Omni Best Science Fiction One

Many of the competently written stories selected by Datlow (co-editor of The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror ) to initiate this series are firmly dedicated to SF as a source of thought-provoking messages; the cumulative effect is slightly ponderous. Four pieces have been published previously, including Tom Maddox's ``Snake Eyes,'' which may be attaining the status of an anthology workhorse. It describes the problems of an Air Force veteran who (thanks to medical science) truly became one with his aircraft. In a new work from Elizabeth A. Lynn, Californians go cold turkey on their addiction to cars: realizing that automobile use cannot be contained, the state is confiscating cars and drivers' licenses. Of the six original stories, two are sequels to works that appeared in Omni. Bruce McAllister's tale puts the reader into a complex world in which the 10th Assassin of the Order of Franciscans (who murders people seen by the Order as a threat to animals) is pitted against a mysterious woman who opposes Franciscan methods and the way the order runs its own zoo: animals roam free but are drugged into harmless shadows of themselves. (Oct.)