The Best of Nancy Kress. by Nancy Kress. 2015
THE BEST OF NANCY KRESS
RATED 88% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 4.19 OF 5
21 STORIES : 9 GREAT / 8 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
The 21st Century has been a good one for women in science fiction. Women authors have dominated the major awards. Ursula K Le Guin and Octavia Butler have been deservingly promoted into the pantheon of the genre, spoken of in the same breath with greats like Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein.
For some reason, Nancy Kress hasn’t been lauded in the same discussions, but I believe that she belongs on any list of science fictions greatest writers. Perhaps because Kress operates best in the longest of short forms, the novella, her work is too long to be widely anthologized and too short to be printed in a single volume.
A Nancy Kress story is a story that starts first from the science. As all great science fiction should be! What if we could engineer children that didn’t sleep? What would the discovery of aliens force us to understand about humanity? How would be overreact after ecological devastation? Can the destruction of cities be an act of love? Can we torture ourselves enough to prove the existence of God? What would we sacrifice for our family?
Family is important in Kress’ work. Sisters feature prominently with the complex challenges of that relationship. Much of the emotional power in this anthology comes from families that are stretched to the breaking point.
Class issues set the background of most stories … and jump into the foreground from time to time. I’ve long believed that no one can write “poor people in the future” like Nancy Kress, although most of the stories that led to that opinion don’t make it into this collection.
One final important trait of Kress’ writing in the prevalence of very intelligent and professional women. Science Fiction has always loved the ‘compentent man’ protagonist. WIth Nancy Kress, the ‘competent woman’ take center stage.
I found a little weakness if some of her ‘religious rebuttal’ stories, but one of her stories about the search for God is one of her very best.
This is a strong recommendation and an invitation to explore the Best of Nancy Kress
A spectacular NINE stories join the All Time Great List:
Out of All Them Bright Stars • (1985) • Brief and full of import. A waitress in a diner serves an alien, but learns a hard truth about humanity that she never wanted to know. One of those stories that transcend the genre and could be enjoyed by anyone who loves literature.
Pathways • (2013) • Kress writes with great empathy for her characters. This is the story of a bright young woman with no education trying to save her family from a horrible genetic disease by courageously volunteering for a medical experiment that she doesn’t understand. I absolutely adored this.
Laws of Survival • (2007) • A young female scavenges within the Dome that aliens placed to imprison humanity. She stumbles into a facility where she, with a simple robot companion, must train dogs or face her own destruction. Compelling, charming, and with solid suspense.
By Fools Like Me • (2007) • A brief and painful story about overreaction caused by suffering. In an eco-apocalypse, remnants of the old world’s wastefulness (such as books made from trees) are Sins to be destroyed. A dying grandmother and her granddaughter come across a bundle of books. They decide to read them instead of immediately destroying them and they pay the price for that ‘betrayal.’
Shiva in Shadow • (2004) • A very impressive piece of space adventure. A three person crew is made up of two scientists and a nurturer/leader, who narrates the story. They are on a mission to explore anomalies from a massive black hole. The story is full of old-school scientific research and psycho-sexual interplays of jealousy and betrayal. What makes the story even better is that, when a probe is launched, the story splits between the perspectives of the real humans and their digital personas on the probe.
The Kindness of Strangers • (2008) • Aliens are destroying the world’s largest cities. One by one. At the same time, a woman is having an affair with a man whose family dies in one of those cities. The two of them are shuffled into a containment camp with other refugees. Very well written characters and a powerful and difficult message for humanity.
My Mother, Dancing • (2004) • A heart wrenching story about a far future humanity that has perceived religious implications to the Fermi paradox. If we are alone in the universe, it is our obligation to populate the universe. What if we are wrong?
Trinity • (1984) • A difficult, disturbing, and riveting masterpiece. Seena tries to save her sister Devrie who is slowly killing herself by starvation as part of a scientific/religious cult/experiment that is using twins to try to prove the existence of God. The experiment works with two mind together, so Seena hunts down her cloned twin. The characters are realistic and well detailed with intense emotions. This novella moves propulsively, violating taboos , and ends with an explosion of a denouement, both challenging and fulfilling.
Beggars in Spain • (1991) • Children are altered to be born without the need for sleep and have a huge advantage over those who do. Society’s reaction is violent. This is Kress’ masterpiece and a challenging story about the inequalities of birth, status, wealth, and more. It is also a haunting look into a possible future.
THE BEST OF NANCY KRESS IS RATED 85% POSITIVE
21 STORIES : 9 GREAT / 8 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 1 POOR / 0 DNF
And Wild for to Hold • (1991) • novella by Nancy Kress
Good. The Church of the Holy Hostage kidnaps people from history in the hope of reducing deaths and suffering of many. When they take Anne Boleyn from the Tower of London, she starts manipulating those around her in an attempt to regain some power over her destiny.
Out of All Them Bright Stars • (1985) • short story by Nancy Kress
Great. Brief and full of import. A waitress in a diner serves an alien, but learns a hard truth about humanity that she never wanted to know. One of those stories that transcend the genre and could be enjoyed by anyone who loves literature.
Pathways • (2013) • novelette by Nancy Kress
Great. Kress writes with great empathy for her characters. This is the story of a bright young woman with no education trying to save her family from a horrible genetic disease by courageously volunteering for a medical experiment that she doesn’t understand. I absolutely adored this.
Dancing on Air • (1993) • novella by Nancy Kress
Good. Unsolved ballerina murders, many of whom have altered their bodies to get an advantage. An enhanced guard dog’s POV. Painful dynamics between mother and daughter.
Unto the Daughters • (1995) • short story by Nancy Kress
Average. Feminist Garden of Eden story told from the perspective of the snake.
Laws of Survival • (2007) • novelette by Nancy Kress
Great. A young female scavenges within the Dome that aliens placed to imprison humanity. She stumbles into a facility where she, with a simple robot companion, must train dogs or face her own destruction. Compelling, charming, and with solid suspense.
Someone to Watch Over Me • (2014) • short story by Nancy Kress
Good. An obsessed mother, recently divorced with restrained orders against her, secretly has illegal surveillance cameras implanted in her small child. Her obsessive observation of her ex-husband’s new life sends her spiraling out of control.
The Flowers of Aulit Prison • [Probability Universe] • (1996) • novelette by Nancy Kress
Good. An excellent exploration of an alien culture that takes a communal shared reality very important, people are punished by being declared dead and then ignored. A woman who killed her sister in a fit of rage is given the change to be a prison informant against a human who is believed to be plotting something against the state.
The Price of Oranges • (1989) • novelette by Nancy Kress
Good. Charming tale of two older men in 1989 who sit, talk, and try to make the best of life. One man travels back in time 1937 to buy things at must cheaper prices —- and maybe find a man to make his granddaughter happier.
By Fools Like Me • (2007) • short story by Nancy Kress
Great. A brief and painful story about overreaction caused by suffering. In an eco-apocalypse, remnants of the old world’s wastefulness (such as books made from trees) are Sins to be destroyed. A dying grandmother and her granddaughter come across a bundle of books. They decide to read them instead of immediately destroying them and they pay the price for that ‘betrayal.’
Casey's Empire • (1981) • short story by Nancy Kress
Average. A young man who wants to be a science fiction adventure writer experiences obstacles to that dream from the academic literary establishment … and then UFOs.
Shiva in Shadow • (2004) • novella by Nancy Kress
Great. A very impressive piece of space adventure. A three person crew is made up of two scientists and a nurturer/leader, who narrates the story. They are on a mission to explore anomalies from a massive black hole. The story is full of old-school scientific research and psycho-sexual interplays of jealousy and betrayal. What makes the story even better is that, when a probe is launched, the story splits between the perspectives of the real humans and their digital personas on the probe.
Grant Us This Day • (1993) • short story by Nancy Kress
Poor. A kinda stupid religious story in which God is a failing art student and the earth is his project that has gone off the rails. Ironically, this feels like amateurish student work when compared to the rest of Kress’ stories.
The Kindness of Strangers • (2008) • short story by Nancy Kress
Great. Aliens are destroying the world’s largest cities. One by one. At the same time, a woman is having an affair with a man whose family dies in one of those cities. The two of them are shuffled into a containment camp with other refugees. Very well written characters and a powerful and difficult message for humanity.
End Game • (2007) • short story by Nancy Kress
Good. A socially stunted scientist discovers that ‘static’ in the human brain impairs our ability to accomplish things. He tests a new drug on an assistant who becomes a chess savant, but less human.
My Mother, Dancing • (2004) • short story by Nancy Kress
Great. A heart wrenching story about a far future humanity that has perceived religious implications to the Fermi paradox. If we are alone in the universe, it is our obligation to populate the universe. What if we are wrong?
Trinity • (1984) • novella by Nancy Kress
Great. A difficult, disturbing, and riveting masterpiece. Seena tries to save her sister Devrie who is slowly killing herself by starvation as part of a scientific/religious cult/experiment that is using twins to try to prove the existence of God. The experiment works with two mind together, so Seena hunts down her cloned twin. The characters are realistic and well detailed with intense emotions. This novella moves propulsively, violating taboos , and ends with an explosion of a denouement, both challenging and fulfilling.
People Like Us • (1989) • short story by Nancy Kress
Average. Two very different classes of society meet for dinner … and one of them brings an alien.
Evolution • (1995) • novelette by Nancy Kress
Good. Antibiotic-immune diseases are making hospitals no-go zones. Mix in family dynamics, anti-science terrorism, and really well written characters. This is a very good story. And has quite a bit of resonance as I read it for the first time in 2020.
Margin of Error • (1994) • short story by Nancy Kress
Good. A genetically perfect woman comes to try to get her sister to rejoin a genetic experiment that has started to break apart at the 12 generation. She believes that her sister will leave her lower class life of children. Instead of help, she finds subtle vengeance.
Beggars in Spain • [Sleepless] • (1991) • novella by Nancy Kress
Great. Children are altered to be born without the need for sleep and have a huge advantage over those who do. Society’s reaction is violent. This is Kress’ masterpiece and a challenging story about the inequalities of birth, status, wealth, and more. It is also a haunting look into a possible future.
