The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy

Science fiction looks into the future, or at what could exist, given what the human race knows or can imagine about the universe; or it looks at different versions of our past and present. Horror looks at the supernatural, or at particularly disturbing versions of what can exist, given the perversions of human nature. Fantasy looks at worlds or subject matter which can't exist, which we acknowledge as impossible. All are literature of ideas, with Australian writers drawing on the vast, often unforgiving, landscape we live in, the multi-cultural nature of the society around us and the lessons we're trying to learn from our history. The best stories provoke, inspire and entertain. The best stories . . . The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy.

For readers accustomed to massive "year's best" anthologies, this Australian import may seem lightweight with only 11 tales, but it's a fine sampling of mostly cross-genre fiction from Down Under. Lynette Aspey's endearing, character-driven "Dreaming Dragons" plays with Vietnamese myth. Terry Dowling's "Flashmen," a gripping tale of a future Earth beset by a truly alien invasion, explores the meaning of heroism. Brendan D. Carson's "Occam's Razing" is a short but highly imaginative story of religious contagion. Damien Broderick offers a thoughtful postnanotech fable, "The Meek." In "The Dreaming City" by Ben Peek, Mark Twain dreams of an encounter with an aboriginal spirit and is moved to write a book in defense of Australia's native population. Congreve and Marquart provide an excellent introduction to the vicissitudes of the Australian genre market, as well as information about publications and some recommended reading. (Dec.)
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