Ahh yes, the time has become to review another review: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the
Year edited by Jonathan Strahan.
This year’s volume eight from Solaris Books, the genre aficionado once again places their
trust in Strahan to filter through the literally thousands of stories published
in the year to present a ‘best of’. As
always whenever those two words are bandied about, some contention is sure to
arise, and this year’s volume is no exception.
It is thus much simpler to describe what the anthology is, rather than
what it should have been, could have been, or isn’t, because in the end it is a
rich collection of stories which every reader can find something enjoyable
within. One of the better in Strahan's ongoing series, it would seem to indicate 2013 was a strong year in short fiction.
TBSFaFotYv8 opens on an empty note: a wild west one-off from Joe Abercrombie
marginally in the same setting as Red
Country called “Some Desperado”. The
prose poor and story dry, it will, nevertheless, appeal to that niche of genre
fandom which believes Abercrombie can do no wrong. (See the following quote. “Neary’s
arrow had snagged it in the shoulder, not deep enough to kill or even slow it
right off, but deep enough to make it bleed at a good pace. With her hard
riding that had killed it just as dead as a shaft in the heart.” The last
sentence not even a coherent thought, such jarring, if not blasé, lines are spread
throughout the story.) “Zero Conduct” by
Greg Egan shifts to the near-future and tells the story of an Afghani teen
living in Iran with her exiled grandfather.
Despite making an exciting discovery in superconducting, getting it into
public and into production does not prove easy for a foreigner, however. Humanitarian in scope, it is a solid story
featuring a clash of cultures and advances in knowledge. One of the most bejeweled stories in the
anthology is Yoon Ha Lee’s “Effigy Nights”.
A poetically expressed Jack Vance concept, the story never finds a
precise balance between science fiction and fantasy as legends are brought back
to life voodoo-style to defend a city under attack from galactic invaders. A moody, very well written piece of distant
galaxy mysteriousness. “Rosary and
Goldenstar” by Geoff Ryman is a fun story in dialogue with Shakespeare and
science, and is cleverly structured, but possesses little to ruminate upon given
the “profundity” of the subject matter.
Another fun entry is Neil Gaiman’s “The Sleeper and the Spindle”. As is the wont of Gaiman, the story is a
fairy tale involving queens, dwarves, and a strange spell sweeping a land, but
with its own contemporary spin on things.
Charming but forgettable.
With M. John Harrison’s “Cave and Julia”, the anthology takes a turn for
the sober. Set on Autotelia, the
relationship of the titular couple, exacerbated by mysterious happenings on the
island, takes center stage, an eerily wandering piece in Harrison’s precise
prose the result. M. Bennardo’s “The
Herons of Mer de l’Ouest” is a fantasy of Native American proportion. The story of a lone wanderer in the untamed
regions of the US mid 18 th century, his experiences with a local tribe and the
defense of their people has visual impact, and, a transcendent ending. Switching gears to the near-future, Ramez
Naam’s “Water” is a love-affair with the technical possibilities surrounding
the human interface with sensual—or at least sensualized—advertizing. Short on prose, the story nevertheless
exposes some Orwellian possibilities for ads, neurotech, and the human will—or
lack thereof. The story a modern upgrade
of Frederik Pohl (e.g. “The Tunnel under the World”), it also froths ideas a la Charlie Stross. As always with a Ted Chiang story, “The Truth
of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” is a well-thought out idea in smooth style that
examines the manner in which technology affects humanity and vice versa. The subject life-logging, Chiang
postulates prosthetic memory is inevitable as society marches forward, and,
like most other technical advances, has its dark and light sides. (See here for
a longer review of the novelette on this blog.)
Set in northern Thailand, “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” by Thomas Olde
Heuvelt is a bittersweet tale of a small village come holiday time. Prosaic in a fashion somewhat similar
(emphasis on ‘somewhat’) to Barry Hughart’s Bridge of Birds but possessing a spirit like Amitav Ghosh’s The Circle of Reason, young Tangmoo’s ultimate fate touches not
only the eclectic villagers around him, but also the reader. Also set in the Orient, “Cherry Blossoms on
the River of Souls” by Richard Parks is the story of young Hiroshi and the
bottomless well outside his home emanating music every night. Hiroshi’s ensuing trip into the underworld is
a magical piece of storytelling that begs to be read and re-read. Steampunk-grotesque I guess would be the best
short description of Priya Sharman’s “Rag and Bone.” Victorian Liverpool lorded over by an
oligarch of organ hungry aristocrats, each is willing to pay good money for
healthy skin and bone, muscle and sinew, and Tom is the sampler. Though a bit simplistic, it’s well written
and drags the reader, willing or unwilling, into its sense of the macabre. “The
Book Seller” by Lavie Tidhar is a story that thinks it knows what it wants to
be, but in reality tosses and turns fitfully in varying directions. Whether a kowtow to early genre, outright
science fiction, Hebrewpunk, humanism, or something else, it’s a story that
attempts to bounce back and forth between pulp and literary realism the same as
Osama, but to limited effect. The fact it is also a story part of a larger
set of stories limits its impact in the anthology. Though still embellished,
the quality of K.J. Parker’s writing improves in short fiction. The novella The Sun and I focused stylistically, it
tells of a down-on-their-luck group of young men who pawn off a religion of
their own creation on a Medieval-esque land torn by war. The same story mechanism as another Parker novella
Let Maps to Others (i.e.
concatenating extreme coincidences and paranormal events toward an ambiguously
moral point), the religion of the Invincible Sun goes through a cut-scene
evolution which parallels Catholicism.
Desperate for relevancy, the novella nevertheless finds itself at a
distance for its failure to conflate the historical and cultural elements of
religion with immediacy and need.
“The Promise of Space” by James Patrick Kelly is a subtly brilliant (and
unintentional) counter-point to Chiang’s earlier novelette. A conversation between a dying space ship
captain and his science fiction writer ex-wife, life-logging and the rigors of
space travel influence their recollections of days past in ways neither
want. A brief but touching story. “The Master Conjurer” is a story about a
unique spell accidentally cast by a rather indifferent young man and the media
sensation it becomes after. Though
having something in common with Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on the surface, it lacks depth
beyond character. Though briskly
prosaic, E. Lily Yu’s “The Pilgrim and the Angel” is a simplistic piece about
culture clashes. An Egyptian barber
swept up by the archangel Gabriel, the ensuing magic carpet ride covers a
cultural divide, but is resolved in too-easy, fairy tale fashion. A work of humanist science fiction, Ian R.Macleod’s dark novelette “Entangled” is the story of an Indian woman looking
for answers to personal questions in a Britain turned upside down by a disease
that links people’s minds in More Than
Human-style. Moody and bleak,
Martha’s plight for knowledge is subtly revealed to be something she perhaps
would rather not have known. Alternating
between third- and first person perspectives of Martha, it is, as always seems
the case with Macloed, an immaculately scripted story with impact. Benjanun Sriduangkaew’s “Fade to Gold” is the
story of an AWOL soldier wandering an ancient Thailand shredded by war. Meeting a mysterious woman one day, however,
changes her life.
Nominated for a bevy of awards, it will be interesting to see how many
year’s ‘best ofs’ Sofi Samatar’s short and beautiful “Selkie Stories are for
Losers” will appear in. Existing at the
margin of genre, it is the story about one woman and the other women in her
life, and is told in a voice that reveals itself wonderfully, giving evidence
the many award nominations. Fuzzily parallel to Tidhar’s story, Samatar espouses real life can indeed be like the cherished stories
old, just not always in a way one desires.
“Metal and Bone” by An Owomoyela is, unfortunately, one of the least
original stories in the collection. A
well worn trope from both the realist and fantastic sides, the futility of war
is expressed through the corporal remains of the dead, including dogtags. But to be fair, language usage is able to
buoy the story. An Irish boy enslaved in
Viking-era Iceland is a more unique story, however. Such is the premise of Eleanor Arnason’s “Kormak
the Lucky”, as rounding out his story are elves, legends within legends, iron
wolves, spells, and the fey of Ireland. Karen Tidbeck’s “Sing” is a soft,
luxurious story of a deformed woman living on a backwater planet. Receiving a visit from a offworld biologist
one day, an unconventional friendship arises.
The only trouble is, communication on the planet is regulated by not
only the suns, but a mysterious transformation known only to the locals. A wonderful story of open-ended love. It’s the future in Madeline Ashby’s “Social
Services”, and amongst the other facets of life, technology has likewise been
applied to the social work, as well.
Caitlin Kiernan is one of the top writers of short fiction working today,
and though Strahan was not able to get the rights to her “Black Helicopters”,
he did find space for “The Road of Needles”.
Needing to be re-read to glean meaning, it is a dense story whose
purpose is not superficial, Little Red Riding Hood playing in modular space
only a hint. Robert Reed’s “Mystic
Falls” is the story of a beautiful AI virus who haunts society. The prose a step up from much of what Reed
produces, the delicate and abstract investigation needed to get at the virus’s
creator has definite impact. An homage
to H.G. Wells, “The Queen of Night’s Aria” by Ian McDonald is the
larger-than-life story of the singer Jack Fitzgerald and his brief tour of
Mars. Accompanied by his pianist, the
duo’s best laid plans go awry as an alien war rages around their
performances. Though The Magic Flute is better, McDonald’s concluding
scene is subtly superb. The final story in the collection is by the relatively
unknown writer Val Nolan’s called “The Irish Astronaut”. Affective, it tells of the stand-in astronaut
Dale and his grieving the loss of a close friend when the module he was
returning to Earth in disintegrated in the upper atmosphere. Filled with Irish wit and charm, the story is
a subtly strong and optimistic note on which to close out the anthology.
As editor, Strahan has done his job in TBSFaFotYv8. Like the
previous volumes (at least the couple I’ve read), there is good pace and
rhythm; the reader is constantly kept slightly off-balance as to ‘what will be
next’, which keeps curiosity piqued.
Featuring writers from around the globe, there is a strong international
flavor to the anthology, a fact which does indeed reflect the state of
speculative fiction. (From male to
female, it to transsexual, it goes without saying gender is represented.) From a selection point of view, there are
some stories that will not appear in other year’s best anthologies, and some
that probably will/do—which is to be expected.
In turn, there are likewise some selections which seemingly insure the
anthology’s commercial success—Gaiman, Abercrombie, Tidhar, and Parker, for
example, produced mediocre works in the year, but are included nonetheless.
In the end, The Best Science
Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Vol. 8, in some form represents what the year
of shorts was in speculative. Those who have followed or dipped into the
series (or other editors’ year’s ‘best-ofs’) will know what they are getting:
an extremely varied selection of stories that, due to the variety, almost guarantees
more than a few will be enjoyed. Given
that thousands of stories are published each year, it’s also inevitable a few
of the stories will be eye openers to a writer they’d never experienced
before, and, that some stories have been elided--intentionally or unintentionally. And that is all you can really
expect of an editor in today’s publishing market, so bravo.
The following are the table of contents of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Vol. 8:
Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
“Some Desperado” Joe Abercrombie
“Zero for Conduct” Greg Egan
“Effigy Nights” Yoon Ha Lee
“Rosary and Goldenstar” Geoff Ryman
“The Sleeper and the Spindle” Neil Gaiman
“Cave and Julia” M. John Harrison
“The Herons of Mer de l’Ouest” M. Bennardo
“Water” Ramez Naam
“The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” Ted Chiang
“The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” Thomas Olde Heuvelt
“Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls” Richard Parks
“Rag and Bone” Priya Sharma
“The Book Seller” Lavie Tidhar
The Sun and I K J Parker
“The Promise of Space” James Patrick Kelly
“The Master Conjurer” Charlie Jane Anders
“The Pilgrim and the Angel” E. Lily Yu
“Entangled” Ian R Macleod
“Fade to Gold” Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Selkie Stories Are for Losers" Sofia Samatar
“In Metal, In Bone” An Owomoyela
“Kormak the Lucky" Eleanor Arnason
“Sing" Karin Tidbeck
“Social Services” Madeline Ashby
“The Road of Needles” Caitlin R Kiernan
“Mystic Falls” Robert Reed
“The Queen of Night’s Aria” Ian McDonald
“The Irish Astronaut” Val Nolan
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