The multiple Locus Award-winning annual collection of the year's best science fiction stories. In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self-evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection , the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world. This venerable collection brings together award-winning authors and masters of the field. Featuring short stories from acclaimed authors such as Indrapramit Das, Nancy Kress, Alastair Reynolds, Eleanor Arnason, James S.A. Corey & Lavie Tidhar, an extensive recommended reading guide and a summation of the year in science fiction, this annual compilation has become the definitive must-read anthology for all science fiction fans and readers interested in breaking into the genre. Gardner Dozois (1947-2018), one of the most acclaimed editors in science-fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Editor 15 times. He was the editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine for 20 years. He also served as the editor of The Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies and co-editor of the Warrior anthologies, Songs of the Dying Earth , and many others. As a writer, Dozois twice won the Nebula Award for best short story. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Skylark Award for Lifetime Achievement. He lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Year's Best Science Fiction Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection By Gardner Dozois St. Martin's Press Copyright © 2018 Gardner Dozois All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-250-16463-6 Contents TITLE PAGE, COPYRIGHT NOTICE, PERMISSIONS, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, SUMMATION: 2017, THE MOON IS NOT A BATTLEFIELD • Indrapramit Das, MY ENGLISH NAME • R. S. Benedict, AN EVENING WITH SEVERYN GRIMES • Rich Larson, VANGUARD 2.0 • Carter Scholz, STARLIGHT EXPRESS • Michael Swanwick, THE MARTIAN OBELISK • Linda Nagata, WE WHO LIVE IN THE HEART • Kelly Robson, WINTER TIMESHARE • Ray Nayler, DEAR SARAH • Nancy Kress, NIGHT PASSAGE • Alastair Reynolds, THE DRAGON THAT FLEW OUT OF THE SUN • Aliette de Bodard, WAITING OUT THE END OF THE WORLD IN PATTY'S PLACE CAFE • Naomi Kritzer, THE HUNGER AFTER YOU'RE FED • James S. A. Corey, ASSASSINS • Jack Skillingstead and Burt Courtier, THE MARTIAN JOB • Jaine Fenn, THE ROAD TO THE SEA • Lavie Tidhar, UNCANNY VALLEY • Greg Egan, THE WORDLESS • Indrapramit Das, PAN-HUMANISM: HOPE AND PRAGMATICS • Jessica, Barber and Sara Saab, ZIGEUNER • Harry Turtledove, THE PROVING GROUND • Alec Nevala-Lee, ZEN AND THE ART OF STARSHIP MAINTENANCE • Tobias, S. Buckell, THE INFLUENCE MACHINE • Sean McMullen, CANOE • Nancy Kress, THE HISTORY OF THE INVASION TOLD IN FIVE DOGS • Kelly Jennings, PRIME MERIDIAN • Silvia Moreno-Garcia, TRICERATOPS • Ian McHugh, MINES • Eleanor Arnason, THERE USED TO BE OLIVE TREES • Rich Larson, WHENDING MY WAY BACK HOME • Bill Johnson, DEATH ON MARS • Madeline Ashby, ELEPHANT ON TABLE • Bruce Sterling, NUMBER THIRTY-NINE SKINK • Suzanne Palmer, A SERIES OF STEAKS • Vina Jie-Min Prasad, THE LAST BOAT-BUILDER IN BALLYVOLOON • Finbarr O'Reilly, THE RESIDUE OF FIRE • Robert Reed, SIDEWALKS • Maureen F. McHugh, NEXUS • Michael F. Flynn, HONORABLE MENTIONS: 2017, ALSO BY GARDNER DOZOIS, ABOUT THE EDITOR, COPYRIGHT, CHAPTER 1 The Moon Is Not a Battlefield INDRAPRAMIT DAS Indrapramit Das is a writer and artist from Kolkata, India. His short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov's Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, Redstone Science Fiction, The World SF Blog, Flash Fiction Online, and the anthology Breaking the Bow: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Ramayana. He is a grateful graduate of the 2012 Clarion West Writers Workshop and a recipient of the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Award. He completed his MFA at the University of British Columbia and currently lives in Vancouver, working as a freelance writer, artist, editor, game tester, tutor, would-be novelist, and aspirant to adulthood. Follow him on Twitter @IndrapramitDas. In the story that follows, he paints an unsettling portrait of an injured soldier, hurt in combat on the Moon, who lives in poverty in a cardboard slum, his service seemingly forgotten by just about everybody ... including the force he served. We're recording. I was born in the sky, for war. This is what we were told. I think when people hear this, they think of ancient Earth stories. Of angels and superheroes and gods, leaving destruction between the stars. But I'm no superhero, no Kalel of America- Bygone with the flag of his dead planet flying behind him. I'm no angel Gabreel striking down Satan in the void or blowing the trumpet to end worlds. I'm no devi Durga bristling with arms and weapons, chasing down demons through the cosmos