exceptional anthology edited by David G Hartwell and Kathryn CramerBest stories are Tethered, Thick Water, Mercies

Great stories, and not a clunker in the bunch! Some stronger than others, but that's normal with every anthology, even a "Best of". Far too many stories had themes of environmental catastrophe, or mentioned it anyway, for my taste. But I only skipped the one story that seemed to be focused on that.

** The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three • Ken MacLeod In a totalitarian future, an editor purports to be seeking contributions to a new anthology. But why is he doing this at the very public launch of a new experimental technology? Eh, this one didn't really come together for me. A bit too gimmicky, and the ending didn't convince...*** Dolly • Elizabeth BearAn experimental model of sex doll is suspected of having killed its (her?) owner. (view spoiler)[I wasn't really convinced by the narr...

Lately I get frustrated with short stories, because they end so quickly I barely have time to enter into the perspective of the world/main character/whatever. So, although these are good stories, I didn’t enjoy them as much as they deserved. The two I liked best were Thick Water by Karen Heuler and The Ice Owl by Carolyn Ives Gilman. I should check to see what else they’ve published.

Not as much overlap with the Dozois collection as some years. I suppose my favorite stories would be the ones that overlapped with Dozois, "Dolly" by Bear, "Laika's Ghost" by Schroeder, and Gilman's "The Ice Owl". Of the remainder, Gwyneth Jones' "The Ki-anna" and Genevieve Valentine's "The Nearest Thing" stood out. Not a collection that I regret having read but not particularly memorable either.

Corposo Urania Millemondi che propone per intero Year’s Best SF 17, annata 2011.Rispetto ad altre annate è molto più facile individuare un filo rosso nell’intera raccolta, che presenta due grandi nuclei tematici: la presa di coscienza delle singolarità e i rapporti tra razze aliene al di fuori della classica interazione conflittuale. Le firme sono mescolate in un equilibrio tutto sommato riuscito tra nomi grossi, vecchie conoscenze e nuove leve comunque già rodate, risultato di livello encomiabi...

Enjoyable collection of shorts. A nice variety of writing styles and a whole bunch cool ideas throughout. Sci-fi shorts that throw you right into the action then end abruptly or are left open-ended are not everyones cup of tea but i found this collection to be a nice change of pace from the full novels that i have been reading of late. Worth a read.

A nice, eclectic selection of various, short sci-fi. Most completely new to me, with only a few I had run across before.Definitely a easy read, with various themes explored, that helpfully fill the evening hours....and occasionally a lunchtime one as well.

Couple of good ideas but all together very boring and dull stories.A struggle to read!! ...had to skip a couple of them even!! :SThis is my second book of this series: the other one was even worse than this!! :S

I enjoyed this book. I like science fiction and some times I just want to read stories that I can get through quickly because I like to read but there are other priorities on my time. When I finished this book, the last story made me realize I am ready for a longer story. The last story got off to a slow start and developed into a good mystery and then a disappointing ending. Then I realized, this is a short story...there is much more to say here. Short stories have a place in my reading but I d...

A collection of short stories published in 2011, chosen as the best by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.As usual, it's a mixed bag. While none completely left me cold, save perhaps Paul Pope's "Ragnarok" (but that's in large part because it's written as poetry), I didn't find any standouts that blew me away, either. Most of them were mildly pleasing, and a few I'd already read, so their impact wasn't as good as it may have been. I've liked other Years Best volumes more even when they had sto...

Half of the writers in this collection are female and gifted storytellers. Can't wait to see what some of the authors do next. Recommend this short story scifi collection.

Book of short stories, taken from the year it was published. I have found that while some of the stories are quite good, they are less interesting to me. It usually takes me a couple chapters to get into the characters and the story, and with these short stories, about the time I get into them, it's over. With 30 stories, it feels like starting 30 books. I'll probably stick with straightforward novels going forward.

I think Year’s Best SF 17 to be one of the strongest collection in the series. The plurality of the stories contained in it are some of the most remarkable I’ve read from these periodicals. Most of the stories seemed well lengthed and paced (a notable exception to this was The Ice Owl, one of my least favorite stories in the book), were founded on interesting ideas, and were well executed in their literary aspect. I especially enjoyed the stories by Ken Liu, Karen Heuler, and Pat MacEwen. The Ne...

Generally too long--too many stories--I no longer remember the first third of the book, probably, though I only read it over the course of a month. I should have taken more notes while reading this (like which authors or stories I liked and disliked), but that's hard to do with something I just want to pick up for a few minutes at a time (my typical usage case for a short story collection)Of the few notes I did write down, I particularly liked 'For I Have Lain Me Down' by Michael Swanwick, 'The

This book is exciting for me, I grew up reading science fiction written by men for a mostly male audience. I still read it even though as a female, my sex was barely represented. This collection reminds me of how far we have come, that my favourite genre is beginning to show the infinite diversity of voices that it so needs to flourish and remain relevant.Great collection, some stories are still with me days later.

if you like reading short stories and aren't scared of science fiction then you'll enjoy this collection of smart stories. it didn't get a 5 because none of the stories were memorable enough that I remember them in a month. But all were highly enjoyable to read at the time.

On the whole, an enjoyable collection. Lots of "doll" stories in this one - probably reflecting interest in transhumanism. As with any collection, though, I like some better than others. My top 3:Tethered - a beautiful, emotional story about friendship between a human and an alien with a genetic predisposition to want to serve humans.The Education of Junior Number 12. My favorite of the "doll"-type stories. Like you'd expect of any story of this type, it explores the relationship between the and...

Found this at The Dollar Store, which probably should have told me something. Didn't like it nearly as much as the previous year's book (SF 16), which I gave 3 stars and actually got for free at the U.S. Embassy give-a-book-take-a-book library in Singapore, (which also probably should have told me something). Overall, I found most of these stories very ho-hum, although the last third of the book had a few that were better than what came before, specifically "For I Have Lain Me Down," "The Ki-ann...

Come capita spesso nella collana Millemondi, questa raccolta è la traduzione dell'anglofona Year's Best SF che, come dice il nome stesso, contiene una selezione di racconti pubblicati nel 2011.La fantascienza contemporanea è molto diversa da quella a cui sono abituato: non solo nei temi, ma anche perché molti racconti non vengono pubblicati nelle riviste ma nei siti. Inoltre la componente femminile è molto cresciuta; non ho verificato se raggiunge o addirittura supera la metà del testo (mica son...