The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection

This venerable annual series continues in its usual mode, emphasizing print magazines and anthologies and highlighting such established authors as Alastair Reynolds, Michael Swanwick, and Robert Reed (who actually has two stories in the anthology). However, relative newcomers like Yoon Ha Lee and Hannu Rajaniemi inject fresh blood, and more stories are drawn from online venues than in previous years. Carrie Vaughn's "Amaryllis" quietly imbues a semidystopian future with optimism, while Allen M. Steele's "The Emperor of Mars" explores one man's attempt to stay sane in the face of devastating news. "Sleeping Dogs" by Joe Haldeman is a cynical look at postwar trauma and government manipulation. Rachel Swirsky's multigenerational "Again and Again and Again" shows that some things never change. This series remains an excellent resource for those who can't keep up with the field's increasing annual output. (July)