Matthew Cannon’s Reviews > The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection > Status Update

"Quicken" Damien Broderick. Started out as a good pseudo zombie after life story then traipsed into pop psych at the end and became too introspective.

"The Promise of Space" James Patrick Kelly. An astronaut is exposed to radiation and tries something new to continue living. But at a cost.

"Hard Stars" Brendan DuBois. A great piece of if the US was attacked by drones.

"Queen of Night's Aria" Ian McDonald. A nice Mars piece with war and music

"Finders" Melissa Scott. A salvage mission with a great payout.

"Technarion" Sean McMullen. Started out a bit like a steam punk then turned into a cultural critique almost like a bitter old man reminiscing. Story had much potential.

"Earth I" Stephen Baxter. Usually a fan of his work. But this piece of a far future, where mankind searches for their lost origin seems culturally introspective, yet empty at the end.

"Entangled" Ian MacLeod. Odd tale of flashbacks and growing up in a special class but rejecting it violently. Coming to grips with that cost of rejection later.

"Only Human" Lavie Tidhar. An interesting piece of alternative culture in human shared experience through tech and how it affects personal relationships

"The Other Gun" Neal Asher. A strange flash forward/back story with a twist at the end