From Publishers Weekly
The 18 Locus Award–winning novelettes and short stories selected for this solid anthology by Brown, the longtime editor/publisher of the influential SF/fantasy news magazine, and Strahan, the mag'sreviews editor, show how SF and fantasy have matured from the 1970s to the present. Standouts include Harlan Ellison's nostalgic tale of unchanging age, "Jeffty Is Five"; Octavia E. Butler's boundary-stretching "Bloodchild," in which an intelligent alien race uses human beings both as pets and as repositories for their grubs; John Kessel's poignant, semi-autobiographical "Buffalo," about a meeting of Kessel's blue-collar father with his idol, H.G. Wells, in 1934; and Neil Gaiman's wistful homage to Ray Bradbury, "October in the Chair." Gene Wolfe's "The Death of Doctor Island" and Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Day Before the Revolution" are also fine stories, but others don't succeed as well. The youngster who wants to fly the space-lanes in James Tiptree Jr.'s "The Only Neat Thing to Do" inevitably reflects the larger-than-life heroics of earlier genre fiction. Connie Willis's "Even the Queen" tries to be both feminist and humorous, but comes off as a sitcom pilot, while Bruce Sterling's "Maneki Neko" is too cute by a Pokémon and a half. The volume concludes with a list of previous winners in a wide range of categories. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–This outstanding anthology presents "the best of the best," culled from 30 years of awards. It includes many of the now-classic stories that have become emblematic of major developments in the genre, such as James Tiptree, Jr.'s "The Only Neat Thing to Do" (still a must-read for any serious teenage science-fiction reader) and Terry Bisson's remarkable "Bears Discover Fire." The most recent awards present the brilliant new writer Ted Chiang and the popular and critically acclaimed Neil Gaiman. Other masters of science fiction and fantasy short fiction represented here: Gene Wolf, Ursula K. LeGuin, Harlan Ellison, John Varley, George R.R. Martin, Joanna Russ, Octavia E. Butler, Pat Murphy, Lucius Shepard, Connie Willis, John Kessel, John Crowley, Bruce Sterling, and Greg Egan. A brief introduction to the author's career precedes each story. Whether readers are catching up on legendary science fiction and fantasy, becoming reacquainted with old favorites, or grazing the field in hopes of discovering new ones, this anthology delivers some of the finest science fiction and fantasy ever written.–Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA


From Booklist
No surprise, this is an excellent collection, including many of the best sf stories of the last 30 years, culled from the winners of awards for short fiction bestowed by readers of Locus, the trade monthly of the sf and fantasy field. The selections are presented by decade, and the 1990s stories, from Terry Bisson's hilarious, accurately titled "Bears Discover Fire" to Bruce Sterling's futuristic trust network in "Maneki Neko," hold their own with '70s classics like "The Death of Doctor Island," Gene Wolfe's look at the future of psychotherapy, and '80s evergreens including Ursula Le Guin's "The Day before the Revolution," about the founder of the revolutionary movement in her novel The Dispossessed (1974); John Varley's "The Persistence of Vision," on sight and its pitfalls; and Connie Willis' "Even the Queen," which proves that feminism can have a sense of humor. If the newest, post-2000 stories are too new to be classics, they verify the promise of growth in the field; see Ted Chiang's "Hell Is the Absence of God," for instance, and Neil Gaiman's creepy-sweet, almost ghost story, "October in the Chair." Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description

Now, for the first time, the best of the Locus Awards for short fiction are gathered in one volume. Spanning the absolute finest in science fiction and fantasy short fiction for the last thirty years, this anthology is an indispensable guide to speculative fiction from the classic to the outrageous by the leaders of the field.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The introduction to The Locus Awards says it all: "This book contains some of the finest science fiction and fantasy short fiction ever written." Included within are some of the best Locus Award￯﾿ﾽwinning stories covering the last three decades. From Ursula K. Le Guin to Bruce Sterling, this collection is, simply put, essential reading for any serious fan of the genre.

Groundbreaking classics and author masterworks abound in this collection, which includes Harlan Ellison's "Jeffty Is Five," a nostalgic tale about a boy who remains five years old -- a conduit to the 1940s world of comic books, candy bars, and serial radio shows -- while society keeps rolling on; and John Varley's "The Persistence of Vision," an unforgettable story about one man's experience in an isolated colony of deaf and blind people. George R. R. Martin's "The Way of Cross and Dragon" takes an unyielding look at the future of religion, and Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild" examines the symbiotic relationship between humans on a planet inhabited by sentient insectlike aliens.

The Locus Awards, presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll, are arguably as prestigious as the Hugo and Nebula because they are chosen by the people who really matter -- the readers. The 18 multi-award-winning stories included in this collection, all in chronological order, take the reader on a retrospective tour of the genre and its many evolutions. From Gene Wolfe's "The Death of Doctor Island" (1973) to Neil Gaiman's homage to Ray Bradbury in "October in the Chair" (2003), this is an absolutely monumental collection worth its weight in gold. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Now, for the first time, the best of the Locus Awards for short fiction are gathered in one volume. Spanning the absolute finest in science fiction and fantasy short fiction for the last thirty years, this anthology is an indispensable guide to speculative fiction from the classic to the outrageous by the leaders of the field.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The 18 Locus Award-winning novelettes and short stories selected for this solid anthology by Brown, the longtime editor/publisher of the influential SF/fantasy news magazine, and Strahan, the mag's reviews editor, show how SF and fantasy have matured from the 1970s to the present. Standouts include Harlan Ellison's nostalgic tale of unchanging age, "Jeffty Is Five"; Octavia E. Butler's boundary-stretching "Bloodchild," in which an intelligent alien race uses human beings both as pets and as repositories for their grubs; John Kessel's poignant, semi-autobiographical "Buffalo," about a meeting of Kessel's blue-collar father with his idol, H.G. Wells, in 1934; and Neil Gaiman's wistful homage to Ray Bradbury, "October in the Chair." Gene Wolfe's "The Death of Doctor Island" and Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Day Before the Revolution" are also fine stories, but others don't succeed as well. The youngster who wants to fly the space-lanes in James Tiptree Jr.'s "The Only Neat Thing to Do" inevitably reflects the larger-than-life heroics of earlier genre fiction. Connie Willis's "Even the Queen" tries to be both feminist and humorous, but comes off as a sitcom pilot, while Bruce Sterling's "Maneki Neko" is too cute by a Pok mon and a half. The volume concludes with a list of previous winners in a wide range of categories. (July 6) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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