3.5
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015
ByPublisher Description
"The overall quality of the work is very high."—
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 Reviews
3.5
“I started this book in September last year; I wanted to read an anthology and to start, more specifically, this series of short-story collections! I read this one first because it was available.
It's always a bit hard for me to get to this kind of collections because I always have a hard time with incipits; if it doesn't grip me, I don't want to go on reading and I tend to let the book drift apart from me and never pick it up again. But I really wanted one at the time, so it worked for a while, until I got to a story that I didn't feel attached to and put the book aside.
- "How to Get Back to the Forest", Sofia Samatar
With this one, I had a dystopian feeling from the start: the vocabulary used was unusual, the characters were all teenagers and there was the question of parent figures. I always feel uneasy with this kind of narrative.
It was palpable that catastrophe has happened: the new society was quite creepy with The first scene was already so awful to read, with the The ending, , was chilling: from the start, we're wondering
It was well-written, which made me want to read more from the author - I have several of her novels in my wish-list, such as
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16476553.A_Stranger_in_Olondria
.
- "Help Me Follow My Sister Into the Land of the Dead", Carmen Maria Machado
I really loved this story: it moved me and was one of my favorites! It was really good, but so terrible at the same time! It was also very cruel, in a way - but it might have made it more real.
I loved the format and the writing-style: it was original, different, and I never read a story told this way before. I put the anthology it came from in my wish-list -
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21243282.Help_Fund_my_Robot_Army______Other_Improbable_Crowdfunding_Projects
.
I really want to read other books by the author; some are already on my lists, such as
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43317482.In_the_Dream_House
or
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33375622.Her_Body_and_Other_Parties_Stories
.
- "Tortoiseshell Cats Are Not Refundable", Cat Rambo
This one, like the first, was a bit disturbing to me because of the subject matter: clonage. It made me think a bit of
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18378.Flowers_for_Algernon
:
The ending was
- "The Bad Graft", Karen Russell
More disturbing still, and longer than the first ones, this story was awful to me because, this time, it felt close to . Even if the plot was disturbing to me, I loved the narrator, the way the story was told.
The ending is
I really want to read more from this author,
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13531832.Vampires_in_the_Lemon_Grove_Stories
or
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40940157.Swamplandia_
.
- "A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i", Alaya Dawn Johnson
Vampires!! They are one of my favorite fantasy creatures so I was glad to get a story about them! This story deals with how the world would be if they had won the war against humans.
It was sometimes hard to read scenes with such descriptions of blood and violence; yes, I love vampires, but I have to be contradictory: I struggle with blood. There's also TW for .
I loved the way vampire thoughts are different from human's: .
The ending is quite
I'll read other books by the author, like
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63240903.The_Library_of_Broken_Worlds
.
- "Each to Each", Seanan McGuire
And mermaiiiiiids! One of my favorite horror books is
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34523174.Into_the_Drowning_Deep__Rolling_in_the_Deep___1_
by Seanan McGuire too, under the name Mira Grant; so I was really excited to read this story!
I loved the premisses of men having to change themselves in order to survive, not in space, but in the deep sea!
I still love this author and the ending was really cool, but it made me want to read a whole novel about the plot and So I was a bit left hungry for more! I also want the sequel to Into the Drowning Deep more than before I read this story!!
- "Ogres of East Africa", Sofia Samatar
The format of this one is quite original. The reader gets the feeling of a revolution against people who despise and belittle others because they don't understand them and still think they do.
The ending was good:
It's still well-written as the author has two stories in this anthology - I loved that the editors explained how they chose what would be in the collection and that they were surprised that Sofia Samatar had two stories but still decided to include both because they considered she deserved it!
- "Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology", Theodora Goss
This was a strange plot as what happens isn't explained: I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea.
Despite that, it's still a good story, with an awful core to it with
I also really liked the format! Other books by the author are on my TBR and wish-list, like
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34728925.The_Strange_Case_of_the_Alchemist_s_Daughter__The_Extraordinary_Adventures_of_the_Athena_Club___1_
and
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42621995.Snow_White_Learns_Witchcraft
.
- "Sleeper", Jo Walton
Again, this one felt original, quite unique. I loved the way it was written and the ending, the way
I want to read other books by the author, such as
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8706185.Among_Others
or
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183740.Farthing__Small_Change___1_
.
- "How the Marquis Got His Coat Back", Neil Gaiman
I had already read this story (twice, I think) so I skipped it this time!
- "Windows", Susan Palwick
This one was really moving. It was well-written and, let's be honest, desperately sad.
- "The Thing About Shapes to Come", Adam-Troy Castro
The premises of this one were quite strange: babies are born in shapes like cubes, spheres and so on. I was a bit put off by the idea because it was so strange but I went along anyway.
And I was quite surprised: it's a moving story about a mother loving her daughter, no matter what, and despite what others might say. It was beautiful and I loved the ending and the way the reader can interpret it.
There's probably another layer to the story that I didn't fully get, another interpretation to have, but I still enjoyed the story for what I got from it.
- "We Are the Cloud", Sam J. Miller
This is where I made a big pause because I didn't feel compelled to go on with the first page of this story. So I put the book aside and got back to it fairly recently to finally finish it.
And, I wasn't wrong about this story as I had a hard time with the sexual and porn aspect of it. I didn't like that, so I didn't really like the story, even if it was quite interesting, satire-wise, and a good social comment. It made me ill at ease and, even if it was the intention, it's still not what I like to read.
- "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever", Daniel H. Wilson
This story was both good and moving, and quite unusual. I loved to see the "robot" dad What happens is still terrifying to imagine;
- "Skullpocket", Nathan Ballingrud
I wasn't expecting that at all: what the fuck?! The violence came so quickly and so suddenly it actually felt like a blow!
It was cleverly made though, but I think I didn't quite like it? It's intelligent with this twisted "religion" - I always like to see religions in science-fiction or Fantasy novels/stories - but I'm not sure what I feel for this story.
- "I Can See Right Through You", Kelly Link
I loved the "haunting" and the ending, but the rest was a bit meh. I got the disturbed timeline to explain the falling out, but I didn't like it as much as I could have. I'll still read other books by the author, such as
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66657.Magic_for_Beginners
or
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157981682.The_Book_of_Love
.
- "The Empties", Jess Row
I'm always anxious with post-apocalyptic stories, they're not my cup of tea. Here, it was quite well-written, disturbing as expected, but not hopeless as some are - except, maybe, for the ending.
- "The One They Took Before", Kelly Sandoval
I love the idea of fairies ; but I felt no real attachment to the story.
I also loved the idea of talking cats, of course!
- "The Relive Box", T.C. Boyle
What a great story, even if it's awful in its meaning!
With this technology, I'm sure it could happen IRL - and, in a way, it's already the case. It also deals with a dysfunctional father/daughter relationship.
The ending is awful, but maybe
- "How to Become a Robot in 12 Easy Steps", A. Merc Rustand
The final story is a very good one too; I loved it!
It's a great reflection about depression and how society and family expectations enhance that, not helping at all; but it's also a great story about friendship and support, about hope and the fact that we have people around us who love us and we can go on thanks to them.
So, I loved this anthology and I'm eager to go on reading others in the series - all of them actually!”
About Joe Hill
JOE HILL, guest editor, is the
–bestselling author of the novels
,
, and NOS4A2 and the short story collection
. He is also the writer of the comic book series Locke & Key.
JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS, series editor, is the best-selling editor of more than two dozen anthologies, including Brave New Worlds, Wastelands, and The Living Dead. He is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines Lightspeed and Nightmare and is a producer of Wired's podcast The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy.
Other books by Joe Hill
Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is the celebrated author of books, graphic novels, short stories, films, and television for readers of all ages. Some of his most notable titles include the highly lauded #1
bestseller
; the groundbreaking and award-winning Sandman comic series;
(the first book ever to win both the Newbery and Carnegie Medals);
, winner of many awards and recently adapted into the Emmy-nominated Starz TV series (the second season slated to air in 2019);
, which was the UK’s National Book Award 2013 Book of the Year.
, which he wrote with Terry Pratchett a very long time ago (but not quite as long ago as
) and for which Gaiman wrote the screenplay, will air on Amazon and the BBC in 2019.
Author photo by Beowulf Sheehan
Other books by Neil Gaiman
Kelly Link
Kelly Link is a MacArthur recipient and the author of five collections, most recently
. She is the owner of the bookstore Book Moon in Easthampton, Massachusetts, and the cofounder, with her husband Gavin J. Grant, of Small Beer Press. Together they publish the zine
. You can find her on Twitter @haszombiesinit.
Other books by Kelly Link
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