This is the eleventh annual collection of SF&F curated
by Jonathan Strahan. Previous entries in the series have included some
absolutely stellar work, and the opportunity to explore some great new authors,
so I had high hopes for this one – and, generally speaking, they were met.
Much like the last couple of years, this is a very diverse
collection of material. There’s sharp, punchy , grimy fantasy from Joe
Abercrombie – bringing us a dynamic duo, a thief and a fighter, and unleashing
them on the world with acerbic humour, and a low tolerance for mistakes.
There’s the creeping body horror wrapped around modernity of Sam Miller’s
“Things with Beards”. There’s sweeping epic fantasy, new worlds defined
alongside personal triumphs, and more often personal tragedies – like Seth
Dickinson’s “Laws of Night and Silk”, and there’s fantasy like folk tales,
pulling on half remembered truths to shape something new.
There’s big questions on display throughout the collection,
though their answers differ. “The Great Detective”, for example tackles the
idea of what it means to be sentient, cloaking the query in a delightful blend
of steampunk and Holmesian period drama. The mystery is intriguing, and the
protagonist charming, and we rattle through the streets of a London laced with
ghosts and clockwork mechanicals whilst pondering the meaning of their
existence. Then there’s Yoon Ha Lee’s “Foxfire Foxfire” – where worryingly
intelligent animals cut deals with gods and men, examining who they are and who
they wish to be, and occasionally cutting the odd throat. This feels like
another strand – a narrative with the feel of a legend, mixed with something
new. The chatacters claw their way off the page, compelling, often dark,
sometimes deadly. There’s stories here which can be disquieting – watching
three friends and a new arrival sit around a table and tell stories, reveal
something of themselves, their vulnerabilities in Alice Sola Kim’s “Successor,
Usurper, Replacement” feels like teetering on the edge of a cliff, unable to
warn someone stepping off.
Then there’s N.K. Jemisin’s “Red Dirt Witch”, a meditation
on class, race and family, with a supernatural twist to it. The prose is
evocative, bringing a small town of the American South to life, as we watch
Emmaline, single mother, only occasionally supernatural, try and preserve her
family from otherworldly influences. The supernatural here accentuates the
questions of class, race and family that Jemisin explores, and makes for a very
powerful story. On the other hand, it’s notll serious - there’s the wry comedy
of “Even the Crumbs Were Delicious”, a story somewhat reminiscent of Phillip K.
Dick – watching the well meaning, bumbling protagonist try and hunt down the
parents of two lost teenagers is entertaining and rather sweet; that they’re
high as kites on 3d-printed designer drugs is an added bonus, and often rather
funny.
As with last year, there’s always going to be some stories
you like better than others. That said, the range on display here means there’s
something for everyone, and the aggregate level of quality continues to be very
high. There’s a lot going on here – stories that challenge, that delight,
tradgedies and comedies, broken worlds, aliens and fairy tales, all inside an
extremely imaginative package. On that
basis, I’ve no hesitation in recommending it to lovers of sci-fi and
fantasy–and also to everyone else. It’s packed with imaginative, ingenious
stories, and is very, very difficult to put down. Thoroughly recommended.
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