In the heart of the new millennium, worlds beyond our imagination have opened up, blurring the line between life and art. Embracing the challenges and possibilities of cyberspace, genetics, the universe, and beyond, the world of science fiction has become a porthole into the realities of tomorrow. In The Year's Best Science Fiction Twenty-third Annual Collection, our very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world with such compelling stories as:

"Beyond the Aquila Rift": Critically acclaimed author Alastair Reynolds takes readers to the edge of the universe, where no voyager has dared to travel before---or so we think.

"Comber": Our world is an ever-changing one, and award-winning author Gene Wolfe explores the darker side of our planet's fluidity in his own beautiful and inimitable style.

"Audubon in Atlantis": In a world not quite like our own, bestselling author Harry Turtledove shows us that there are reasons some species have become extinct.

The twenty-nine stories in this collection imaginatively take us far across the universe, into the very core of our beings, to the realm of the gods, and the moment just after now. Included here are the works of masters of the form and of bright new talents.

Supplementing the stories are the editor's insightful summation of the year's events and a lengthy list of honorable mentions, making this book both a valuable resource and the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart.

Contents

Summation: 2005

"The Little Goddess," Ian McDonald
"The Calorie Man," Paolo Bacigalupi
"Beyond the Aquila Rift," Alastair Reynolds
"Second Person, Present Tense," Daryl Gregory
"The Canadian Who Came Almost All the Way Back from the Stars," Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold
"Triceratops Summer," Michael Swanwick
"Camouflage," Robert Reed
"A Case of Consilience," Ken MacLeod
"The Blemmye's Strategem," Bruce Sterling
"Amba," William Sanders
"Search Engine," Mary Rosenblum
"Piccadilly Circus," Chris Beckett
"In the Quake Zone," David Gerrold
"La Malcontenta," Liz Williams
"The Children of Time," Stephen Baxter
"Little Faces," Vonda N. McIntyre
"Comber," Gene Wolfe
"Audubon in Atlantis," Harry Turtledove
"Deus Ex Homine," Hannu Rajaniemi
"The Great Caruso," Steven Popkes
"Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck," Neal Asher
"Zima Blue," Alastair Reynolds
"Planet of the Amazon Women," David Moles
"The Clockwork Atom Bomb," Dominic Green
"Gold Mountain," Chris Roberson
"The Fulcrum," Gwyneth Jones
"Mayfly," Peter Watts and Derryl Murphy
"Two Dreams on Trains," Elizabeth Bear
"Angel of Light," Joe Haldeman
"Burn," James Patrick Kelly

Honorable Mentions: 2005