2011 was a
very solid year in short speculative fiction, and Volume 6 of Jonathan Strahan’s ongoing The Best Science Fiction and
Fantasy of the Year series proves it. Ken Liu’ story dominated awards, while K.J.
Parker, Paul McAuley, and Kij Johnson’s were also winners. Several others nominated and/or added in more
than one collection or anthology, Strahan captures a very readable snapshot of
what 2011 was in short speculative fiction.
The fourth
time to be included in Strahan’s ‘best of’ and the second time to open the
anthology, Neil Gaiman again makes an appearance, this time with “The Case of
Death and Honey”. A Sherlock Holmes
story (surprisingly), Gaiman portrays the fictional detective as he always
dreamed but was never portrayed: in retirement as a beekeeper. Unsatisfied with his honey making efforts in
Britain, Holmes’ pursuit of the perfect honey takes him to China, where,
another life feels the affects of his search.
As advertized, it is a bittersweet note on which to open the anthology.
Another story of bees and China, this time from the point of view of the
insects themselves, “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily
Yu is a story that makes an impression at first read, but upon deeper thought
threatens to crumble like the fragile nests described. Weird (capitol ‘W’) and seemingly political,
Yu’s story at least makes for a nice piece of eye-candy. “Tidal Forces” by Caitlín R. Kiernan is a
superb story about a writer and her lover attempting to come to terms with the
unquantifiable aspects of life. Written
in non-linear yet flowing prose that moves like the titular tide, it is a story
that can be read multiple times given the layering. High quality science fiction, the usage of
scientific theory (a riff on an Einstein quote) is so intelligently subsumed
into a story of modern human interest that I find myself rambling… “Young Women” by Karen Joy Fowler is
decidedly more conventional—in the realistic sense. Written in sharp, intelligent sentences that
snap off the page, one evening’s encounter between a snoopy mom and her
fifteen-year old’s boyfriend has all the drama one would expect, but thankfully
more poignancy. More an art piece than fiction, “White Lines on a Green Field”
by Catherynne M. Valente is 50s’ nostalgia after having undergone a Coyote myth
transformation. Salaciously written, but
still looking for the substance…
Something
unique, An Owomoyela’s “All That Touches the Air” is the story of a paranoid
scientist living on a planet inhabited by a swarm species imbuing the air. Any human exposed to the air becoming
inhabited by them, the scientist spends its days fully clothed, every inch
covered when exposed to the planet’s atmosphere. The inevitable confrontation is strange,
strange. “What We Found” by Geoff Ryman
is a superb tale of a Nigerian man raised in a broken family. His father crazy and grandmother a
kleptomaniac, he overcomes his situation to become a respected gene
researcher. The only problem is, the
results of his research keep changing.
Full of vivid imagery (or at least vivid words), Hannu Rajaniemi’s “The
Server and the Dragon” is a far-far-far future story of abstract dimension
(worthy of Iain Banks’ Excession)
about a world seeding by an AI computer.
“The Choice” by Paul McAuley is John Steinbeck’s The Pearl in sci-fi form.
One of McAuley’s Jackaroo
stories, two boys get in a world more trouble than they bargained for after
examining a piece of wrecked alien technology.
“Malak” by Peter Watts is a freighted story. Examining the morals of drone technology in
warfare, Watts shifts the Middle East conflict a few years into the future
wherein flying machines possess semi-AI minds and are able to make some
decisions. The rest, well, they are
unfortunately still left to humans. “Old Habits” by Nalo Hopkinson is a ghost
story—no bones about it. A simple piece
that depends on a social rather than a horror ideology, it tells of a ghost
living inside the mall where he died.
Sensory perception lacking, every day he is granted a few moment’s time
in the real world, including the re-living of his death, and focuses on modern
society and commercialism. Competently
enough written, it is (thankfully) not a cheesy afterlife story. “A Small Price
to Pay for Birdsong” by K. J. Parker is a quality novella about two men caught
in a cycle of revenge and morality/immorality written in Parker’s black
hand. (A longer review is here.)
Taking a
turn for the Weird, Kelly Link’s “Valley of the Girls” is a story about the
modern life of teens, and the temptations and realities they face on a regular
basis (and for this is similar to Valente’s earlier story). The symbolism may be too much for YA, but the
message is strong, relevant. Cory
Doctorow’s “The Brave Little Toaster” is a one-off that flits easily in one eye
and out the other. In dialogue with
Disch’s novella of the same name, it makes the obvious point our appliances are
inching closer to sentience, then adds a gimmicky energy drink device. “The Dala Horse” by Michael Swanwick is a
fairy tale of science fiction/Norse mythology proportion. The words delight, but little impact is felt
after the last sentence is read.
Possessing a challenging final scene, “The Corpse Painter's Masterpiece”
by M. Rickert is a powerful piece regarding the treatment of the dead. Commentary on the manner in which modern
society prepares the dead to appear as lifelike as possible—as if unable to let
go, the two intertwined stories of a family dealing with the loss of their son
and a corpse painter (i.e. man who does not embalm, rather prepares corpses in
his own, more natural way) is as thought-provoking as it is well-written. “Paper
Menagerie” by Ken Liu plays the pity card, but plays it with dignity and real
emotion. The story of a boy born to an
American man and Chinese woman, the resulting culture conflict plays itself out
in poignant, and at least initially, playful terms. The conclusion really pulls the heart
strings.
“Steam Girl” by Dylan Horrocks is surprise and a delight. Fictional and
meta steampunk, it is a touching YA story about a high school boy and the new
girl in his class who wears a helmet and flying goggles. Possessing a whole lot of real world
relevancy, Horrocks’ name may not be familiar, but based on the quality of this
story, it may someday become. Just a
great, touching story. “After the Apocalypse”
by Maureen McHugh is the tale of a mother and daughter making their way north
to Toronto from Texas after a resource shortage has crippled America to the
point of bare survival. All in all, an
understated, sad story that focuses on the people rather than the apocalypse,
but McHugh has written better. Written
in Peter Beagle’s classic hand, “Underbridge” is a horror story about a
professor who pushes himself to inhuman lengths in academia after an encounter
with a stone troll. “Relic” by Jeffrey Ford is the story of the head priest at the Church of Saint Ifritia, a weather
beaten place of worship at the end of the world, and the one-of-a-kind
sacrament he guards. Ford normally a
strong, focused writer, the story premise is certainly original, but lacks full
coherency as it plays out, and the prose wavers. “The Invasion of Venus” by Stephen Baxter the
third story in the anthology from Strahan’s other anthology Engineering Infinity may be one story
too many. Not that it’s a bad, but it
seems rather blasé given the variety of alien invasion stories that have come
before.
Simple but
strong, “Woman Leaves Room” is proof Robert Reed is only getting better with
age. The story of a computer program
left unfinished for a virtually infinite time, it remains human to the
core—singularity or no singularity. “Restoration” by Robert Shearman is a
Borgesian concept (a museum with slices of history from throughout the
universe) without the erudition, but more humanity. Bruce Sterling is not known for his subtlety,
and his “The Onset of a Paranormal Romance” is anything but. Discussing people’s desire for technology,
two vignettes are used to present humanity’s love affair with gadgets—among
other loves. (The version of the story
with photos is better, here.) “Catastrophic Disruption of the Head” by
Margo Lanagan is a modern re-telling of a lesser-known Andersen fairy tale “The
Tinderbox”. A macabre story, the horror
crowd will be sure to enjoy it. “The
Last Ride of the Glory Girls” by Libba Bray is a bit of wild west steampunk
that hearkens back to Burrough’s conception of Mars. It is a lot of flash and frills, but little
beyond. The introduction to “The Book of
Phoenix: Excerpted from the Great Book” by Nnedi Okorafor states the author is
“known for her complex characters”.
Reading the novelette, however, one would be surprised. Two-dimensional
at best, the story of an inmate trapped in an Orwellian prison tries to do
something original to limited success—a fact not helped by the sloppy
writing. (Along with the curious line: Someone shot me in the leg. It felt like
someone had kicked my leg with a metal foot,” it also features several
backwards chunks of text, such as: “I
felt the radiance burst from me, warm, yellow, light, plucked from the sun and
placed inside me like a seed until it was ready to bloom. It bloomed now and
the entire lobby was washed.”)
Evoking
pathos, Ian McDonald’s “Digging” is the tragic story of a girl working on the
solar system’s largest excavation project on Mars. Working on the massive machine currently on
its 27 th of 30km into Martian regolith, young Tash receives the surprise of
her life one day: to accompany her field supervisor to the rim of the massive
crater and perform diagnostic work.
Trouble is, it’s not the only surprise waiting. “The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij
Johnson is a fantasy/engineering romance written in quality prose. Though occasionally maudlin (the bridge is
used metaphorically in less than subtle fashion), Johnson’s skills as a stylist
and storyteller combine to tell the story of Kit Meinem, competent engineer in
his heyday, in classic fashion. Short
and simple, the story closing out the collection is “Goodnight Moons” by Ellen
Klages. A forced, one-in-a-million idea,
there remains a drop of poignancy.
In the
end, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy
of the Year Volume 6 showcases a large number of quality stories in a
variety of genres. Why they keep
plastering science fiction covers on Strahan’s ‘best of’ anthologies when
fantasy always has the majority, I’ll never know. Regardless, the stories behind the façade are
the best batch in several years. I
personally have to go back to 2007 to see such collective quality. The anthology thus comes recommended.
The
following is the anthology’s table of contents:
“The Case
of Death and Honey” by Neil Gaiman
“The
Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” E. Lily Yu
“Tidal
Forces” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
“Younger
Women” by Karen Joy Fowler
“White
Lines on a Green Field” by Catherynne M. Valente
“All That
Touches the Air” by An Owomoyela
“What We
Found” by Geoff Ryman
“The
Server and the Dragon” by Hannu Rajaniemi
“The
Choice” by Paul J. McAuley
“Malak” by
Peter Watts
“Old
Habits” by Nalo Hopkinson
“A Small
Price to Pay for Birdsong” by K. J. Parker
“Valley of
the Girls“ by Kelly Link
“The Brave
Little Toaster” by Cory Doctorow
“The Dala
Horse” by Michael Swanwick
“The
Corpse Painter's Masterpiece” by M. Rickert
“The Paper
Menagerie” by Ken Liu
“Steam
Girl” by Dylan Horrocks
“After the
Apocalypse” by Maureen F. McHugh
“Underbridge”
by Peter S. Beagle
“Relic” by
Jeffrey Ford
“The
Invasion of Venus” by Stephen Baxter
“Woman
Leaves Room” by Robert Reed
“Restoration”
by Robert Shearman
“The Onset
of a Paranormal Romance” by Bruce Sterling
“Catastrophic
Disruption of the Head” by Margo Lanagan
“The Last
Ride of the Glory Girls” by Libba Bray
“The Book
of Phoenix: Excerpted from the Great Book” by Nnedi Okorafor
“Digging”
by Ian McDonald
“The Man
Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson
“Goodnight
Moons” by Ellen Klages
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