Part II: The Year's Best Science Fiction 17 (1999)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction 17 (Stories from 1999) Edited by Gardner Dozois. Reviewing pages 149-214.

Richard Wadholm's "Green Tea" (Asimov's Science Fiction October/November 1999) demonstrates that hard science fiction stories which are supposed to be strict about scientific plausibility and accuracy can be really good stories too. We "hear" the story in the form of a Spanish narrator confronting someone responsible for a disaster aboard the narrator's space ship. Although the narrator has a genteel speaking style, the attitude and atmosphere comes straight out of hard-boiled detective fiction. I'm not familiar with the science behind this tale so I can't vouch for its accuracy. Wadholm tells the story so well that my lack of knowledge doesn't get in the way of enjoying the story.



Originally published in Tesseracts⁸, Karl Schroeder's "The Dragon of Pripyat" follows Gennady, an investigator hired to look into a blackmail threat related to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The story explores lives where the net and virtual reality substitutes too much for actual human contact and experiences. In addition to uncovering the mystery, we also see Gennady and his partner Lisa grow and struggle as they confront their own shortcomings and limitations.

"Written in Blood" by Chris Lawson comes from the June 1999 issue of
Asimov's. It's another hard science fiction story where my lack of knowledge keeps me from analyzing the science, but it doesn't handicap me in enjoying the story. the daughter of a Muslim scientist narrates a story stemming from a pilgrimage she took with her father when she was 11. They encounter a man who says he can write The Qur'an into the DNA code of a person's blood. The story deals with the possibility of this and its consequences. It also explores prejudice against Muslims in which innocent Muslims fall under suspicion due to the actions of terrorists. However, it doesn't flinch from dealing with intolerance within the Muslim community either. The narrator's father is the most impressive character in the story.