The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume 2

A Best-Of series collection which greatly improves on its predecessor

This anthology, second in a "best of" series by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, contains 27 stories spanning its publication history, from 1950 to 2011.

Though TMFSF's history has included *many* Award winners and nominees, the editor seems to have made a conscious effort in both Volumes 1 and 2 to include mostly stories which were less celebrated, but perhaps no less worthy. In Volume 1, less than one half were award nominees; in Volume 2, only a third. Yet there are still many amazing stories here.

I have to be honest: in Volume 1, I got the impression that the editor had selected stories based on his memory of what stood out as exceptional for him, rather than doing an extensive re-reading of the archives first (admittedly, a monolithic task) -- resulting in a collection of somewhat uneven quality. But in this edition, I really felt as though more concerted thought had gone into the selection...

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