Holy cats, have we started the Best of the Year season already? How did that sneak up on me?

However it happened, I take great pleasure in cataloging the new additions to some of my favorite anthologies every year. Jonathan Strahan is one of the top editors in the field, and his ongoing Infinity anthology series (Meeting Infinity, Bridging Infinity, etc.) has produced some of the most acclaimed short SF of the past decade. Strahan has been editing The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year for eleven straight years, the first seven with Night Shade, and the last three with Solaris, and he shows no sign of stopping. It’s a book I cherish every year, and Volume 11 — with fiction by Amal El-Mohtar, Paolo Bacigalupi, Aliette de Bodard, N.K. Jemisin, Rich Larson, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Ian R. MacLeod, Paul McAuley, Geoff Ryman, Delia Sherman, Lavie Tidhar, Catherynne M Valente, Genevieve Valentine, and many others — is no exception.

It arrives in trade paperback in two weeks. Here’s the Table of Contents.

“Two’s Company,” Joe Abercrombie (Tor.com, Jan 16, 2016)
“The Art of Space Travel,” Nina Allan (Tor.com)
“Seasons of Glass and Iron,” Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood)
“Mika Model,” Paolo Bacigalupi (Slate)
“A Salvaging of Ghosts,” Aliette de Bodard (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 01/03/16)
“Laws of Night and Silk,” Seth Dickinson (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 26 May 2016)
“Touring with the Alien,” Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld 115, 4/16)
“Red as Blood and White as Bone,” Theodora Goss (Tor.com)

“Even the Crumbs Were Delicious,” Daryl Gregory (The Starlit Wood)
“Number Nine Moon,” Alex Irvine (F&SF, 1/16)
“Red Dirt Witch,” N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy #60, People of Color Destroy Fantasy special issue)
“Whisper Road (Murder Ballad No. 9),” Caitlín R. Kiernan (Sirenia Digest 125, 7/16)
“Successor, Usurper, Replacement,” Alice Sola Kim (Buzzfeed, 10/26/16)
“You Make Pattaya,” Rich Larson (Interzone 247)
“Foxfire Foxfire,” Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 2016)
“Seven Birthdays,” Ken Liu (Bridging Infinity)
“The Visitor from Taured,” Ian R. MacLeod (Asimov’s SF, 9/16)
“Elves of Antarctica,” Paul McAuley (Drowned Worlds)
“Things with Beards,” Sam J Miller (Clarkesworld 117, 6/16)
“Spinning Silver,” Naomi Novik (The Starlit Wood)
“Those Shadows Laugh,” Geoff Ryman (F&SF, 9-10/16)
“The Great Detective,” Delia Sherman (Tor.com)
“Terminal,” Lavie Tidhar (Tor.com, 04/16)
“The Future is Blue,” Catherynne M Valente (Drowned Worlds)
“Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home,” Genevieve Valentine (Clarkesworld)
“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay ,” Alyssa Wong (Uncanny 10, 5-6/16)
“Fable,” Charles Yu (The New Yorker, 5/30/16)
“The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight,” E Lily Yu (Uncanny 12)

Just how many different Best of the Year volumes are published every year? I have absolutely no idea, but I know we covered nearly a dozen last year:

Nebula Awards Showcase 2016, edited by Mercedes Lackey
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten, edited by Jonathan Strahan
The Best Science Fiction of the Year, Volume 1, edited by Neil Clarke
The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016, edited by Rich Horton
The Year’s Best Military & Adventure SF 2015, edited by David Afsharirad
The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas 2016, edited by Paula Guran
The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2016, edited by Paula Guran
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, edited by Karen Joy Fowler and John Joseph Adams
The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois
Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Volume 3, edited by Simon Strantzas and Michael Kelly
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Eight, edited by Ellen Datlow

Did I mention that Jonathan is one of the top editors in the field? This is what I mean. Here’s a sample of our recent coverage of his books.

Reach For Infinity
Meeting Infinity
Bridging Infinity
Distinctive Visions of Earth After Climate Change: Drowned Worlds
The Most Successful Anthology of 2015: Meeting Infinity
Jonathan Strahan on the Best Short Novels of 2016
A Concentrated Dose of the Best Our Field Has to Offer: Jonathan Strahan’s Best Short Novels 2004-2007
The Early Jack Vance, Volume 4, edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan
The Early Jack Vance, Volume 5, edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan
Fearsome Journeys: The Solaris Book of Fantasy
Fearsome Magics: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Six
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Seven
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Eight
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten
Swords and Dark Magic, edited by Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eleven will be published by Solaris Books on April 18, 2017. It is 500 pages, priced at $19.99 in trade paperback and $6.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Dominic Harman.

See all our coverage of the best upcoming fantasy here.