Ebook en oferta: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eleven, antología de Jonathan Strahan

En estos momentos se puede adquirir en Amazon España el ebook The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eleven, editado por Jonathan Strahan, al precio promocional de 0,99€. 

Estos son los relatos incluidos (con enlaces a versiones gratuitas online cuando existen):

• “Two’s Company”, Joe Abercrombie (Sharp Ends)
• “The Art of Space Travel”, Nina Allan (Tor.com)
• “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood)
• “Mika Model”, Paolo Bacigalupi (Slate)
• “A Salvaging of Ghosts”, Aliette de Bodard (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 01/03/16)
• “Laws of Night and Silk”, Seth Dickinson (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 26 May 2016)
• “Touring with the Alien”, Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld 115, 4/16)
• “Red as Blood and White as Bone”, Theodora Goss (Tor.com)
• “Even the Crumbs Were Delicious”, Daryl Gregory (The Starlit Wood)
• “Number Nine Moon”, Alex Irvine (F&SF, 1/16)
• “Red Dirt Witch”, N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy/PoC Destroy Fantasy)
• “Whisper Road (Murder Ballad No. 9)”, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Sirenia Digest 125, 7/16)
• “Successor, Usurper, Replacement”, Alice Sola Kim (Buzzfeed, 10/26/16)
• “You Make Pattaya”, Rich Larson (Interzone 247)
• “Foxfire Foxfire”, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 2016)
• “Seven Birthdays”, Ken Liu (Bridging Infinity)
• “The Visitor from Taured”, Ian R. MacLeod (Asimov’s, 9/16)
• “Elves of Antarctica”, Paul McAuley (Drowned Worlds)
• “Things with Beards”, Sam J Miller (Clarkesworld 117, 6/16)
• “Spinning Silver”, Naomi Novik (The Starlit Wood)
• “Those Shadows Laugh”, Geoff Ryman (F&SF, 9-10/16)
• “The Great Detective”, Delia Sherman (Tor.com)
• “Terminal”, Lavie Tidhar (Tor.com, 04/16)
• “The Future is Blue”, Catherynne M Valente (Drowned Worlds)
• “Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home”, Genevieve Valentine (Clarkesworld)
• “You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay”, Alyssa Wong (Uncanny 10, 5-6/16)
• “Fable”, Charles Yu (The New Yorker, 5/30/16)
• “The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight”, E Lily Yu (Uncanny 12)

Contenidos de The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 12, de Jonathan Strahan

Se han hecho públicos los contenidos que tendrá el volumen 12 de la serie The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, antología editada por Jonathan Strahan. Son lo siguientes (con enlaces a versiones online gratuitas de los relatos en el caso de que existan):

“The Mocking Tower”, Daniel Abraham (The Book of Swords) 

“Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue”, Charlie Jane Anders (Boston Review) 

“Probably Still the Chosen One”, Kelly Barnhill (Lightspeed) 

“My English Name”, R. S. Benedict (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) 

“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance”, Tobias Buckell (Cosmic Powers) 

“Though She Be But Little”, C.S.E. Cooney (Uncanny) 

“The Moon is Not a Battlefield”, Indrapramit Das (Infinity Wars) 

“The Hermit of Houston”, Samuel R. Delany (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) 

“The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine”, Greg Egan (Asimov’s Science Fiction) 

“Crispin’s Model”, Max Gladstone (Tor.com) 

“Come See the Living Dryad”, Theodora Goss (Tor.com) 

“Bring Your Own Spoon”, Saad Z. Hossain (The Djinn Falls in Love) 

“Babylon”, Dave Hutchison, 2084 

“The Faerie Tree”, Kathleen Kayembe (Lightspeed) 

“Fairy Tale of Wood Street”, Caitlin R Kiernan (Sirenia Digest) 

“The Worshipful Society of Glovers”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Uncanny) 

“An Evening with Severyn Grimes”, Rich Larson (Asimov’s Science Fiction) 

“The Chameleon’s Gloves”, Yoon Ha Lee (Cosmic Powers) 

“The Smoke of Gold is Glory”, Scott Lynch (The Book of Swords) 

“Sidewalks”, Maureen McHugh (Omni) 

“Concessions”, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali (Strange Horizons) 

“The Martian Obelisk”, Linda Nagata (Tor.com) 

“The Secret Life of Bots”, Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld) 

“A Series of Steaks”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld) 

“Belladonna Nights”, Alastair Reynolds (The Weight of Words) 

“Eminence”, Karl Schroeder (Chasing Shadows) 

“The Lamentation of their Women”, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com) 

“Confessions of a Con Girl”, Nick Wolven (Asimov’s Science Fiction) 

“Carnival Nine”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)

Ebook en oferta: Edge of Infinity, de Jonathan Strahan

Gracias al aviso de mi buen amigo Xavi, de Dreams of Elvex, me entero de que en estos momentos se encuentra en oferta en varias tiendas online (Google Play - 0,70€; Amazon ES - 0,99€) la versión digital de la antología Edge of Infinity, de Jonathan Strahan (que reseñé hace algunos años). 

Esta es su sinopsis:

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND 

Those were Neil Armstrong’s immortal words when he became the first human being to step onto another world. All at once, the horizon expanded; the human race was no longer Earthbound. 

Edge of Infinity is an exhilarating new SF anthology that looks at the next giant leap for humankind: the leap from our home world out into the Solar System. From the eerie transformations in Pat Cadigan’s Hugo-award-winning “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi” to the frontier spirit of Sandra McDonald and Stephen D. Covey’s “The Road to NPS,” and from the grandiose vision of Alastair Reynolds’ “Vainglory” to the workaday familiarity of Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Safety Tests,” the thirteen stories in this anthology span the whole of the human condition in their race to colonise Earth’s nearest neighbours. 

Featuring stories by Hannu Rajaniemi, Alastair Reynolds, James S. A. Corey, John Barnes, Stephen Baxter, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Elizabeth Bear, Pat Cadigan, Gwyneth Jones, Paul McAuley, Sandra McDonald, Stephen D. Covey, An Owomoyela, and Bruce Sterling, Edge of Infinity is hard SF adventure at its best and most exhilarating.

Ebook en oferta: Engineering Infinity, antología editada por Jonathan Strahan

En estos momentos se puede adquirir a precio promocional en varias tiendas online (Amazon ES - 0,99€; Google Play - 0,70€) el ebook Engineering Infinity, editado por Jonathan Strahan. 

Esta es su sinopsis:

The universe shifts and changes: suddenly you understand, you get it, and are filled with wonder. That moment of understanding drives the greatest science-fiction stories and lies at the heart of Engineering Infinity. Whether it's coming up hard against the speed of light - and, with it, the enormity of the universe - realising that terraforming a distant world is harder and more dangerous than you'd ever thought, or simply realizing that a hitchhiker on a starship consumes fuel and oxygen with tragic results, it's hard science-fiction where a sense of discovery is most often found and where science-fiction's true heart lies. 

This exciting and innovative science-fiction anthology collects together stories by some of the biggest names in the field, including Gwyneth Jones, Stephen Baxter and Charles Stross.

Bridging Infinity, antología editada por Jonathan Strahan

Banda sonora de la reseña: Sugiero leer esta reseña escuchando Building the Infinite Bridge, de The Infinite Bridge (Spotify).

Bridging Infinity es la quinta entrega de lo que ha dado en llamarse The Infinity Project, una serie de antologías de ciencia ficción hard editadas por Jonathan Strahan que, en mi opinión, se han convertido en las más importantes del género en los últimos años. En particular, Reach for Infinity, publicada en 2014, es probablemente una de mis antologías favoritas de todos los tiempos (podéis leer mi reseña detallada para tener más detalles de lo que me encantó del libro). Por tanto, como podéis imaginar, esperaba con muchas ganas este nuevo volumen, especialmente porque el tema, esta vez, es uno que me fascina: grandes estructuras y mega-proyectos de ingeniería.

Bridging Infinity es una sólida antología de ciencia ficción que incluye relatos originales de algunos de los autores más importantes de la actualidad. Por ejemplo, os encontraréis con obras de Alastair Reynolds, Pat Cadigan, Charlie Jane Anders, Larry Niven, Gregory Benford y Ken Liu. Una alineación impresionante, no cabe duda. Pero tras leer el libro, no he podido sentirme un poco (solo un poco) decepcionado, muy posiblemente porque las anteriores entregas de la serie habían puesto el listón muy alto.

Hay muchas historias notables en Bridging Infinity. Disfruté bastante, por nombras algunas, con "Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chaterjee", de Alastair Reynolds, "The Venus Generations", de Stephen Baxter, "Six Degrees of Separation", de Pat Cadigan y "Rager in Space", de Charlie Jane Anders. En especial, las de Reynolds y Baxter tienen mucho de ese sentido de la maravilla que esperaba encontrarme en el libro. Sin embargo, los finales no son completamente satisfactorios y me parecieron un tanto precipitados y anticlimáticos, algo que parece ser un tema común a muchos de los cuentos incluidos en el libro.

Además de esas cuatro, hay otras tres historias que creo que son las más destacables de Bridging Infinity y por las que ya casi merece pagar el precio de la antología.  La primera es "Parables of Infinity", de Robert Reed, una nueva y muy buena historia de la serie de Great Ship (probablemente lo mejor de Reed que he leído en bastante tiempo). 

La segunda es "Apache Charley and the Pentagons of Hex", de Allen Steele, que combina con gran éxito una trama juvenil con un intrigante misterio y una mega-estructura fascinante. El comienzo del cuento es excelente y Steele consiguió engancharme desde la primera página. Pero, una vez más, el final es apresurado y estoy convencido de que el relato habría mejorado mucho de haber sido un poco más largo.

Por último, el mejor cuento del libro es, sin duda, "Seven Birthdays", de Ken Liu (que podéis leer online en Tor.com). Desde que publicó su primera novela, Liu ya no es, ni mucho menos, tan prolífico en el campo de la ficción corta como lo era hace un par de años, pero con obras como esta demuestra que sigue siendo uno de los mejores escritores de cuentos de la ciencia ficción y la fantasía. En "Seven Birthdays", Liu acierta con casi todo: el tono, la especulación, la estructura... Una de mis historias favoritas de 2016.

En resumen, y como mencionaba arriba, Bridging Infinity es una antología de ciencia ficción bastante sólida y que incluye un buen puñado de buenos o muy buenos relatos, pero muchos de ellos necesitarían algunas páginas más para acabar de explotar su potencial. Por todo ello, mi impresión es que este nuevo libro está un peldaño por debajo de Reach for Infinity o Meeting Infinity. En cualquier caso, la antología es ciertamente disfrutable y yo ya espero con ganas la siguiente entrega de la serie.

(You can also read this review in English/También puedes leer esta reseña en inglés)

Bridging Infinity, anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan

(Disclaimer: English is my second language, so I want to apologize in advance for there may be mistakes in the text below. If you find any, please let me know so that I can correct it. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.)

Review Soundtrack: I suggest reading this review while listening to Building the Infinite Bridge, by The Infinite Bridge (Spotify).

Bridging Infinity is the fifth instalment of what has been called The Infinity Project, a series of anthologies of hard science fiction edited by Jonathan Strahan that, in my opinion, have become the most important in the field in the last few years. In particular, Reach for Infinity, published in 2014, is probably one of my favourite anthologies ever (you can read my detailed review for more details on what I loved from the book). Thus, as you can imagine, I was really looking forward to reading this new book, especially because the topic, this time, is one that fascinates me: big structures and mega-engineering projects. 

Bridging Infinity is a solid science fiction anthology that includes original short stories by some of the most prominent current authors in the field. For instance, you will find works by Alastair Reynolds, Pat Cadigan, Charlie Jane Anders, Larry Niven, Gregory Benford and Ken Liu. An impressive line-up, no doubt. But after reading it, I couldn't help feeling slightly (just slightly) underwhelmed, probably because the previous instalments of the series had set the bar really high. 

There are many remarkable stories in Bridging Infinity. For example, I did enjoy reading "Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chaterjee", by Alastair Reynolds, "The Venus Generations", by Stephen Baxter, "Six Degrees of Separation", by Pat Cadigan and "Rager in Space", by Charlie Jane Anders. Especially the ones by Reynolds and Baxter have much of that sense of wonder that I was expecting from the book. However, their endings are not completely satisfactory and feel a bit rushed and anticlimactic, something that many of the stories included in the book seem to have in common. 

In addition to those four, there are another three stories that I think are the most memorable in Bridging Infinity and that are, by themselves, almost worth the price of admission. The first of them is "Parables of Infinity", by Robert Reed, a new story set in the Great Ship series and a very good one at that (probably the best story by Reed that I've read in a long while). 

The second is "Apache Charley and the Pentagons of Hex", by Allen Steele, which successfully combines a YA story with an intriguing mystery and an amazing mega-structure. The beginning of the story is just excellent and Steele completely managed to hook me from the very first page. However, again the ending is too rushed and I really think it would have benefited from a longer extension. 

Finally, the best story of the book is, hands down, "Seven Birthdays", by Ken Liu (which you can read online at Tor.com). Since publishing his first novel, Liu is no longer as prolific in the short fiction field as he was a couple of years ago, but with works such as this one he proves that he is still one of the best writers of short stories in fantasy and science fiction literature. In "Seven Birthdays", Liu nails almost everything: the tone, the speculation, the structure... One of my favourite stories of 2016.

All in all, as I've mentioned above, Bridging Infinity is a solid science fiction anthology with quite a number of good or very good stories, but most of them would need some more pages to completely exploit their potential. For that, my impression is that this new book is a step below Reach for Infinity or Meeting Infinity. Anyway, the anthology is quite enjoyable and I am already looking forward to new instalments in the series. 

(You can also read this review in Spanish/También puedes leer esta reseña en español)

Relatos incluidos en The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 11, de Jonathan Strahan

Hace unos días os traía la lista de los relatos seleccionados por Gardner Dozois para su antología de lo mejor del año. Pues bien, hoy hago lo propio con los cuentos escogidos por otro de los editores de referencia en los géneros de la ciencia ficción y la fantasía: Jonathan Strahan. 

Éstas son las historias que serán incluidas en su The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 11 (los enlaces llevan a versiones online gratuitas de los relatos):

• “Two’s Company”, Joe Abercrombie (Sharp Ends)
• “The Art of Space Travel”, Nina Allan (Tor.com)
• “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood)
• “Mika Model”, Paolo Bacigalupi (Slate)
• “A Salvaging of Ghosts”, Aliette de Bodard (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 01/03/16)
• “Laws of Night and Silk”, Seth Dickinson (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 26 May 2016)
• “Touring with the Alien”, Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld 115, 4/16)
• “Red as Blood and White as Bone”, Theodora Goss (Tor.com)
• “Even the Crumbs Were Delicious”, Daryl Gregory (The Starlit Wood)
• “Number Nine Moon”, Alex Irvine (F&SF, 1/16)
• “Red Dirt Witch”, N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy/PoC Destroy Fantasy)
• “Whisper Road (Murder Ballad No. 9)”, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Sirenia Digest 125, 7/16)
• “Successor, Usurper, Replacement”, Alice Sola Kim (Buzzfeed, 10/26/16)
• “You Make Pattaya”, Rich Larson (Interzone 247)
• “Foxfire Foxfire”, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 2016)
• “Seven Birthdays”, Ken Liu (Bridging Infinity)
• “The Visitor from Taured”, Ian R. MacLeod (Asimov’s, 9/16)
• “Elves of Antarctica”, Paul McAuley (Drowned Worlds)
• “Things with Beards”, Sam J Miller (Clarkesworld 117, 6/16)
• “Spinning Silver”, Naomi Novik (The Starlit Wood)
• “Those Shadows Laugh”, Geoff Ryman (F&SF, 9-10/16)
• “The Great Detective”, Delia Sherman (Tor.com)
• “Terminal”, Lavie Tidhar (Tor.com, 04/16)
• “The Future is Blue”, Catherynne M Valente (Drowned Worlds)
• “Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home”, Genevieve Valentine (Clarkesworld)
• “You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay”, Alyssa Wong (Uncanny 10, 5-6/16)
• “Fable”, Charles Yu (The New Yorker, 5/30/16)
• “The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight”, E Lily Yu (Uncanny 12)

Novedad: Bridging Infinity, antología editada por Jonathan Strahan

Hoy se pone a la venta Bridging Infinity, la nueva antología de Jonathan Strahan dentro del imprescindible The Infinity Project. Ésta es su sinopsis:

BUILDING TOWARDS TOMORROW 

Sense of wonder is the lifeblood of science fiction. When we encounter something on a truly staggering scale - metal spheres wrapped around stars, planets rebuilt and repurposed, landscapes re-engineered, starships bigger than worlds - the only response we have is reverence, admiration, and possibly fear at something that is grand, sublime, and extremely powerful. 

Bridging Infinity puts humanity at the heart of that experience, as builder, as engineer, as adventurer, reimagining and rebuilding the world, the solar system, the galaxy and possibly the entire universe in some of the best science fiction stories you will experience. 

Bridging Infinity continues the award-winning Infinity Project series of anthologies with new stories from Alastair Reynolds, Pat Cadigan, Stephen Baxter, Charlie Jane Anders, Tobias S.Buckell, Karen Lord, Karin Lowachee, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Gregory Benford, Larry Liven, Robert Reed, Pamela Sargent, Allen Steele, Pat Murphy, Paul Doherty, An Owomoyela, Thoraiya Dyer and Ken Liu.

Ebook en oferta: Meeting Infinity, antología de Jonathan Strahan

En estos momentos se encuentra en oferta en varias tiendas online (Amazon ES - 2,99€; Google Play - 2,84€) la antología Meeting Infinity, editada por Jonathan Strahan, que se puede adquirir en formato digital por 2,99€. Éste es precisamente uno de los libros que hoy mismo recomendaba como uno de los mejores publicados el año pasado. 

Ésta es su sinopsis:

THE FUTURE IS OURSELVES 

The world is rapidly changing. We surf future-shock every day, as the progress of technology races ever on. Increasingly we are asking: how do we change to live in the world to come? 

Whether it’s climate change, inundated coastlines and drowned cities; the cramped confines of a tin can hurtling through space to the outer reaches of our Solar System; or the rush of being uploaded into cyberspace, our minds and bodies are going to have to drastically alter. 

Multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan brings us another incredible volume in his much praised science-fiction anthology series, featuring stories by Madeline Ashby, John Barnes, James S.A. Corey, Gregory Benford, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, Simon Ings, Kameron Hurley, Nancy Kress, Gwyneth Jones, Yoon Ha Lee, Bruce Sterling, Sean Williams, Aliette de Bodard, Ramez Naam, An Owomoyela and Ian McDonald.

Novedad: Meeting Infinity, antología de Jonathan Strahan

Hoy se pone a la venta Meeting Infinity, la cuarta antología de Jonathan Strahan en lo que se ha dado en llamar The Infinity Project, después de Engineering Infinity, Edge of Infinity y Reach for Infinity. 

 

Estos son su sinopsis y contenidos:

Look into the future and see what you might become….

Dark age barbarian princesses, Mexican ninja zombie soldiers, icy interrogators of networked intellects, searchers for eternal youth, warrior families hiding in the corners of a future haunted by machines bent on our destruction, and distant deepspace protectors of humanity’s future.

Whether it’s the day after tomorrow or a million years into the deep future, there are moments when humanity stares into the abyss and faced with possibility extinction follow Darwin’s theory – change, adapt, alter, evolve. Take on a different body, engineer a new intellect, become something completely different to preserve whatever is most human about us.

Meeting Infinity, the fourth book of the Infinity Project, presents exciting new stories from sixteen award winners and acclaimed writers

Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
“Memento Mori”, Madeline Ashby
“My Last Bringback”, John Barnes
“Aspects: A Galactic Centre Story”, Gregory Benford
“Rates of Change”, James S.A. Corey
“In Blue Lily’s Wake”, Aliette de Bodard
“Body Politic”, Kameron Hurley
“Drones”, Simon Ings
“Emergence”, Gwyneth Jones
“Cocoons”, Nancy Kress
“The Cold Inequalities”, Yoon Ha Lee
“The Falls: A Luna Story”, Ian McDonald
“Exile from Extinction”, Ramez Naam
“Outsider”, An Owomoyela
“Desert Lexicon”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew
“Pictures from the Resurrection”, Bruce Sterling
“All the Wrong Places”, Sean Williams

Contenidos de The Best Science Fiction of the Year Vol. 9, de Jonathan Strahan

Jonathan Strahan ha anunciado los contenidos del noveno volumen de su antología The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, que será publicada a mediados de año. 

Los relatos seleccionados, con enlaces a versiones online gratuitas de los mismos cuando las hay, son los siguientes:

1. “Tough Times All Over”, Joe Abercrombie 

2. “The Scrivener”, Eleanor Arnason 

3. “Moriabe’s Children”, Paolo Bacigalupi 

4. “Covenant”, Elizabeth Bear 

5. “Slipping”, Lauren Beukes 

6. “Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (The Successful Kind)”, Holly Black 

7. “Shadow Flock”, Greg Egan 

8. “The Truth About Owls”, Amal El-Mohtar 

9. “Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology”, Theodora Goss 

10. “Cold Wind”, Nicola Griffith 

11. “Someday”, James Patrick Kelly 

12. “Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No.8)”, Caitlin R Kiernan 

13. “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They are Terrifying”, Alice Sola Kim 

14. “Amicae Aeternum”, Ellen Klages 

15. “Calligo Lane”, Ellen Klages 

16. “The Lady and the Fox”, Kelly Link 

17. “The Long Haul From the ANNALS OF TRANSPORTATION”, The Pacific Monthly, May 2009”, Ken Liu 

18. “The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family”, Usman T Malik 

19. “Four Days of Christmas”, Tim Maughan 

20. “The Fifth Dragon”, Ian McDonald 

21. “Shay Corsham Worsted”, Garth Nix 

22. “I Met a Man Who Wasn’t There”, K. J. Parker 

23. “Kheldyu”, Karl Schroeder 

24. “Tawny Petticoats”, Michael Swanwick 

25. “Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)”, Rachel Swirsky 

26. “The Insects of Love”, Genevieve Valentine 

27. “Collateral”, Peter Watts 

28. “The Devil in America”, Kai Ashante Wilson

Los cinco mejores libros (y una mención especial) publicados en inglés en 2014

Antes de nada, ¡feliz 2015! Gracias por leer Sense of Wonder un año más y espero que podamos seguir compartiendo y descubriendo juntos muchos libros fantásticos. 

Como prometí ayer, completo mi resumen de los mejores libros del año, esta vez con aquellos que fueron publicados en inglés en 2014. Se aplican, por supuesto, las mismas advertencias de siempre: la lista es subjetiva, personal y transferible solamente en la medida en que os sirva para descubrir buenos libros. 

Hecha la breve introducción, hablemos de libros, que es lo que nos interesa. Los libros que recomiendo, en orden ascendente, son...

Mención especial: The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2, antología de Gordon Van Gelder (reseña)   

5.- The Abyss Beyond Dreams, de Peter F. Hamilton (reseña)

4.- The Rhesus Chart, de Charles Stross (reseña)

3.- Her Husband's Hand's and Other Stories, de Adam-Troy Castro (reseña)

2.- Reach for Infinity, antología de Jonathan Strahan (reseña)

1.- The Three-Body Problem, de Liu Cixin (reseña)

Y a vosotros, ¿qué libros en inglés publicados en 2014 os han gustado más?

Reach for Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan

(Disclaimer: English is my second language, so I want to apologize in advance for there may be mistakes in the text below. If you find any, please let me know so that I can correct it. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.) 

Review Soundtrack: I suggest reading this review while listening to Meteorites from the album Infinity by Yann Tiersen (Spotify, Youtube).

I've been closely following Jonathan Strahan's Infinity Project. I read Engineering Infinity when it came out and last year I read and reviewed Edge of Infinity. I enjoyed both anthologies a lot, and some of the stories, especially "The Server and the Dragon" by Hannu Rajaniemi and Hugo winner "The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi" by Pat Cadigan, have stayed with me since I read them.

But Reach for Infinity is another beast entirely. It is, hands down, the best of the three books and, I dare to say, the best anthology of original short science fiction to come out in the last few years. It is that good.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the stories included in Reach for Infinity. From the classic hard SF feel of Greg Egan's "Break my Fall" to the wild philosophical speculation of Peter Watts's "Hotshot"; from the intimate and moving "The Dust Queen" by Aliette de Bodard to the lighter "Attitude" by Linda Nagata; from the lyrical "Invisible Planets" by Hannu Rajaniemi to the acid critic of Adam Roberts's "Trademark Bugs: A Legal History". All of the short stories are at least good or very good, and the average quality is just amazing.

As you can imagine, it is thus very difficult for me to choose my favorite story from Reach for Infinity. In addition to the ones by Roberts, Watts and Rajaniemi that I have already mentioned, I would like to highlight Pat Cadigan's "Report Concerning The Presence of Seahorses On Mars". As suggested by the title, it is thematically and stylistically similar to the aforementioned "The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi" (I suspect it might be part of the same universe, although it stands completely on its own) and almost as good. It is still too early in the year to say, but some of these stories may very well end in my Hugo and Locus ballot. 

One of the things I liked the most about Reach for Infinity is that, although the stories are varied and diverse, they clearly share some topics and form a very cohesive unit. They can all be considered hard SF (my soft spot) and they all somehow address the problems and struggles that humanity will have to face in the next few centuries, especially regarding the Solar System exploration and colonization, and how this will affect both the individual and the society. "The Fifth Dragon" by Ian McDonald and "Report Concerning The Presence of Seahorses On Mars" by Pat Cadigan are really remarkable in this respect. 

Reach for Infinity is a model anthology in that it offers excellent stories that explore different aspects of an interesting and relevant topic. It is hard to find any issue with this book, but if hard pressed, I might say that I found that the ending of some of the stories was a bit abrupt. I don't know if there was a length limit that was not to be trespassed under any circumstance (with the exception of Karl Schroeder's and Kathleen Ann Goonan's stories, which are a bit longer, all the rest are below the 30 page count), but while reading the book, I sometimes had the feeling that the authors needed a bit more space to fully develop their plots and ideas. 

All in all, Reach for Infinity is an amazing science fiction anthology and I can't recommend it highly enough. Jonathan Strahan and his superb line-up of authors have truly reached out for infinity and in these pages they have handed out a piece of it for us to marvel.

(You can also read this review in Spanish at El Fantascopio/También puedes leer esta reseña en español en El Fantascopio)         

Novedad: Reach for Infinity, antología de Jonathan Strahan

La editorial británica Solaris ha puesto a la venta la antología Reach for Infinity, con relatos de Greg Egan, Peter Watts, Aliette de Bodard, Pat Cadigan y Alastair Reynolds, entre otros, y seleccionada por Jonathan Strahan. Ya he tenido la oportunidad de leerla y, aunque pronto haré una reseña completa, puedo adelantar que me parece una de las mejores antologías de los últimos años. 

Estos son los relatos incluidos:

• “Break My Fall”, Greg Egan
• “The Dust Queen”, Aliette de Bodard
• “The Fifth Dragon”, Ian McDonald
• “Kheldyu”, Karl Schroeder
• “Report Concerning The Presence of Seahorses On Mars”, Pat Cadigan
• “Hiraeth: A Tragedy in Four Acts”, Karen Lord
• “Amicae Aeternum”, Ellen Klages
• “Trademark Bugs: A Legal History”, Adam Roberts
• “Attitude”, Linda Nagata
• “Invisible Planets”, Hannu Rajaniemi
• “Wilder Still, the Stars”, Kathleen Ann Goonan
• “The Entire Immense Superstructure’: An Installation”, Ken Macleod
• “In Babelsberg”, Alastair Reynolds
• “Hotshot”, Peter Watts

The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 8, edited by Jonathan Strahan

(Disclaimer: English is my second language, so I want to apologize in advance for there may be mistakes in the text below. If you find any, please let me know so that I can correct it. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.) 

Review Soundtrack: I suggest reading this review while listening to The Best, by Tina Turner (Spotify, Youtube).

Nowadays, with so many short stories published every year in anthologies and online and print magazines, the "best of" compilations are more necessary than ever. With eight volumes published so far, the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year series edited by Jonathan Strahan is already a classic and one of the must-reads for those looking for quality short fiction. 

As expected, there are many good stories included in this volume. However, I must say that, having read quite a number of stories from 2013 myself, I found Strahan's taste to be somewhat orthogonal to mine. Some of the stories that were selected didn't really do it for me and I missed some of my favorites of the year (more on this later). 

Anyway, I would rate at least two of the stories as excellent: "Water", by Ramez Naam, and "The Sun and I", by K.J. Parker. They are quite different in style and tone, and both really belong in the best of the year. I highly recommend reading them if you haven't yet. 

I also enjoyed "Some Desperado" by Joe Abercrombie, "Zero for Conduct" by Greg Egan, "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling" by Ted Chiang, "The Master Conjurer" by Charlie Jane Anders, "The Book Seller" by Lavie Tidhar, "Fade to Gold" by Benjanun Sriduangkaew and "The Queen of Night's Area" by Ian McDonald, among others. But I couldn't help the feeling that, despite being good stories, they are not up to par to some of these authors' best writing. For instance, I would have included "The Bees Her Heart, the Hive Her Belly" by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, "The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated" by Ian McDonald and "The Time Travel Club" by Charlie Jane Anders, instead.

And then there are those stories that, even though have been widely praised, I have failed to appreciate: "Sing" by Karin Tidbeck, "Selkies Stories are for Losers" by Sofia Samatar, "The Ink Readers of Dol Saket" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, "The Irish Astronaut" by Val Nolan, to name but a few. It might very well be my fault, tough, since I have had similar issues with the work of some of these authors in the past.

All in all, I can't help thinking that this anthology doesn't really live up to the name of the "best of the year", although it includes a number of really remarkable stories. Your mileage may vary, anyway, and this book may be a good place to start if you want to give contemporary genre short fiction a try. 

(You can also read this review in Spanish at El Fantascopio/También puedes leer esta reseña en español en El Fantascopio) 

Novedad: The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 8, editada por Jonathan Strahan

Ya está a la venta The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume 8, antología editada por Jonathan Strahan. Los relatos incluidos son los siguientes:

• Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
• “Some Desperado”, Joe Abercrombie (Dangerous Women)
• “Zero for Conduct”, Greg Egan (Twelve Tomorrows)
• “Effigy Nights”, Yoon Ha Lee (Clarkesworld)
• “Rosary and Goldenstar”, Geoff Ryman (F&SF)
• “The Sleeper and the Spindle”, Neil Gaiman (Rags and Bones)
• “Cave and Julia”, M. John Harrison (Kindle Singles)
• “The Herons of Mer de l’Ouest”, M Bennardo (Lightspeed)
• “Water”, Ramez Naam (An Aura of Familiarity)
• “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”, Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
• “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Tor.com)
• “Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls”, Richard Parks (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
• “Rag and Bone”, Priya Sharma (Tor.com)
• “The Book Seller”, Lavie Tidhar (Interzone)
• “The Sun and I”, K J Parker (Subterranean)
• “The Promise of Space”, James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld)
• “The Master Conjurer”, Charlie Jane Anders (Lightspeed)
• “The Pilgrim and the Angel”, E. Lily Yu (McSweeney’s 45)
• “Entangled”, Ian R Macleod (Asimov’s)
• “Fade to Gold”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew (End of the Road)
• “Selkies Stories are for Losers”, Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons)
• “In Metal, In Bone”, An Owomoyela (Eclipse Online)
• “Kormack the Lucky”, Eleanor Arnason (F&SF)
• “Sing”, Karin Tidbeck (Tor.com)
• “Social Services”, Madeline Ashby (An Aura of Familiarity)
• “The Road of Needles”, Caitlín R Kiernan (Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales)
• “Mystic Falls”, Robert Reed (Clarkesworld)
• “The Queen of Night’s Aria”, Ian McDonald (Old Mars)
• “The Irish Astronaut”, Val Nolan (Electric Velocipede)

Ebooks en oferta: Eclipse 1, 2, 3 y 4, de Jonathan Strahan

En estos momentos se pueden adquirir en Kobo los cuatro volúmenes de la serie de antologías Eclipse de Jonathan Strahan por sólo 1,20€ cada uno (además, se pueden aplicar cupones de descuento para reducir aún más el precio). Estas antologías incluyen relatos de autores como Ted Chiang, Nancy Kress, Alastair Reynolds, Pat Cadigan, Jeffrey Ford y Nnedi Okorafor entre muchos otros.

Los enlaces a los ebooks en oferta son:

• Eclipse 1
• Eclipse 2
• Eclipse 3
• Eclipse 4 

Contenidos de The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year 8, de Jonathan Strahan

Jonathan Strahan acaba de publicar los contenidos de la octava entrega de su serie de antologías The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, que será publicada por Solaris en mayo de este año. Los relatos seleccionados son los siguientes (con enlaces a versiones online gratuitas cuando existen):

• Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
• “Some Desperado”, Joe Abercrombie (Dangerous Women)
• “Zero for Conduct”, Greg Egan (Twelve Tomorrows)
• “Effigy Nights”, Yoon Ha Lee (Clarkesworld)
• “Rosary and Goldenstar”, Geoff Ryman (F&SF)
• “The Sleeper and the Spindle”, Neil Gaiman (Rags and Bones)
• “Cave and Julia”, M. John Harrison (Kindle Singles)
• “The Herons of Mer de l’Ouest”, M Bennardo (Lightspeed)
• “Water”, Ramez Naam (An Aura of Familiarity)
• “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”, Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
• “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Tor.com)
• “Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls”, Richard Parks (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
• “Rag and Bone”, Priya Sharma (Tor.com)
• “The Book Seller”, Lavie Tidhar (Interzone)
• “The Sun and I”, K J Parker (Subterranean)
• “The Promise of Space”, James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld)
• “The Master Conjurer”, Charlie Jane Anders (Lightspeed)
• “The Pilgrim and the Angel”, E. Lily Yu (McSweeney’s 45)
• “Entangled”, Ian R Macleod (Asimov’s)
• “Fade to Gold”, Benjanun Sriduangkaew (End of the Road)
• “Selkies Stories are for Losers”, Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons)
• “In Metal, In Bone”, An Owomoyela (Eclipse Online)
• “Kormack the Lucky”, Eleanor Arnason (F&SF)
• “Sing”, Karin Tidbeck (Tor.com)
• “Social Services”, Madeline Ashby (An Aura of Familiarity)
• “The Road of Needles”, Caitlín R Kiernan (Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales)
• “Mystic Falls”, Robert Reed (Clarkesworld)
• “The Queen of Night’s Aria”, Ian McDonald (Old Mars)
• “The Irish Astronaut”, Val Nolan (Electric Velocipede)

Ebook gratis: Subterranean Magazine Winter 2014

Ya está disponible para descarga gratuita el más reciente número de la revista Subterranean Online. En este caso, los relatos han sido seleccionados por Jonathan Strahan y se incluyen obras de autores como Greg Egan, Jeffrey Ford y K.J. Parker. 

La tabla de contenidos es la siguiente:

• The Scrivener, Eleanor Arnason
• Bit Players, Greg Egan
• The Prelate's Commission, Jeffrey Ford
• Nanny Anne and the Christmas Story, Karen Joy Fowler
• Hayfever, Frances Hardinge
• Caligo Lane, Ellen Klages
• I Met a Man Who Wasn't There, K.J. Parker
• Pilgrims of the Round World, Bruce Sterling

Últimos días para votar en los Premios Locus

El próximo lunes se cerrará el plazo para votar en los Premios Locus. Estos galadornes se otorgan por votación popular y abierta a todo el mundo. Para votar, es suficiente cubrir el formulario online en la página de la revista Locus, sin que sea necesario registrarse previamente o ser subscriptor de la revista (aunque, de serlo, el voto tiene valor doble).

Mis recomendaciones para estos premios son las mismas que en su día propuse para los Premios Hugo, tanto en la categoría de novela como en las de ficción corta. Además, puesto en que los Locus hay una categoría de antología, me permito también recomendar Edge of Infinity editada por Jonathan Strahan y Other Worlds Than These editada por John Joseph Adams. 

Os animo a que participéis en la fiesta de la democracia en la elección de vuestras obras de ciencia ficción y fantasía favoritas de 2012.