Year's Best SF 13

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By David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer

Publisher Description

The thirteenth annual collection of the previous year's finest short-form sf is at hand. Once again, award-winning editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have gathered together a stunning array of science fiction that spans a veritable universe of astonishing visions and bold ideas. Hitherto unexplored galaxies of the mind are courageously traversed by some of the most exciting new talents in the field—while well-established masters rocket to remarkable new heights of artistry and originality. The stars are closer and more breathtaking than ever before—and a miraculous future now rests in your hands—within the pages of Year's Best SF 13.

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3 Reviews

3.0

Steve Stuart

Created almost 12 years ago

“I thought this collection of stories from 2007 was fairly impressive. I didn't find any new all-time favorites, but most of the stories were enjoyable enough to keep me wanting more, and there were only a few clunkers. The only one that I really didn't care for was "As You Know, Bob", a gimmicky story with no plot that rewrites the same few paragraphs in parodies of multiple different styles, and takes some jabs at magazine editors in the process. Several of the stories were short and gimmicky, in fact. This seems to be a bit of a trend in recent years, especially with the rise of the short-short story: it must be tempting to rely on gimmicks if you can't build characters or plot tension within 1000 words. One interesting feature of this anthology was the relatively high number of stories translated from other languages: Danish, Finnish, and French. Those stories were also among the strongest in the collection, which makes me think I should be searching out more translated European sci fi (or brush up on my Finnish). Another notable trend was the relatively high number of stories involving digitized personalities, or characters living in outright simulations. I won't mention which ones, as the simulated nature of the world is sometimes a plot feature, but there were at least half a dozen with fully simulated people or environments. Many different story types and styles are represented, although (thankfully) there is not a single alternate history tale. As usual, there are a few that rely heavily on supernatural phenomena despite the claim to be "clearly [sci fi] and nothing else", and one ("Always") that is just plain fiction with no science at all. These are all good stories, though, and I won't begrudge their inclusion. The best thing about the anthology is that it contains a lot of stories: nearly two dozen. A scattering of short shorts is responsible in part for the large number of stories, but it's great to have such a large selection to choose from.”

Crosbody

Created almost 12 years ago

Fred Ramey

Created about 12 years ago

“Why is it that so many books of short stories start out strong and on their way to a five star but then end up stuffing all sorts of lame ass stories at the end of the book? If this book would have been about 75 pages shorter it would have been a four star, and if it had been about 100-120 pages shorter it may have even made five star! But seriously, there are a few gems in here but if you get bored with it as time goes on don't feel bad putting it down. I'm still hunting for worthy sequels to carry the torch of Dangerous Visions!”

About David G. Hartwell

David G. Hartwell is a senior editor of Tor/Forge Books. His doctorate is in Comparative Medieval Literature. He is the proprietor of Dragon Press, publisher and bookseller, which publishes The New York Review of Science Fiction, and the president of David G. Hartwell, Inc. He is the author of Age of Wonders and the editor of many anthologies, including The Dark Descent, The World Treasury of Science Fiction, The Hard SF Renaissance, The Space Opera Renaissance, and a number of Christmas anthologies, among others. Recently he co-edited his fifteenth annual paperback volume of Year's Best SF, and co-edited the ninth Year's Best Fantasy. John Updike, reviewing The World Treasury of Science Fiction in The New Yorker, characterized him as a "loving expert." He is on the board of the IAFA, is co-chairman of the board of the World Fantasy Convention, and an administrator of the Philip K. Dick Award. He has won the Eaton Award, the World Fantasy Award, and has been nominated for the Hugo Award forty times to date, winning as Best Editor in 2006, 2008, and 2009.