As in previous volumes in this series, Dozois, who has won the Hugo for Best Editor 11 times, again presents a large helping of stellar short SF. Nine of the 27 stories are, quite appropriately, from his own magazine, Asimov's, which continues to dominate the various genre awards. Dozois also includes four stories each from Fantasy and Science Fiction and the British Interzone. Also represented are Analog, Amazing, Science Fiction Age, and two semi-pro magazines, Absolute Magnitude and the Australian Altair, as well as such original anthologies as Moon Shots, Not of Women Born and the Canadian Tesseracts. Among the high points are two time-travel pieces, Kage Baker's story of San Francisco before the great earthquake, "Son Observe the Time," and Michael Swanwick's pre-historic time-paradox tale, "Scherzo with Tyrannosaurus"; Eleanor Arnason's understated story of alien gender-role reversal, "Dapple"; Kim Stanley Robinson's "A Martian Romance," which is set not in the world of his Mars trilogy but in a subtly alternate universe; and Greg Egan's "Border Guards," hard-SF that imagines a future in which immortality is a given and soccer is played using the principles of quantum physics. Also included is quality fiction by such luminaries of the field as James Patrick Kelly, Frederik Pohl, Ben Bova, Robert Silverberg and Paul McAuley, plus such rising stars as David Marusek, Alastair Reynolds and Sage Walker. As usual, the anthology begins with a detailed survey of the year in SF and ends with a long list of Honorable Mentions. Dozois's annual volume remains a standard by which the field of SF should be judged. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

From David Marusek's tale of a future where reality's borders collide with the unreal ("The Wedding Album") to Kage Baker's latest novella featuring the time-traveling "Company" ("Son Observe the Time"), the 27 stories in this annual collection bear witness to the vitality of the sf short story. Including tales by Tanith Lee, Frederick Pohl, Hal Clement, Michael Swanwick, and others, this volume displays the best and brightest of the genre to good advantage. Suitable for most sf or short story collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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8 Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Many Diamonds in the Ruff, Sep 22 2001

By	OhSayCanYouSee1 "ohsaycanyousee1" (Elmhurst, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction (Paperback)

Was 1999 the greatest year ever for short SF? Definately not. That's exactly why reading through Volume 17 of Gardner Dozier's "The Year's Best Science Fiction" is worth the investment. I wish I had the time to buy and read the great SF magazines like Asimov's and Interzone. But I don't; so I let the editor and his associates do it for me.

When I read books in this series, I start by skipping to the editor's comments at the beginning of each story. Gardner's degree of narrative excitement generally helps the reader quickly decide which stories to enjoy first. Also, the reader will find many authors in each volume that should list among their favorites in the genre.

Highlights from Volume 17 include:

1. "The Wedding Album", by David Marusek. Highly original and creative. This story seems just on the verge of possibility as our 21st Century technology rapidly advances. Use a daytimer? Remember, kids today don't know what a daytimer is. Maybe their Palm will tell them what it did back in the old days.

2. "10 (to the 16th Power)", by James Patrick Kelly. Haunting. Really. Read it.

3. "People Came From Earth", by Stephen Baxter. Have enjoyed many previous Baxter pieces in the "Year's Best" series. This story is very short, very well done, and very sad.

4. "Hatching the Phoenix", by Frederick Pohl. Give me all the Heechee you can. Please. Especially stuff this good.

5. "A Martian Romance", by Kim Stanley Robinson. Essential for fans of the already classic Mars series.

6. "Son Observe the Time", by Kage Baker. Best written story in the entire Company series. Worth the price of the book in itself. Everything else is gravy.

All these gems, plus: Ben Bova, Hal Clement, Greg Egan, Tanith Lee, Robert Silverberg, and many other fine modern writers. Short works are the foundation of SF. Books like the Dozier edited "Year's Best" series help remind fans that most creative and fun ideas don't necessarily require 300 or more pages to provide major enjoyment.

Previous volumes have rated higher, but this year's effort contains many good stories fans want to read. I would most accurately rate this book at 3.80 stars, rounded up to 4.00.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Was it a bad year?, Jan 14 2001

By	K. Percy "percyoak" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction (Paperback)

I'm about halfway thru this and trying to decide whether or not to sell it to a used bookstore without finishing. I kept thinking, maybe it's me, maybe there's something wrong with my attention span that I lose interest in these stories half way thru. They all seem too long, unfocussed. What they really feel like is novels that have been brutally hacked down to the maximum allowable length for short stories. The quality puzzles me because I'm almost always happily surprised by the quality and variety of short sf I read in the zines. I haven't followed this anthology over the years, but this particular edition, imho, shows bad selection and worse editing.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A good overview of the year in science fiction, Nov 22 2000

By	"g_williams" (Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) - See all my reviews

As always, Gardner Dozois came through with a great overview of the year in science fiction. This year doesn't have any spectacular stand-out stories, but still, there is a lot of good reading here.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good, some bad, overall okay
The basic problem with any anthology is that it's fairly doubtful that every story selected will be a good read. Read more

Published on Sep 18 2000 by Kim Unertl

5.0 out of 5 stars Reliable Value
Amazingly, David Marusek has stolen *another* collection; "The Wedding Album" alone is worth the price of admission here. Read more

Published on Sep 7 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars New Writers to Watch
The only trouble with a year's best anthology is that it invariably includes some stories you don't like-and leaves out some you thought were great. Read more

Published on Sep 4 2000 by Nancy J. Moore

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best volumes ever
I've been reading Dozois's annual collection of science fiction since the 3rd volume, and every year I am amazed at the consistent quality of the stories he selects. Read more

Published on Jul 26 2000 by sdixonsf