A herd of dinosaurs wander the fields of rural Vermont; a young girl discovers what happens when you're no longer a goddess in near-future India; Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are put to the test as a family is split apart and then redefined; the last man in the universe, stranded on Mars, searches for meaning with a pop song; and an artificially intelligent turtle questions Intelligent Design and evolution. These are just some of the fourteen award-nominated stories that acclaimed anthologist Jonathan Strahan has assembled in his third annual survey of the best new science fiction stories of the year. Jonathan Strahan has edited eleven anthologies, including The Locus Awards and assorted year's best annuals, and is currently working on several new anthology projects. He has won the Ditmar, William J Atheling Jr, and Peter McNamara Awards for his editing, and is the Reviews Editor for Locus, the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy fields. He lives in Perth, Western Australia with his wife and two daughters.

"Given the existence of two long-running 'best of the year' SF anthologies edited by Gardner Dozois and David Hartwell, one might wonder at the need for yet another such volume. Still, veteran Strahan (Fantasy: The Very Best of 2005) shows excellent taste in his 14 selections, starting with Michael Swanwick's charming 'Triceratops Summer,' in which a glitch at a research facility temporarily transports dinosaurs to the modern world. Other high points include James Morrow's 'The Second Coming of Charles Darwin,' in which evangelicals send an AI disguised as a tortoise back in time to destroy all evidence of evolution on the Galpagos Islands; Bruce Sterling's 'The Blemmye's Stratagem,' which concerns an alien living on Earth at the time of the Crusades; Susan Palwick's 'The Fate of Mice,' in which an intelligent lab mouse must decide where his loyalties lie; and last but not least, Ian McDonald's powerful 'The Little Goddess,' in which a girl in a far-future Nepal becomes the latest incarnation of a deity. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Compiled in one volume are 14 award-nominated stories that acclaimed anthologist Strahan has assembled in his third annual survey of the best new science fiction stories of the year.