The Year's Best Science Fiction

The Year's Best Science Fiction is an annual anthology series that collected short science fiction and related genre stories from magazines, anthologies, and online publications. Launched in the 1980s, it became a touchstone for readers and writers and intersected with institutions, awards, and markets across the speculative fiction field. The series reflects changing trends in publishing, critical reception, and the careers of prominent authors.

Overview

The series showcased a range of authors whose works had appeared in periodicals such as Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and outlets like Clarkesworld Magazine, Lightspeed (magazine), Tor.com, and Strange Horizons. Its selections often included stories later honored by awards such as the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, Locus Award, and BSFA Award. Editors curated pieces spanning subgenres tied to authors associated with movements exemplified by Cyberpunk, New Wave science fiction, Hard science fiction, and themes explored in works by writers linked to New Weird and Slipstream. The series occupies a place alongside other anthologies like The Best American Short Stories and retrospective compilations from presses including Orbit Books, DAW Books, and Gollancz.

Publication History

The anthology series began in the mid-1980s under the aegis of major New York and British imprints and evolved through partnerships with publishers such as St. Martin's Press and St. Martin's Griffin. Its run overlapped with periods of magazine consolidation involving companies like Bantam Books and media groups including Berkley Books and digital platforms affiliated with Amazon Publishing. The series paralleled industry shifts seen in the histories of outlets like Playboy (magazine) when it published fiction, the international reach of Asimov's Science Fiction under Dell Magazines, and the rise of webzines linked to organizations such as SFWA and HWA. Changes in cover art, page counts, and distribution mirrored broader transformations in trade paperback markets documented by firms such as Penguin Random House and indie presses like Small Beer Press.

Editors and Anthologies

The series is most closely associated with editor Gardner Dozois, who curated annual volumes and whose editorship linked him with contemporaries such as John W. Campbell, Eleanor Arnason, John Joseph Adams, Jonathan Strahan, and anthologists like Pat Cadigan and Sharyn November. Other editors and guest contributors included figures with pedigrees in periodicals: editors from Analog Science Fiction and Fact such as Stanley Schmidt, from Asimov's Science Fiction like Charles Sheffield, and magazine founders of Interzone and Clarkesworld Magazine such as David Pringle and Yoon Ha Lee. The anthologies compiled both debut and established writers connected professionally to agencies like Writers House and literary programs such as Clarion Workshop and Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni active in genre fiction.

Notable Included Works and Authors

Across its run the series featured stories by award-winning and influential authors including Ursula K. Le Guin, William Gibson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Neil Gaiman, Ted Chiang, Octavia E. Butler, Connie Willis, Nancy Kress, N.K. Jemisin, Peter S. Beagle, Ann Leckie, Ian McDonald, Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Kij Johnson, Gene Wolfe, Cory Doctorow, Damon Knight, Joe Haldeman, Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Ellison, Elizabeth Bear, Rudy Rucker, Bruce Sterling, Gardner Dozois (as curator and occasional author), and Sofia Samatar. The series also amplified international voices appearing first in publications like Asahi Shimbun translations or in anthologies issued by Gollancz and Picador. Many stories went on to place on final ballots for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, Nebula Award for Best Short Story, Locus Award for Best Short Story, and regional awards such as the Aurora Awards (Canada).

Reception and Influence

Critics and scholars from institutions such as Purdue University and University of California, Riverside's SF research programs cited the series in surveys of late 20th- and early 21st-century science fiction. Review outlets including Locus (magazine), The New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, and genre-specific columns in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews regularly assessed individual volumes. The anthology influenced curricula at creative writing programs including Clarion West and publishing decisions at genre imprints like Tor Books and Orbit Books. Its legacy appears in subsequent best-of anthologies edited by figures such as John Joseph Adams and Jonathan Strahan and in commemorative collections from organizations like Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Category:Science fiction anthologies Category:Series of books