SUMMARY: David Hartwell's guiding principle for his annual science fiction anthologies is that the stories be clearly science fiction--not fantasy, horror, or postmodern. As always, for the 2001 edition he has chosen stories representing the best of the SF field, along with several short pieces published in Nature magazine as part of a millennium celebration. Don't miss Tananarive Due's "Patient Zero," which assumes Greg Egan's frequent spotlight on medical SF (this year Egan covers philosophy vs. science in his alternate history "Oracle"); Stephen Dedman's detective story about amputation, "The Devotee"; Stephen Baxter's hard SF "Sheena 5," which is about an enhanced squid and her mission; Ursula K. LeGuin's anthropological tale "The Birthday of the World"; or Nancy Kress's succinct, pithy "To Cuddle Amy." 2001 Hugo Award nominees include "Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang, "Oracle" by Greg Egan, and short story winner "Different Kinds of Darkness" by David Langford. --Bonnie Bouman * James Patrick Kelly: "Think Like a Dinosaur" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995) * Patricia A. McKillip: "Wonders of the Invisible World" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995) * Robert Silverberg: "Hot Times in Magma City" (Originally in Omni Online, 1995) * Stephen Baxter: "Gossamer" (Originally in Science Fiction Age, 1995) * Gregory Benford: "A Worm in the Well" (Originally in Analog, 1995) * William Browning Spencer: "Downloading Midnight" (Originally in Tomorrow, 1995) * Joe Haldeman: "For White Hill" (Originally in Far Futures, 1995) * William Barton: "In Saturn Time" (Originally in Amazing Stories: The Anthology, 1995) * Ursula K. Le Guin: "Coming of Age in Karhide" (Originally in New Legends, 1995) * Roger Zelazny: "The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker" (Originally in F&SF, 1995) * Nancy Kress: "Evolution" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995) * Robert Sheckley: "The Day the Aliens Came" (Originally in New Legends, 1995) * Joan Slonczewski: "Microbe" (Originally in Analog, 1995) * Gene Wolfe: "The Ziggurat" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995)