Haber, Karen, and Jonathan Strahan, eds. Science fiction: the best of 2004. New York: Ibooks, Inc., 2005. ISBN 1-4165-0404-4.

Summary: In this collection of mostly underthought and overwritten short stories, the high points were Charles Stross's “Elector,” a section of what became Accelerando, and Nancy Kress's “My mother dancing,” a sad story in which the “prime directive” of non-interference and cultural preservation is finally respected. James Patrick Kelly's “The best Christmas ever” is a somewhat novel take on the theme of machines keeping the last man on Earth alive. Joe Haldeman's “Memento mori” entertained me, but struck me as incongruously silly and immature.