Culled from the vast universe of science fiction and fantasy magazines and small-press chapbooks, the 600-page BEST SHORT NOVELS 2005 is a fairly delightful collection, carrying both good news and bad news: The good news is that readers get meaty stories that fully explore the characters and premises, while the bad news is that you don’t want some of these excellent novellas to end so quickly.

The gems:
• “Shadow Twin” by Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin and Daniel Abraham, an expressionist exploration of self and other;
• The James Bond/H.P. Lovecraft adventure of Charles Stross’ “The Concrete Jungle”;
• The paranoid humanity-under-siege tale “The Fear Gun” by Judith Berman;
• The girls-only noir of James Patrick Kelly’s “Men Are Trouble”;
• And, wonderfully, Ian McDowell’s “Under the Flag of Night,” an awesome mix of history, magic and pirates that should be rated “Arrr!”

The rest are definitely a mixed bag:
• Furry fans can get their kicks from “Sergeant Chip” by Bradley Denton, a futuristic dog soldier’s take on life and loyalty, and Eleanor Arnason’s “The Garden,” a cross between STARSHIP TROOPERS, the Care Bears and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.
• Stephen Baxter takes a side trip into his Xeelee universe with “Mayflower II,” chronicling the 10,000-year voyage of a generation starship as its inhabitants evolve as they travel between stars.
• The remainders – “The Gorgon in the Cupboard” by Patricia A. McKillip and “Arabian Wine” by Gregory Feeley – try their best to tell historical tales with vaguely fantastic flavoring, but just don’t connect. With Neal Stephenson and Susanna Clarke doing such amazing jobs with these kinds of tales, efforts that aren’t total barnstormers pale in comparison.

Strahan has done an admirable job compiling BEST SHORT NOVELS 2005. He’s managed to assemble a great collection of satisfying “tweener”-length genre fiction, and pull it off with aplomb. I, for one, can’t wait for next year’s volume. –Ryun Patterson

Buy it at SFBC.