The Best Science Fiction of the Year
by Neil Clarke
Synopsis
Thrilling, smart, and brilliant short science fiction from Simone Heller, Ken Liu, Ian McDonald, and many more. A human detective and their partner, an enhanced chimpanzee, investigate a strange murder on the subway . . . a smart home goes into lockdown, turning a man’s own home into his prison . . . at a robot factory, something has caused the mac… Thrilling, smart, and brilliant short science fiction from Simone Heller, Ken Liu, Ian McDonald, and many more. A human detective and their partner, an enhanced chimpanzee, investigate a strange murder on the subway . . . a smart home goes into lockdown, turning a man’s own home into his prison . . . at a robot factory, something has caused the machines to attempt to escape . . . mysterious seeds raining down from deep space could be the first sign of an alien invasion . . . a woman seeks to restore a broken AI, hoping it can help return humanity to better days . . . For decades, science fiction has compelled us to imagine futures both inspiring and cautionary. Whether it’s a warning message from a survey ship, a harrowing journey to a new world, or the adventures of well-meaning AI, science fiction inspires the imagination and delivers a lens through which we can view ourselves and the world around us. With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Four, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and twenty-nine of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2018: When We Were Starless—Simone Heller Intervention—Kelly Robson All the Time We’ve Left to Spend—Alyssa Wong Domestic Violence—Madeline Ashby Ten Landscapes of Nili Fossae—Ian McDonald Prophet of the Roads—Naomi Kritzer Traces of Us—Vanessa Fogg Theories of Flight—Linda Nagata Lab B–15—Nick Wolven Requiem—Vandana Singh Sour Milk Girls—Erin Roberts Mother Tongues—S. Qiouyi Lu Singles’ Day—Samantha Murray Nine Last Days on Planet Earth—Daryl Gregory The Buried Giant—Lavie Tidhar The Anchorite Wakes—R.S.A. Garcia Entropy War—Yoon Ha Lee An Equation of State—Robert Reed Quantifying Trust—John Chu Hard Mary—Sofia Samatar Freezing Rain, a Chance of Falling—L.X. Beckett Okay, Glory—Elizabeth Bear Heavy Lifting—A.T. Greenblatt Lions and Gazelles—Hannu Rajaniemi Different Seas—Alastair Reynolds Among the Water Buffaloes, a Tiger’s Steps—Aliette de Bodard Byzantine Empathy—Ken