Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019
edited by Carmen Maria Machado & John Joseph Adams
BASFF #5
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor—a leading writer in the field—then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.
Today’s readers of science fiction and fantasy have an appetite for stories that address a wide variety of voices, perspectives, and styles. There is an openness to experiment and pushing boundaries, combined with the classic desire to read about spaceships and dragons, future technology and ancient magic, and the places where they intersect. Contemporary science fiction and fantasy looks to accomplish the same goal as ever—to illuminate what it means to be human. With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and World Fantasy Award finalist Carmen Maria Machado, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019 explores the ever-expanding and changing world of SFF today.
The 2019 volume collects the best material published in 2018, selected by series editor John Joseph Adams and guest editor Carmen Maria Machado.
Cover Artist: Galen Dara
ISBN: 9781328604378
Format: Trade Paperback / Ebook
Publicity Contact: Marissa Page <Marissa.Page@hmhco.com>
Praise for Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019
Machado’s selections lean toward the experimental, the literary, and the boundary-pushing. […] There’s a decidedly global, multicultural feel to these pieces, which exemplify diversity and representation. […] a masterful showcase of what’s possible.
The stories selected by guest editor Machado (Her Body and Other Parties, 2017) for this acclaimed annual anthology [contain] the many and varied pleasures […] this brilliant and beautiful collection is a must-read for those looking to enjoy the fullest range of narrative pleasure.
Every one of these 20 tales shines; there’s not a lackluster one in the bunch. […] A strong collection that will inspire, disturb, and, yes, give pleasure.
Praise for Praise for the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy Series
These are stories to take your breath away, to make you laugh, to bring you to despair, to give you hope, to creep you out, and even to break your heart. [A]ll are interesting, vibrant, and worthy.
—Booklist (starred review), on BASFF 2018
Superb. […] This mostly dystopic, sometimes darkly humorous collection of 20 hard-hitting stories feels timely, confronting contemporary cultural crises such as racism, xenophobia, police brutality, barriers to health care access, and the social misuses of technology.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review), on BASFF 2017
Intellectually demanding […] a very elite, highly curated set of stories. […] A set of primal, classic-seeming tales from our past, present, and future.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review), on BASFF 2016
Stellar […] An illuminating anthology for genre devotees and curious readers interested in exploring sf/fantasy.
—Library Journal (starred review), on BASFF 2015