The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2020 Edition. edited by Rich Horton
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2020 Edition is rated 80%.
AVERAGE STORY: 3.67
33 Stories: 2 great / 21 good / 7 average / 3 poor / 0 DNF
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Thirty-three stories was probably too many for a Years’ Best of 2019 .. and it was probably not the best idea to include Fantasy. There were a lot of good stories year, but quality of the fantasy was quite inferior to that of the science fiction, and it dragged down the overall reading experience. A 15 story collection at half the page count would have been a much stronger book.
Yet, the anthology does represent the state of modern SFF. Diverse, inclusive, unsubtle, occasionally preachy, and with a solid professionalism of prose quality. I just wish there was a bit more science in this current crop of Science Fiction.
The book opens with incredible strength. Two great stories:
“Green Glass: A Love Story” by E. Lily Yu. One of the biggest compliments that I can give a story is that it has the creativity and invention of a lesser author’s 7 book series. That is abundant here as Yu is sharing her imagination like a defective vending machine. This story is an indictment of the ultra rich, a vision of climate change disasters, and very funny.
“At the Fall” by Alec Nevala-Lee. It’s a SF “Incredible Journey,” but instead of animals, sentient undersea robots must adventure across great distances to reconnect with their humans. Immersive (pun intended) in the world building. Really enjoyable.
The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2020 Edition is rated 80%.
33 Stories: 2 great / 21 good / 7 average / 3 poor / 0 DNF
How do I arrive at a rating?
“Green Glass: A Love Story” by E. Lily Yu
Great. A wild satire of the ultra-rich, disguised as an upper-class romance, and jammed with an ocean of sharp SF speculation.
“At the Fall” by Alec Nevala-Lee
Great. Sentient underwater robots make a fateful trek across the ocean to reconnect to their humans.
“The Fine Print” by Chinelo Onwualu
Good. An Arabian man got his fox-wife from the Djinn, but they want payment in his sun. Probably fantasy, but there is nothing in the story that prevents this being SF.
“Fix That House!” by John Kessel
Average. Hipsters restoring an antebellum mansion get a bit out of control.
“Mighty Are the Meek and the Myriad” by Cassandra Khaw
Good. The peace treaty between the robots and people is starting to fray in the UK
“The Savannah Problem” by Adam-Troy Castro
Good. A thrilling SF adventure around the capture and transportation of a skilled professional killer.
“How to Kiss a Hojacki” by Debbie Urbanski
Good. Brutal with content warnings galore! A man’s wife is turning into an alien thing that doesn’t want to have sex with him. He can’t understand it and becomes monstrous himself.
“Tourists” by Rammel Chan
Good. Alien tourists take human form to blend in, but also to hide from those that would hurt them.
“Vīs Dēlendī” by Marie Brennan
Poor. A very generic “magic academy’ story about love and hubris.
“Cloud-Born” by Gregory Feeley
Average. Plotless character study of children born on a colony ship. Believable angst.
“Give the Family My Love” by A.T. Greenblatt
Good. The last astronaut of earth tries to enter an alien library in the hope of saving earth.
“The Archronology of Love” by Caroline M. Yoachim
Good. While mourning her lost love, a woman tries to investigate what killed him and the whole colony.
“The Migration Suite: A Study in C Sharp Minor” by Maurice Broaddus
Good. A few musical movements take this story from prehistoric Ghana to a space colony - with lots of racism along the way.
“Secret Stories of Doors” by Sofia Rhei
Good. In an alternate 20th century, a writer hides stories of a fake writer in the official histories.
“The Ocean Between the Leaves” by Ray Nayler
Good. In a future Istanbul, a man is working himself to death as a form of a bounty-hunter, to pay for his sister’s medical care.
“The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations” by Minsoo Kang
Poor. In cold academic prose the story of translators who lie to their leaders end up preventing a war.
“Shucked” by Sam J. Miller
Good. A creepy bit of horror as an older man offers a young couple lots of money for one hour of the boyfriend’s time. But not for the reason you think!
“Empty Box” by Allison Mulvihill
Average. Artificial intelligence and long distance relationships in the near future.
“The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear” by Kelly Link
Average. Lesbian gets stranded in Detroit because of some reason. She does a lot of swimming in the pool to help her sleep. Her daughter is having prophetic dreams.
“Ink, and Breath, and Spring” by Frances Rowat
Good. Fantasy murder mystery set in and around a very strange library.
“The Death of Fire Station 10” by Ray Nayler
Good. An almost-great story about emerging AI from within smart-buildings like the Fire Station of the title.
“Love in the Time of Immuno-Sharing” by Andy Dudak
Average. Immuno-Sex has replaced reproductive-sex in a disease ravaged future. A small group of revelers leaves their floating worlds for the madness on shore.
“Bark, Blood, and Sacrifice” by Alexandra Seidel
Good. A creepy bit of horror surrounding a girl named Labyrinth, a sentient and demanding house, and a man drawn to visit.
Mnemosyne by Catherine MacLeod
Good. A really sharp and tight story about a woman who is a ghost catcher - storing and transporting ghosts in her head.
Cloud by Michael Swanwick
Average.. A man meets his wife’s ultra-rich family.
A Country Called Winter by Theodora Goss
Average. A young woman has immigrated from Winter. She has a few love affairs and goes to college before ‘fulfilling her destiny.”
And Now His Lordship is Laughing by Shiv Ramdas
Good. Brutal and angry story of a old Indian woman who takes magical revenge on the British Colonial leadership.
Knowledgeable Creatures by Christopher Rowe
Good. Fun little hard boiled detective story with a detective dog, some humans, and super-smart mice.
The Visible Frontier by Grace Seybold
Good. Baroque world building. A young sailor is fascinated with the stars and discovers different perspectives on them each time he comes ashore.
A Catalog of Storms by Fran Wilde
Good. In face of the future’s violent storms, some young people become ‘weathermen’ with the purpose of screaming back at the storm. Very well written fantasy.
At the Old Wooden Synagogue on Janower Street by Michael Libling
Poor. Yuck. This gimmick story exploits the Holocaust when a jewish family walks into a diner.
miscellaneous notes from the time an alien came to band camp disguised as my alto sax by Tina Connolly
Good. Scatterbrained fun with weird shapeshifting aliens, teen sex, and band camp.
Anosognosia by John Crowley
Good. Gentle and strange. A high-school boy recovers from a coma of starts to believe that he is living his life for a second time. A long story that would benefit from novel length.
