The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017

by Charles Yu (Editor), John Joseph Adams (Editor), N. K. Jemisin, Peter S. Beagle, Caroline M Yoachim

Overview

Stories by N.K. Jemisin, Dale Bailey, Peter S. Beagle, and more: “Showcases the nuanced, playful, ever-expanding definitions of the genre.” —TheWashington Post

Science fiction and fantasy can encompass so much, from far-future deep-space sagas to quiet contemporary tales to unreal kingdoms and beasts. But what the best of these stories do is the same across the genres—they illuminate the whole gamut of the human experience, interrogating our hopes and our fears.
 
With a diverse selection of stories from major award winners, bestsellers, and rising stars, chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and guest editor Charles Yu, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 continues to explore the ever- changing world of SFF today, with Yu bringing his unique view—literary, meta, and adventurous—to the series’ third edition.
 
“Superb…This mostly dystopic, sometimes darkly humorous collection of 20 hard-hitting stories feels timely, confronting contemporary cultural crises.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544980679
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	06/11/2020
Series:	Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	382
Sales rank:	494,765
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS is the series editor of The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and is the editor of more than thirty anthologies, such as Wastelands, The Living Dead, and The Dystopia Triptych. He is also the editor the Hugo Award-winning Lightspeed, and is also publisher of Lightspeed as well as its sister-magazines Nightmare and Fantasy. For five years he was the editor of the John Joseph Adams Books novel imprint for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Dale Bailey lives in North Carolina with his family and has published three novels: The Fallen, House of Bones, and Sleeping Policemen (with Jack Slay Jr.). His short fiction, collected in The Resurrection Man’s Legacy and Other Stories, has won the International Horror Guild Award and has twice been nominated for the Nebula Award. You can find him online at www.dalebailey.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/11/2017
Guest editor Yu’s introduction to the superb third volume of this fine series imagines an interdimensional cop seeing these stories as evidence of a “scrap of hope” for human civilization in the face of “the collapsing of objective truth that’s going on.” This mostly dystopic, sometimes darkly humorous collection of 20 hard-hitting stories feels timely, confronting contemporary cultural crises such as racism, xenophobia, police brutality, barriers to health care access, and the social misuses of technology. New York becomes sentient, monstrous, and heroic in N.K. Jemisin’s “The City Born Great.” Debbie Urbanski’s deep dive into the mindset of creepy suburban conservatism in “When They Came to Us” evokes profound discomfort. In imagined futures, humankind loses control of its surroundings in low-tech ways, such as the Garbagetown of Catherynne M. Valente’s grossly evocative “The Future Is Blue,” and high-tech ways, such as the personally targeted mediaterrorism of Nick Wolven’s disturbingly plausible “Caspar D. Luckinbill, What Are You Going to Do?” Contributors’ endnotes solidify the reading of these stories as both entertainment and social narrative. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

10/15/2017
In the third edition of this annually published volume, series editor Adams and 2017 guest editor Yu have selected 20 diverse sf and fantasy stories published in 2016. The authors are both established names and promising newcomers. Dale Bailey's "Teenagers from Outer Space" takes on angst-filled humans and aliens in 1950s Ohio. "Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station | Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0" by Caroline M. Yoachim is a convoluted medical "Choose Your Own Adventure," in which the ending is the same for all participants. The collection ends with story notes from contributors and a list of notable short stories not included in the volume. VERDICT The fresh and original perspectives and clever storytelling will draw both sf/fantasy fans and new readers interested in learning more about speculative fiction.—KC

Library Journal