The Very Best of the Best Audiobook By Gardner Dozois - editor cover art

The Very Best of the Best

35 Years of The Year's Best Science Fiction

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The Very Best of the Best

By: Gardner Dozois - editor
Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny, Will Damron
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A 2020 Locus Award Finalist for Best Anthology

"[Vivienne Leheny and Will Damron's] characterizations are poignant and widely varied, their delivery soulful and immersive, and their pacing attuned to each new world. Ideal for fans of short stories and science fiction." (AudioFile magazine)

For the first time in a decade, a compilation of the very best in science fiction, from a world authority on the genre.

For decades, The Year's Best Science Fiction has been the most widely read short science fiction anthology of its kind. Now, after 35 annual collections comes the ultimate in science fiction anthologies. In The Very Best of the Best, legendary editor Gardner Dozois selects the finest short stories for this landmark collection, including short fiction from authors such as Charles Stross, Michael Swanwick, Nancy Kress, Greg Egan, Stephen Baxter, Pat Cadigan, and any many more.

©2019 Gardner Dozois (P)2019 Macmillan Audio Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Fiction Science Fiction Short Story

Critic reviews

2020 Locus Awards Nominee
Great Stories • Brilliant Collection • Engaging Readers • Cutting-edge Speculative Fiction • Phenomenal Fiction
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An excellent collection of great stories. listen to it an enjoy word word word

it is what it says it is

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Arguably the best of the best, each story is a masterpiece, thank you for collating the stories in one edition.
A time space above the rest.

Finally a book title which is true in every sense

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An eventually evident scientific concept described with passion of and for the premise...very enjoyable!

great story

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This is a HUGE collection of phenomenal fiction; and it’s all SOOOO good!
Almost 40 hours of the stories deemed the absolute best by the long time editor of the Year’s Best series, Gardner Dozois.
(My favorite one was the short story upon which the classic Sci-fi Horror movie The Thing was based.)
The title really says it all. If you enjoy sci-fi short stories, you will not be disappointed by this brilliant collection!

So Worth a Credit!

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I enjoyed the stories in this collection, hopefully it doesn't set an unreasonable standard for any short story collections I read in the future.

The first short story collection I've listened to.

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This is another great collection of Science Fiction short stories. I highly recommend this book.

Another excellent collection of stories.

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But may be it was not too bad. I got to like about a third of the stories. Above all 'The Emperor of Mars' by Allen Steele. Followed by 'The Things' by Peter Watts, 'Utriesque Cosmi' by Robert Charles Wilson, 'Where the Golden Apples Grow' by Kage Baker, 'Dead Men Walking' by  Paul J. McAuley, 'Glory' by Greg Egan, 'Finisterra' by Edwin Moles, 'Martian Heart' by John Barnes, 'The Invasion of Venus' by Stephen Baxter, 'The Best We can' by Carrie Vaughn and 'Pathways' by Nancy Kress.

Does not live up to the title

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Hours of listening for one credit. Some pretty weird stories, a couple modern sexual mentions that may be offensive. But mostly good stories. I listen at night as a distraction to go to sleep.

Great value ..! hours of listening for 1 credit..

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Narrators were varied and all good.
The stories were also varied in tone and type, really enjoyed this book

very enjoyable listen

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For a collection that bills itself as “The Very Best of the Best”, the quality is very hit or miss. Some stories, like “The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter”, “Finisterra” “The Little Goddess” and a few whose titles escape me at the moment are top-rate. Some of the others are pretty boring. Most are somewhere in the middle—listenable, but not memorable. And the performances are mediocre—somewhat flat. All in all, not a great collection, but with a few gems that will stay with you.

Uneven, sometimes wonderful

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