The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 4

by Allan Kaster (Editor), Michael Swanwick (Contributor), Paul McAuley (Contributor)

An unabridged collection of the “best of the best” science fiction stories written in 2011 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster. In “Dying Young,” by Peter M. Ball, cyborgs, clones and post-humans collide with a dragon bent on revenge in a post-apocalptic space western. “Martian Heart,” by John Barnes, chronicles a teenage couple taken to Mars as indentured servants in a “rags to riches” tale. In “Canterbury Hollow,” by Chris Lawson, two lovers on a planet orbiting a killer sun share their few remaining weeks together before they die. “The Choice,” by Paul McAuley, set in the author’s Jackaroo universe, follows two boys who set sail to investigate a beached alien vessel on the English coast. In “After the Apocalypse,” by Maureen McHugh, a mother and daughter traverse a ravaged U.S. in a tale that takes on McCarthy’s, The Road, from a female viewpoint. “Purple,” by Robert Reed, tells of a blind and maimed young man convalescing in an off-world menagerie of wayward alien species, prior to returning to Earth. In “Laika’s Ghost,” by Karl Schroeder, a Russian and an American search the steppes of the former U.S.S.R. for metastable weapons that terrorists could use to make nuclear bombs. “Bit Rot,” by Charles Stross, follows post-humans struggling to survive after their generation ship is struck by a Magnetar ray in this clever zombies-in-space tale. In “For I Have Laid Me Down on The Stone of Loneliness and I’ll Not Be Back Again,” by Michael Swanwick, Irishmen plot to strike back against alien occupiers by enlisting an Irish American tourist to their cause. Finally, Steve Rasnic Tem, tells of a young man awakened from suspended animation, on a future Earth, with the technological know-how of plant-like aliens in “At Play in the Fields.”

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 2012

About the author

Editor of science fiction anthologies

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of short fiction with only a couple duds

"Dying Young" **** A good post-apocalyptic cyberpunk western
"Martian Heart" ***** A very good story about young love on the Martian frontier
"Canterbury Hollow" **** On a planet dying beneath a killer sun, two lovers who've been voted off live there last few weeks
"The Choice" ** One of those stories where you ask, why would you write this?
"After the Apocalypse" ** A well written but unhappy story populated with mostly unlikable characters
"Purple" *** An odd story about children rescued from certain death and kept in an off-world menagerie
"Laika's Ghost" **** A very good story about an arms inspector trying to prevent the end of the world
"Bit Rot" ***** A great story about zombies on a starship
"For I Have Laid Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I'll Not Be Back Again" *** A not great story about partisans fighting against the aliens who saved the Earth
"At Play in the Fields" *** An okay story about people awakened from cryogenic sleep to work with alien archaeologists on Earth in the far future