The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year 04

The depth and breadth of what science fiction and fantasy fiction is changes with every passing year. The two dozen stories chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan carefully maps this evolution, giving readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer. Publishers Weekly Strahan’s introduction calls 2008 “a good but not exceptional year for short fiction,” and in accurate reflection, all 29 stories collected here are good, but few are great. The standouts are memorable in a variety of ways: for sheer power of narrative voice, Pat Cadigan’s “Truth and Bone”; for human connections to inscrutable aliens, Damien Broderick’s “This Wind Blowing, and This Tide”; for humor amid life-and-death peril, Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear’s “Mongoose.” Hard SF fans should seek out the imperiled far future Earth of Stephen Baxter’s “Formidable Caress,” while a sense of wonder and menace permeates Peter Watts’s “The Island.” A few stories don’t feel as strong as they might have been, but there are no real wrong turns. (Apr.) It takes two -- Nicola Griffith Three twilight tales -- Jo Walton Night cache -- Andy Duncan Island -- Peter Watts Ferryman -- Margo Lanagan "Wild and a wicked youth" -- Ellen Kushner Pelican bar -- Karen Joy Fowler Spar -- Kij Johnson Going deep -- James Patrick Kelly Coldest girl in Coldtown -- Holly Black Zeppelin City -- Michael Swanwick & Eileen Gunn Dragon's teeth -- Alex Irvine This wind blowing, and this tide -- Damien Broderick My moonlight -- Peter S. Beagle Black swan -- Bruce Sterling As women fight -- Sara Genge Cinderella game -- Kelly Link Formidable caress -- Stephen Baxter Blocked -- Geoff Ryman Truth and bone -- Pat Cadigan Eros, Philia, Agape -- Rachel Swirsky Motorman's coat -- John Kessel Mongoose -- Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear Echoes of Aurora -- Ellen Klages Before my last breath -- Robert Reed JoBoy -- Diana Wynne Jones Utriusque Cosmi -- Robert Charles Wilson Delicate architecture -- Catherynne M. Valente Cat who walked a thousand miles -- Kij Johnson. The depth and breadth of what science fiction and fantasy fiction is changes with every passing year. The two dozen stories chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan carefully maps this evolution, giving readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors. Contains twenty-nine short science fiction and fantasy stories, chosen by editor Jonathan Strahan as the best of 2009, including selections by Stephen Baxter, Holly Black, Ellen Kushner, and Geoff Ryman Gathers stories by such writers as Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Cory Doctorow, Jeffrey Ford, Walter Jon Williams, Tim Powers, Gene Wolfe, Connie Willis, and Robert Reed