[The Year's Best Science Fiction 16] • Sixteenth Annual Collection

The past through tomorrow are boldly imagined and reinvented in the twenty-five stories collected in this showcase anthology. Many of the field's finest practitioners are represented here, along with stories from promising newcomers, including:

William Barton * Rob Chilson * Tony Daniel * Cory Doctorow * Jim Grimsley * Gwyneth Jones * Chris Lawson * Ian McDonald * Robert Reed * William Browning Spencer * Allen Steele * Michael Swanwick * Howard Waldrop * Cherry Wilder * Liz Williams

A useful list of honorable mentions and Dozois's insightful summation of the year in sf round out this anthology, making it indispensable for anyone interested in SF today.

Contents

xi • Summation: 1998 • essay by Gardner Dozois

1 • Oceanic • (1998) • novella by Greg Egan

37 • Approaching Perimelasma • (1998) • novelette by Geoffrey A. Landis

56 • Craphound • (1998) • shortstory by Cory Doctorow

72 • Jedella Ghost • (1998) • shortstory by Tanith Lee

87 • Taklamakan • [Chattanooga] • (1998) • novelette by Bruce Sterling

118 • The Island of the Immortals • (1998) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin

126 • Sea Change, with Monsters • (1998) • novella by Paul J. McAuley

161 • Divided by Infinity • (1998) • novelette by Robert Charles Wilson

181 • US • (1998) • shortstory by Howard Waldrop

191 • The Days of Solomon Gursky • (1998) • novella by Ian McDonald

234 • The Cuckoo's Boys • (1998) • novella by Robert Reed

277 • The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness • (1998) • shortstory by William Browning Spencer

289 • The Very Pulse of the Machine • (1998) • novelette by Michael Swanwick

304 • Story of Your Life • (1998) • novella by Ted Chiang

339 • Voivodoi • (1998) • shortstory by Liz Williams

349 • Saddlepoint: Roughneck • [Saddle Point • 4] • (1998) • novella by Stephen Baxter

393 • This Side of Independence • (1998) • shortstory by Rob Chilson

404 • Unborn Again • (1998) • shortstory by Chris Lawson

416 • Grist • (1998) • novella by Tony Daniel

462 • La Cenerentola • (1998) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones

476 • Down in the Dark • (1998) • novelette by William Barton

510 • Free in Asveroth • (1998) • shortstory by Jim Grimsley

524 • The Dancing Floor • (1998) • novelette by Cherry Wilder

544 • The Summer Isles • (1998) • novella by Ian R. MacLeod

603 • Honorable Mentions: 1998 • essay by Gardner Dozois