Industry Reviews
Praise for The New Voices of Science Fiction
A Barnes & Noble's Otherworldly Book Arriving in November
Amazing Stories: Science Fiction Books to Watch Out For
"[STARRED REVIEW] "This collection of stories from up-and-coming sf writers is diverse in terms of plot and setting, yet all share an emphasis on creating a distinct tone and style for their imagined worlds. There are stories that perch on the borderlands between fantasy and sf such as Samantha Mill's 'Strange Waters,' where a woman tries to navigate her way back to her family on literal timestreams while dodging historical records of her own future. There are stories that explore the ways in which the human mind can be changed by an alternate reality such as Alice Sola Kim's 'One Hour, Every Seven Years,' about a woman continually attempting to revise her own childhood on Venus, or Amal El-Mohtar's 'Madeleine,' an aptly titled Proustian story about a woman who is transported into intense visions of her past by an experimental medication. There are also stories that present unique dystopias such as the mist-haunted New York in Jason Sanford's 'Toppers' or the mysterious outside world in David Erik Nelson's 'In the Sharing Place.' Equally wonderful stories by Jamie Wahls, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Suzanne Palmer, and many others make this a must-read for anyone interested in the latest and most exciting sf writing out there."
-Booklist, starred review
[STARRED REVIEW]"Rajaniemi and Weisman have curated 20 stories from the last five years, by newer writers who have already started to make their names known for their prose. Sarah Pinsker's "Our Lady of the Open Road" is the genesis of Pinsker's first novel, Song for a New Day. The Hugo and Nebula Award-winning "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience?" from Rebecca Roanhorse juxtaposes authenticity and cultural experience against virtual reality, showing how easy it is to lose oneself. In Suzanne Palmer's "The Secret Life of Bots," rebellion and autonomy come in the form of tiny worker bots, and S. Qiouyi Lu's "Mother Tongues" gives-and gives up-the literal voice of language, its importance in immigrant families, and what they will sacrifice for their children's future. VERDICT While readers may be familiar with many of the names and individual works here, having them together in one volume creates a stunning set of sf shorts. Highly recommended for all collections.
-Library Journal, starred review
[STARRED REVIEW]"In the introduction to this superlative anthology, Weisman (The New Voices of Fantasy) declares the future of science fiction resides in the sure hands of the authors of these 20 recent award-winning or award-nominated stories. Rajaniemi, a mathematical physicist and author (The Quantum Thief), adds that their various perspectives create "a tonal freshness" in the genre. Most of the included works extrapolate contemporary technological and social changes into near-future nightmares, as in Jason Sanford's "Toppers," a scalding look at survival in a devastated New York; Sam J. Miller's "Calved," a heartbreaking vision of parenting gone hopelessly wrong in a warmed Arctic; and Sarah Pinsker's "Our Lady of the Open Road," a haunting view of musicians trying to connect to listeners in a future of deep anxiety and isolation. Others explore dangerous extensions of popular science: in Amman Sabet's "Tender Loving Plastics," AI foster parents shape human children; Alexander Weinstein's "Openness" explores the staggering effect of social media gone amok. Vina Jie-Min Prasad's rollicking "A Series of Steaks" and Suzanne Palmer's "The Secret Life of Bots" are more lighthearted. All these stories provoke the reader to ponder not only what the future might be but what it should be."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"From the moment Mary Shelley took up her pen [and a dare], science fiction has inspired, challenged, and entertained audiences. That legacy is alive and thriving in Hannu Rajaniemi and Jacob Weisman's curated collection The New Voices of Science Fiction. Covering the last five years of rising stars and new arrivals, the collection is a breath of fresh, interstellar air."
-Foreword
"Enriched by its ranged and buoyed by the remarkable talents of its contributors, The New Voices of Science Fiction is a must-read anthology for anyone who loves the genre, demonstrating vividly just how vital it remains."
-Barnes & Noble Book Blog
"This is a killer collection, full of top-notch stories beautifully written and invested with much care, compassion and thought."
-Paul Di Filippo, Locus
"The New Voices of Science Fiction collects today's best and brightest science fiction writers in one extremely entertaining tome."
-Realms and Robots
"The New Voices of Science Fiction speaks in tongues ticklish, rousing, urgent, and forked. This smart, transportive pack of stories shows us our future, shows us ourselves, shows us a hell of a good time."
-Katie Williams, author of Tell the Machine Goodnight
"The New Voices of Science Fiction is a stunning collection. There's a story for every possible future-it's impossible to put down."
-Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M
"This is a stupendous collection. Each story is a wonderful gift. Some are funny, some poignant; all are forward-looking, imaginative, intelligent, and full of heart. The voices are honest and fresh. The themes are contemporary but also universal: love, family, career, alienation, success, loss. There's something here for everyone. I loved this collection. I simply couldn't put it down."
-Michael Blumlein, author of Longer
"In this superb collection, the radical freedom of the digital realm typically contrasts the resource-depleted landscape beyond. Space exploration is limited to resource extraction with the greatest changes happening at home. Reinventions of the body meet backlashes and resistance as often as love. Guided by nostalgia, characters tend to look to the past, fearing the wave of changes the future may bring. Ultimately [this] new generation of writers have very human stories to tell, necessarily complicated by compromises and failures as much as heroics."
-New Scientist
"This is a wonderful selection of stories highlighting not only some great, writers, but a wealth of fabulous ideas and new twists on old science fiction tropes. It's just over 400 pages long, giving a decent amount of stories to enjoy and allowing the editors to indulge themselves and include a whole host of interesting authors. If you want a flavour of cutting edge Science Fiction today, this is an excellent choice of reading material."
-SF Crowsnest
"One of the things I loved most about this was that the writers included in this collection are so diverse, elevating a lot of different cultures, ideas, ways of looking at the world, and storytelling styles, and that is exactly what I hope for when I read any anthology."
-Fairy Bookmother
"I was surprised by the excellent quality of the stories. I enjoyed every one."
-Book Lover's Boudoir
Praise for Hannu Rajaniemi
"A storytelling skill rarely found from even the most experienced authors."
-Library Journal
"Rajaniemi is a virtuoso idea-smith, with a flair for stylish imagery and clever literary architecture."
-Strange Horizons
"Spectacularly and convincingly inventive.
-Kirkus, starred review
"A stellar debut."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Hard to admit, but I think he's better at this stuff than I am."
-Charles Stross
"Rajaniemi has spectacularly delivered on the promise that this is likely to be the most important SF novel we'll see this year."
-Locus
Praise for Jacob Weisman
On World Fantasy Award-winner, The New Voices of Fantasy (with Peter S. Beagle, ed.)
[STARRED REVIEW] "A stellar anthology that proves not only that fantasy is alive and well, but that it will be for years to come."-Kirkus
[STARRED REVIEW] "This anthology represents some of the most exciting and interesting work in the fantasy field today, and anyone interested in the genre should read it immediately."
-Booklist
On Invaders: 22 Tales from the Outer Limits of Science Fiction
[STARRED REVIEW] "This volume is a treasure trove of stories that draw equally from SF and literary fiction, and they are superlative in either context."
-Publishers Weekly
On The Treasury of the Fantastic (with David Sandner)
"A marvelous mix of classics and rarely seen works, bibliophile's finds and old favorites....a treasury in every sense and a treasure!"
-Connie Willis, author of Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog
"The fantasy tradition in English and American literature is rich and varied and strange. This is the book to read to find out what you never knew you needed to know."
-David G. Hartwell, editor of the Year's Best Fantasy series
