The thirty stories in this collection imaginatively take us far across the universe, into the very core of our beings, to the realm of the gods, and the moment just after now. Included here are the works of masters of the form and of bright new talents, including: Paolo Bacigalupi, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear, Aliete de Bodard, James L. Cambias, Greg Egan, Charles Coleman Finlay, James Alan Gardner, Dominic Green, Daryl Gregory, Gwyneth Jones, Ted Kosmatka, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Paul McAuley, Ian McDonald, Maureen McHugh, Sarah Monette, Garth Nix, Hannu Rajaniemi, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Mary Rosenblum, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Geoff Ryman, Karl Schroeder, Gord Sellar, and Michael Swanwick. Supplementing the stories are the editor’s insightful summation of the year’s events and a lengthy list of honorable mentions, making this book both a valuable resource and the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination, and the heart. xi • Acknowledgments (The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection) • (2009) • essay by Gardner Dozois xiii • Summation: 2008 • (2009) • essay by Gardner Dozois 1 • Turing’s Apples • (2008) • shortstory by Stephen Baxter 16 • From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled • (2008) • shortstory by Michael Swanwick (aka From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled . . .) 32 • The Gambler • (2008) • novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi 50 • Boojum • [Boojum] • (2008) • shortstory by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette 65 • The Six Directions of Space • (2008) • novella by Alastair Reynolds 107 • N-Words • (2008) • shortstory by Ted Kosmatka 120 • An Eligible Boy • (2008) • novelette by Ian McDonald 140 • Shining Armour • (2008) • shortstory by Dominic Green (aka Shining Armor) 154 • The Hero • (2008) • novelette by Karl Schroeder 172 • Evil Robot Monkey • (2008) • shortstory by Mary Robinette Kowal 175 • Five Thrillers • (2008) • novelette by Robert Reed 209 • The Sky That Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue and Into the Black • (2008) • shortstory by Jay Lake 217 • Incomers • (2008) • shortfiction by Paul J. McAuley 233 • Crystal Nights • (2008) • novelette by Greg Egan 252 • The Egg Man • (2008) • novelette by Mary Rosenblum 270 • His Master’s Voice • (2008) • shortstory by Hannu Rajaniemi 280 • The Political Prisoner • (2008) • novella by Charles Coleman Finlay 327 • Balancing Accounts • (2008) • shortstory by James L. Cambias 341 • Special Economics • (2008) • novelette by Maureen F. McHugh 362 • Days of Wonder • (2008) • novelette by Geoff Ryman 390 • City of the Dead • (2008) • novelette by Paul J. McAuley [as by Paul McAuley ] 410 • The Voyage Out • (2007) • shortstory by Gwyneth Jones 424 • The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm • (2008) • shortstory by Daryl Gregory 439 • G-Men • (2008) • novelette by Kristine Kathryn Rusch 466 • The Erdmann Nexus • (2008) • novella by Nancy Kress 520 • Old Friends • (2008) • shortstory by Garth Nix 526 • The Ray-Gun: A Love Story • (2008) • novelette by James Alan Gardner 543 • Lester Young and the Jupiter’s Moons’ Blues • (2008) • novelette by Gord Sellar 568 • Butterfly, Falling At Dawn • (2008) • novelette by Aliette de Bodard 585 • The Tear • (2008) • novella by Ian McDonald