Jonathan Strahan

The 11th volume in this much lauded series with incisive and genre-defining stories chosen my multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan. The internationally-acclaimed ‘Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year’ series moves into its second decade with the very best science fiction and fantasy from around the world. Hard science fiction, space opera, epic fantasy, dystopia, alternate history, swords and sorcery - you can find it all in the more than two dozen stories carefully chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan to give readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer. Previous volumes have included stories from Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Cory Doctorow, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear, Joe Abercrombie, Paolo Bacigalupi, Holly Black, Garth Nix, Jeffrey Ford, Margo Lanagan, Bruce Sterling, Adam Robets, Ellen Klages, and many many more. Praise for the series: “a must-read for fans of science fiction, fantasy, and short stories in general” - Booklist “Best in this context is more than its constituent parts, it's a demonstration of all that can be found: diversity of voice, subject and form; balance between new and established voices; work from a good range of original sources... Books as good as this should be of interest to any admirer of short fiction, regardless of genre.' The Guardian ”…a provocative anthology that will satisfy readers looking for fresh, contemporary work that stretches both SF and fantasy boundaries” Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven

Flavia Louise

1 The Future is Blue: 3.75 stars
2 Mika Model: 3 stars
3 Spinning Silver: 4.5 stars
4 Two's Company: 2.5 stars
5 You Make Pattaya: 3.25 stars
6 You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay: 2 stars
7 A Salvaging of Ghosts: 3 stars
8 Even the Crumbs were delicious: 3.5 stars
9 Number Nine Moon: 3 stars
10 Things With Beards: 2.25 stars
11 Successor, Usurper, Replacement: 3.25 stars
12 Laws of Night and Silk: 4.25 stars
13 Touring with the Alien: 5 stars
14 The Great Detective: 2.5 stars
15 Everyone from Themis sends letters home: 3.5 stars
16 Those Shadows laugh: 2.25 stars
17 Seasons of Glass and Iron: 4.5 stars
18 The Art of Space Travel: 4.25 stars
19 Whisper Road(Murder Ballad No. 9): 2.5 stars
20 Red Dirt Witch: 4 stars
21 Red as Blood and White as Bone: 3.75 stars
22 Terminal: 2.75 stars
23 Foxfire, Foxfire: 3 stars
24 Elves of Antartica: 3.25 stars
25 The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight: 3 stars
26 Seven Birthdays: 3.75 stars
27 The Visitor from Taured: 4.25 stars
28 Fable: 4.25 stars
Average: 3.38 stars

A surprisingly high amount of 5 star stories in this one - I found some new favorites! If it hadn't included so many horror stories without telling me which ones would be which in advance, it would have been 5 stars. Please give people who don't like horror some way to avoid those in the future!

The Future is Blue, Catherynne M. Valente ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
(Brilliant dystopian story set on a artificial island made of garbage swimming on a future Earth covered in water. Gorgeous writing! 😍)
Mika Model, Paolo Bacigalupi ⭐⭐⭐
(Android story that retreads the familiar theme of "what makes someone a person?" but I felt iffy about the constant horny sexualization of the android by the POV character.)
Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Did you like the novel Spinning Silver but didn't like the ending/the romance? Do you wish Miryem had chosen a healthy future instead? This novelette on which the novel was based has a different ending I liked much better!)
Two’s Company, Joe Abercrombie ⭐⭐⭐
(Amusing, somewhat crass fantasy story about how two fighters meet, have sex and team up, but probably works better if you know these characters already.)
You Make Pattaya, Rich Larson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
(SF thriller story on the theme of sex tourism that grew on me after I thought about it for a while.)
You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay, Alyssa Wong ⭐⭐⭐
(Very well written horror/dark fantasy story, but horror is just not my thing.)
A Salvaging of Ghosts, Aliette de Bodard ⭐⭐⭐
(Prequel to "The Tea Master and the Detective" that tells the story of how the sentient ship was discovered, melancholy, focusing on grief and letting go.)
Even the Crumbs Were Delicious, Daryl Gregory ⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Funny SF story about a gay drug dealer couple who adopt two runaway kids.)
Number Nine Moon, Alex Irvine ⭐⭐
(SF story about an illegal salvage operation on Mars that goes wrong: not sure why but I didn't really feel anything for these characters, they didn't convince me.) 
Things with Beards, Sam J. Miller ⭐
(Horror story that wasn't badly written, but I hated the message and unrealistic world-building. Who believes that all police stations in the whole country could evacuate completely, including all bathrooms and holding cells, within 5 minutes? If you've ever been a large company's fire drill supervisor, you know how laughable that is. And no, it's not healthy to simply "accept that we are all monsters" and to embrace your own darkest homicidal impulses. 🙈)
Successor, Usurper, Replacement, Alice Sola Kim ⭐⭐⭐
(Fun dark fantasy story with a college dorm feel. Probably great for younger readers, but I couldn't relate very much and the characterization seemed uneven/contradictory in some places.)
Laws of Night and Silk, Seth Dickinson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Wow, this was special! High fantasy story set in a very unique world that I don't want to spoil. Great writing, made better by great audio narration.)
Touring with the Alien, Carolyn Ives Gilman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Fun peaceful alien invasion of Earth story with a surprise ending (that didn't quite work for me). Still pretty good!)
The Great Detective, Delia Sherman ⭐⭐⭐
(Steampunk story about automatons, treads old ground I've read before, Mycroft Holmes plays a part, continuation of a previous novelette I hadn't read. Some historical inaccuracy not explained by the steampunk elements, but it still had some charm.)
Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home, Genevieve Valentine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Unique idea, great execution: SF story with plot twist that tackles some big themes I don't want to spoil here.)
Those Shadows Laugh, Geoff Ryman ⭐⭐
(Interesting, but the female main character never felt convincingly female to me, some squicky sexual parts that were probably (hopefully) intended to be squicky... I didn't quite get the overall "why" of this story or what the point was. And why was sexuality equated with "original sin"??)
Seasons of Glass and Iron, Amal El-Mohtar ⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Beautiful, enchanting fairytale that I enjoyed a lot, almost 5 stars.)
The Art of Space Travel, Nina Allan ⭐⭐⭐
(A story about a girl looking for her unknown father, there was no need to include any SF elements, though.)
Whisper Road (Murder Ballad No. 9), Caitlín R. Kiernan ⭐⭐
(Another horror story, well-written but not my thing.)
Red Dirt Witch, N.K. Jemisin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Goosebumps! Jemisin in high form, don't miss this one!)
Red as Blood and White as Bone, Theodora Goss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(A fairytale set in WW2 and (later) under communism? One that is moving, evocative, and gorgeous? It works perfectly and I loved it.)
Terminal, Lavie Tidhar ⭐⭐⭐
(A melancholy SF tale that worked very well in terms of writing and dialogue, but didn't convince me in terms of realistic world-building. Maybe it was wrong of me to expect that: it's clearly meant to be whimsical and poetic (and is, very poetic!) and my mind is too logical and pedantic to fully appreciate it.)
Foxfire, Foxfire, Yoon Ha Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐
(This one is a Japanese-inspired fantasy tale set in the future, about a monster who falls in love with their victim. I didn't really understand the world-building but it was very enjoyable anyway.)
Elves of Antarctica, Paul McAuley ⭐⭐
(SF story mostly about climate change, lots of info-dumping but cool science. Didn't grab me.)
The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight, E. Lily Yu ⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Now I want to be a witch, too! Great fantasy story about dragon-slaying witch in a bad relationship. Loved that the story's (and main character's) compassion also fully encompassed the villains.)
Seven Birthdays, Ken Liu ⭐⭐⭐
(Good old-fashioned hard SF, but too much telling for my taste, along with an occasionally unrealistic voice for the 1st person narrator: "I run. [...] Like Aeneas pursued by Juno’s stormy rage." is a 7 year old child speaking - right!!)
The Visitor from Taured, Ian R. MacLeod ⭐⭐⭐⭐
(Hard SF story on the parallel worlds theory, with a melancholy love story. I really liked it.)
Fable, Charles Yu ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
(So funny, moving and unique! I adored this one. It's modern life seen through a fantasy lens. Will you be a hero?)

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven

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