Like it says in the title, two of the annual Best-Of collections are out today, and I’m in them. One of them I flailed about in my Readercon post – I has it and it is glorious and the contents are amazing.

So these are what they are:

• The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection (edited by Gardener Dozois) – In the new millennium, what secrets lay beyond the far reaches of the universe? What mysteries belie the truths we once held to be self evident? The world of science fiction has long been a porthole into the realities of tomorrow, blurring the line between life and art. Now, in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection the very best SF authors explore ideas of a new world in the year’s best short stories. This venerable collection brings together award winning authors and masters of the field such as Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Damien Broderick, Elizabeth Bear, Paul McAuley and John Barnes. And with an extensive recommended reading guide and a summation of the year in science fiction, this annual compilation has become the definitive must-read anthology for all science fiction fans and readers interested in breaking into the genre.
  

• The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2014 Edition (edited by Paula Guran) – No matter your expectations, the dark is full of the unknown: grim futures, distorted pasts, invasions of the uncanny, paranormal fancies, weird dreams, unnerving nightmares, baffling enigmas, revelatory excursions, desperate adventures, spectral journeys, mundane terrors, and supernatural visions. You may stumble into obsession – or find redemption. Often disturbing, occasionally delightful, let The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror be your annual guide through the mysteries and wonders of dark fiction.

I should note that not one but two of the stories in The Year‘s Best Science Fiction are drawn from We See a Different Frontier: Mine, and Sandra McDonald’s “Fleet”. That’s pretty high praise for that anthology alone.

These are without question the highest-profile Year’s Bests I’ve been in to date, and it feels like a pretty cool milestone. But totally aside from me, look at those lineups. These are reliably great annual anthologies, and I can’t wait to dig into my own copies. Check ’em out.