Next


The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year-II

Volume Two


CoverA Baghdad merchant encounters an alchemist who may have conquered time; a socialite, a miniature elephant, and a butler attempt to survive a coup masquerading as a wild soiree; a pair of scientists, their species altered in order that they may perform research on an alien world, find themselves embroiled in an interplanetary conflict; a young man begins to question his faith in God when he encounters the remains of a race of tool-using hominids; a warrior treads a grisly path as he strives to stop a rogue wizard influence; a woman born with her heart outside her body finds solace in the arms of a heartless man; the messiah returns to earth, with disappointing news about the afterlife; figures out of myth and legend do battle with an enemy armed with a frightening weapon... the ability to steal away language itself; a girl and her fortune-teller mother travel the countryside, collecting ghosts.

The depth and breadth of science fiction and fantasy fiction continues to change with every passing year. The twenty-five stories chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan carefully map this evolution, giving readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer.

Jonathan Strahan has edited more than twenty anthologies and collections, including The Locus Awards, The New Space Opera, and The Jack Vance Treasury. He has won the Ditmar, William J. Atheling Jr. and Peter McNamara Awards for his work as an anthologist and reviewer. Strahan is currently the reviews editor for Locus.

Contents:
* Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
* The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, Ted Chiang
* The Last and Only, or Mr. Moskowitz
* Becomes French, Peter S. Beagle
* Trunk and Disorderly, Charles Stross
* Glory, Greg Egan
* Dead Horse Point, Daryl Gregory
* The Dreaming Wind, Jeffrey Ford
* The Coat of Stars, Holly Black
* The Prophet of Flores, Ted Kosmatka
* Wizard's Six, Alex Irvine
* The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics, Daniel Abraham
* By Fools Like Me, Nancy Kress
* Kiosk, Bruce Sterling
* Singing of Mount Abora, Theodora Goss
* The Witch's Headstone, Neil Gaiman
* Last Contact, Stephen Baxter
* Jesus Christ, Reanimator, Ken Macleod
* Sorrel's Heart, Susan Palwick
* Urdumheim, Michael Swanwick
* Holiday, M. Rickert
* The Valley of the Gardens, Tony Daniel
* Winter's Wife, Elizabeth Hand
* The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small, Chris Roberson
* Orm the Beautiful, Elizabeth Bear
* The Constable of Abal, Kelly Link

Cover Art by John Berkey


ORDER Paperback
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, April 2009

Distributed by Night Shade Books
1423 33rd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122

www.nightshadebooks.com

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webscription.net

ISBN-13: 978-1-59780-124-9
ISBN-10: 1-59780-124-0

Copyright© 2007 by Jonathan Strahan
This edition of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Two © 2008  by Night Shade Books

Cover art © 2008 by John Berkey
Cover design by Claudia Noble
Interior layout and design by Ross E. Lockhart

Introduction, story notes and arrangement © 2008 by Jonathan Strahan.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.


For Sean Williams, teller of tales,
builder of paper spaceships, and dear
friend for these many years.

Acknowledgements

Each year the list of people who need to be thanked for their support in producing this preposterously complicated book grows and grows. This year I'm going to try to keep it as tight as possible. I'd especially like to thank Gary K. Wolfe and Charles N. Brown for sharing their friendship and wisdom while I was assembling this book; Nick Gevers, who has been generous discussing the best fiction of the year; and everyone at Not If You Were the Last Short Story on Earth, especially Alisa Krasnostein and Ben Payne, who were kind and helpful when things got wobbly. I'd also like to thank Howard Morhaim; Justin Ackroyd; Jack Dann; Brian Bieniowski; and Gordon Van Gelder. Thanks also to the following good friends and colleagues without whom this book would have been much poorer, and much less fun to do: Lou Anders, Deborah Biancotti, Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, Sean Williams, and all of the book's contributors.

As always, my biggest thanks go to Marianne, Jessica, and Sophie. Every moment spent working on this book was a moment stolen from them. I only hope I can repay them.

Copyright Acknowledgements

"The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics," by Daniel Abraham. © 2007 Daniel Abraham. Originally published in Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories (Bantam Spectra), John Klima ed. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Last Contact," by Stephen Baxter © 2007 by Stephen Baxter. Originally published in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction (Solaris Books), George Mann ed. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Last And Only, or Mr. Moskowitz Becomes French," by Peter S. Beagle. © 2007 Peter S. Beagle. Originally published in Eclipse One: New Science Fiction and Fantasy (Night Shade), Jonathan Strahan ed. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Orm the Beautiful," by Elizabeth Bear. © 2007 Elizabeth Bear. Originally published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 4, January 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Coat of Stars," by Holly Black. © 2007 Holly Black. Originally published in So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction (Haworth), Steve Berman ed. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," by Ted Chiang. © 2007 Ted Chiang. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Valley of the Gardens," by Tony Daniel. © 2007 Tony Daniel. Originally published in The New Space Opera (HarperCollins Publishers), Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan eds. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Glory," by Greg Egan. © 2007 Greg Egan. Originally published in The New Space Opera (HarperCollins Publishers), Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan eds. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Dreaming Wind," by Jeffrey Ford. © 2007 Jeffrey Ford. Originally published in The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (Viking Children's), Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling eds. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Witch's Headstone," by Neil Gaiman. © 2007 Neil Gaiman. Originally published in Wizards: Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy (Berkeley), Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois eds. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Singing of Mount Abora," by Theodora Goss. © 2007 Theodora Goss. Originally published in Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories (Bantam Spectra), John Klima ed. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Dead Horse Point," by Daryl Gregory. © 2007 Daryl Gregory. Originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Winter's Wife," by Elizabeth Hand. © 2007 Elizabeth Hand. Originally published in Wizards: Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy (Berkeley), Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois eds. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Wizard's Six," by Alex Irvine. © 2007 Alex Irvine. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Prophet of Flores," by Ted Kosmatka. © 2007 Ted Kosmatka. Originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"By Fools Like Me," by Nancy Kress. © 2007 Nancy Kress. Originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Constable of Abal," by Kelly Link. © 2007 Kelly Link. Originally published in The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (Viking Children's), Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling eds. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Jesus Christ, Reanimator," by Ken Macleod. © 2007 Ken Macleod. Originally published in Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge (Pyr), Lou Anders ed. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Sorrel's Heart," by Susan Palwick. © 2007 Susan Palwick. Originally published in The Fate of Mice (Tachyon Publications). Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Holiday," by M. Rickert. © 2007 M. Rickert. Originally published in Subterranean #7, Ellen Datlow guest ed. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small," by Chris Roberson. © 2007 Chris Roberson. Originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Kiosk," by Bruce Sterling. © 2007 Bruce Sterling. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Trunk and Disorderly," by Charles Stross. © 2007 Charles Stross. Originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction, January 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Urdumheim," by Michael Swanwick. © 2007 by Michael Swanwick. Originally published in The Dog Said Bow-wow (Tachyon Publications). Reprinted by permission of the author.

Also Edited by Jonathan Strahan:

Best Short Novels (2004 through 2007)
Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005
Science Fiction: The Very Best of 2005
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume One
Eclipse One: New Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Starry Rift: Tales of New Tomorrows

With Charles N. Brown

The Locus Awards: Thirty Years of the Best in Fantasy and Science Fiction

With Jeremy G. Byrne

The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy: Volume 1
The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy: Volume 2
Eidolon 1

With Terry Dowling

The Jack Vance Treasury
The Jack Vance Reader

With Gardner Dozois

The New Space Opera

With Karen Haber

Science Fiction: Best of 2003
Science Fiction: Best of 2004
Fantasy: Best of 2004

Next