From Amazon.com
Each year science fiction's premiere short fiction editor, Gardner Dozois, collects dozens of excellent stories in a chunky volume that is eagerly anticipated by readers and writers alike. The 15th annual collection includes 28 stories in all, culled from the pages of Dozois's magazine
Asimov's Science Fiction, as well as from competing publications, anthologies, and even a few online fiction zines. The names read like a Who's Who of the sci-fi field: Robert Silverberg, Nancy Kress, Greg Egan, Peter F. Hamilton, Gregory Benford, Walter Jon Williams, and more. The stories are the best of the best, selected with Dozois's always keen eye for excellence. The anthology also includes an invaluable summation about the state of the science fiction publishing field, and a list of honorable mentions (think of them as almost-made-its) for 1997.
--Craig Engler
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
There's little doubt that Dozois (Dying for It) is to the 1980s and 1990s what John W. Campbell Jr., was to the 1940s and 1950sAthe finest editor in the world of short SF. Asimov's, which he edits, routinely earns half or more of the short-fiction nominations for the Hugo and Nebula awards each year, and his anthologies are equally strong. This collection features nine clearly deserving stories from Asimov's, plus 19 other excellent pieces from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Analog, Science Fiction Age, Interzone and a variety of original anthologies and less well-known magazines. The stories range widely in type, from the highly literate work of John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly to the hard SF of G. David Nordley and Geoffrey A. Landis; from the alternate history of William Sanders and Howard Waldrop to the upscale space opera of Walter Jon Williams and Robert Reed. Among the best-known writers represented are Robert Silverberg, Nancy Kress and Gregory Benford. Of particular interest is the large number of non-American writers. Brits Paul J. McAuley, Stephen Baxter, Peter F. Hamilton, Gwyneth Jones, Ian McDonald and Brian Stableford, along with the hot Australian writer Greg Egan (represented by two stories), contribute nearly half the volume. Also included are Dozois's usual summation of the year in SF and his valuable list of honorable mentions. This anthology represents contemporary SF at its very best. (June) FYI: Dozois is a nine-time winner of the Hugo Award for best editor.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
