Multi-award-winning editor and Locus Magazine critic Jonathan Strahan presents the second definitive collection of best short science fiction. With short works from some of the most lauded science fiction authors, as well as rising stars, this science fiction collection displays the top talent and cutting-edge cultural moments that affect our lives, dreams, and stories. These brilliant authors examine the way we live now, our hopes, and struggles, all through the lens of the future. An assemblage of future classics, this star-studded anthology is a must-read for anyone who enjoys the vast and exciting world of science fiction.
Contents:
* Selection and “Introduction • essay by Jonathan Strahan
* The Bahrain Underground Bazaar / by Nadia Afifi (Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 11/12/20)
* If You Take My Meaning / by Charlie Jane Anders (Originally published in Tor.com, 2/12/20)
* It Came From Cruden Farm / …
Multi-award-winning editor and Locus Magazine critic Jonathan Strahan presents the second definitive collection of best short science fiction. With short works from some of the most lauded science fiction authors, as well as rising stars, this science fiction collection displays the top talent and cutting-edge cultural moments that affect our lives, dreams, and stories. These brilliant authors examine the way we live now, our hopes, and struggles, all through the lens of the future. An assemblage of future classics, this star-studded anthology is a must-read for anyone who enjoys the vast and exciting world of science fiction.
Contents:
* Selection and “Introduction • essay by Jonathan Strahan
* The Bahrain Underground Bazaar / by Nadia Afifi (Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 11/12/20)
* If You Take My Meaning / by Charlie Jane Anders (Originally published in Tor.com, 2/12/20)
* It Came From Cruden Farm / by Max Barry (Originally published in Slate Future Tense, 2/29/20)
* The Final Performance of the Amazing Ralphie / by Pat Cadigan (Originally published in Avatars Inc)
* An Important Failure / by Rebecca Campbell (Originally published in Clarkesworld Magazine, 8/20)
* Schrödinger’s Catastrophe / by Gene Doucette (Originally published in Lightspeed Magazine, 11/20)
* Midstrathe Exploding / by Andy Dudak (Originally published in Analog: Science Fiction and Fact, 3-4/20)
* The Pill / by Meg Elison (Originally published in Big Girl Plus… [PM Press])
* GO. NOW. FIX. / by Timons Esaias (Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, 1-2/20)
* Drones to Ploughshares / by Sarah Gailey (Originally published in Motherboard Vice, 4/02/20)
* The Transition of OSOOSI / by Ozzie M. Gartrell (Originally published in Fiyah Lit Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction Issue #13)
* Burn or The Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super / by A.T. Greenblatt (Originally published in Uncanny Magazine, 5-6/20)
* How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobucar / by Rich Larson (Originally published in Tor.com, 1/15/20)
* The Mermaid Astronaut / by Yoon Ha Lee (Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies 298)
* 50 Things Every AI Working with Humans Should Know / by Ken Liu (Originally published in Uncanny Magazine, 11-12/20)
* Beyond These Stars Other Tribulations of Love / by Usman T. Malik (Originally published in Wired, 12/11/20)
* Yellow and the Perception of Reality / by Maureen McHugh (Originally published in Tor.com, 7/22/20)
* A Mastery of German / by Marian Denise Moore (Originally published in Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora)
* Father / by Ray Nayler (Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, 7-8/20)
* How to Pay Reparations: a Documentary / by Tochi Onyebuchi (Originally published in Slate Future Tense, 8/29/20)
* Don’t Mind Me / by Suzanne Palmer (Originally published in Entanglements: Tomorrow’s Lovers, Families, and Friends [MIT Press])
* A Guide for Working Breeds / by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Originally published in Made to Order: Robots and Revolution)
* Polished Performance / by Alastair Reynolds (Originally published in Made to Order: Robots and Revolution)
* The Suicide of Our Troubles / by Karl Schroeder (Originally published in Slate Future Tense, 11/28/20)
* Airbody / by Sameem Siddiqui (Originally published in Clarkesworld Magazine, 4/20)
* Sparklybits / by Nick Wolven (Originally published in Entanglements: Tomorrow’s Lovers, Families, and Friends [MIT Press])
* The Search for [Flight X] / by Neon Yang (Originally published in Avatars Inc.)
Difícil ponerle nota a este cuando hay cuentos de 5 y cuentos que apenas llegan al 3. Sonaré a señora mayor, pero este libro me confirma que no hay nada que me interese menos que las historias de robots e IAs. Todo lo bueno que se podía sacar de allí ya lo escribió Asimov y todos los cuentos relacionados en esta antología no hacen más que remover tierra trillada.
Por suerte no son la mayoría y todos los demás no sólo aguantan el tipo sino que lo sobrepasan. Cuentos curiosos, como "AirBody" o "Yellow and the Perception of Reality", trepidantes como "How Quini the Squid misplaced his Koblucar" o la joya de la corona de esta edición, en mi opinión: "The Pill" de Meg Ellison. Exactamente todo lo que la ficción especulativa debe ser, horripilante y brillante en como nos pone el espejo frente a la cara.
Review of "Year's Best Science Fiction Vol. 2" on 'Goodreads'
2 estrellas
It's obvious that I don't get on with modern short SF. I skipped about ⅔rds of the stories because they were so uninteresting. Modern short SF has become so bloated, long, earthbound, and domestic - often just ordinary fiction or fantasy with a minor science sheen. There was very little here that I could lose myself in. I had read a few stories in other anthologies. Possibly the only stories that stuck in my mind were the ones by Alastair Reynolds and Pat Cardigan, plus the one that felt like a mash up of Bruce Sterling and Cory Doctorow (neither of whom were present).
