Truly The Year's Best Science Fiction
919835
I love this annual publication! Great short stories from wonderful authors.
417555
This is one of the most inventive science-fiction novels of the year, certainly. Happily, McIntosh's stylish writing is able to keep up with his own incredible imagination. A really terrific novel.
794220
This is the best book in the Freehold universe since the original Freehold. But it goes beyond that and is one of the best books I have read all year. Every single short story is strong, compelling and captivating.
204955
Less than halfway through this book, I knew that I had found a new favorite Science Fiction author.  Hyperion is absolutely breathtaking.  It started off a little slow and confusing, but once the seven pilgrims  started telling their tales, I was hooked.  Each tale is somewhat of a  novella in itself, but they are all related in that they deal with the  world of Hyperion and the being known as the Shrike.  Seldom have I come  across a sci-fi book that touched me as deeply as this one did.  It  transcends the sci-fi stereotype; yes, there are aliens, yes, it takes  place in the future, in space, but this is just the setting - the book is  about seven human beings and their experiences. It is really just a  prologue, setting the scene and introducing the mysteries to be solved.  Make sure you have the sequels ready to start right when you finish,  because I didn't, and it was torture!
I would recommend this book to  anyone, whether they are frequent readers of science fiction or just  beginning to explore the genre.
4412678
Few sci-fi books can claim to be this good. It has everything: future  wonders, epic creations and scenarios that you could only see in science  fiction, characterization, STORY, suspense, a beautiful and poetic ending,  and, as always with Arthur, it never loses site of the human element. This  is one of those books that should simply be on everyone's must-read list,  as one surprise after another happens in it.
2488
Never having read PD James before, all I can say is that this book is an absolute masterpiece. James' writing is concise . Her characters and the world she creates are reasonable and, unfortunately, plausible, a trait that is rarely present in fiction, let alone science fiction. The characters are never above being human and are sympathetic even when they are opposed to each other because they act according to the situations that are presented to them.

While they are different, there are some similarities between the book and the movie. Each address many modern-day problems, such as immigration, increasingly totalitarian states, health crisis, and even assisted suicide. Both the book and the movie are very relevant, another important trait in fiction. Each can stand alone.

Although it doesn't touch very many typical science fiction themes, this book is one of the top science fiction novels of all time, if not one of the best of any genre.
1282402
Each time I pick up one of the two volumes in this collection, I am amazed by both its longevity and the giddy anticipation I experience from just having the books in my hands.  I was first enthralled by "Re-Birth", "Brainwave", "The Father Thing", "Pillar of Fire" and most of the other stories in this anthology when I was around twelve years old.  The Alfred Bester novel, "The Stars My Destination", bears special mention as one of my favorite novels of all time, and Gully Foyle's quatrain "Deep space is my dwelling place..." occupies the neurons next to the Litany Against Fear in my memory.  Although I have since read many science fiction anthologies, none has ever quite equaled this one in its breadth, quality or timelessness.  Only truly great stories like these can hold their own for fifty years against all comers.  These two books should be in every serious reader's bookshelf, during those rare moments when they're not in the reader's hands or on the nightstand.  And yes, I too have multiple copies.
4937633
Utterly amazing. I read this book last year when I was 22 and was blown away by how good it was. I rarely touch science fiction--I've read the Ender Games series at that's it--but I was totally absorbed in the universe that Herbert created. The book has deep intellectual underpinnings as well and makes good use of Herbert's knowledge of politics, religion and--surprisingly--ecology to craft a complex fantastical yet surprisingly realistic universe.

There are a few heavy philosophical pages that stayed on my mind for days and the action sequence of the climax blew me away. I've heard that the movie is absolutely awful and I've stayed as far away as possible, but I sincerely wish that Hollywood does a remake in the next decade. Seeing the view of the world from atop a CGI maker would be absolutely incredible.
45190
I'm so often disappointed by science fiction novels, but I really, truly love this novel. Great worldbuiding, realistic characters, as realistic a situation as can probably be conjured in a sci-fi novel, very poignant from start to finish. Even after a second read, I'd love to read more about where this story and this world goes.
1930370
Dune is possibly the best science fiction novel ever written.  Most importantly, the story is engrossing; it's a page turner, a book that you stay up reading into the wee hours.  The characters are well developed, and the future worlds created are entirely believable.  I've worked in politics and the political machinations in Dune ring so very true. Many of the insights into human philosophy and psychology are extraordinary; importantly they occur in the course of the story, and don't slow the pace of the story - they're not laboured.  I first read Dune when I was about 14 and last read it when I was 36, and I read it 2 or 3 times in the intervening years. These days I find much science fiction trite and tedious, but Dune continues to entertain and intrigue me.
The first 3 books in the now over-extended series are by far the best.
3003642
[I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher via NetGalley.]

Editors Ben Bova and Eric Choi have collected seventeen short stories from authors across the globe, where the primary focus is on technology. These are stories of hard science fiction, where the scientific concepts provide not only a framework for the plot, but are so integral to the story being told that without such a tech-heavy conceit the story would be impossible to tell.

The anthology opens with The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever by Daniel H. Wilson (Robopocalypse). Here, we are introduced to a theoretical physicist who is so coldly rational and unemotional that he's very nearly a robot. If it weren't for his daughter, he'd likely have no humanity to him whatsoever, and she is what pins him to this earth. Far too late, he learns that his theoretical equations showing the existence of pinhole black holes are deadly accurate. While the physicist is cool and methodical, Wilson manages to wring the heartstrings for all their worth in an emotional wallop of a finale. Although the story itself is short, there's a lot going on here, and serves as a terrific opener to Carbide Tipped Pens.

I was also deeply impressed by Doug Beason's Thunderwell, which concerns a last-ditch effort to save an otherwise doomed mission to land the first team of human explorers on Mars. We get snippets of action from these intrepid astronauts, but the focus is on the Earth-based scientists' efforts to beat the odds and launch a care-package stocked rocket into space. There's a smidge of inspiration from Jules Verne at hand here, and it works very well. The technology at play here is also one we are deeply familiar with, using the physics of projectiles as the main thrust (forgive the pun) behind the narrative.

Liu Cixin delivers The Circle, a story adapted and expanded upon from his novel, The Three Body Problem. Ben Bova's contribution, Old Timer's Game, tells a straight-forward story about the future of baseball, as the sport is heavily impacted by medical advances and stem cell research. Habilis, by Howard Hendrix, is an interesting, dialogue-driven meditation on the 'handedness' of the universe, with insights in the left-favoring nature of electron orbits to the curves of letters and numbers driven home by a war vet with a prosthetic hand. David DeGraff's SIREN of Titan was another strong inclusion, focusing on the sudden sentience of a moon rover and some intriguing American politics generated by the Religious Right's fear of artificial intelligence.

I tend to find anthologies to be a mixed bag. Not every story can satisfy every single reader. For instance, I found Jack McDevitt's story, The Play's The Thing, to be interesting yet anticlimactic, and neither Aliette de Bodard's nor Kate Storey's efforts did much for me despite being well-written and having authentic feeling settings thanks to the strong world building in each of their works.

Taken as a whole, however, Carbide Tipped Pens is a solid collection of hard science fiction stories from many highly regarded authors in this genre and well worth the read. The stories themselves cover a broad swath of territory, from near-future Earth to far-flung empires of the distant future, where technology and scientific concepts are key. Recommended.
1081236
Every year I look forward to the new Year's Best Science Fiction coming out, and every year I am very happy with the new edition.  This year was no different, and if anything I felt that this year was the best edition in 5 years.

My favorite story was Butterfly Bomb, but there were at least 10 stories in this year's edition that were memorable.  I am a big fan of Space Opera, so I already had read Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance from<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-New-Space-Opera-2/dp/006156236X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The New Space Opera 2</a>&nbsp;but otherwise the stories were fresh and interesting.

There was much more varied plot lines this year than in years past, and it was good to see a few uplifting stories amongst the normal dystopian futures I have grown accustomed to reading in this anthology.  All in all, this is a must have for science fiction lovers, and people looking for a great short story anthology.
4129243
One of, if not the, best science fiction novels I've read in years. Far surpasses any dystopian fiction published in the last decade--a true tribute to the likes of Asimov, Bradbury, and Herbert.
2711561
This is not your ordinary science fiction book. This complex story of survival is backed with science and masterful story telling. I could not put this book down. Best book I've read this year.
4174772
Extreme Science Fiction is an anthology any sci-fi buff won't want to put down. Normally us sci-fi freaks have to be fairly forgiving with stories in this genre, but not this time :) I found even some of the more outlandish stories had enough of the correct conceptual "hard facts" to make them plausible, if not entirely believable.
In short, if you have a good imagination, can think outside the "square" etc. and want to taken to far flung levels of existence in a real universe of future science bordering on magic by an author who loves this genre and has really done his research meticulously... This is an anthology you MUST try
4035363
The Three-Body Problem trilogy is easily amongst the best fiction written in the 21st century. Liu Cixin's plot is mysterious, intricate, and highly intelligent, and translator Ken Liu's word choice and flow are impeccable. I devoured the first book in three days, it's that intense. This series is one of those rare masterpieces of science fiction that define a generation. The film adaptation of The Three-Body Problem comes out this year in China, and I'll be waiting on the edge of my seat for the earliest subbed version.
2560395
The most beautiful collection of science fiction stories I've ever read. A great variety of stories, themes, and technological centerpieces. This is excellent "elevated" science fiction - the language and concepts are what stand out. It's not all space and gizmos and violence - there are truly well developed characters considering the economy of his language. Each story does a great job of establishing its own atmosphere and its own frequency - some radiate at a cool glow, others are more aggressive, some are tender and small and heartfelt. Pretty amazing work.