The Best of the Best, Volume 2

Starred review from December 4, 2006
Beginning with Robert Silverberg's poignant "Sailing to Byzantium," this outstanding follow-up to Dozois's Best of the Best Volume 1
(2005) pays homage to the science fiction novellas of the past two decades and by extension to the entire genre in all its varied glory. Michael Swanwick's "Griffin's Egg" holds down the hard SF end, while Joe Haldeman's "The Hemingway Hoax" is more of a fantastical mystery. Nancy Kress's "Beggars in Spain" and Ian McDonald's heartwrenching "Tendeléo's Story" describe two very different near futures where gifted minorities battle societal envy and fear. Far future ruminations on age and death include James Patrick Kelly's demented "Mr. Boy," Frederik Pohl's somber "Outnumbering the Dead" and Ian R. MacLeod's tender "New Light on the Drake Equation." Otherworldly culture clash appears in Ursula K. Le Guin's "Forgiveness Day" as well as the bittersweet trio of Alastair Reynolds's "Turquoise Days," Maureen F. McHugh's "The Cost to Be Wise" and Walter Jon Williams's "Surfacing."

December 15, 2006
In " Best of the Best" (2004), veteran sf editor Dozois skimmed 20 years' worth of his " Year's Best Science Fiction" anthologies for the cream of his favorite short stories. In this companion volume, he sifts the series' novellas for a baker's dozen of masterfully written longer tales that span the spectrum of speculative fiction's most inventive scenarios, from a peek at Earth in the fiftieth century to a stopover on an exotic, alien sea world. In Joe Haldeman's "The Hemingway Hoax," a Hemingway scholar unexpectedly confronts the legendary author in an alternate universe. Michael Swanwick's "Griffin's Egg" envisions human settlements on the moon, albeit with unusual agendas kept secret from Earth. Several entries, such as Nancy Kress' "Beggars in Spain," featuring her famous Sleepless mutants, have become sf classics or, like James Patrick Kelly's "Mr. Boy," about an ageless 12-year-old, have launched careers. While the selections perforce reflect Dozois' prejudices, his keen eye for talent makes the collection an indispensable treasury of, as promised, some of the best short novels in the genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)