A review by lanko
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas by Paula Guran

5.0

Great anthology of novellas. I've always thought as people multitask and have shorter spans of attention that shorter works of Fantasy (known for its many doorsteppers) like novelletes and novellas would be the next thing, at least for the more casual/mainstream readers.

There are 9 novellas here (I think half is Sci-Fi) with very different stories. As always, preferences will vary, but I was pretty happy with what I read. Also, if you have it on paper, it only occupies the space of one book instead of 10 or one e-reader file as well, which is pretty nice.

My favorite from Fantasy was The Last Witness, from K.J. Parker and from Sci-Fi Gypsy from Carter Scholz.
Johnny Rev, by Rachael Pollack was also pretty good as a mix of Gaiman's American Gods with China Miélville in New York.

I wrote my thoughts on each novella:

Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls, by Aliette de Bodard

Gypsy, by Carter Scholz

The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn, by Usman T. Malik

The Last Witness, by K.J. Parker

What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear, by Bao Shu

Inhuman Garbage, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The Bone Swans of Amandale, by C.S.E. Cooney

Johnny Rev, by Rachel Pollack

I got this anthology from Netgalley, so thanks to them too.