STARLIGHT 2

Another eclectic gathering of 13 all-new tales representing various styles, themes, approaches, and ideas (following Starlight 1, 1996). A sampling: with the Earth destroyed by radiation from a neutron star, one individual, reincarnated 10,000 years hence by curious aliens, meditates on his life (Robert Charles Wilson); a fantasy of Victorian England (Susanna Clarke); an exploration of gender identity brilliantly disguised as a future scientific research paper (Raphael Carter); a splendid exploration of an alien mathematics (Ted Chiang); a sensible, wise, but crazy Emperor (AngÇlica Gorodischer, trans. by Ursula K. LeGuin); and the ultimate in sex therapies (Ellen Kushner). Also on the agenda: scientists who meddle with particle physics and accidentally change reality, a couple of very strange VR variants, Kafka, time travel, and Brazil. Dynamic, often exceptional work, highly recommended for readers who can’t bear to wait on the various annual “best-ofs.”