 | EUROPE'S MOST VISITED SF/F WEB SITE |
| The
Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois check out website: www.stmartins.com
So is the number of authors and ideas within one book. With big anthologies, there is a necessity for pacing out the short stories and novellas to stop them running into each other when reading them and appreciate each one. This year, St. Martin's Press gave me a head start with an advance copy a couple months ago. The only thing missing was Gardner Dozois' annual report of all things SF but then again, the 'year' wouldn't be complete before the advance copy and I at least had a grateful jump start this year.
With the complete copy now in my hands, it took only a couple days to digest his report. Usual things go under the checklist. Still no mention of our website (we've been around 12 years now, so we're hardly something new, Gardner, especially as your publishers seem to know more than you about us), although that might have something to do with the source of his information. With Gardner Dozois stepping down from his editorial post at 'Asimov's Magazine', hopefully he's do a little independent looking around on the Net himself. The main reason I've really
bringing this to the fore this year is largely because of this stepping down and
to highlight some of the usual politics that goes on behind the scenes. All I
can really say, folks, is if you want your most used SF website recognised, loud
but polite voices in the right quarter won't do us any harm and at least give
us some equality. I'm side-tracking. Gardner Dozois' report illustrates
something that any conscientious SF fan will know is that although the number
of SF books out there is growing slightly, the opposite is beginning to show on
TV, largely cos of the cheap so-called 'reality shows' per advertising revenue
profit in the US. Let's hope the 'suits' remember this when they can't market
the shows to video/DVD in a year's time. As a resource for finding
out what books you might have missed - a lot even we haven't seen so it's giving
me pointers who to look at - and the smaller publishers who might have something
to offer you, this is still very useful as a reference than a solid read. It might
be more effective to have addresses with the findings then clumped together at
the end of each section to reduce wading time. I've been rather critical of recent years' 'Best SF'. Not so much for the quality of the material but usually for the lack of not covering stars in the making as they climb the ladder of success. Much of that still holds true but looking at the back of the book at the honourable mentions seems to suggest that there was always room for a second volume or three. Maybe something to consider for years to come. Anthologies tend to have
a reputation for not selling yet 21 volumes of this book definitely testify otherwise
and you are buying this book in its original or Constable-Robinson UK reprint
later, aren't you? It's either that or everyone isn't picking up on all the SF
source mags these stories were pulled from, which bearing in mind at least from
British eyes, is probably likely as US SF mags aren't widely available in the
UK. OK, so what have we here? 29 short stories and novellas by what
is considered the cream of SF pro-writers. If anything, there's a lot more novellas
here than usual but its also nice to see some stories less than 10 pages as well,
hopefully indicating that its quality not word counts that aids towards selection.
One day, some publisher is going to take a risk on the most panned SF stories
and why so there's something available to show the other end of the spectrum to
say you're glad you missed these. Choosing favourites is always a tough business. Likewise, selecting favourite stories out of anthologies can often appear to slight others without meaning to. Considering that we have the likes of John Varley, Robert Reed, Michael Swanwick and Verner Vinge amongst the names here should be having you pulling out your wallets/purses/credit cards to get a copy. The diversity of stories really does make choosing notable stories rather tough. The range at least means there's plenty for everyone and I read an incredible
chunk of this book before taking a break. From Earth to the stars, to different
planets and times, you're reading the range of SF here. Read and don't use it
to support your bookshelf. GF Willmetts
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OTHER REVIEWS - August 2004
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If
ever there's a month when it appears I'm reviewing less than usual, put it down
to this annual book and how long it takes to read. Page counts aren't always indicative
to how big a book is although font size occasional does. 
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