The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year

February 21, 2011
Strahan's fifth anthology contains 29 wide-ranging tales. Neil Gaiman's "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains" is a deceptively simple folktale-styled story of the price one may pay for gold. "The Sultan of the Clouds" by Geoffrey Landis untangles a complex knot of childish power. Sarah Rees Brennan's "The Spy Who Never Grew Up" gives a beloved childhood icon a sinister update; Diana Peterfreund's "The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn" turns unicorn lore on its head; and Rachel Swirsky's "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen's Window" puts a fantasy spin on the temporal culture shock of immortality. This year the fantasy tales outdo the SF in depth of storytelling and characterization, though all the inclusions are strong, with few ideas left by the wayside.

April 15, 2011

A surreal, postapocalyptic tale of a poet and his bear companion by Finnish author Hannu Rajaniemi ("Elegy for a Young Elk") kicks off this collection of 29 stories published in 2010, most of them in periodicals, that showcases the variety and depth of short sf and fantasy by current authors. Including contributions by Holly Black ("The Aarne-Thompson Classification Revue"), Ellen Kushner ("The Man with the Knives"), Bruce Sterling ("The Exterminator's Want-Ad"), and other veterans and newcomers, this series continues to embody a tradition of solid short fiction. VERDICT A good introduction to the genre for new readers and a welcome compilation for longtime fans.

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