This volume covers 2022. It was released September 10, 2024. I guess this is Clarke's timetable now.
Wow. I went 9 stories in, not really getting into any of them. I was thinking "Am I aging out of the genre?" It reminded me of a few years ago when, after 10 or so years of interviewing HS seniors for admission to MIT, I started finding almost all of them so immature & clueless. I decided to quit, let someone closer in age to them interview them. Because I figured the problem was with me, not with them.
I finally did like the somewhat snarky Tobias S. Bucknell story "The Plastic People". A sneering look at inequality and the ultra-wealthy.
Note, I just noticed that story #6, "Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist" was by the author that our editor, Clarke, called out as "one to watch": Isabel J. Kim. The story is very meta, but a little bit too contrived for me, I think.
The Ray Nayler story, "Mender of Sparrows" was of course good. I think I had read it before.
The Suzanne Palmer story, "Falling Off the Edge of the World", was interesting. A astro-archeology story with a kind of incidental 1st contact story thrown in.
The Sarah Gailey story, "When the Tide Rises", was memorable, but somewhat shallow IMO.
The Rich Larson story,"Quandary Aminu vs The Butterfly Man", is the high point of the collection. Why do I say that? The story is really edgy. What makes a story edgy?
- It reminds me of "Neuromancer" or "Snow Crash".
- It has characters that remind me of cheap detective / noir stories or films.
- It has John Wick levels of (stylistic) violence.
Our 2nd story (Bucknell was the 1st) of Caribbean origins is "Bishop's Opening", by R.S.A. Garcia. An odd, quirky story, with a weird society based on chess pieces & no mercy. Garcia has recently struggled with cancer, I GoFundedMe her for $200, last update was that she was better. I (selfishly) hope she has a long life, I enjoy her work.
The Alistair Reynolds story, "Things To Do In Deimos When You're Dead", is very interesting. Very creative setting & back story, relatable characters.
"By Those Hands", by Congyun "Mu Ming" Gu, is an interesting story of betrayal - or is it?
The Greg Egan story, "Solidity", is rather odd. Egan has been very reliable for the last 2-3 decades. I noticed I had missed his last 2 novels, now on my iPad. This is a very creative multiverse story.
"Optimist Cleaver's Last Transmission", by J. C. Hsyu is edgy (see above). I revised #1 above and added 'or "Snow Crash"', because this story features delivery people.
The Tade Thompson story, "Down and Out in Exile Park", has some nice post-capitalism memes in it.
"Two Spacesuits", by Leonard Richardson, is an odd story.
"A Hole in the Light", by Annalee Newitz, features an interesting alien life form.
I seem to remember the Dozois "Year's Best" usually ending with a longish, very strong story. That didn't happen here. The last few stories are shortish, & not particularly strong.
OK, so I'm finished with this collection, covering 2022. It was released September 10, 2024 - 21 months after the end of the target year. The last few Dozois "Year's Best" came out in July of the following year - a 7 month lag. I would always look forward to it.
It is now January, 2026, and no sign of the Clarke 2023 "Year's Best" - 25 months delay & counting! This is NOT helping to keep me current.
It looks like Clarke has been having health issues since 2012 when he had a severe heart attack. He's 60 YO now, so he would have been 47 then? His website has a 2021 blog post mentioning kidney stones after 8 years of health problems. I hope he's doing alright.
But, meanwhile, crap, do I need to switch to a different "Year's Best"? There are a few others out there. Any recommendations?
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