The Year's Best Science Fiction 19

The twenty-first century has so far proven to be exciting and wondrous and filled with challenges we had never dreamed. New possibilities previously unimagined appear almost daily . . . and science fiction stories continue to explore those possibilities with delightful results:

Collected in this anthology are such compelling stories as:

"On K2 with Kanakaredes" by Dan Simmons. A relentlessly paced and absorbing tale set in the near future about three mountain climbers who must scale the face of K2 with some very odd company.

"The Human Front" by Ken MacLeod. In this compassionate coming-of-age tale the details of life are just a bit off from things as we know them-and nothing is as it appears to be.

"Glacial" by Alastair Reynolds. A fascinating discovery on a distant planet leads to mass death and a wrenching mystery as spellbinding as anything in recent short fiction.

The twenty-six stories in this collection imaginatively takes us far across the universe, into the very core of our beings, to the realm of the gods, and the moment just after now. Included here are the works of masters of the form and of bright new talents, including:

Eleanor Arnason

Chris Beckett

Michael Blumlein

Michael Cassutt

Brenda W. Clough

Paul Di Filippo

Andy Duncan

Carolyn Ives Gilman

Jim Grimsley

Simon Ings

James Patrick Kelly

Leigh Kennedy

Nancy Kress

Ian R. MacLeod

Ken MacLeod

Paul J. McAuley

Maureen F. McHugh

Robert Reed

Alastair Reynolds

Geoff Ryman

William Sanders

Dan Simmons

Allen M. Steele

Charles Stross

Michael Swanwick

Howard Waldrop

Supplementing the stories are the editor's insightful summation of the year's events and a lengthy list of honorable mentions, making this book a valuable resource in addition to serving as the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart.

Contents

xiii • Summation: 2001 • (2002) • essay by Gardner Dozois

1 • New Light on the Drake Equation • (2001) • novella by Ian R. MacLeod

54 • More Adventures on Other Planets • (2001) • novelette by Michael Cassutt

73 • On K2 with Kanakaredes • (2001) • novelette by Dan Simmons

112 • When This World Is All on Fire • (2001) • novelette by William Sanders

131 • Computer Virus • (2001) • novelette by Nancy Kress

175 • Have Not Have • (2001) • novelette by Geoff Ryman

196 • Lobsters • [Macx Family] • (2001) • novelette by Charles Stross

222 • The Dog Said Bow-Wow • [Darger and Surplus] • (2001) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick

239 • The Chief Designer • (2001) • novella by Andy Duncan

285 • Neutrino Drag • (2001) • novelette by Paul Di Filippo

307 • Glacial • [Revelation Space] • (2001) • novella by Alastair Reynolds

350 • The Days Between • (2002) • novelette by Allen Steele [as by Allen M. Steele ]

377 • One-Horse Town • (2001) • novelette by Howard Waldrop and Leigh Kennedy (aka One Horse Town)

411 • Moby Quilt • (2001) • novella by Eleanor Arnason

454 • Raven Dream • [Amerindian] • (2001) • novelette by Robert Reed

478 • Undone • (2001) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly

506 • The Real Thing • (2001) • novelette by Carolyn Ives Gilman

543 • Interview: On Any Given Day • (2001) • shortstory by Maureen F. McHugh

560 • Isabel of the Fall • (2001) • novelette by Ian R. MacLeod

582 • Into Greenwood • (2001) • novelette by Jim Grimsley

615 • Know How, Can Do • (2001) • novelette by Michael Blumlein

636 • Russian Vine • (2001) • shortstory by Simon Ings

653 • The Two Dicks • (2001) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley [as by Paul McAuley ]

671 • May Be Some Time • [Captain Titus Oates] • (2001) • novella by B. W. Clough [as by Brenda W. Clough ]

714 • Marcher • (2001) • shortstory by Chris Beckett

731 • The Human Front • (2001) • novella by Ken MacLeod

781 • Honorable Mentions: 2001 • (2002) • essay by Gardner Dozois