Recently, a pair of reviews for the forthcoming anthology The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2 hit the interwebs.

Steve Fahnestalk at Amazing delivers a lengthy review, which features some background to the magazine, an argument about what is sf, and an overview of every story.

All in all—and I’ve read this anthology more than once—I can’t say that there are any bad stories in it; Gordon Van Gelder has proved himself, in a time when there must be many more submissions than in any other editor’s tenure, to be not only a competent editor, but a talented one as well. I can’t wait to see what diamonds he mines from the 66 years (plus!) of F&SF’s history for the next “Very Best Of” anthology!

Ventueadlaxre awards the anthology 4 out 5 stars and also reviews each story.

Overall this is a strong anthology, proving that it lives up to the title of the Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction – some anthologies are named as such, but this delivers on that promise. It’s also interesting to see what ideas were in play 60 years ago, and both how we have come from that time as technology develops, as well as how things are still eerily stagnant.

I highly recommend this anthology, and thank Tachyon for offering me a copy to review.

Bonus coverage:

I preparation for Volume 2, The Review Curmudgeon Mike Reeves-McMillan reviewed the first volume of The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Some true classics here, along with stories I don’t remember hearing of or reading before. As with any anthology, it’s Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, and only the editor will love every one of the stories, but by and large these stories demonstrate why F&SF has been so successful for so long. They aren’t, for the most part, trotting out the tropes, even to play with them or subvert them; they’re taking SFF to strange and wonderful new places.

For more info on The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 2, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Thomas Canty.

For more info on The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction, visit the Tachyon page.