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Surprisingly disappointing. Some of the stories weren't very sci-fi/fantasyish at all. There were a few good stories, but mostly by already established authors I already knew about.
Good stories of science fiction and fantasy, as usual.
Odd mix of stories and styles. I didn't love the majority of them, but yet there were a few that were really great and a couple more that were enjoyable. There were also a bunch that I couldn't even finish.
Two stories really stand out to me. The rest wasn't that special. And then there were quite a few which seemed totally out of place in a SF&F collection where the fantasy is reduced to the supernatural set into our regular world.Some gems: The Sandal-Bride, The Sighted Watchmaker, The Choice, The Man Who Bridged the Mist.The rest I thought were just alright or less than average.
I love anthologies like this because they are a great way to find new authors! I bought this mostly for the Neil Gaiman story, which turned out to be disappointingly short, but there were several others I really liked too, especially the last and longest story.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5-Star Highlights: 5. The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland, For A Little While" by Catherynne M. Valente (Fantasy):"'I have all the books I could need, and what more could I need than books? ... I am a practical girl and a life is only so lo...
By and large well-curated. Some standouts are sub-par, one or two very sub-par, but this may have been a bad year for speculative fiction. Nonetheless I would encourage the editor to seriously consider whether stories about hipsters meeting vampires truthfully belong in any serious anthology.
Some really great stories here, some not so much. Without being negative and naming the poorer stories (some from inexperienced authors who just haven't found their voice yet) here are the highlights:Late BloomerNeil GaimanThe adaskian EagleBirdsongFields of Gold
Some of these stories were great, some were downright awful, and some were pretty mediocre. I thought the best of the bunch were:The Adakian EagleThe Girl Who Ruled FairylandLate Bloomer*RampionYounger WomenCanterbury HollowThe Summer PeopleMulberry Boys*The Silver WindA Small Price to Pay for BirdsongWoman Leaves RoomMy Chivalric FiascoThe Last SophiaThe Man who Bridged the Mist*Late Bloomer was my favorite, followed by The Mulberry Boys
4a best of the year book it left things to be desired there was some good stories but I wouldn't think anything works great
fav stories:the girl who ruled fairyland, for a little whilemartian heartthe summer peoplethe cartographer wasps and the anarchist beesthe man who bridged the mist
Some stories were better than others, but overall, it's a solid read. I only skipped one: The Last Sophia, by C.S.E Cooney. It was from the perspective of a woman who was in & out of reality, but the attempt to create that narratively was just confusing.The best of the bunch, in my opinion: "The Man who Bridged the Mist" by Kij Johnson, "Fields of Gold" by Rachel Swirsky, "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" by E. Lily Yu, and "The Adakian Eagle" by Bradley Denton.
Not sure if it's my poor attention span and distraction causing me issues (read: yeah, it probably is), but I just couldn't get into many of these short stories at all.
The stories I really liked were:"The Sighted Watchmaker" by Vylar Kaftan"The Choice" by Paul McAuley"Windows in the World" by Gavin J. Grant"The Summer People" by Kelly Link"Mulberry Boys" by Margo Lanagan"Woman Leaves Room" by Robert Reed"The Last Sophia" by C.S.E. Cooney"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees" by E. Lily Yuand of course" The Man Who Bridged the Mist" by Kij JohnsonSo 9 stories out of 29. All in all, interesting to see what was out there from the previous year.
A few stories were okay. A lot of them were over-descriptive and very hard to get through with very little reward for doing so. (there is always also the strong possibility that I'm just not on the same level with all these elite thinkers) I got about halfway through and couldn't get motivated to read the rest. Perhaps all the other stories are amazing, or at least down on a level I can appreciate. Maybe one day I'll pick it back up and find out.
I love short stories, especially science fiction. This one was awesome, I'd recommend this to everyone who enjoys sci-fi and fantasy.
