A review by pearseanderson
Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2015 Edition by Ellen Datlow, Beth Meacham, David G. Hartwell, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Ann VanderMeer, Carl Engle-Laird, Marco Palmieri, Claire Eddy
2.0
My favorite pieces:
Fabulous Beasts
Ballroom Blitz
Please Undo This Hurt
Some Gods of El Paso
The Thyme Fiend
The Shape of My Name
The enjoyable ones, although somewhat flawed:
The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn
Oral Argument
Islands Off the Coast of Capitola, 1978
The Museum and the Music Box
Damage
Elephants and Corpses
The Museum and the Music Box
Tear Tracks
The "why is this included," the "didn't finish these puppies," the "doesn't make me want to keep reading" ones:
Variations on an Apple
At the End of Babel
The Language of Knives
Ginga
Waters of Versailles
The Log Goblin
The Ways of Walls and Words
Schrodinger's Gun
Some notes:
I know all of these are acclaimed and powerful writers, I just didn't love all that they contributed. Some felt more like writing exercises that fell short of a story.
I really dislike that Tor decided to name the collection "Some of the Best from Tor.com." Are they afraid to say that other great stories weren't included? I don't think others would read this and say "oh, guess that's all of the talent in this publishing house" and head out the door they came in on. Creating Best of anthologies does not mean anthologists are undermining the credibility of others, or oppressing them. It's okay to label things as the best, we know that it's just one person's opinion—Some of the Best feels like everyone gets a trophy, and then no one wins.
Why is this collection structured alphabetically? Did that add anything to the writing? I skipped around on it, and in the moment I hated myself for not sticking to the anthologist's plans, but now I realized those plans were . . . underdeveloped I guess? I would've loved to see something like The Shape of My Name tacked on the back of Fabulous Beasts, or a quick action bit like Elephants and Corpses jumping off the fast fable of Log Goblin.
For 613 pages I think I should've enjoyed more of this than I did. 5/10 I guess.
Fabulous Beasts
Ballroom Blitz
Please Undo This Hurt
Some Gods of El Paso
The Thyme Fiend
The Shape of My Name
The enjoyable ones, although somewhat flawed:
The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn
Oral Argument
Islands Off the Coast of Capitola, 1978
The Museum and the Music Box
Damage
Elephants and Corpses
The Museum and the Music Box
Tear Tracks
The "why is this included," the "didn't finish these puppies," the "doesn't make me want to keep reading" ones:
Variations on an Apple
At the End of Babel
The Language of Knives
Ginga
Waters of Versailles
The Log Goblin
The Ways of Walls and Words
Schrodinger's Gun
Some notes:
I know all of these are acclaimed and powerful writers, I just didn't love all that they contributed. Some felt more like writing exercises that fell short of a story.
I really dislike that Tor decided to name the collection "Some of the Best from Tor.com." Are they afraid to say that other great stories weren't included? I don't think others would read this and say "oh, guess that's all of the talent in this publishing house" and head out the door they came in on. Creating Best of anthologies does not mean anthologists are undermining the credibility of others, or oppressing them. It's okay to label things as the best, we know that it's just one person's opinion—Some of the Best feels like everyone gets a trophy, and then no one wins.
Why is this collection structured alphabetically? Did that add anything to the writing? I skipped around on it, and in the moment I hated myself for not sticking to the anthologist's plans, but now I realized those plans were . . . underdeveloped I guess? I would've loved to see something like The Shape of My Name tacked on the back of Fabulous Beasts, or a quick action bit like Elephants and Corpses jumping off the fast fable of Log Goblin.
For 613 pages I think I should've enjoyed more of this than I did. 5/10 I guess.