The Best Science Fiction of 2003 Edited by Karen Haber and Jonathan Strahan

The Blurb On The Back:

Here in one affordable volume is the best short science fiction of the year as selected from magazines, anthologies and journals.

Included are such tales as: "A Study In Emerald" by New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman; "Confusions of Uni" by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Ursula K. Le Guin; "Legions In Time" by Michael Swanick; James Patrick Kelly's "Bernardo's House"; and "Only Partly Here" by Lucius Shepard.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

An interesting mix, there's something in this collection for science fiction readers of all persuassions and passions.

Grass For His Pillow by Lian Hearn

The Blurb On The Back:

Takeo knows he will love the beautiful Kaede until death. But after one night together they are destined never to meet again.

The young warrior is torn between two futures. His life is pledged to the merciless Tribe, who need his amazing magical skills in their secret work of assassination. He is also heir to the powerful Otori clan. But if he tries to claim his birthright, the Tribe will kill him.

Kaede, alone in a distant land, fights her own powerful enemies, while Takeo must make his choice. Ahead of him lies a journey that will test him to the limits of his being. And reveal the truth about who he really is ...

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Disappointing and predictable. Were it not for the fact that I've invested enough time to want to know how the story ultimately ends, I have to say that I would not purchase Brilliance of the Moon on the strength of this. Lian Hearn really needs to work out what her story is and how she wants to tell it. She also needs to flesh out her characters beyond the cyphers that she's put on the page.

Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn

The Blurb On The Back:

The young warrior Otori Takeo has been told by the blind prophetess, "Your lands will stretch from sea to sea. But peace comes at the price of bloodshed. Four battles to win and one to lose."

Takeo's passion for Kaede has made him powerful enemies, and he faces a war to secure her future and his own. He has legendary magical skills and is the deadliest assassin of the secret Tribe, but now he must lead an army into combat that will be savage and merciless. Can his small force of untrained men defeat the warriors of mighty warlords? Takeo rides into battle hoping there is truth in the last words of the prophecy: "You yourself are safe from death, except at the hands of your own son.".

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

An irritating mess, I would not recommend this to anyone. The female characters in particular were irritating for their weakness and the perfuntory and rushed nature in which Hearn tries to resolve loose ends made for dull reading. A waste of an excellent idea and thoroughly disappointing.