The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection (15th Annual Collection)(Cloth)

Rating:
Summary: Mostly good.
Review: There were some stories that ,although good, made me ask "Is that really one of the best?". "Escape Route" & "Agamemnon" for example & I wish he'd chosen Landis's "Eciopesis" instead of his "Winter Fire". Regardless there is a great variety in this anthology. Two stories each about spies on moons & alternate Elizabethan times. Far future tales about earth & generation starships. A fair amount on genetics & even an alien invasion story. As for women well the sad truth is only about 30 percent of science fiction stories are written by women. True this still makes this issue (& the previous one) an underrepresentation of them, but it means the thirteenth & several others were accurate. Best not to make too much of such statistical fluctuations. The intro seemed even more internet involved then in recent years. I bring that up because in previous years some of my favorite stories were from the Internet & this year that wasn't quite true. Although I liked "Open Veins" & "Masque of Agamemnon" they weren't as good as previous online stories like "Feigenbaum Number" for example. Oh well probably just another statistical anomaly. The strongest stories have pretty much been covered so I'l wrap up there.

Rating:
Summary: Where are the women?
Review: This is the second anthology I've read edited by Dozois and I am sorely disappointed in the paucity of women writers. Four out of 28 is hardly representative of the women writing in sf today. Just look at the honorable mentions in the back and one can see that they are writing and well represented in the field. His other anthology failed in this respect, also. Though many of the stories were strong there were a few I thought mediocre. Bill Johnson's "We will drink a fish together..." was tedious and the characters poorly developed. The story line was not all that original either. Greg Egan's "Reasons to be cheerful" was a unique look at the drawbacks and advances in modern medicine. Nancy Kress's story was, as always, exceptional. I would like to see more women writers in the next anthology. I may not buy another otherwise.