguely humanoid, but only about three feet tall fully stretched out and no more than fifty pounds in weight.“
Our hero piggy-backs one of those to save some people… This one was fun! ★★★★★
Can be read for free here: https://web.archive.org/web/202009251...
- TEST 4 ECHO by Peter Watts
You can tell that Watts is a zoologist and marine-mammal biologist. I really have to get back to reading all his stuff, although it usually does a number on my brain. I have to confess that I only have a vague idea of what happened in this story, but it was good regardless. AI and illegal propagation? ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
- TUNNELS by Eleanor Arnason
This was a pretty wacky story. I am not even sure how to summarize it. Lydia arrives at a planet with a job to do, ends up in an unusual place and meets even more unusual beings. She is in a pickle and needs to rescue herself and the others… I loved the alien and the world was definitely interesting. Hoot hoot hoot! ★★★★½
“The city is full of cracks,” Yan said. “They heal, but then they break open again. People fall through.”
Can be read for free here: https://www.asimovs.com/assets/1/6/Tu...
- STILL YOU LINGER, LIKE SOOT IN THE AIR by Matthew Kressel
Gil is a priest of Muu, a alien intelligence, who has „abilities that seem to defy known physical laws of nature.” In other words, Muu is a god. Gil awaits a new pupil, because his last pupil was taken (died?) during worship. Gil struggles to come to terms with loss and his entrapment by Muu. ★★★☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
- KNOCK, KNOCK SAID THE SHIP by Rati Mehrotra
Deenu works on a trading ship with a slightly disturbed AI. She is a survivor of a destroyed colony and indebted to the ship’s captain. When the ship is attacked, she has to decide where her loyalties lie and also come to terms with the fact that not everything is black and white.
Nothing deep, pretty entertaining, well written. The relationship between Deenu and the AI is funny. ★★★★★
- SEEDING THE MOUNTAIN by M. L. Clark
“In another century, the great Gabo would have summed up the miracle in a sentence running pages long, interwoven with tales of floating virgins, moldering fallen angels, and dictators who died and maybe rose again.“
I am definitely not a fan of sentences running pages long, stuffed full of superfluous adverbs and adjectives. Hard pass. ★☆☆☆☆
- RED_BATI by Dilman Dila
A conscious pet robot fighting for its life and meaning on a mining ship. Read this before in Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora and found it a bit blander this time around. ★★★☆☆
- INVISIBLE PEOPLE by Nancy Kress
Parents find out that their adopted daughter has been genetically altered as an embryo. Besides the ethical questions this throws up, it‘s a well-written thriller. Great character development for a short story, I was with them every step of the way. ★★★★★
- TEXTBOOKS IN THE ATTIC by S. B. Divya
Climate change has flooded towns, antibiotics are rare for those less privileged. A mother searches for a way to save her son. ★★★★★ More on tor.com: https://www.tor.com/author/s-b-divya/
- EXILE’S END by Carolyn Ives Gilman
“Exile’s End is a complex, sometimes uncomfortable examination of artifact repatriation and cultural appropriation. An artifact of indescribable and irreplaceable beauty created by an “extinct” culture has been the basis of another culture’s origin stories. The race who created the artifact has survived on a distant world and has sent a representative to reclaim it, throwing everything into question.“
I understand the conflict and tend to agree that artifacts belong to their origin countries. But I also can also relate to Rues argument. The writing of the story itself was well done, I liked the characters, the plot held dramatic tension and I was emotionally engaged. I will look at other works by the author. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/08/12/exiles...
- YELLOW AND THE PERCEPTION OF REALITY by Maureen F. McHugh
“Yellow and the Perception of Reality” by Maureen McHugh is a science fiction story about a woman who delves into the mystery of why and how her twin sister, a physicist, has been brain damaged in a lab accident in which two of her colleagues died.“
Do we perceive reality as it is or is reality created by our own perception? When I took philosophy in school, this was a concept that I struggled with. Nice take on it. I enjoyed the writing as well and will have a look at what else the author has written. Looking good: Mission Child and China Mountain Zhang.
Bonus points for Claude, the octopus. ★★★★★
Can be read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
- OANNES, FROM THE FLOOD by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Archaeology with the help of avatars and a touch of Tomb Raider, after climate change and floods have ravaged our world. ★★★★★
- THE 1ST INTERSPECIES SOLIDARITY FAIR AND PARADE by Bogi Takács
After the aggressive aliens destroyed much of Earth, the scavenging aliens followed and then the good guys, survivors of those first nasty destroyers. They want to help and need a place to stay, but need people to learn to communicate with them first. Though job, when all humans are busy surviving and rebuilding. How about a pride fair? ★★★★★
BEYOND THE TATTERED VEIL OF STARS by Mercurio D. Rivera
A scientist has created a simulation of Earth where mammals did not end up as the dominant species. She uses the sentient amphibians of that Earth to solve planetary problems. The amphibians are not happy with the suffering their gods impose on them. Do they have rights or are their lives irrelevant? And other fascinating questions. Loved it. ★★★★★
For free here: https://www.asimovs.com/assets/1/6/Be...
- YOUR BOYFRIEND EXPERIENCE by James Patrick Kelly
Dak’s boyfriend Jin asks him to go on a date with a playbot that Jin designed. I wouldn‘t call this romance, although Dak‘s relationship with Jin plays a major part in the story. It‘s more about Dak‘s self-discovery with the help of an AI. He ends up in a difficult position.
The ending had a very ominous and creepy vibe for me. I could imagine this turning into a horror scenario, but that‘s just my imagination running wild, I think. Good plotting and pacing, well developed characters for a short story. Well done. ★★★★★
- LONE PUPPETEER OF A SLEEPING CITY by Arula Ratnakar
Probably not bad, but I couldn‘t work up any interest for the story. ★★☆☆☆
- THE BAHRAIN UNDERGROUND BAZAAR by Nadia Afifi
Another one where the MC connects to another conscience, but here it‘s not a piggy-back experience of a living mind. It‘s an immersion into the recording of another person‘s death. A trip of self-discovery. ★★★☆☆
A little more about the story by the author: http://www.nadiaafifi.com/blog/new-sh...
- AIRBODY by Sameem Siddiqui
Renting the body of someone else via shared consiousness, nice idea with lots of possibilities. ★★★☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sidd...
Author‘s website: https://www.sameemwrites.com
- THE LONG IAPETAN NIGHT by Julie Nováková
Iapetus is one of Saturn's moons, named after a Titan in Greek mythology seen as the progenitor of mankind. And that‘s where we wake up from cold sleep. Earth has gone through two cataclysms and humanity tries to establish footholds on other planets and moons in the solar system. An earlier mission has failed and our team tries to find out what happened. Horror on a dark ice planet.
I like the plot idea, but struggled with the writing. It felt disjointed and confused me. There are two teams exploring and an account of the previous, failed mission from an unreliable narrator — I had a hard time keeping them straight. Not happy with this one. ★★¾☆☆
Story can be found for free here in Asimov‘s Science Fiction magazine, November/December 2020: https://www.asimovs.com/assets/1/6/Th...
I have read another of her short stories, THE SYMPHONY OF ICE AND DUST, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 85, review here.
Author‘s website
- AN IMPORTANT FAILURE by Rebecca Campbell
Superficially about the building of a violin and what type of wood makes it „open up“ and sing. Climate change, loss of physical things and loss of possibilities in our lives. Ends on a slightly hopeful note. Bittersweet.
The writing was a bit of a struggle for me, as it was very dense, detailed and „stream of consciousness“... ★★★¾☆
Can be read for free at Clarkesworld: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/camp...
- SINEW AND STEEL AND WHAT THEY TOLD by Carrie Vaughn
Graff faked his medical records and something really awkward is going to come out. He has a lot of explaining to do and hopefully some forgiving listeners. This was a little tense, but I was smiling at the end… ★★★★¾
Can be read for free here at Tor.com
There is a 30-page prequel, An Easy Job, which can also be read for free at Tor.com. Next!
- EYES OF THE FOREST by Ray Nayler
An alien forrest, scouts / wayfinders in a dangerous situation. A young wayfinder in training. No predators, but scavengers that feast on dead things… things that are not illuminated… what a cool concept! And I am really salty about not getting told her given name! ★★★★½
Interview with the author about this story: https://weightlessbooks.com/updates/i...
- SCAR TISSUE by Tobias S. Buckell — 2nd person singular, awkward!
Human MC fosters a robot. Is the mind just bolted into its carriage or the sum of a whole? And what does it mean to be raised instead of being programmed and to learn from experience?
Sweet story, I got pretty emotional. ★★★★★
Can be read for free here: https://slate.com/technology/2020/05/...
And a response to the story by another author: https://slate.com/technology/2020/05/...
And an interview from 2021 with the author on Clarkesworld: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/buck...
- HOW QUINI THE SQUID MISPLACED HIS KLOBUČAR by Rich Larson
“A dark, fast-moving novelette about a high-tech heist in future Spain, planned by a professional thief interested in revenge more than money. The object in question is in the hands of a dangerous crime lord.“
I liked that this was set in Barcelona, it helped me relate to the story, as I‘ve been there several times. I liked the virtual reality aspect of the heist and the transgender part. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/01/15/how-qu...
- RHIZOME, BY STARLIGHT by Fran Wilde
Our MC lives on her own in an apocalyptic world, on a mountaintop surrounded by water and made of glas (a skyscraper?) where a presumably genetically enhanced and malicious kudzu is encroaching on her greenhouse. She is fighting for her life. Stay or leave? The ending had me wishing for more story, because of who and how the MC turned out to be. ★★★★½
Interview with the author about her story: http://defyingdoomsday.twelfthplanetp...
- THE LONG TAIL by Aliette de Bodard
“A story about memory and war and transfers of memories between shifts (and statistics!).“
After a war involving nanites, salvaging a wreck and looking for a cure. Short, but able to engage me and to emphasize with the main character. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.wired.com/story/future-of...
- SALVAGE by Andy Dudak
Humans have spread across many planets. Their observation of the universe endangered its existence. I know too little of quantum physics to understand the logic behind this concept. Anyway, aliens appeared and turned humans into statues, to prevent them from destroying the universe. Inside of these statues humans still live their simulated lives. Our MC is one of the few humans that have survived this event. She goes around and interacts with these statues to give them a choice—continue the simulation, move to a different, more pleasing simulation or end their existence. This could have been the content of the story, but our MC is stopped by other humans, as what she does is apparently not quite legal and the story goes on another quite different tangent from there. I struggled. It took me unusually long to finish this story and it didn‘t really satisfy me. The MC has a dark secret herself, which is hinted at, but not resolved in a meaningful way. The main issue is probably that I didn‘t really get the point of this story.
- ELSEWHERE by James S.A. Corey
A daughter visits her dying father with the help of an avatar. The story tells us why she can’t be by his side in person. I liked this one. Emotional, relatable. ★★★★½
- THIS WORLD IS MADE FOR MONSTERS by M. Rickert
Aliens visit a small village, a yearly festival ensues to celebrate the occasion. Low key, looking at the effects on the village. Fairly odd, I am missing a highlight, it didn‘t really engage me. ★★★☆☆
- FAIRY TALES FOR ROBOTS by Sofia Samatar
A fairytale collection for a soon to awaken robot, giving purpose, potential and warnings. I didn’t care for the story. At 10.000+ words too long, very unemotional, only telling without showing. ★★☆☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
- THE TRANSLATOR, AT LOW TIDE by Vajra Chandrasekera
Another climate-change/end-of-civilisation story, presumably set in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Lyrical, sad and a little horrific. The translator nears the end of his life and reflects.
2021 FINALIST: THEODORE A. STURGEON MEMORIAL AWARD. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chan...
- BEYOND THESE STARS OTHER TRIBULATIONS OF LOVE by Usman T. Malik
Bari has to look after his mother, but he is also off into space. Interesting idea, although I wonder how this split consciousness would be possible, considering time dilation and distance. How would that work technically, besides probably making you loose a grip on reality fast? Maybe a bit short to do the idea justice. ★★★☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.wired.com/story/future-of...
I liked his The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn.
Author’s website: www.usmanmalik.org
- UMA by Ken Liu
“A Utility Maintenance Avatar is vaguely humanoid, but only about three feet tall fully stretched out and no more than fifty pounds in weight.“
Our hero piggy-backs one of those to save some people… This one was fun! ★★★★★
Can be read for free here: https://web.archive.org/web/202009251...
- TEST 4 ECHO by Peter Watts
You can tell that Watts is a zoologist and marine-mammal biologist. I really have to get back to reading all his stuff, although it usually does a number on my brain. I have to confess that I only have a vague idea of what happened in this story, but it was good regardless. AI and illegal propagation? ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
- TUNNELS by Eleanor Arnason
This was a pretty wacky story. I am not even sure how to summarize it. Lydia arrives at a planet with a job to do, ends up in an unusual place and meets even more unusual beings. She is in a pickle and needs to rescue herself and the others… I loved the alien and the world was definitely interesting. Hoot hoot hoot! ★★★★½
“The city is full of cracks,” Yan said. “They heal, but then they break open again. People fall through.”
Can be read for free here: https://www.asimovs.com/assets/1/6/Tu...
- STILL YOU LINGER, LIKE SOOT IN THE AIR by Matthew Kressel
Gil is a priest of Muu, a alien intelligence, who has „abilities that seem to defy known physical laws of nature.” In other words, Muu is a god. Gil awaits a new pupil, because his last pupil was taken (died?) during worship. Gil struggles to come to terms with loss and his entrapment by Muu. ★★★☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...
- KNOCK, KNOCK SAID THE SHIP by Rati Mehrotra
Deenu works on a trading ship with a slightly disturbed AI. She is a survivor of a destroyed colony and indebted to the ship’s captain. When the ship is attacked, she has to decide where her loyalties lie and also come to terms with the fact that not everything is black and white.
Nothing deep, pretty entertaining, well written. The relationship between Deenu and the AI is funny. ★★★★★
- SEEDING THE MOUNTAIN by M. L. Clark
“In another century, the great Gabo would have summed up the miracle in a sentence running pages long, interwoven with tales of floating virgins, moldering fallen angels, and dictators who died and maybe rose again.“
I am definitely not a fan of sentences running pages long, stuffed full of superfluous adverbs and adjectives. Hard pass. ★☆☆☆☆
- RED_BATI by Dilman Dila
A conscious pet robot fighting for its life and meaning on a mining ship. Read this before in Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora and found it a bit blander this time around. ★★★☆☆
- INVISIBLE PEOPLE by Nancy Kress
Parents find out that their adopted daughter has been genetically altered as an embryo. Besides the ethical questions this throws up, it‘s a well-written thriller. Great character development for a short story, I was with them every step of the way. ★★★★★
- TEXTBOOKS IN THE ATTIC by S. B. Divya
Climate change has flooded towns, antibiotics are rare for those less privileged. A mother searches for a way to save her son. ★★★★★ More on tor.com: https://www.tor.com/author/s-b-divya/
- EXILE’S END by Carolyn Ives Gilman
“Exile’s End is a complex, sometimes uncomfortable examination of artifact repatriation and cultural appropriation. An artifact of indescribable and irreplaceable beauty created by an “extinct” culture has been the basis of another culture’s origin stories. The race who created the artifact has survived on a distant world and has sent a representative to reclaim it, throwing everything into question.“
I understand the conflict and tend to agree that artifacts belong to their origin countries. But I also can also relate to Rues argument. The writing of the story itself was well done, I liked the characters, the plot held dramatic tension and I was emotionally engaged. I will look at other works by the author. ★★★★☆
Can be read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/08/12/exiles...
- YELLOW AND THE PERCEPTION OF REALITY by Maureen F. McHugh
“Yellow and the Perception of Reality” by Maureen McHugh is a science fiction story about a woman who delves into the mystery of why and how her twin sister, a physicist, has been brain damaged in a lab accident in which two of her colleagues died.“
Do we perceive reality as it is or is reality created by our own perception? When I took philosophy in school, this was a concept that I struggled with. Nice take on it. I enjoyed the writing as well and will have a look at what else the author has written. Looking good: Mission Child and China Mountain Zhang.
Bonus points for Claude, the octopus. ★★★★★
Can be read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow...
- OANNES, FROM THE FLOOD by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Archaeology with the help of avatars and a touch of Tomb Raider, after climate change and floods have ravaged our world. ★★★★★
- THE 1ST INTERSPECIES SOLIDARITY FAIR AND PARADE by Bogi Takács
After the aggressive aliens destroyed much of Earth, the scavenging aliens followed and then the good guys, survivors of those first nasty destroyers. They want to help and need a place to stay, but need people to learn to communicate with them first. Though job, when all humans are busy surviving and rebuilding. How about a pride fair? ★★★★★
BEYOND THE TATTERED VEIL OF STARS by Mercurio D. Rivera
A scientist has created a simulation of Earth where mammals did not end up as the dominant species. She uses the sentient amphibians of that Earth to solve planetary problems. The amphibians are not happy with the suffering their gods impose on them. Do they have rights or are their lives irrelevant? And other fascinating questions. Loved it. ★★★★★
For free here: https://www.asimovs.com/assets/1/6/Be...
- YOUR BOYFRIEND EXPERIENCE by James Patrick Kelly
Dak’s boyfriend Jin asks him to go on a date with a playbot that Jin designed. I wouldn‘t call this romance, although Dak‘s relationship with Jin plays a major part in the story. It‘s more about Dak‘s self-discovery with the help of an AI. He ends up in a difficult position.
The ending had a very ominous and creepy vibe for me. I could imagine this turning into a horror scenario, but that‘s just my imagination running wild, I think. Good plotting and pacing, well developed characters for a short story. Well done. ★★★★★
- LONE PUPPETEER OF A SLEEPING CITY by Arula Ratnakar
Probably not bad, but I couldn‘t work up any interest for the story. ★★☆☆☆
- THE BAHRAIN UNDERGROUND BAZAAR by Nadia Afifi
Another one where the MC connects to another conscience, but here it‘s not a piggy-back experience of a living mind. It‘s an immersion into the recording of another person‘s death. A trip of self-discovery. ★★★☆☆
A little more about the story by the author: http://www.nadiaafifi.com/blog/new-sh...
- AIRBODY by Sameem Siddiqui
Renting the body of someone else via shared consiousness, nice idea with lots of possibilities. ★★★☆☆
Can be read for free here: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sidd...
Author‘s website: https://www.sameemwrites.com
- THE LONG IAPETAN NIGHT by Julie Nováková
Iapetus is one of Saturn's moons, named after a Titan in Greek mythology seen as the progenitor of mankind. And that‘s where we wake up from cold sleep. Earth has gone through two cataclysms and humanity tries to establish footholds on other planets and moons in the solar system. An earlier mission has failed and our team tries to find out what happened. Horror on a dark ice planet.
I like the plot idea, but struggled with the writing. It felt disjointed and confused me. There are two teams exploring and an account of the previous, failed mission from an unreliable narrator — I had a hard time keeping them straight. Not happy with this one. ★★¾☆☆
Story can be found for free here in Asimov‘s Science Fiction magazine, November/December 2020: https://www.asimovs.com/assets/1/6/Th...
I have read another of her short stories, THE SYMPHONY OF ICE AND DUST, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 85, review here.
Author‘s website
- AN IMPORTANT FAILURE by Rebecca Campbell
Superficially about the building of a violin and what type of wood makes it „open up“ and sing. Climate change, loss of physical things and loss of possibilities in our lives. Ends on a slightly hopeful note. Bittersweet.
The writing was a bit of a struggle for me, as it was very dense, detailed and „stream of consciousness“... ★★★¾☆
Can be read for free at Clarkesworld: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/camp...
- SINEW AND STEEL AND WHAT THEY TOLD by Carrie Vaughn
Graff faked his medical records and something really awkward is going to come out. He has a lot of explaining to do and hopefully some forgiving listeners. This was a little tense, but I was smiling at the end… ★★★★¾
Can be read for free here at Tor.com
There is a 30-page prequel, An Easy Job, which can also be read for free at Tor.com. Next!
- EYES OF THE FOREST by Ray Nayler
An alien forrest, scouts / wayfinders in a dangerous situation. A young wayfinder in training. No predators, but scavengers that feast on dead things… things that are not illuminated… what a cool concept! And I am really salty about not getting told her given name! ★★★★½
Interview with the author about this story: https://weightlessbooks.com/updates/i...
- SCAR TISSUE by Tobias S. Buckell — 2nd person singular, awkward!
Human MC fosters a robot. Is the mind just bolted into its carriage or the sum of a whole? And what does it mean to be raised instead of being programmed and to learn from experience?
Sweet story, I got pretty emotional. ★★★★★
Can be read for free here: https://slate.com/technology/2020/05/...
And a response to the story by another author: https://slate.com/technology/2020/05/...
And an interview from 2021 with the author on Clarkesworld: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/buck...
February 23, 2022
I liked "Eyes of the Forest" by Ray Nayler, "Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars" by Mercurio D. Rivera, "Exile's End" by Carolyn Ives Gilman, "Invisible People" by Nancy Kress, and "Elsewhere" by James S. A. Corey
November 23, 2022
Short stories are the best
October 31, 2022
Favourites:
Seeding the Mountain by M. L. Clark
Textbooks in the Attic by S.B. Divya
Oannes, From The Flood by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Long Iapetan Night by Julie Novakova
Eyes of the Forest by Ray Nayler
Seeding the Mountain by M. L. Clark
Textbooks in the Attic by S.B. Divya
Oannes, From The Flood by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Long Iapetan Night by Julie Novakova
Eyes of the Forest by Ray Nayler
September 28, 2023
I thought the qualities of these short-stories was high overall. Although non was outstanding IMO, there are several I really liked and only one that bored me.
I like that stories from authors of different nationalites were selected, and that the topics were varied. I'll probably read the following books in this series.
The two stories I liked the most (Uma by Ken Liu and Elsewhere by James S. A. Corey) aren't the most ambitious regarding new ideas but were the most moving. Coincidentally they both explore the idea of remote controlling robots to be able to access places the charcters can't go to, but they still are very different from each other.
I also liked a lot The long Iapetan Night by Julie Nováková, who created a very stressful atmosphere about a space expedition on one of Saturn's mood, when things begin to go wrong for mysterious reasons.
I like that stories from authors of different nationalites were selected, and that the topics were varied. I'll probably read the following books in this series.
The two stories I liked the most (Uma by Ken Liu and Elsewhere by James S. A. Corey) aren't the most ambitious regarding new ideas but were the most moving. Coincidentally they both explore the idea of remote controlling robots to be able to access places the charcters can't go to, but they still are very different from each other.
I also liked a lot The long Iapetan Night by Julie Nováková, who created a very stressful atmosphere about a space expedition on one of Saturn's mood, when things begin to go wrong for mysterious reasons.
Currently reading
February 9, 2024Good book, but now on indefinite hiatus: I had a library ebook checked out, which abruptly vanished. Apparently the library dropped the book from their ebook holdings. Very annoying. Only copy available, sigh.
If I find another copy, I'll finish reading it.
If I find another copy, I'll finish reading it.
July 24, 2025
This collection is really bad. Have you seen the joke showing "the manga", "the anime" and "the Netflix adaptation"? Well, this collection is a Netflix adaptation of the best SF of the Year. The collection title should be "The wokest (not) Science Fiction stories of the year".
There are two stories that are worth reading ("Scar Tissue" and "The Long Iapetan Night"), the rest should never have reached print. A good story, specially a short one, should quickly catch the readers attention, and it should have a point, like kids stories with a clear moral. Several of these stories hint at something more, but they read as incomplete, there is no point but to present a grander picture that, honestly, is not that interesting either.
More than focusing on good stories, the collection seems to focus on having a "diverse" cast, or authors. This is the first collection where I'm told the pronouns of the authors, and honestly, I want to read a story, I don't care much about the writer, unless I know him and like hm and look for his work. The editor doesn't even bothers to describe the stories!
And there are Sci Fi stories. You know the "You'll never see it in Galaxy" ad?, well, most of the stories I would never see in Galaxy. Few stories challenge the reader to think, or to ponder what if. Few wonder how technology changes society, or how a society would look like if this or that. In fact, several stories can just be set in the present, and they would work just as well.
The worst part, the characters are anything but diverse: most of them are females or homosexuals, and that is all the depth they have. Seriously: your taste and sex are not personality traits! It can be relevant to the story, think of Osca Wilde's life, but if not, who cares? Or why putting so much focus on it? Or why put a female characther that reads just like a guy? And why would a story have a character with strong character?, no, let's make them lame, and I'm not talking about the gait.
Let's look at the stories:
Scar Tissue by Tobias S. Buckell: 5*. Raising a robot child has economical benefits, but it's hard. And attachments are to be expected.
Eyes of the Forest by Ray Nayler: 2*. The story just revolves around a very strange setting, and the whole point is the setting, but it's not really explored and it's strange for the sake of it. And yes, the main character are female.
Sinew and Steel and What They Told by Carrie Vaughn: 1*. Having emotionally weak people is exactly what I expect a space squad fighting space pirated, right? NO! And yes, we need to add that the main character is hoosexual becuase that's the thing we do here.
An Important Failure by Rebecca Campbell : 1.*. Someone wants to make a violin, and I wouldn't care less.
The Long Iapetan Night by Julie Novakova: 5*. A horror story in one of the moons of Jupiter. I enjoyed and it reads like one of the Martian Chronicles' stories. The main character is female, and i loved it.
AirBody by Sameem Siddiqui 1*. Do care about how the life of a Muslim will be in the future? Not me, and five pages into the story couldn't make me interested.
The Bahrain Underground Bazaar by Nadia Afifi: 3*. Do you know the stories were the child rebels againts the parents and at the end he realizes how right they were? This is the same, but the other way around.
Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City by Arula Ratnakar: 1*. A few pages in and the author throws a moral monologue. This is perfect for Netflix, but not for me.
Your Boyfriend Experience by James Patrick Kelly 1*. How dating sex robots will be designed for homosexuals? I don't know, don't care.
Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars by Mercurio D. Rivera 2*. A rather obvious story about "is reality just a simmulation?".
The 1st Interspecies Solidarity Fair and Parade by Bogi Takács 1*. The world was destroyed in a war with aliens, twice. How do you help communities start working again together? Obviously, with a (gay) Pride Parade. I'm not lying to you, this is the best idea the author came up with.
Oannes, From The Flood by Adrian Tchaikovsky 1*. Archeologist trying to salvage evidency to proof that good "refugees" helped to build the great Mesopotamian empire.
Yellow and the Perception of Reality by Maureen McHugh 1*. The very racist author of this story spends his time focusing on everyone race, literally, all characters's race is pointed out, instead of building an idea about reality. I really think there was no idea to begin with.
Exile’s End by Carolyn Ives Gilman 1*. We already covered good refugees, now let's talk about repatriation and reparation, because that's the most relevant thing that a civilization capable of travel through the stars can worry about. Also, don't forget the moral speech. Also, a work of art has a sould, but we don't say anything more about this, because is totally not a central piece in the story.
Invisible People by Nancy Kress 2*. One extra star for being able to make a "genetically modified children without the knowledge of the parents" boring.
Red_Bati by Dilman Dila 2*. A robot goes rogue and takes control of a ship, showing how bad security can be in a cargo company.
Textbooks in the Attic by S.B. Divya 1*. A strong female character makes peniciline in his attic to save his child, while also stoppiing his not so bright husband from killing people, or getting killed.
Seeding the Mountain by M. L. Clark 1*. A couple of Colombian being oppresed by big corps trying to solve social issues. Strong female character, and blah blah.
Knock Knock Said the Ship by Rati Mehrotra 2*. Let's call someone saved from the dying Moon a refugee, because I want to write a story of a refugee saving the day. Also, female refugee, female captain and bad guys are male.
Still You Linger, Like Soot in the Air by Matthew Kressel 1*. A story trying to say something about higher conciousness and so on, but it's just random rambling.
Tunnels by Eleanor Arnason 1*. Big corp tries to kill woman who put them into trouble. Also, she works for a important movie company and does detective works, because it's so obvious to do both things.
Test 4 Echo by Peter Watts 1*. With less techincal jargon, that adds nothing, we could get a decent story, but the writing style is just too awful. I haven't read anything else by Watts, and after this I'm not sure I want to. Also, let's make the main character homosexual becuase we need those Netflix points.
Uma by Ken Liu Another strong female character that behaves just like a ramdom male teenager vidogamer saves the day. Also, big corps bad.
Beyond These Stars Other Tribulations of Love by Usman T. Malik 1*. Entanglement doesn't transmit information, read a book.
The Translator, at Low Tide by Vajra Chandrasekera 1.* An Indian guy gets robbed by some children.
Fairy Tales for Robots by Sofia Samatar 1*. The main character spends 80% of the time complaining, 10% complaining some more, 10% just summarizing old stories, but nothing more. The title is really misleading.
This World is Made for Monsters by M. Rickert 1*. An original first contact idea, but in the 50s.
Elsewhere by James S. A. Corey 1*. Not as bad as 1 star, but totally unoriginal: someone paralized uses VR to move robots and live around people.
Salvage by Andy Dudak 1*. Someone upload the memory of "frozen" people into a "quantum supercomputer" (let's say "wow" and "ahh" now) for whatever unclear reason. A lawyer shows up to stop the fun.
The Long Tail by Aliette de Bodard
Rhizome, by Starlight by Fran Wilde
How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobučar by Rich Larson
The last three stories were random noise, after a few pages stopped reading them.
There are two stories that are worth reading ("Scar Tissue" and "The Long Iapetan Night"), the rest should never have reached print. A good story, specially a short one, should quickly catch the readers attention, and it should have a point, like kids stories with a clear moral. Several of these stories hint at something more, but they read as incomplete, there is no point but to present a grander picture that, honestly, is not that interesting either.
More than focusing on good stories, the collection seems to focus on having a "diverse" cast, or authors. This is the first collection where I'm told the pronouns of the authors, and honestly, I want to read a story, I don't care much about the writer, unless I know him and like hm and look for his work. The editor doesn't even bothers to describe the stories!
And there are Sci Fi stories. You know the "You'll never see it in Galaxy" ad?, well, most of the stories I would never see in Galaxy. Few stories challenge the reader to think, or to ponder what if. Few wonder how technology changes society, or how a society would look like if this or that. In fact, several stories can just be set in the present, and they would work just as well.
The worst part, the characters are anything but diverse: most of them are females or homosexuals, and that is all the depth they have. Seriously: your taste and sex are not personality traits! It can be relevant to the story, think of Osca Wilde's life, but if not, who cares? Or why putting so much focus on it? Or why put a female characther that reads just like a guy? And why would a story have a character with strong character?, no, let's make them lame, and I'm not talking about the gait.
Let's look at the stories:
Scar Tissue by Tobias S. Buckell: 5*. Raising a robot child has economical benefits, but it's hard. And attachments are to be expected.
Eyes of the Forest by Ray Nayler: 2*. The story just revolves around a very strange setting, and the whole point is the setting, but it's not really explored and it's strange for the sake of it. And yes, the main character are female.
Sinew and Steel and What They Told by Carrie Vaughn: 1*. Having emotionally weak people is exactly what I expect a space squad fighting space pirated, right? NO! And yes, we need to add that the main character is hoosexual becuase that's the thing we do here.
An Important Failure by Rebecca Campbell : 1.*. Someone wants to make a violin, and I wouldn't care less.
The Long Iapetan Night by Julie Novakova: 5*. A horror story in one of the moons of Jupiter. I enjoyed and it reads like one of the Martian Chronicles' stories. The main character is female, and i loved it.
AirBody by Sameem Siddiqui 1*. Do care about how the life of a Muslim will be in the future? Not me, and five pages into the story couldn't make me interested.
The Bahrain Underground Bazaar by Nadia Afifi: 3*. Do you know the stories were the child rebels againts the parents and at the end he realizes how right they were? This is the same, but the other way around.
Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City by Arula Ratnakar: 1*. A few pages in and the author throws a moral monologue. This is perfect for Netflix, but not for me.
Your Boyfriend Experience by James Patrick Kelly 1*. How dating sex robots will be designed for homosexuals? I don't know, don't care.
Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars by Mercurio D. Rivera 2*. A rather obvious story about "is reality just a simmulation?".
The 1st Interspecies Solidarity Fair and Parade by Bogi Takács 1*. The world was destroyed in a war with aliens, twice. How do you help communities start working again together? Obviously, with a (gay) Pride Parade. I'm not lying to you, this is the best idea the author came up with.
Oannes, From The Flood by Adrian Tchaikovsky 1*. Archeologist trying to salvage evidency to proof that good "refugees" helped to build the great Mesopotamian empire.
Yellow and the Perception of Reality by Maureen McHugh 1*. The very racist author of this story spends his time focusing on everyone race, literally, all characters's race is pointed out, instead of building an idea about reality. I really think there was no idea to begin with.
Exile’s End by Carolyn Ives Gilman 1*. We already covered good refugees, now let's talk about repatriation and reparation, because that's the most relevant thing that a civilization capable of travel through the stars can worry about. Also, don't forget the moral speech. Also, a work of art has a sould, but we don't say anything more about this, because is totally not a central piece in the story.
Invisible People by Nancy Kress 2*. One extra star for being able to make a "genetically modified children without the knowledge of the parents" boring.
Red_Bati by Dilman Dila 2*. A robot goes rogue and takes control of a ship, showing how bad security can be in a cargo company.
Textbooks in the Attic by S.B. Divya 1*. A strong female character makes peniciline in his attic to save his child, while also stoppiing his not so bright husband from killing people, or getting killed.
Seeding the Mountain by M. L. Clark 1*. A couple of Colombian being oppresed by big corps trying to solve social issues. Strong female character, and blah blah.
Knock Knock Said the Ship by Rati Mehrotra 2*. Let's call someone saved from the dying Moon a refugee, because I want to write a story of a refugee saving the day. Also, female refugee, female captain and bad guys are male.
Still You Linger, Like Soot in the Air by Matthew Kressel 1*. A story trying to say something about higher conciousness and so on, but it's just random rambling.
Tunnels by Eleanor Arnason 1*. Big corp tries to kill woman who put them into trouble. Also, she works for a important movie company and does detective works, because it's so obvious to do both things.
Test 4 Echo by Peter Watts 1*. With less techincal jargon, that adds nothing, we could get a decent story, but the writing style is just too awful. I haven't read anything else by Watts, and after this I'm not sure I want to. Also, let's make the main character homosexual becuase we need those Netflix points.
Uma by Ken Liu Another strong female character that behaves just like a ramdom male teenager vidogamer saves the day. Also, big corps bad.
Beyond These Stars Other Tribulations of Love by Usman T. Malik 1*. Entanglement doesn't transmit information, read a book.
The Translator, at Low Tide by Vajra Chandrasekera 1.* An Indian guy gets robbed by some children.
Fairy Tales for Robots by Sofia Samatar 1*. The main character spends 80% of the time complaining, 10% complaining some more, 10% just summarizing old stories, but nothing more. The title is really misleading.
This World is Made for Monsters by M. Rickert 1*. An original first contact idea, but in the 50s.
Elsewhere by James S. A. Corey 1*. Not as bad as 1 star, but totally unoriginal: someone paralized uses VR to move robots and live around people.
Salvage by Andy Dudak 1*. Someone upload the memory of "frozen" people into a "quantum supercomputer" (let's say "wow" and "ahh" now) for whatever unclear reason. A lawyer shows up to stop the fun.
The Long Tail by Aliette de Bodard
Rhizome, by Starlight by Fran Wilde
How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobučar by Rich Larson
The last three stories were random noise, after a few pages stopped reading them.
May 31, 2023
[3.5 stars] This review will come in fits and starts, as I review specific stories that stuck out to me. I begrudgingly picked up this collection when Jonathan Strahan didn’t release one in his best of series for last year. I’ve tried Neil Clarke’s anthologies before and felt like his editorial hand just didn’t jive with my reading habits. Has this book proved me wrong? Yes… and no. I was very polarized with this book. I have never read an anthology or collection where I’ve skipped so many stories. But the ones I liked were some of the best short fiction I’ve read all year. I don’t really know how to interpret that, but either way, here are some of my favorites:
Favorite Story: Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars by Mercurio D. Rivers - An ingenious community of non-humanoids address crisis after crisis in this time-jumping tale. The catch? Well they are actually all part of a simulation that is used to help humans learn how to address these crises, a fact lost on the participants. The best SF for me has an interesting conceit, and leans in. I’m trying to come up with a more nuanced phrase than “perspective-shifting” but am struggling. Think the best episodes of Rick and Morty or the best novels of Philip K. Dick. This story is the one in the collection that best scratches that itch. The gods are indeed watching…
Runner-Up: Exile’s End by Carolyn Ives Gilman - A museum curator finds herself caught up in an intense debate when a member of an ancient community previously thought extinct shows up and asks for a priceless painting to be repatriated to his planet, in light of the colonization that had originally deprived them of it. The catch? Their community destroys all such artifacts as part of a long-standing ritual. SFF has a lot to add in terms of social commentary, because of its ability to set up thought experiments. You’d think that considering the most extreme scenarios in a given situation would dampen nuanced thought, but when done correctly, it allows for a great exploration without the same stakes as a real world scenario. This story is a great example of that approach. There’s a very real cost to the repatriation of the artifact. It would be the equivalent of sending the Mona Lisa or Whistler’s Mother off to be destroyed. Very thoughtful engagement with the subject of cultural reappropriation, the legacy of colonization, and the ethics of all therein.
Other Recommended Stories:
Sinew and Steel and What They Told by Carrie Vaughn - After an accident on the job, a scout runner is sad to find that he has not, indeed, died as he expected. As the crew rushes to save him, they find him more robotic than expected, a part of himself that he has kept carefully hidden, immediately leading to suspicion and intrigue. This felt like a very personal story, and was a welcome respite from the first few opening stories that just didn’t hit for me. I particularly enjoyed the love interest as it helped complicate the narrative in a good way.
Oannes, From the Flood by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Set in a future where climate change has led to massive flooding across American cities, this story follows a “researcher” (or tomb raider, depending on your perspective, who uses a robotic avatar to retrieve priceless Sumerian artifacts from the soon to be flooded ruins of a mansion. During his journey, he stumbles across a real family unaware of the harm coming their way. This is a piece of climate fiction, one of several in the book that caught my eye (strange, considering that I can’t stand almost every climate fiction novel I stumble across). I found the narrator to be just my shade of jaded, and the stakes are reasonably high by the end. I also used to teach ancient history, so what’s not to love about the Sumerian mythological references?
Invisible People by Nancy Kress - A couple gets dragged into a mystery invoking their adopted daughter, specifically concerning whether she is the result of an experimental human breeding program that dabbles in genetic modification. The family drama is what holds this one together, even though there’s just enough intrigue to keep things mysterious. I might be attracted to this one because I’m partial to adoption myself. Despite a plot that could fall into boilerplate conspiracy-ish territory, the nature of the modification is surprising and not initially intuitive, which I count as good in this instance.
Red_Bati by Dilman Dila - Red_Bati follows a robotic dog that has been programmed to desire human companionship, and has a working(-ish) simulation of his previous owner loaded onto his hard drive. The problem? His owner is dead and he has been repurposed for manual labor and has become damaged. Knowing that he’s facing a wipe that will deprive him of his personality, he seeks to protect his identity. A great exploration of the complications of making robots too human-like. There’s definitely stories that explore the theme in more depth, but none that do so as sweetly. There’s a fair bit of comedy tucked in this one as well, considering that a dog is eventually performing a one-man heist. Definition of a good boy.
Textbooks in the Attic by SB Divya - In a future ravaged by climate change, where much of the lower world remains submerged, infection runs rampant. And due to medicine shortages and the unequal distribution of medicine, even mild infections remain potentially deadly. We follow a biologist (or something similar - my memory may not serve me well on this one) who must find a way to save her son who has come down with an infection, even when the wealthier community up the hill refuses to share their stores of antibiotics. Another piece of climate fiction! An engaging story through-and-through. Also does a good job examining the potential dynamics of the wealthy versus everyone else in a similar situation.
Tunnels by Eleanor Arnason - A PR agent ends up getting infected with a mysterious virus and finds herself trapped in the tunnels underneath the city. The catch is that she’s not the only one, and there seems to be more afoot than originally meets the eye. This is just a plain fun (and plenty weird) story. The real star, of course, is Three Hoots.
Uma by Ken Liu - A maintenance worker must deal with the legal complexities that arose after she uses her robotic avatar to rescue a family while she’s on the job. Liu is one of those authors for whom a little goes a long way for me. I almost always love his stories in an anthology like this, but tire quickly when reading a collection. This is no exception. Strong writing matched with an all too-realistic conceit.
This World is Made for Monsters by M. Rickert - Aliens make contact with a small town. What begins as a friendly encounter soon turns into something more sinister - but who’s to blame? I love the retro feel of the story, balanced by the darker elements, which help cut through the veneer of nostalgia. This is obviously not a Shirley Jackson story, but something about it makes me think of her.
Elsewhere by James SA Corey - A daughter uses a robotic avatar to visit her father in hospice. Over the course of the story, she reflects upon their history and reveals why she cannot visit him in person. This was my first time to read a Corey story, and it seems they are worthy of all the praise that they have received. This is a very human story. The sci-fi elements are almost immaterial, in the best way possible.
Favorite Story: Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars by Mercurio D. Rivers - An ingenious community of non-humanoids address crisis after crisis in this time-jumping tale. The catch? Well they are actually all part of a simulation that is used to help humans learn how to address these crises, a fact lost on the participants. The best SF for me has an interesting conceit, and leans in. I’m trying to come up with a more nuanced phrase than “perspective-shifting” but am struggling. Think the best episodes of Rick and Morty or the best novels of Philip K. Dick. This story is the one in the collection that best scratches that itch. The gods are indeed watching…
Runner-Up: Exile’s End by Carolyn Ives Gilman - A museum curator finds herself caught up in an intense debate when a member of an ancient community previously thought extinct shows up and asks for a priceless painting to be repatriated to his planet, in light of the colonization that had originally deprived them of it. The catch? Their community destroys all such artifacts as part of a long-standing ritual. SFF has a lot to add in terms of social commentary, because of its ability to set up thought experiments. You’d think that considering the most extreme scenarios in a given situation would dampen nuanced thought, but when done correctly, it allows for a great exploration without the same stakes as a real world scenario. This story is a great example of that approach. There’s a very real cost to the repatriation of the artifact. It would be the equivalent of sending the Mona Lisa or Whistler’s Mother off to be destroyed. Very thoughtful engagement with the subject of cultural reappropriation, the legacy of colonization, and the ethics of all therein.
Other Recommended Stories:
Sinew and Steel and What They Told by Carrie Vaughn - After an accident on the job, a scout runner is sad to find that he has not, indeed, died as he expected. As the crew rushes to save him, they find him more robotic than expected, a part of himself that he has kept carefully hidden, immediately leading to suspicion and intrigue. This felt like a very personal story, and was a welcome respite from the first few opening stories that just didn’t hit for me. I particularly enjoyed the love interest as it helped complicate the narrative in a good way.
Oannes, From the Flood by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Set in a future where climate change has led to massive flooding across American cities, this story follows a “researcher” (or tomb raider, depending on your perspective, who uses a robotic avatar to retrieve priceless Sumerian artifacts from the soon to be flooded ruins of a mansion. During his journey, he stumbles across a real family unaware of the harm coming their way. This is a piece of climate fiction, one of several in the book that caught my eye (strange, considering that I can’t stand almost every climate fiction novel I stumble across). I found the narrator to be just my shade of jaded, and the stakes are reasonably high by the end. I also used to teach ancient history, so what’s not to love about the Sumerian mythological references?
Invisible People by Nancy Kress - A couple gets dragged into a mystery invoking their adopted daughter, specifically concerning whether she is the result of an experimental human breeding program that dabbles in genetic modification. The family drama is what holds this one together, even though there’s just enough intrigue to keep things mysterious. I might be attracted to this one because I’m partial to adoption myself. Despite a plot that could fall into boilerplate conspiracy-ish territory, the nature of the modification is surprising and not initially intuitive, which I count as good in this instance.
Red_Bati by Dilman Dila - Red_Bati follows a robotic dog that has been programmed to desire human companionship, and has a working(-ish) simulation of his previous owner loaded onto his hard drive. The problem? His owner is dead and he has been repurposed for manual labor and has become damaged. Knowing that he’s facing a wipe that will deprive him of his personality, he seeks to protect his identity. A great exploration of the complications of making robots too human-like. There’s definitely stories that explore the theme in more depth, but none that do so as sweetly. There’s a fair bit of comedy tucked in this one as well, considering that a dog is eventually performing a one-man heist. Definition of a good boy.
Textbooks in the Attic by SB Divya - In a future ravaged by climate change, where much of the lower world remains submerged, infection runs rampant. And due to medicine shortages and the unequal distribution of medicine, even mild infections remain potentially deadly. We follow a biologist (or something similar - my memory may not serve me well on this one) who must find a way to save her son who has come down with an infection, even when the wealthier community up the hill refuses to share their stores of antibiotics. Another piece of climate fiction! An engaging story through-and-through. Also does a good job examining the potential dynamics of the wealthy versus everyone else in a similar situation.
Tunnels by Eleanor Arnason - A PR agent ends up getting infected with a mysterious virus and finds herself trapped in the tunnels underneath the city. The catch is that she’s not the only one, and there seems to be more afoot than originally meets the eye. This is just a plain fun (and plenty weird) story. The real star, of course, is Three Hoots.
Uma by Ken Liu - A maintenance worker must deal with the legal complexities that arose after she uses her robotic avatar to rescue a family while she’s on the job. Liu is one of those authors for whom a little goes a long way for me. I almost always love his stories in an anthology like this, but tire quickly when reading a collection. This is no exception. Strong writing matched with an all too-realistic conceit.
This World is Made for Monsters by M. Rickert - Aliens make contact with a small town. What begins as a friendly encounter soon turns into something more sinister - but who’s to blame? I love the retro feel of the story, balanced by the darker elements, which help cut through the veneer of nostalgia. This is obviously not a Shirley Jackson story, but something about it makes me think of her.
Elsewhere by James SA Corey - A daughter uses a robotic avatar to visit her father in hospice. Over the course of the story, she reflects upon their history and reveals why she cannot visit him in person. This was my first time to read a Corey story, and it seems they are worthy of all the praise that they have received. This is a very human story. The sci-fi elements are almost immaterial, in the best way possible.
December 8, 2021
The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Sixby Neil Clarke | Nov 23, 2021|Night Shade
Neil Clark's Best Science Fiction of the Year makes its sixth outing this month, but not having gotten hold of a copy yet, I can only point you to the table of contents Neil posted on his site ( Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 6 Contents and Cover Reveal ). We've already covered the annual collections from Jonathan Strahan and John Joseph Adams but readers of Clarke's World know that Neil's picks will show his knowledge of the breadth of the genre available as well as his eye for what makes a story compelling. Recommended.
February 17, 2025
I took another journey through the eclectic Sci Fi selections of Neil Clark after a dark and underwhelming Volume 4 experience. I am glad I did as this Volume 6 anthology is genre of a less dystopian pessimistic nature. I recommend this for anyone interested in a wide variety of science fiction writing that while uneven it is very much worth the time. I am impressed enough to take the time for another of his edited volumes in his extensive series. I leave it to the reader to determine individual preferences rather than reflect on mine as this hardly matters given the diversity of plots. This is the fun in reading anthologies and finding your own preferences to contemplate. Great science fiction doesn’t end with the story, but catapults the mind to continue a journey enriching the imagination. I definitely prefer those writers who have a more optimistic or at least more contemplative plot line. I believe this far less common in contemporary Sci fi, but the most dystopian story often results in schadenfreude.
June 25, 2022
Most of these 31 stories were okay. 3-star average. The ones that stood out as above average were:
+ "Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars" by Mercurio D. Rivera (****+)
+ "Invisible People" by Nancy Kress (****+)
+ "Eyes of the Forest" by Ray Nayler (****)
+ "Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City" by Arula Ratnakar (****)
+ "Oannes, From the Flood" by Adrian Tchaikovsky (****)
+ "The Translator, at Low Tide" by Vajra Chandrasekera (****)
+ "An Important Failure" by Rebecca Campbell (***+)
+ "Knock Knock Said the Ship" by Rati Mehrotra (***+)
+ "Tunnels" by Eleanor Arnason (***+)
+ "This World is Made for Monsters" by M. Rickert (***+)
+ "The Bahrain Underground Bazaar" by Nadia Afifi (***+)
+ "Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars" by Mercurio D. Rivera (****+)
+ "Invisible People" by Nancy Kress (****+)
+ "Eyes of the Forest" by Ray Nayler (****)
+ "Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City" by Arula Ratnakar (****)
+ "Oannes, From the Flood" by Adrian Tchaikovsky (****)
+ "The Translator, at Low Tide" by Vajra Chandrasekera (****)
+ "An Important Failure" by Rebecca Campbell (***+)
+ "Knock Knock Said the Ship" by Rati Mehrotra (***+)
+ "Tunnels" by Eleanor Arnason (***+)
+ "This World is Made for Monsters" by M. Rickert (***+)
+ "The Bahrain Underground Bazaar" by Nadia Afifi (***+)
October 19, 2022
Many “best of” anthologies feature both science fiction and fantasy. Neil Clarke, editor of Clarkesworld online magazine, focuses exclusively on science fiction. This means he can publish more pure SF in a volume than the others – 32 stories. He also writes excellent summaries of the year's activity in SF publishing. There is also a 'Recommended' list of stories that didn't make his final cut for publication, for those who want to cover the field even more broadly.
December 10, 2022
A overall disappointing collection but with a handful of gems. Dont feel bad dropping a story mid-read. I wish I had done more of that, honestly.
Rich Larson and Peter Watts' entries are incredible and nearly make the purchase worthwhile. Matthew Kressel and Ray Nayler also had great stories. But with 31 entries total this books could have been greatly improved by removing some of the weakest. Not all climate change sci-fi is bad, but the nearly all the worst entries had that in common.
Rich Larson and Peter Watts' entries are incredible and nearly make the purchase worthwhile. Matthew Kressel and Ray Nayler also had great stories. But with 31 entries total this books could have been greatly improved by removing some of the weakest. Not all climate change sci-fi is bad, but the nearly all the worst entries had that in common.
April 7, 2022
One of my favourite anthologies each year - personal picks include M. Rickert's This World is Made for Monsters, Rich Larson's How Quini the Squid Misplaced his Klobucar and Sofia Samater's Fairy Tales For Robots.
August 12, 2022
Peter Watts story was the only one worth reading in over 600 pages of science fiction. Not my type of story at all. Very literary and sometimes a little close to fantasy for my tastes in most stories.
January 29, 2023
Great collection of short stories! My particular favorites were:
Eyes of the Forest - Ray Nayler
The Bahrain Underground Bazaar - Nadia Afifi
Yellow and the Perception of Reality - Maureen McHugh
Excile's End - Carolyn Ives Gilman
Audiobok narrarators did a fantastic job as well.
Eyes of the Forest - Ray Nayler
The Bahrain Underground Bazaar - Nadia Afifi
Yellow and the Perception of Reality - Maureen McHugh
Excile's End - Carolyn Ives Gilman
Audiobok narrarators did a fantastic job as well.
Read
March 18, 2022- scar tissue by Tobias buckell is very good.5*, a thought provoking robot story.
- the ken liu story is disappointing .
- the ken liu story is disappointing .
June 15, 2022
Varying quality like other volumes
October 4, 2022
98-2022. I like diving into these collections from time to time. There were many stories that made the long read worthwhile. A nice variety of story themes and types kept things going.
Read
November 6, 2022One of the best (hehe) "Best of" anthos I've read, I'll be thinking about a lot of these stories for a loooong time
April 18, 2023
Great collection of stories, most of them very good. A number of them are kinda depressing, though.
May 19, 2024
Some good, some worse stories. Rhere wasn't enough time to finish - library (ebook) loan book
January 5, 2025
A mixed bag. Some good, others not so much.
April 5, 2023
Neil Clarke's annual collection continues to be one of the finest anthologies of the year's best. I thoroughly enjoyed every one of the stories he collected for this year, many of them by authors who were previously unknown to me. I have pre-ordered his volume 7.
Many of these stories are sweet. Some are post-apocalyptic. Some concern rebellious robots. Some involve remote control of robots by distant humans "wearing" the distantly functioning drone.
Read them yourself and enjoy them as I did.
Many of these stories are sweet. Some are post-apocalyptic. Some concern rebellious robots. Some involve remote control of robots by distant humans "wearing" the distantly functioning drone.
Read them yourself and enjoy them as I did.
February 23, 2023
This collection which mixes gorgeous stories with comparatively tepid tales. The following narrative stand out in particular:
1. "Scar Tissue" by Tobias S. Buckell ~ A nice and charming, super short story, with interesting use of first-person perspective.
2. "An Important Failure" by Rebecca Campbell ~ A murky, literary tale, that develops into something beautiful.
3. "AirBody" by Sameem Siddiqui ~ Relatability mixed with emotional storytelling.
3. "The Bahrain Underground Market" by Nadia Afifi ~ Simple, and interesting thoughts on death.
4. "Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City" by Arula Ratnakar ~ Heavily thematic and symbolic.
5. "Exile's End" by Carolyn Ives Gilman ~ An allegory.
6. "Beyond These Stars Other Tribulations of Love" by Usman T. Malik ~ This story begins with perfect writing.
7. "The Translator at Low Tide" by Vajra Chandrasekera ~ Disturbingly elegant language.
8. "This World is Made for Monsters" by M. Rickert ~ Impressively concise.
9. "Fairy Tales for Robots" by Sofia Samatar ~ Fun!
1. "Scar Tissue" by Tobias S. Buckell ~ A nice and charming, super short story, with interesting use of first-person perspective.
2. "An Important Failure" by Rebecca Campbell ~ A murky, literary tale, that develops into something beautiful.
3. "AirBody" by Sameem Siddiqui ~ Relatability mixed with emotional storytelling.
3. "The Bahrain Underground Market" by Nadia Afifi ~ Simple, and interesting thoughts on death.
4. "Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City" by Arula Ratnakar ~ Heavily thematic and symbolic.
5. "Exile's End" by Carolyn Ives Gilman ~ An allegory.
6. "Beyond These Stars Other Tribulations of Love" by Usman T. Malik ~ This story begins with perfect writing.
7. "The Translator at Low Tide" by Vajra Chandrasekera ~ Disturbingly elegant language.
8. "This World is Made for Monsters" by M. Rickert ~ Impressively concise.
9. "Fairy Tales for Robots" by Sofia Samatar ~ Fun!
November 12, 2022
Ratings:
'Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars' by Mercurio D. Rivera - 5 stars.
'How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobucar' by Rich Larson - 5 stars.
'The Long Iapetan Night' by Julie Novakova - 4 stars.
'The Translator, at Low Tide' by Vajra Chandrasekera - 4 stars.
‘Eyes of the Forest’ by Ray Nayler - 4 stars.
‘Oannes, From The Flood’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 4 stars.
‘Invisible People’ by Nancy Kress - 4 stars.
‘Test 4 Echo’ by Peter Watts - 4 stars.
‘Elsewhere’ by James S. A. Corey - 4 stars.
'An Important Failure' by Rebeccca Campbell - 3 stars.
'Red_Bati' by Dilman Dila - 3 stars.
‘Your Boyfriend Experience’ by James Patrick Kelly - 3 stars.
'AirBody' by Sameem Siddiqui - 2 stars.
'Yellow and the Perception of Reality' by Maureen McHugh - 2 stars.
'Tunnels' by Eleanor Arnason - 2 stars.
'The Long Tail' by Aliette de Bodard - 2 stars.
‘Uma’ by Ken Liu - 2 stars.
'Fairy Tales for Robots' by Sofia Samatar - 1 star.
'Beyond the Tattered Veil of Stars' by Mercurio D. Rivera - 5 stars.
'How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobucar' by Rich Larson - 5 stars.
'The Long Iapetan Night' by Julie Novakova - 4 stars.
'The Translator, at Low Tide' by Vajra Chandrasekera - 4 stars.
‘Eyes of the Forest’ by Ray Nayler - 4 stars.
‘Oannes, From The Flood’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 4 stars.
‘Invisible People’ by Nancy Kress - 4 stars.
‘Test 4 Echo’ by Peter Watts - 4 stars.
‘Elsewhere’ by James S. A. Corey - 4 stars.
'An Important Failure' by Rebeccca Campbell - 3 stars.
'Red_Bati' by Dilman Dila - 3 stars.
‘Your Boyfriend Experience’ by James Patrick Kelly - 3 stars.
'AirBody' by Sameem Siddiqui - 2 stars.
'Yellow and the Perception of Reality' by Maureen McHugh - 2 stars.
'Tunnels' by Eleanor Arnason - 2 stars.
'The Long Tail' by Aliette de Bodard - 2 stars.
‘Uma’ by Ken Liu - 2 stars.
'Fairy Tales for Robots' by Sofia Samatar - 1 star.
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