"Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2025" Editor: John Joseph Adams

Book of the Month:
“The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025”
Editors: John Joseph Adams, Nnedi Okorafor

This month we are keeping a beloved Sci Fi Book Club tradition alive. For the eleventh year in a row (wow, still can't believe that's right), we will be reading the newest edition of a short story collection called The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. It has been a Club favorite each year and takes a look at the current state of science fiction by highlighting some new and established writers in the genre. Each story has to meet certain criteria that you can read up on at the editor’s website, and is chosen without the author’s name attached.

Stories are selected by John Joseph Adams and this year's guest editor, Nnedi Okorafor. Okorafor has appeared in this collection before and is best known for novels like Who Fears Death, Binti, and Lagoon (a Book Club selection back in 2018). She is celebrated for imaginative storytelling that is deeply rooted in African cultures, myths, and histories. Her work often blends Africanfuturism with speculative fiction, highlighting marginalized perspectives and exploring futures where myth and science coexist.

It's always interesting to see what themes and premonitions make their way into the writing zeitgeist in a given year. From Adams' website "The twenty stories in this collection simultaneously fulfill and defy expectations of genre, showcasing boundary-pushing authors at their best..From the joyous, to the terrifying, to the heart-wrenching and the absurd, these stories encourage you to open your mind and, as Okorafor promises, 'Watch your world expand.'"

Per usual, I recommend coming back around to the Introduction by Okorafor once you've read the stories, as it sometimes contains spoilers. The Preface is worth it, for sure! It describes the selection process.

Let us know in the Comments below which stories you like, and feel free to skip one if you’re not digging it. There are always plenty of perspectives and approaches to the format in this collection.

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025 is available in paperback and audiobook via Amazon and other online booksellers, and is also available via the New York Public Library.

To join a Book Club meeting, all you will need is YOURSELF! If you haven’t had a chance to finish the book, we still would love for you to join us in the discussion.