The Year's Best Science Fiction, Eighteenth Annual Collection
Gardner Dozois has become the most influential editor in science fiction, and his best-of-the-year anthologies show why. He has chosen 23 stories by masters such as Ursula K. LeGuin, Michael Swanwick, Brian Stableford, and Greg Egan, as well as newer writers Severna Park, Tananarive Due, and Eliot Fintushel.Standouts include "Tendeleo's Story," Ian MacDonald's powerful tale of people whose lives are changed by an alien invader that is slowly eating Africa; "The Suspect Genome," a mystery by Peter F. Hamilton; the slow but moving "Going After Bobo" by Susan Palwick; and "The Great Goodbye" by Robert Charles Wilson. Hugo nominees include "Radiant Green Star" by Lucius Shepherd, "Oracle" by Greg Egan, and "On the Orion Line" by Stephen Baxter.Dozois's summation of the year in science fiction alone is worth the cost of admission to theseannual collections.  Along with his usual takes on publishing, literature, film, and more, Dozois delivers a retrospective on the state of science fiction in the year 2000.  Contrary to those who claim science fiction is either dead or (at least) losing its heart and soul since the deaths of authors like Isaac Asimov and Robert J. Heinlein, Dozois emphatically argues that the health of SF has never been stronger.  Discussing increased numbers of novels being published (he includes numbers to prove his point), discoveries of young new writers, ongoing evolution of the literature, and innovative viewpoints to mine, Dozois bubbles over with enthusiasm for the genre in which he made his name, as well as the coming century and its mysterious developments waiting to surprise and delight us.--Bonnie Bouman