- Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: HarperPaperbacks; 1- edition (Mar 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0061057460
- ISBN-13: 978-0061057465
- Product Dimensions: 17.1 x 10.7 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,211,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Year's Best SF 2: Vol 2 (Year's Best SF (Science Fiction))
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Synopsis
An anthology of the finest science fiction stories of the past year features the work of both new and established writers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hartwell the Second,
By
This review is from: Year's Best SF 2: Vol 2 (Year's Best SF (Science Fiction)) (Kindle Edition)
This is the second volume of David Hartwell's annual anthology of science fiction stories. It contains twenty stories, each with an introduction to the story's author and the author's other works. The first volume in Hartwell's series was a good beginning; this one sets the pattern for a great series.
My five favorite stories are listed below. Dave Wolverton's "After a Lean Winter" is very consciously H. G. Wells's content written in the style of Jack London. There's more to it than a mid-winter dog fight. Sheila Finch's "Out of the Mouths" is about the language and culture that both human and alien children learn as part of growing up. Even when the adults who love them don't quite understand. Gene Wolf's "Counting Cats in Zanzibar" is about a woman on the run from her past. When it catches up with her, she embraces it. Bruce Sterling's "Bicycle Repairman" has become a cyberpunk classic. More than anything it is a portrait of a low-key, high-tech social outcast. Well, there is more than one, actually. Connie Willis' "Nonstop to Portales" pays homage to a Grand Master of science fiction and his vision of the future. And it's a good story about an ordinary man deciding whether to spend time in a little time where nothing seems to happen. The introductions in this volume, while adequate, are briefer than those found in later volumes. I am glad that this early form changed into the more extended treatment of each author and their other works that is characteristic of later books in this series. Hartwell's longer introductions add a great deal to the reader's enjoyment. This collection is recommended for its well-crafted stories and the editor's good taste in selecting them.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'd rather like it to be "Month's best SF",
By A Customer
This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Vol 2 (Year's Best SF (Science Fiction)) (Mass Market Paperback)
It opens with a tribute to H.G. Wells and ends with an homage to Jules Verne.In the middle are 18 more stories that span from side to side of the SF spectrum and, even though they might not be all in the reader's preferences, are sure worth reading, if not thought-provoking. Talking about preferences, I can't help mentioning Terry Bisson's "In the upper room" and Damon Knight's "Life edit" as the best of the lot. Look forward for number 3, and 4, and...
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Free SF Reader,
By Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Vol 2 (Year's Best SF (Science Fiction)) (Mass Market Paperback)
A pretty standard entry for the series. Of course, a standard entry for one of these is basically better than any other SF anthology you could come across, barring the odd rare beast like New Legends or The New Space Opera, or excellent retrospective reprint anthologies like, say, the Best of the Nebulas or the Hard SF Renaissance. This should in no way to be taken to mean that it is an average book.
The average per story is 3.78, which is close to what all the volumes I have come across come out to, overall. Plenty of good stories, but the one I like the most is Bisson's. Some light-hearted tales to be found here for a change of pace, as well. While of the over 4s there is only 1, there are only 2 under 3.5's to balance that out. Sometimes it stands out that writers are a bit of an older crowd, you get stories about the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and others in various volumes, so while they are speculating about technology, it isn't often with current media stars involved in the future, in the same way these are done, it seems. Year's Best SF 02 : After a Lean Winter - Dave Wolverton Year's Best SF 02 : In the Upper Room - Terry Bisson Year's Best SF 02 : Thinkertoy - John Brunner Year's Best SF 02 : Zoomers - Gregory Benford Year's Best SF 02 : Out of the Mouths - Sheila Finch Year's Best SF 02 : Breakaway Backdown - James Patrick Kelly Year's Best SF 02 : Tobacco Words - Yves Meynard Year's Best SF 02 : Invasion - Joanna Russ Year's Best SF 02 : The House of Mourning - Brian M. Stableford Year's Best SF 02 : Life Edit - Damon Knight Year's Best SF 02 : First Tuesday - Robert Reed Year's Best SF 02 : The Spear of the Sun - David Langford Year's Best SF 02 : Counting Cats in Zanzibar - Gene Wolfe Year's Best SF 02 : Bicycle Repairman - Bruce Sterling Year's Best SF 02 : Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland - Gwyneth Jones Year's Best SF 02 : Doblin's Lecture - Allen M. Steele Year's Best SF 02 : The Bride of Elvis - Kathleen Ann Goonan Year's Best SF 02 : Forget Luck - Kate Wilhelm Year's Best SF 02 : Nonstop to Portales - Connie Willis Year's Best SF 02 : Columbiad - Stephen Baxter Jack London's War of the Worlds. 3.5 out of 5 VR bug underwear girl, dead like me. 4.5 out of 5 Marmaduke repair. 3.5 out of 5 Body network trading. 4 out of 5 Talk like a Venatixian. 3.5 out of 5 Colony life change. 4 out of 5 Dealing with sinners. 4 out of 5 The trouble with Ulpians. 3.5 out of 5 Addicted to hos and pros. 4 out of 5 Timeline change machine. 4 ou to f5 Presidential projection dinner. 3.5 out of 5 Father Brown in Space, GKC. 4 out of 5 Android associate sharkfood. 4 out of 5 Celibate cycle geek bags black bag babe burglar thanks to baton boo-boo. 4 out of 5 Sword and sorcery virtual sex therapy. 4 out of 5 Serial killer speech. 4 out of 5 The King has left the planet. Still plenty of mutants around though. 3 out of 5 Survival trait study. 3 out of 5 The Williamson time tour. 4 out of 5 From the Earth To Mars. 3.5 out of 5 4.5 out of 5 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still very good,
By papaphilly - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Vol 2 (Year's Best SF (Science Fiction)) (Mass Market Paperback)
The second in a series for Hartwell. Once again he gathers an eclectic group of Science Fiction writers that cover a wide variety of sub-sections to the genre. He has included two tributes to science the fiction forefathers Well and Verne. My personal favorite of this anthology was 'The Bride of Elvis', a tongue and cheek look at a religion developed around the death of the King. I also loved 'Counting Cats in Zanzibar' by Gene Wolfe. A robot story about a contract killing. If you are looking for easy reading that can also provoke thought, this is a good place to start.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'd rather like it to be "Month's best SF",
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Vol 2 (Year's Best SF (Science Fiction)) (Mass Market Paperback)
It opens with a tribute to H.G. Wells and ends with an homage to Jules Verne.In the middle are 18 more stories that span from side to side of the SF spectrum and, even though they might not be all in the reader's preferences, are sure worth reading, if not thought-provoking. Talking about preferences, I can't help mentioning Terry Bisson's "In the upper room" and Damon Knight's "Life edit" as the best of the lot. Look forward for number 3, and 4, and...
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