But you didn’t. You made that nervous grimace you do whenever a woman pays too much attention to you. Then you ambled off to look at a Lexus—a four-door with lots of cabin space. Good for families.
I watched you move. Your shoulders were slumped as though you carried something very heavy.
Then more bodies flowed between us, wealthy men and their school-aged mistresses, nouveau riche wives and their spoiled bachelor sons searching for a car to attract a pretty bride, broke students in designer knock-offs come to take selfies in front of BMWs so they can pretend to be rich on Weixin.
I lost you among them. I did not find you again.
ALSO BY GARDNER DOZOIS
ANTHOLOGIES
A DAY IN THE LIFE
ANOTHER WORLD
BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES OF THE YEAR #6–10
THE BEST OF ISAAC ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE
TIME-TRAVELERS FROM ISAAC ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE
TRANSCENDENTAL TALES FROM ISAAC ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE
ISAAC ASIMOV’S ALIENS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S MARS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S SF LITE
ISAAC ASIMOV’S WAR
ROADS NOT TAKEN (with Stanley Schmidt)
THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION, #1–35
FUTURE EARTHS: UNDER AFRICAN SKIES (with Mike Resnick)
FUTURE EARTHS: UNDER SOUTH AMERICAN SKIES (with Mike Resnick)
RIPPER! (with Susan Casper)
MODERN CLASSIC SHORT NOVELS OF SCIENCE FICTION
MODERN CLASSICS OF FANTASY
KILLING ME SOFTLY
DYING FOR IT
THE GOOD OLD STUFF
THE GOOD NEW STUFF
EXPLORERS
THE FURTHEST HORIZON
WORLDMAKERS
SUPERMEN
COEDITED WITH SHEILA WILLIAMS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S PLANET EARTH
ISAAC ASIMOV’S ROBOTS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S VALENTINES
ISAAC ASIMOV’S SKIN DEEP
ISAAC ASIMOV’S GHOSTS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S VAMPIRES
ISAAC ASIMOV’S MOONS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S CHRISTMAS
ISAAC ASIMOV’S CAMELOT
ISAAC ASIMOV’S WEREWOLVES
ISAAC ASIMOV’S SOLAR SYSTEM
ISAAC ASIMOV’S DETECTIVES
ISAAC ASIMOV’S CYBERDREAMS
COEDITED WITH JACK DANN
ALIENS!
UNICORNS!
MAGICATS!
MAGICATS 2!
BESTIARY!
MERMAIDS!
SORCERERS!
DEMONS!
DOGTALES!
SEA SERPENTS!
DINOSAURS!
LITTLE PEOPLE!
DRAGONS!
HORSES!
UNICORNS 2
INVADERS!
ANGELS!
DINOSAURS II
HACKERS
TIMEGATES
CLONES
NANOTECH
IMMORTALS
FICTION
STRANGERS
THE VISIBLE MAN (COLLECTION)
NIGHTMARE BLUE (with George Alec Effinger)
SLOW DANCING THROUGH TIME (with Jack Dann, Michael Swanwick, Susan Casper, and Jack C. Haldeman II)
THE PEACEMAKER
GEODESIC DREAMS (collection)
NONFICTION
THE FICTION OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR.
about the editor
GARDNER DOZOIS worked in the science fiction field for more than three decades. For twenty years he was the editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction, during which time he received the Hugo Award for Best Editor fifteen times, Nebula Awards twice, and a World Fantasy Award. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and received the Skylark Award for Lifetime Achievement. You can sign up for email updates here.
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contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
PERMISSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACE
EPIGRAPH
THE POTTER OF BONES • Eleanor Arnason
ROGUE FARM • Charles Stross
THE LITTLE GODDESS • Ian McDonald
DEAD MEN WALKING • Paul McAuley
TIN MARSH • Michael Swanwick
GOOD MOUNTAIN • Robert Reed
WHERE THE GOLDEN APPLES GROW • Kage Baker
THE SLEDGE-MAKER’S DAUGHTER • Alastair Reynolds
GLORY • Greg Egan
FINISTERRA • David Moles
THE ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GRIMM • Daryl Gregory
UTRIUSQUE COSMI • Robert Charles Wilson
EVENTS PRECEDING THE HELVETICAN RENAISSANCE • John Kessel
USELESS THINGS • Maureen McHugh
MONGOOSE • Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
HAIR • Adam Roberts
THE THINGS • Peter Watts
THE EMPEROR OF MARS • Allen M. Steele
FLOWER, MERCY, NEEDLE, CHAIN • Yoon Ha Lee
MARTIAN HEART • John Barnes
THE INVASION OF VENUS • Stephen Baxter
WEEP FOR DAY • Indrapramit Das
THE GIRL-THING WHO WENT OUT FOR SUSHI • Pat Cadigan
THE MEMCORDIST • Lavie Tidhar
THE BEST WE CAN • Carrie Vaughn
THE DISCOVERED COUNTRY • Ian R. MacLeod
PATHWAYS • Nancy Kress
THE HAND IS QUICKER … • Elizabeth Bear
SOMEDAY • James Patrick Kelly
THE LONG HAUL, FROM THE ANNALS OF TRANSPORTATION, THE PACIFIC MONTHLY, MAY 2009 • Ken Liu
THREE CUPS OF GRIEF, BY STARLIGHT • Aliette De Bodard
CALVED • Sam J. Miller
EMERGENCE • Gwyneth Jones
RATES OF CHANGE • James S. A. Corey
JONAS AND THE FOX • Rich Larson
KIT: SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED • Kathe Koja and Carter Scholz
WINTER TIMESHARE • Ray Nayler
MY ENGLISH NAME • R. S. Benedict
ALSO BY GARDNER DOZOIS
ABOUT THE EDITOR
COPYRIGHT
These stories are works of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these stories are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
THE VERY BEST OF THE BEST: 35 YEARS OF THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION. Copyright © 2019 by Gardner Dozois. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Jim Burns
Cover artwork: clockwise from upper left by Angela Harburn / Shutterstock.com; center illustrations by Jim Burns; bottom left by Maurizio Manzieri; bottom center by Donato Giancola, bottom right by Slawek Wojtowicz; bottom left by Michael Whelan
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-29620-7 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-1-250-29619-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-29621-4 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250296214
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: February 2019
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