Gardner Dozois died of an infection on May 27, 2018. Dozois edited the Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine from 1984-2004 winning the Best Editor Award four times. Dozois also won two Nebula Awards for Best Short Story twice. But I suspect Gardner Dozois’s legacy will center around his 35 year series of The Year’s Best Science Fiction volumes. As the years went on, the volumes grew in size. Dozois also included an essay in each volume where he assessed the year and its trends. Anyone interested in the history of Science Fiction will refer to these books.
This last volume includes a variety of stories. I enjoyed Alastair Reynolds’s “Night Passage,” Aliette de Bodard’s “The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun,” Tobias Buckell’s “Zen and the Art of Spaceship Maintenance,” and Robert Reed’s “The Residue in Fire.” This is the end of an era. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
THE MOON IS NOT A BATTLEFIELD, Indrapramit Das
MY ENGLISH NAME, R.S. Benedict
AN EVENING WITH SEVERYN GRIMES, Rich Larson
VANGUARD 2.0, Carter Scholz
STARLIGHT EXPRESS, Michael Swanwick
THE MARTIAN OBELISK, Linda Nagata
WE WHO LIVE IN THE HEART, Kelly Robson
WINTER TIMESHARE, Ray Nayler
DEAR SARAH, Nancy Kress
NIGHT PASSAGE, Alastair Reynolds
THE DRAGON THAT FLEW OUT OF THE SUN, Aliette de Bodard
WAITING OUT THE END OF THE WORLD IN PATTY’S PLACE CAFE, Naomi Krtizer
THE HUNGER AFTER YOU’RE FED, James S.A. Corey
ASSASSINS, Jack Skillingstead and Burt Courtier
THE MARTIAN JOB, Jaine Fenn
THE ROAD TO THE SEA, Lavie Tidhar
UNCANNY VALLEY, Greg Egan
THE WORDLESS, Indrapramit Das
PAN HUMANISM: HOPE AND PRAGMATICS, Jessica Barber and Sara Saab
ZIGEUNER, Harry Turtledove
THE PROVING GROUND, Alec Nevala-Lee
ZEN AND THE ART OF SPACESHIP MAINTENANCE, Tobias Buckell
THE INFLUENCE MACHINE, Sean McMullen
CANOE, Nancy Kress
THE HISTORY OF THE INVASION TOLD IN FIVE DOGS, Kelly Jennings
PRIME MEREDIAN, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
TRICERATOPS, Ian McHugh
MINES, Eleanor Arnason
THERE USED TO BE OLIVE TREES, Rich Larson
WHENDING MY WAY BACK HOME, Bill Johnson
DEATH ON MARS, Madeline Ashby
ELEPHANT ON TABLE, Bruce Sterling
NUMBER 39 SKINK, Suzanne Palmer
A SERIES OF STEAKS, Vina Jie-Min Prased
THE LAST BOAT-BUILDER IN BALLYVOLOON, Finbarr O’Reilley
THE RESIDUE OF FIRE, Robert Reed
SIDEWALKS, Maureen F. McHugh
NEXUS, Michael F. Flynn
Wow, you got through this quick. A lot of writers here I like. I’ll read them all eventually but in between other books. And it isn’t it time for a few collections of Robert Reed stories? The guy is very prolific with a pretty good average as far as quality goes.
Steve, Robert Reed is one of my favorite SF short story writers. As you point out, his quality is high. I’ll miss these yearly doorstoppers from Dozois.
I haven’teven heard/read all those writers’ names yet – but GD always showed that he knew good stories.
A bit OT:
How many pages does this monster volume have? 600, 1000? 🙂
Wolf, THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION: 35TH ANNUAL COLLECTION has 679 pages.
Doorstoppers is right! I find these massive volumes worthwhile, but hard to hold. This is why Kindle editions exist.
Jeff, I’m closing in on 200 Kindle books on my iPad. Thanks again for the ebook recommendations!
I just checked, and my library does have the 2013-14-15-16 editions available on Kindle, as well as a number of other Dozois-edited books, like OLD VENUS.
Jeff, I believe eventually most books will be available in ebook and audiobook formats.
I read just two of them last year, but will get this at the library sometime next year when I finish some other large anthologies. Fortunately, the library has them all from 14 on. Those introductory essays were excellent, though sometimes they seemed a little too detailed for my interest level. You’re right, end of an era. I wonder who will take over editing this series?
Rick, THE YEAR’S BEST SF is part of a crowded field. I wonder if the publisher will continue the series with another editor or just drop it.
Rather OT, but still connected in a way:
A very interesting article on the problems that famous editor Harlan Ellison had – and made for others. Didn’t know that he was a kind of sexist!
https://newrepublic.com/article/149489/harlan-ellisons-death-raises-metoo-quandary?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral
Wolf, Harlan Ellison’s obituary in this week’s issue of THE ECONOMIST is the best I’ve read.
In my opinion he was a real jerk, both personally and professionally.
Rick, a lot of people would agree with you. But Harlan Ellison had talent to burn!
Wow, you can’t possibly have read this already? I’ve bought it and only read the introduction. It’s sad we won’t see #36.
Jim, we might see #36, but it will have a different editor. If I could nominate one, it would be Jonathan Strahan.