For my money, David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer are the best critical anthologists working in the field today. Every so often they edit enormous critical anthologies like The Dark Descent, Foundations of Fear, The Ascent of Wonder, The Science Fiction Century, The Hard SF Renaissance, or The Science Fiction Century, each of which has been thoughtful, provocative and entertaining. The stories in these books are never less than good, and the theories behind them are never less than interesting – even when you disagree with them passionately, or perhaps especially when you do.

I’ve been waiting for some time for David and Kathryn to finish their latest project, The Space Opera Renaissance, which stands as a companion to The Hard SF Renaissance, and according to Kathryn’s blog it’s all done. The galleys are out and the book is due in July, I think. I don’t know how much I’ll agree with it, but I’m fascinated by it because this is the first major critical anthology to come out while I’m actively editing anthologies myself (and perhaps becoming a true student of the field for the first time), and because I’m working on an original anthology of new space opera stories at the moment. While I have some notions about what they might say on the subject, I can’t wait to see the book itself. I’ve no doubt it’ll be one of the best anthologies of the year, and that every lover of good science fiction should grab a copy.

It also strikes me that you could do a great panel on this for WorldCon. Get David or Kathryn, Gary Wolfe maybe, someone like John Scalzi or Al Reynolds, and maybe Gardner or myself, and then have it. Get a chance to talk about space opera, the new space opera and so on. It’d be good. And, no doubt, David and Kathryn’s book would make the perfect warm up reading for it.