The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 (N. K. Jemisin, editor)

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018
N. K. Jemisin, editor (John Joseph Adams, series editor)
Mariner
Fiction, Anthology/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Rivers take human form to escape captivity... a young woman discovers a dark family secret in the worst possible way... a robot on a galactic spaceship is forced into an impossible choice by a stowaway... These and more stories are collected in this volume, edited by author N. K. Jemisin.

REVIEW: Yes, it's a few years old, but I keep meaning to read more short stories, and this book was free to me. (I also, as I've noted in previous reviews, have somewhat iffy luck with anthologies, but I like what I've read of Jemisin's work and decided to trust her judgement... and, again, free to me.) As with the majority of anthologies and collections I've read, the results are a bit of a mixed bag. A few I thoroughly enjoyed, some others were decent explorations of their concepts (if not quite my cup of cocoa), a few more I just could not connect with, and one I admittedly had to resort to skimming to get through. More than one of these seemed a bit long, not just for the anthology but for the stories they were telling. Many of the tales reflect the year in which they were written, the tumultuous gut-punch fallout of events in 2016 that continue to resonate unpleasantly through the nation and greater world; not surprisingly, the overall tone of the anthology leans dark and bleak and more than a little angry. At the end, information about the authors is presented, along with statements about the tales included, their inspirations and influences. I wish the stories had been more clearly connected, or at least the author notes had been presented in the same order as the stories appeared instead of just alphabetically; by the time I reached the afterword, I had to flip back and forth to even try matching up who had written what. This extra behind-the-scenes discussion helped lift the volume to a solid four stars. Overall, it's a decent assortment of tales reflecting the modern state of the genre.

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