The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol. 3

Strahan's third annual anthology provides a solid sampler of good fiction. Stories by well-known authors Holly Black, Stephen King and the late Joan Aiken, though strong, are outclassed by masterful and innovative genre tales written by relative newcomers, such as Kij Johnson's “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss,” Meghan McCarron's “The Magician's House” and Ken Scholes's “The Doom of Love in Small Spaces.” Also notable, Paolo Bacigalupi's “The Gambler,” John Kessel's “Pride and Prometheus” and Rachel Swirsky's “Marry the Sun” use traditional storytelling techniques to build powerful, exciting tales. Only Garth Nix's overlong “Beyond the Sea Gates of the Scholar Pirates of Sarsköe” and Margo Lanagan's predictable “Machine Maid” are substandard. Strahan's introduction gives a nice overview of the state of the genre. (Sept.)