THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION

paper 0-312-19033-6 Another mind-bogglingly huge compendium of 28 stories that first appeared in 1997, sniffed out by editor Dozois, whose nose for a good yarn is as keen as ever. The contributors include: Robert Silverberg (conquering aliens); Paul J. McAuley (spies on a space habitat); Nancy Kress (a harassed future executive); two stories from the up-and-coming Greg Egan, both set in his native Australia; Stephen Baxter (alternate worlds); Gwyneth Jones (a tempestuous future Europe); a typically weird entry from Howard Waldrop; Michael Swanwick (far-future “posthumans”); Walter Jon Williams (an explorer returns from the stars); Ian McDonald (a still troubled future Ireland); a realistic Mars mission from Gregory Benford and Elisabeth Malartrez; and others less famous but no less worthy. For anyone interested in sf short stories, this is the best—indeed, the only—place to start.