The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year

January 30, 2012
Strahan’s sixth annual genre-spanning anthology lacks the clarity (or perhaps narrowness) of purpose of a series focusing solely on fantasy or SF, but the 31 selections demonstrate a knowledge of and affection for the fantastic that rival editors would be hard-pressed to match. Strahan draws from sources across the anglosphere, and the stories are written by authors diverse in origin, gender, and age; venerable giants of the field like Peter S. Beagle and Bruce Sterling are accompanied by youthful newcomers like Hannu Rajaniemi and Princeton senior E. Lily Yu. Casting his net wide allows Strahan to harvest noteworthy fiction that more narrow-minded editors might have overlooked, including Libba Bray’s “The Last Ride of the Glory Girls,” a fascinating tale of an unwilling double agent, and Yu’s “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees,” a fable of occupation and transformation. Short-fiction fans with broad tastes will enjoy this far-ranging anthology.

March 15, 2012
A whopping 31 eclectic stories in speculative mode, expertly selected from 2011's large and diverse output. Hard to determine standouts from such a spiffy bunch, but here goes. Ken Liu offers a delicate, limpid and thoroughly heartbreaking magic-realist tale of a Chinese girl purchased and brought to America as a bride. In Neil Gaiman's capable hands, an elderly Sherlock Holmes, not altogether unaccountably, takes up beekeeping in China. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, E. Lily Yu's smart, predatory wasps draw intricate, exact maps and enslave anarchist bees. Paul McAuley writes tellingly of alien artifacts creating havoc along a Norfolk coast drowned by global warming. Cory Doctorow's humorous "The Brave Little Toaster" consciously takes on, and trounces, Thomas M. Disch's famous fantasy-parable. Ian McDonald pens a saga of terraforming Mars, whose gritty realism conceals a surprise but all-too-plausible ending. Jeffrey Ford steps up with a trademark, squirm-inducing yarn of a saint's grisly relic. From Kij Johnson comes an engagingly peopled, beautifully realized tale of an engineer bridging a most peculiar and dangerous river. A seeming fantasy that turns into a weird future information war deserved to be, and hopefully will become, much longer (yes, Michael Swanwick, that's a hint). Humans watch in helpless astonishment as aliens attack Venus--and, even stranger, Venusians fight back, as Stephen Baxter describes. Robert Shearman presents an art gallery whose vast paintings do vastly more than just illustrate an entire year of history. Hardly less impressive: A girl's grandiose fantasies of an alternate Mars turn out to be the real thing (Dylan Horrocks); a microscopic black hole (Caitlin R. Kiernan); alien parasites (An Owomoyela); a musicologist's revenge (K.J. Parker); Libba Bray's train-robbing girl gang; unspeakable biological experiments (Nnedi Okorafor); Ellen Klages offers "Goodnight Moons" as if written by Robert A. Heinlein. Also includes worthy contributions from Karen Joy Fowler, Catherynne M. Valente, Geoff Ryman, Hannu Rajaniemi, Peter Watts, Nalo Hopkinson, Kelly Link, M. Rickert, Maureen F. McHugh, Peter S. Beagle, Robert Reed, Bruce Sterling and Margo Lanagan. Especially valuable for readers who enjoy short stories but have neither the time nor the inclination to seek them out.

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April 15, 2012

A pair of stories featuring bees (Neil Gaiman's "The Case of Death and Honey" and newcomer Eugenia Lily Lu's "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees") lead off this sixth annual anthology edited by Locus reviews editor Strahan. Featuring 31 stories published in 2011 by such authors as Bruce Sterling, Nalo Hopkinson, Michael Swanwick, and Karen Joy Fowler, this volume draws attention to both the vitality of imaginative fiction and the increasing popularity of online magazines. VERDICT Strahan's ongoing series assures the availability of quality fantasy and sf and is a good addition to any collection.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2012
Folks, science fiction and fantasy are thriving, and this is no more clearly reflected anywhere than in the sixth edition of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year. Editor Strahan provides readers with an electric view into the imaginations of some of the most talented and edgy writers. From two young boys in search of an alien dragon, to wasp cartographers, to ghosts reliving their death each day, to a mother's struggle when her daughter brings home a vampire for dinner, to Sherlock Holmes solving his final mystery, and more, each story is a fascinating reflection on the genre and an insight into the depth and breadth of each writer's talents. For the sixth year in a row, Strahan has compiled the very best that science fiction and fantasy have to offer. Go out of your way to read this anthology.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

March 31, 2014
Strahan remains confident and competent following his series’ move to a new publisher. He makes a point of invoking the venerable tradition of “annual snapshot of the SF field,” name checking editorial luminaries like Judith Merril, David G. Hartwell, and Gardner Dozois. While there are one or two false notes, such as Val Nolan’s interminable “The Irish Astronaut,” most of the 28 stories reward reading. Of particular note are Yoon Ha Lee’s “Effigy Nights,” in which an occupied people turn to books to protect themselves from an occupying force; Eleanor Arnason’s “Kormack the Lucky,” whose protagonist struggles to win freedom in a world founded on slavery; K.J. Parker’s cheerfully amoral “The Sun and I”; and Ian McDonald’s comic “The Queen of Night’s Aria.” Small-press anthologies and independent zines are well represented in the table of contents; the Big Three print magazines are notable mainly by their absence—an indication of the evolving face of speculative fiction. Strahan’s work doesn’t quite achieve Merril’s literary range, but it compares favorably with Hartwell’s steadfast traditionalism and Dozois’s weighty tomes.

March 24, 2008
Australian anthologist Strahan’s second annual “best of” collection is too small to hold all the great speculative stories of 2007, but it provides an excellent sampler, focusing on the recent trend of interstitiality. Kelly Link’s “The Constable of Abal,” which revolves around an unscrupulous fortuneteller and her daughter’s search for home, is equal parts fantasy, coming-of-age tale and unconventional ghost story. Ken MacLeod’s “Jesus Christ, Reanimator,” about the inglorious Second Coming of a blogging messiah from outer space, wraps social commentary in sardonic science fiction. Holly Black’s poignant “The Coat of Stars” blends together elements of folklore and urban grit to create an unlikely and deeply moving story about love and loss. If these 24 stories are any indication, SF and fantasy are continuing their evolution—or “dissolution,” as Strahan calls it—just as they always have: through innovative writers re-examining conventions and redefining boundaries.