2024 the best american review


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(as of Dec 15, 2024 15:30:15 UTC - Details)

This omnivorous selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and World Fantasy Award finalist Carmen Maria Machado is a display of the most boundary-pushing, genre-blurring, stylistically singular science fiction and fantasy stories published in the last year. By sending us to alternate universes and chronicling ordinary magic, introducing us to mythical beasts and talking animals, and engaging with a wide spectrum of emotion from tenderness to fear, each of these stories challenge the way we see our place in the cosmos. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019 represents a wide range of the most accomplished voices working in science fiction and fantasy, in fiction, today—each story dazzles with ambition, striking prose, and the promise of the other and the unencountered.
 

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07LC9P452
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books (October 1, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 1, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 9711 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 436 pages
Reviewer: Amit Gupta
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Diverse stories with so much heart
Review: Every story left me thinking; every story stuck in my mind for days afterward. It’s honestly hard to pick a single favorite in this consistently great set, so I’ll pick several:- The near-future “When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis” by Annalee Newitz took what could have been a dystopian view of urban decay and turned it into something heartwarming and fun. I plan to read Autonomous by this author next.- “Poor Unfortunate Fools” by Silvia Park and “Skinned” by Lesley Nneka Arimah haunted me for days (in a good way)- “Through the Flash” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah took what should have been a depressing and shocking subject and somehow infused it with humanity and the likable normalcy of a YA novel.- “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” reminded me a bit of Arrival. I liked it so much I immediately bought a copy of Spoonbenders, by the same author.So glad I picked this one up!

Reviewer: M. Riccardi
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Thoroughly Entetaining - each of the three stories I picked to read is a marvel!
Review: This collection was purchased as a birthday/christmas gift for a young relative, but I had it sent to my home first so that I could wrap it. As I am also a sci-fi fan, I naturally tried to read some of the stories in it before the postal deadline arrived. I managed to read three (which I picked just because the titles intrigued me at first glance). These stories were: 'The Kite Maker' (a eerily nostalgic fable about immigration, with hint of WWII era Germany, dressed up as a post alien-invasion, and the huge value in recognizing and cherishing what is special about a 'newly arriving' species, or form of being), 'The Nine Teeth of George Washington' (an inventive and enlightening -- even shocking -- 'analysis' of ol' George's wooden teeth in the form of 9 mini-biographies of the slaves whose lives, work and sacrifice originated them), and (my favorite of the three), 'Robot and Crow Save East St. Louis' (an utterly delightful 'buddy story' that manages to mix inter-specific communication -- human, crow, and robot -- with epidemiology, with a lesson about carrying on with one's life work/mission thrown in for good measure). I can only surmise that the rest of the stories presented herein are equally as captivating and stimulating to the imagination. I gave this collection 4 stars simply because I did not read all or most of the stories (but a semi-random sampling). Carmen Maria Machado (the editor; series editor: John Joseph Adams) deserves much kudos for her stellar taste in sci-fi/fantasy short literature...and yes, I DO plan on ordering a second copy just for me.

Reviewer: Cheryl L. Taylor
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Perfect for the Sci Fi buff
Review: Bought this for my son and he loves it! He wants to add more of the Best American Science Fiction series to his collection.

Reviewer: Brandi
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Not as good as other years, but not as politically heavy handed as last year either
Review: I like this series. Every year, I get it from the library or buy it and get lost in the stories inside. However, ever since Trump's election, there has been a heavy handed dose of politics in a lot of them. I don't like Trump either, and I have no problem with stories having political messages, but they feel like being hit in the head with it, and it's not entertaining. It's tiring.

Reviewer: Matty Clark
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Amazing
Review: This ended up being another great selection of stories. We need more of these in this day and age. Beautiful.

Reviewer: Gared Sparrowson
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The editor’s choices made my day
Review: I understand that when there is a single person deciding what to collect for a yearly collection of the “best,” there will be certain years where you and the editor just don’t see eye to eye. I always read the introduction, to see if we will get off on the right foot. This doesn’t always completely work, and there have been several Year’s Best series that I’ve had to put down after struggling with a few terrible stories.This was not one of them. Every one of these stories snuck up on me and moved me in one way or another. Three of them pushed this book from library borrow to purchase.As others have said, they are generally more fantasy than sci-fi. They are mostly written by women. But if you find yourself looking for something new and punchy, some stories in between Angela Carter and Peter Beagle, with a dash of Ray Bradbury and a cup of Le Guin, give these a try.And there will always be new introductions next year.

Reviewer: e
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Get this collection!
Review: Love these yearly collections, a lot. I think you will, too.

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