3.0
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017
By John Joseph Adams & Charles Yu &Publisher Description
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)
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)
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities19 Reviews
3.0
Nikki in Niagara
Created 4 months agoShare
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“A collection of "Best of" stories from 2017 collated by the editor. I read this for the science-fiction and the book was a bit heavy for that genre. I did enjoy many of the fantasies though my lowest ratings are for those ones, no surprise. An enjoyable collection where most of the authors were new to me but there are a couple of big names such as Leigh Bardugo and Peter S. Beagle. Well worth the read.
1. Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail by Leigh Bardugo - A girl thinks she sees a sea monster a gets together with a tourist boy who is into cryptozoology. Every summer afterwards they meet again. This is a beautiful, haunting story. What a way to open the collection! (5/5)
2. Teenagers from Outer Space by Dale Bailey - Aliens have been around for around 15 years but the narrator hasn't seen many until they show up in her high school classes. Her best friend ends up fraternizing with one and this is the story. Fantastic. I don't like novels with aliens, but short stories can do it for me, and this does. Very realistic and timely. (5/5)
3. I've Come to Marry the Princess by Helena Bell - A boy goes to summer camp and isn't picked up at the end. He winds up spending the next 6 years staying year-round participating in the various camps. Not my type of fantasy. Light-hearted, humorous, and ultimately boring. (2/5)
4. Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home by Genevieve Valentine - Prisoners are used as beta testers for VR MMORPGs without their permission. I liked this. I wanted móre though. (3/5)
5. The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight by E. Lily Yu - This is a fairy tale about a girl who is given the witch" 's job and hut. She successfully fills people's orders from the book of spells until a knight comes along and she decides to join him as he hunts dragons. Fun, but it felt a bit long as it dragged out at the end. (3/5)
6. When They Came to Us by Debbie Urbanski - A spaceship crash lands nearby and this town becomes a relocation centre for them. Written in a magazine format. This was excellent. I'd love a novel on the theme. (5/5)
7. Vulcanization by Nisi Shawl - I just don't understand this one at all. (1/5)
8. Openness by Alexander Weinstein - A relationship in the future when we're all personally online and communicate through different layers without actually speaking anymore. I enjoyed this. Thought-provoking. (4/5)
9. Not by Wardrobe, Tornado, or Looking Glass by Jeremiah Tolbert - People have been disappearing down their rabbit holes and the world is becoming less populated. A huge fantasy reader, Louisa, is still waiting for her rabbit hole to appear. A light-hearted story. (3/5)
10. The Future is Blue by Cathryn M. Valente - This is weird! It reminds me very much of Jeff Vandermeer. A girl narrates a story of how she ruined the future of her world, Garbagetown. I loved this so much. It didn't make sense at times but by the time I'd finished, it all came together. I've read a novella by this author and didn't like it but I do want to read her some more. (5/5)
11. This is Not a Wardrobe Door by A. Merc Rustad - A story about why people in the real world can't return through their wardrobe doors anymore. Short and sweet. (2/5)
12. On the Fringes of the Fractal by Greg Van Eekhout - Set in the future where everyone survives on stats. A woman's best friend loses all his stats and she comes up with a plan to change both their lives. This was silly but had some meaning to it; however, the ending was lame. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. (1/5)
13. The Story of Kao Yu by Peter S. Beagle - A circuit court judge is occasionally visited by a Chinese unicorn to solve the most complicated cases. Perfection. It has been quite some time since I've read Beagle and this Chinese fairy tale is beautiful. (5/5)
14. Smear by Brian Evenson - A man in storage until they reach their destination wakes up and finds his storage unit has malfunctioned. He's still being kept alive but starts talking to what he at first believes is the ship's computer. Short and isolation creepy. (3/5)
15. The City Born Great by N.K. Jemison - A guy has been given New York City and must bring it to birth as a great city with teeth and claws. This is a rip-roaring, rollercoaster non-stop ride frenzy. I didn't take to it at all. Not my kind of writing but that doesn't make it bad. (3/5)
16. Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station | Hours Since Last Patient Death: 0 by Caroline M. Yoachim - This is a CYOA. I hate CYOA. (0/5)
17. Successor, Usurper, Replacement by Alice Sola Kim - A writer's circle group meets on a stormy night and a new girl is there. This was a well-written, enjoyable story, but I didn't like the ending. (3/5)
18. Caspar D. Luckinbill, What Are You Going to Do? By Nick Wolven - A man is personally targeted by terrorism everywhere he goes. Interesting concept about media in the future. (4/5)
19. I Was a Teenage Werewolf by Dale Bailey - Typical teenage werewolf story and how the small town deals with it. Surprise ending. (3/5)
20. The Venus Effect by Joseph Allen Hill - A series of short stories the author is trying to get right as he interjects himself in this piece of metafiction. Just silly. (2/5)”
GraveyardNeko
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Steve Quinn
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About John Joseph Adams
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.
Other books by John Joseph Adams
Dale Bailey
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.
Other books by Dale Bailey
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