cover image The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection

. St. Martin's Griffin, $19.95 (660pp) ISBN 978-0-312-35334-6

The 23rd entry in this acclaimed anthology series from SF maven Dozois, who has won 15 Hugo Awards, showcases 30 tales that demonstrate that the lifeblood of science fiction lies less in new themes than in fresh approaches to old themes. Outstanding selections include Robert Reed's splendid story of a world-sized interstellar spacecraft, ""Camouflage""; Liz Williams's ""La Malcontenta,"" set on a most unusual Mars; David Moles's ""Planet of the Amazon Women,"" which puts a new spin on the all-female society; and Mary Rosenblum's ""Search Engine,"" which exploits cyberpunk in unexpected ways. Harry Turtledove pays homage to John James Audubon in ""Audubon in Atlantis,"" an off-beat alternative-world tale, while David Gerrold spins time into ""timequakes"" in ""In the Quake Zone."" Dozois provides his usual cogent summation of the year as well as a list of honorable mentions for 2005.