The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection

by Gardner Dozois (Editor)

Overview

The 21st edition of the award-winning annual compilation of the year's best science fiction stories--winner of the 2003 Locus Award for Best Anthology.

The stories in this collection imaginatively take readers far across the universe, into the very core of their beings, to the realm of the Gods, and to the moment just after now. Included are the works of masters of the form and the bright new talents of tomorrow. This book is a valuable resource in addition to serving as the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429903844
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/01/2007
Series:	Year's Best Science Fiction Series , #21
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	704
File size:	983 KB

About the Author

Gardner Dozois (1947-2018), one of the most acclaimed editors in science-fiction, has won the Hugo Award for Best Editor 15 times. He was the editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine for 20 years. He is the editor of The Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies and co-editor of the Warrior anthologies, Songs of the Dying Earth, and many others. As a writer, Dozois twice won the Nebula Award for best short story. He lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Gardner Dozois (1947-2018), one of the most acclaimed editors in science-fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Editor 15 times. He was the editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine for 20 years. He also served as the editor of The Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies and co-editor of the Warrior anthologies, Songs of the Dying Earth, and many others. As a writer, Dozois twice won the Nebula Award for best short story. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Skylark Award for Lifetime Achievement. He lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Off on a Starship / William Barton
It's All True / John Kessel
Rogue Farm / Charles Stross
The Ice / Steven Popkes
Ej-es / Nancy Kress
The Bellman / John Varley
The Bear's Baby / Judith Moffett
Calling Your Name / Howard Waldrop
June Sixteenth at Anna's / Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Green Leopard Plague / Walter Jon Williams
The Fluted Girl / Paolo Bacigalupi
Dead Worlds / Jack Skillingstead
King Dragon / Michael Swanwick
Singletons in Love / Paul Melko
Anomalous Structures of My Dreams / M. Shayne Bell
The Cookie Monster / Vernor Vinge
Joe Steele / Harry Turtledove
Birth Days / Geoff Ryman
Awake in the Night / John C. Wright
The Long Way Home / James Van Pelt
The Eyes of America / Geoffrey A. Landis
Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst / Kage Baker
Night of Time / Robert Reed
Strong Medicine / William Shunn
Send Me a Mentagram / Dominic Green
And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon / Paul Di Filippo
Flashmen / Terry Dowling
Dragonhead / Nicholas A. DiChario
Dear Abbey / by Terry Bisson
Honorable Mentions: 2003

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
If the stories included in the 21st annual Year's Best Science Fiction -- selected by editor extraordinaire Gardner Dozois -- are any indication, the genre of science fiction is still alive and kicking. With brilliant short works by John Varley, Vernor Vinge, Harry Turtledove, Charles Stross, Kage Baker, and Geoff Ryman, this annual anthology is -- once again -- required reading.

Noteworthy stories include William Barton's "Off on a Starship," which takes a nostalgic look at 20th-century science fiction through the eyes of a 16-year-old boy living in the 1960s who hitches a ride on an automated starship and meets an accommodating robot that (ahem!) enlightens him and alters the way he looks at himself -- and the multiverse; and "The Green Leopard Plague" by Walter Jon Williams, about a philosopher who, after much contemplation, irrevocably changes the world's economy by unleashing rogue biotech that ends starvation forever (by turning human skin green and giving those affected the ability to photosynthesize!). "The Ice" by Stephen Popkes chronicles the legal and psychological implications of a clone of hockey legend Gordie Howe, and Terry Bisson's provocative "Dear Abbey" follows a duo of radical environmentalist time travelers as they try to save humankind from itself!

Aside from the 29 outstanding stories included, this shelf-bending collection also features a comprehensive summation of the state of science fiction in the year 2003 (28 pages long!) by Dozois that is on its own worth the price of the book. Paul Goat Allen

bn.com

With stories that run the gamut from alternate history to strange admixtures of SF and fantasy to bizarrely inexplicable worlds, and with authors ranging from big names to first-timers, Hugo-winner Dozois shows off the dazzling range of the genre in his annual compendium. Several authors deal with the loneliness of humans in the galaxy. In William Barton's "Off on a Starship," young Wally accidentally leaves Earth on an automated spaceship, only to discover that there are no other people out there-and when he finally comes home, it's not as a boy but as a god. Walter Jon Williams's bittersweet "The Green Leopard Plague" explores the economic and social consequences of conquering world hunger. Geoff Ryman's timely "Birth Days" follows a gay researcher as he finds a way to "cure" homosexuality, with unexpected results. Other standout stories include Kage Baker's rollicking "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst," where the Company takes on Hearst, and loses; and Michael Swanwick's fantastic "King Dragon," where the dragon's lackey strikes back. This hefty tome has enough content for a summer of reading, and the range of stories indicates that SF still doesn't know the meaning of the word "boundaries." Agent, Jim Frenkel. (July 21) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

With stories that run the gamut from alternate history to strange admixtures of SF and fantasy to bizarrely inexplicable worlds, and with authors ranging from big names to first-timers, Hugo-winner Dozois shows off the dazzling range of the genre in his annual compendium…. This hefty tome has enough content for a summer of reading, and the range of stories indicates that SF still doesn't know the meaning of the word ‘boundaries.’”

—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

From the Publisher