The Mammoth Book of Best SF 17 continues to uphold the series' standard of excellence, with 29 stories from the previous year. It is regarded as the essential book for every science fiction fan.

This year's volume includes not just a host of established masters but also many bright young talents of science fiction. It embraces every aspect of the genre - soft, hard, cyberpunk, cyber noir, anthropological, military and adventure.

Also included are the editor's usual thorough summation of the year's events and a recommended reading list. Gardner Dozois has won the Hugo Award for Best Editor twelve times, guaranteeing the most comprehensive and entertaining SF collection around.

Contains:

• Off on a Starship by William Barton
• It's All True by John Kessel
• Rogue Farm by Charles Stross
• The Ice by Steven Popkes
• Ej-Es by Nancy Kress
• The Bellman by John Varley
• The Bear's Baby by Judith Moffett
• Calling Your Name by Howard Waldrop
• June Sixteenth at Anna's by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• The Green Leopard Plague by Walter Jon Williams
• The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Dead Worlds by Jack Skillingstead
• King Dragon by Michael Swanwick
• Singletons in Love by Paul Melko
• Anomalous Structures of My Dreams by M. Shayne Bell
• The Cookie Monster by Vernor Vinge
• Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove
• Birth Days by Geoff Ryman
• Awake in the Night by John C. Wright
• The Long Way Home by James Van Pelt
• The Eyes of America by Geoffrey A. Landis
• Welcome to Olympus, Mr Hearst by Kage Baker
• Night of Time by Robert Reed
• Strong Medicine by William Shunn
• Send Me a Mentagram by Dominic Green
• And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon by Paul Di Filippo
• Flashmen by Terry Dowling
• Dragonhead by Nick DiChario
• Dear Abbey by Terry Bisson
• Honorable Mentions: 2003