The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection

by Gardner Dozois (Editor)

Overview

In The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois produces another volume in the series that Locus calls 'the field's real anthology-of-record.' With a unique combination of foresight and perspective, Dozois continues to collect outstanding work by newcomers and established authors alike, reflecting the present state of the genre while suggesting its future directions. With the editor's annual summary of the year in the field, and his appendix of recommended reading, this book is indispensable for anyone interested in contemporary science fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312078911
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/15/1992
Series:	Year's Best Science Fiction Series , #9
Pages:	624
Sales rank:	967,307
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.37(d)

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.

Table of Contents

Summation: 1991
Beggars in Spain / Nancy Kress
Living Will / Alexander Jablokov
A Just and Lasting Peace / Lois Tilton
Skinner's Room / William Gibson
Prayers on the Wind / Walter Jon Williams
Blood Sisters / Greg Egan
The Dark / Karen Joy Fowler
Marnie / Ian R. MacLeod
A Tip on a Turtle / Robert Silverberg
Übermensch! / Kim Newman
Dispatches from the Revolution / Pat Cadigan
Pipes / Robert Reed
Matter's End / Gregory Benford
A History of the Twentieth Century, with Illustrations / Kim Stanley Robinson
Gene Wars / Paul J. McAuley
The Gallery of His Dreams / Kristine Kathryn Rusch
A Walk in the Sun / Geoffrey A. Landis
Fragments of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria / Ian McDonald
Angels in Love / Kathe Koja
Eyewall / Rick Shelley
Pogrom / James Patrick Kelly
The Moat / Greg Egan
Voices / Jack Dann
FOAM / Brian W. Aldiss
Jack / Connie Willis
La Macchina / Chris Beckett
One Perfect Morning with Jackals / Mike Resnick
Desert Rain / Mark L. Van Name
Honorable Mentions

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Outstanding are Nancy Kress's story about children genetically altered to require no sleep and Connie Willis's chillingly restrained tale of an ancient evil haunting the rubble-strewn streets of World War II London.”—Publishers Weekly “Well up to par in terms of quality, quantity, and scope: the essential guide to science fiction's shorter-format activities.”—Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Outstanding are Nancy Kress's story about children genetically altered to require no sleep and Connie Willis's chillingly restrained tale of an ancient evil haunting the rubble-strewn streets of World War II London.” —Publishers Weekly

“Well up to par in terms of quality, quantity, and scope: the essential guide to science fiction's shorter-format activities.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

While generally sound, this collection is badly in need of a trimming. It is hard to see, for example, why Dozois thought to include Geoffrey A. Landis's uninspired throwback to the time when manned lunar landings were still the stuff of science fiction. And Dozois's breathless introductions to these 28 stories are annoying distractions. Still, there is more than enough material here with real merit. Outstanding are Nancy Kress's story about children genetically altered to require no sleep and Connie Willis's chillingly restrained tale of an ancient evil haunting the rubble-strewn streets of World War II London. Gregory Benford finds a new world at the intersection of particle physics and Eastern mysticism. Unsurprisingly, computers appear frequently in these pages but, in what may be a telling example of the late Isaac Asimov's benign influence, they pose no threat to humans--none, that is, beyond their ability to capture our sympathy, as they do in Chris Beckett's tale of an Italian macchina , or robot, and our love, as illustrated by Mark L. Van Name and Pat Murphy's customized Home Information and Appliance Network. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Dozois has again selected the best short sf of 1996 for inclusion in this award-winning anthology series. Among the 27 writers are Gregory Benford, John Kessel, Robert Silverberg, Maureen F. McHugh, Bruce Sterling, Charles Sheffield, and Stephen Baxter, with contributions covering romance, aliens, a high-tech future, the space program, Africa, scientific thriller, hard science, and cyberpunk. Highly recommended for all sf collections.

Library Journal

Twenty-eight tales from 1996, expertly selected by editor Dozois (his secret? "He picks the stories he likes best," the blurb trumpets), plus the customary overview (not seen). Three contributors—Gregory Benford, Ian McDonald, and Mike Resnick—write, independently, about Africa, while Tony Daniel appears twice, with one story about a future combat veteran and another about robots. The parade of famous names continues with Michael Swanwick (job security), Nancy Kress (aliens), James P. Blaylock (nostalgia and the supernatural), Robert Silverberg (a May/December romance), Bruce Sterling (bicycles), Gwyneth Jones (dreams), Charles Sheffield (a science thriller), Robert Reed (multigeneration starship), Gene Wolfe (a sea voyage), Cherry Wilder (a preWW I doctor), and Walter Jon Williams (China).

Essential reading for short story fans: The tireless Dozois triumphs again.

Kirkus Reviews