Reviews

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018, by John Joseph Adams, Maria Dahvana Headley, Gwendolyn Clare, E. Lily Yu, Tobias S. Buckell, Lettie Prell, Jaymee Goh, N.K. Jemisin, Caroline M. Yoachim, Carmen Maria Machado, Charles Payseur, Maureen McHugh, Kate Alice Marshall, Rachael K. Jones, Charlie Jane Anders, Samuel R. Delany, Kathleen Kayembe, Peter Watts, A. Merc Rustad, Micah Dean Hicks, Cadwell Turnbull

vshah's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful lighthearted reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

esoken's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

nyailrac's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

thessilian's review against another edition

5.0

Series editor John Joseph Adams compiles a list of eighty short stories that he considers the best American S&SF of the year. He passes those onto a guest editor – this year N.K. Jemisin, who chooses their top ten fantasy and ten sci-fi. Of course, with twenty stories you’ll find some you love more than others, but I enjoyed or was made to think by every single story in this anthology. There is a real diverse range of innovative, thoughtful stories and I’m hard pressed to pick one favourite, so I’ll mention the ones I’m still thinking about:

You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych, by Kathleen Kayembe
Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn by A. Merc Rustad
The Resident by Carmen by Maria Machado
Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sure by Charlie Jane Anders (transphobia TW)
The Orange Tree by Maria Dahvana Headley

leebill's review against another edition

4.0

Some stories crazy good

masyukun's review against another edition

4.0

Good collection of stories, although there were too many that depended on identity too much for my taste. Got 2 new-to-me authors to follow on Goodreads!

verumsolum's review

3.0

So this was a bit of dipping my toe into a couple of things: short fiction (which I have not read as much of as I would like) and science fiction and fantasy (which have aspects that I love and others I don't and have some baggage that has made it difficult for me to find what I like and to enjoy it when I do). Being an anthology, there were those stories that I enjoyed less than others. On the whole, it was a good trip through the genre and encourages me further to picking up more of both short fiction and of SF/F.

libraryfangirl's review against another edition

4.0

My favorite stories were the last three. Keep an eye out for books by Maureen McHugh, Maria Dahvana Headley and Tobias S. Buckell.

netherworld_books's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 maybe :) I don't usually pay attention to anthologies, but, wow, most of these are seriously impressive. I'm enthusiastic to follow most every author going forward; tho I didn't connect with two or three stories, there's much more hit than miss.

pleaseinsertpun's review against another edition

5.0

Great collection. My personal favorites:
"You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych" by Kathleen Kayembe
"The Last Cheng Beng Gift" by Jaymee Goh
"Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn" by A. Merc Gustad
"Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue" by Charlie Jane Anders
"Church of Birds" by Micah Dean Hicks
"The Wretched and the Beautiful" by E. Lily Yu
"Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance" by Tobias S. Buckell