A review by dorhastings
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 by John Joseph Adams, Joe Hill
4.0
So at some point last year, I visited my friend Carrie in San Fran and we visited an indie bookstore, because that's what we do. I wasn't going to buy anything. I picked this up and showed it to my friend, who skimmed the authors and recommended it. After reading hundreds of student papers, I both needed a break but also needed to read something worthwhile. Short stories sounded like a good plan, and I wasn't disappointed. Almost every author was new to me. The following were the ones that really struck me and make me want to read more about those authors. They are equal parts fantasy and science fiction, which is delightful, and I found myself not favoring one over the other.
-Carmen Maria Machado, "Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead"
-Alaya Dawn Johnson, "A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i"; I would feel odd not having it on this list, and I'm not entirely sure why. Might be the main character?
-Seanan McGuire, "Each to Each"; quite fantastic
-Theodora Goss, "Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology"; alarming, but not really for the concept of imaginary anthropology, which is bizarre, I suppose.
-Jo Walton, "Sleeper"; this particular reading was fascinating
-Neil Gaiman, "How the Marquis Got His Coat Back"; a spinoff from Neverwhere
-Adam-Troy Castro, "The Thing About Shapes to Come; bizarre and delightful
-Daniel H. Wilson, "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever"; Wilson also wrote Robopocalypse, which I don't remember liking all that much; this was my FAVORITE story in the whole book. I needed a break afterward.
-Kelly Sandoval, "The One They Took Before"; an interesting little read post-fey abduction (post-fey? current fey?)
-A. Merc Rustad, "How to Become a Robot in 12 Easy Steps"; feels a bit alternative in terms of all the lists and suchlike; it's a good ending to the series.
Yes, there were a handful of stories in the book I didn't like. Par for the course.
-Carmen Maria Machado, "Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead"
-Alaya Dawn Johnson, "A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i"; I would feel odd not having it on this list, and I'm not entirely sure why. Might be the main character?
-Seanan McGuire, "Each to Each"; quite fantastic
-Theodora Goss, "Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology"; alarming, but not really for the concept of imaginary anthropology, which is bizarre, I suppose.
-Jo Walton, "Sleeper"; this particular reading was fascinating
-Neil Gaiman, "How the Marquis Got His Coat Back"; a spinoff from Neverwhere
-Adam-Troy Castro, "The Thing About Shapes to Come; bizarre and delightful
-Daniel H. Wilson, "The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever"; Wilson also wrote Robopocalypse, which I don't remember liking all that much; this was my FAVORITE story in the whole book. I needed a break afterward.
-Kelly Sandoval, "The One They Took Before"; an interesting little read post-fey abduction (post-fey? current fey?)
-A. Merc Rustad, "How to Become a Robot in 12 Easy Steps"; feels a bit alternative in terms of all the lists and suchlike; it's a good ending to the series.
Yes, there were a handful of stories in the book I didn't like. Par for the course.