A review by stoicloofah
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2017 by Rich Horton
5.0
I found this collection at exactly the right time a year ago shortly after finishing several epic fantasy novels, and it was refreshing to read stories with interesting and varied premises that didn't feel the need to fill hundreds of pages with description and drama. Like any collection, it has its ups and downs, but after reading half of it, I was instantly sucked back into sci-fi short stories. I thought I had found my genre.
And then I read a copy of Analog and one of Dozois's anthologies and realized that it wasn't all great. There were short stories that I didn't like, and I wondered if the first half of this book was a fluke. I ended up getting my hands on this collection from the library again, finished the second half, and realized that Horton just happens to find stories that I love. "A Non-Hero’s Guide to The Road of Monsters" was a standout, but I really enjoyed all of it.
I don't give out many 5 star ratings, but this collection really did just catch me at the right time, and I'll keep an eye out for more edited by Horton.
And then I read a copy of Analog and one of Dozois's anthologies and realized that it wasn't all great. There were short stories that I didn't like, and I wondered if the first half of this book was a fluke. I ended up getting my hands on this collection from the library again, finished the second half, and realized that Horton just happens to find stories that I love. "A Non-Hero’s Guide to The Road of Monsters" was a standout, but I really enjoyed all of it.
I don't give out many 5 star ratings, but this collection really did just catch me at the right time, and I'll keep an eye out for more edited by Horton.