Some writers become superstars from their first book. Others quietly produce book after book of excellent, sometimes even superior, work without gaining the same attention. The latter is true of Walter Jon Williams. He is probably best known for the cyberpunk novels he did early in his career (such as Hardwired), his science-fantasy hybrid Metropolitan, and for his Dread Empire's Fall space opera about the decline of an interstellar empire. But as the Introduction by Daniel Abraham makes clear, Williams' novels have a wide range, to the detriment of his branding. He has written everything from 19th-century sea stories to comedies of manners to Wildcards superheroes to high fantasy to near-future to disaster novels. He has also written for television and games. What his works have in common is their strong literary craft and interesting characters.

The Best of Walter Jon Williams has 600 pages and 200,000 words of his novellas (11 novellas and one short story). All of them are well worth your time and show that a master of the craft of writing does not need bloated 800-page novels to create a convincing background, fascinating characters, and a compelling plot.

"Daddy's World" shows what it might be like to grow up in a completely Virtual Reality setting and how a parent's love can turn into obsession. It won the Nebula award.
"The Golden Age" is a fun romp with larger than life superheroes and villains set in a tall tale 1849 California gold rush setting as a gold miner turned pirate, the Commodore, fights The Condor, a flying superhero. This is one of my favorites.
"Surfacing" is about a scientist who has learned how to communicate with whales and brings some to an alien planet to help communicate with the Deep Dwellers. He starts developing romantic feelings for Philana, another scientist, only to discover she timeshares her body with an alien intelligence. This is perhaps the most human story here.
"Dinosaurs" has a human diplomat, in a far future where humanity has become overspecialized and semi-savage at the same time, try to make peace with an alien race, the Saurs, after automated terraforming kills billions.
In "Video Star", Ric, a victim of hospital overcharging, films his hospital drug heist. This was my least favorite story in the book.
"The Bad Twin" is a complex time travel caper as a member of the Time Corps goes after a master time thief only to wind up accidentally duplicating himself. I like the use of paradoxes and thinking through what a Time Corps would be able to do.
"The Green Leopard Plague" has a researcher whose investigation into the life of an academic who developed the Cornucopia Theory reveals the origins of the genetic manipulation technology that allows people to transform themselves into apes or flying mermaids. In the story's present day, the researcher's former lover tries to convince her that he is not really dead. This may be his best-known story; it won a Nebula award.
"Diamonds from Tequila" is set in the universe of his Dagmar novels (although Dagmar only appears in a phone call). Sean, who was the main character of Williams' novel The Fourth Wall, is in Mexico filming a movie when the actress who pretends to be his girlfriend is killed. Sean, the first-person narrator, has to find out what is really going on and somehow save his movie. This is a nice mystery about a character who wants the idolization of moviegoers and is not above a little crime to get there.
"Margaux" shows the life of Gredel, the girlfriend of a small-time gangster who meets a degenerate noblewoman who looks exactly like her. This story was broken into sections and woven throughout the first Dread Empire's Fall novel, The Praxis. It may be a bit predictable (there are only two plots requiring lookalike characters) but Gredel is such an intriguing person that it does not matter.
"Prayers on the Wind" is a nice culture clash story as a future peaceful Buddhist-dominated world encounters warlike aliens.
"Wall, Stone, Craft" is an alternate history story about Mary Shelley and her interactions with an alternate Lord Byron who was the one to capture Napoleon, leading her to create a very different version of Frankenstein. It may be a bit slow at first but the pace does pick up.

The notes on each story are excellent and really give a sense of what Walter Jon Williams was trying to do in each story while showing the course of his career.

Fans of Walter Jon Williams will want the deluxe illustrated hardcover The Best of Walter Jon Williams at $45. People who enjoy novella-length fiction or who want to read some high-quality science fiction with great characterization and literary craftsmanship will find the $5.99 ebook a bargain. Williams may not be the hot new thing, but he is a highly reliable writer who does not keep doing the same thing over and over again. Highly recommended.

Yet another fantastic collection from Sub Press. I was unfamiliar with Walter Jon Williams prior to this, but I will be going back through his catalog soon. Every single story in this collection is solid and I loved them all. I especially appreciated the story notes at the end of the book which provided insight on the author's inspirations, thoughts and memories of each. This is a wonderful book.

The Best of Walter Jon Williams is a new collection of short fiction (mostly novella length) by speculative fiction veteran Walter Jon Williams. Due out 28th Feb 2021 from Subterranean Press, it's 616 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

I enjoyed every single story in this collection; there were no weak ones. All of these have been published previously and date from 1986 through 2014. Many of the stories are quite difficult to find and several were new to me in any form. One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. I can only recall a few times where I've read a collection (or anthology) straight through from cover to cover. This one I did. I even re-read the stories which I had read before.

Although the stories are strong and the collection is worthy of consideration on its own merits, the author and publisher have included story notes at the end of the book which added a lot of enjoyment for me. I love seeing what the author used for inspiration and other behind-the-scenes glimpses and recollections.

Very enjoyable interlude - well written and engaging. Reading is an escape and sanity saver in the current world climate and it's nice to be able to escape in a vehicle which is well built, comfortable, and exciting.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Best of Walter John Williams is a broad selection of some of his best works. This was my first time ever reading anything by him. He tells very unique sff themed tales. I definitly recommend this collection anyone who is new to his work. I will definitly be looking up more of this authours work

If you're a fan of Walter Jon Williams and need to fill in some gaps in your reading, this is the place to come. You will find some reprints, of course, but you should also find some stories you've missed elsewhere.

Walter Jon Williams surfed the Cyberpunk wave in the 1980s, but never committed to one particular subgenre. This collection has twelve of his story spreading over 600 pages and demonstrates the variety in his styles. The reader never gets bored by the same trope but finds himself in ever fresh settings, ranging from posthuman, time travel, far future, first contact stories to completely different genres like a Californian Gold Rush Weird Western or a Lord Byron/Shelley Alternate History. 

The best story here is his "Prayers on the Wind" which shows us how humanity would fare as a society of Tibetan Buddhists in space, confronted by an alien captain Kirk. Most stories are above average, and his story notes were partly amusing and always enlightening. 

Highly recommended for readers of SF and speculative fiction who are up to some variety in their daily meals.

Contents:

11 • ★★★+☆☆ • Daddy's World • 1999 • Posthuman novelette by Walter Jon Williams • review
45 • ★★★★☆ • The Golden Age • 2014 • Weird West novelette by Walter Jon Williams • a sailor turns supervillain in the Californian Gold Rush • review
81 • ★★★☆☆ • Dinosaurs • 1987 • Far future SF novelette by Walter Jon Williams • a posthuman ambassador doesn't understand the problems of the natives • review
111 • ★★★★☆ • Surfacing • 1988 • First contact novella by Walter Jon Williams • A linguist explores the strange syntax of cetacean like aliens • review
179 • ★★+☆☆☆ • Video Star • 1986 • Cyberpunk novelette by Walter Jon Williams • a heist to steal drugs from a hospital • review
219 • ★★☆☆☆ • The Millenium Party • 2002 • Posthuman SF flash fiction by Walter Jon Williams • A thousand year old couple celebrate their anniversary by using a filtered memory showing only the good sides and best recipes
223 • ★★★★☆ • The Bad Twin • 1988 • Time Travel novelette by Walter Jon Williams • maxed out timeloops in ancient Greece • review
265 • ★★★★☆ • The Green Leopard Plague • 2003 • Near Future SF novella by Walter Jon Williams • Photosynthetic skin empower third world people • review
341 • ★★★☆☆ • Diamonds from Tequila • 2014 • Near Future SF novelette by Walter Jon Williams • Hollywood star encounters 3D printed drug • review
391 • ★★+☆☆☆ • Margaux • 2003 • novelette by Walter Jon Williams • Prequel to the Praxis • review
451 • ★★★★★ • Prayers on the Wind • 1991 • Religious SF novelette by Walter Jon Williams • Tibetan Buddhism in space is challenged by aliens • review
503 • ★★★★☆ • Wall, Stone, Craft • 1993 • Alternate History novella by Walter Jon Williams • The Shelleys meet Lord Byron, the man who caught Napoleon after Waterloo • review

Walter Jon Williams is one of speculative fiction’s major talents, but he may not have the name recognition that he deserves. Hopefully this collection, with a foreword by Daniel Abraham, the more writerly part of James S. A. Corey, will help set that straight. Williams’ range is astounding. Reading these stories, which are almost all novellas, is like reading an annual best-of speculative fiction collection for the year. Not only do offer enough range for a flock of authors, ranging from virtual reality “Daddy’s World” to the alt-historical in the Klondike era superhero tale “The Golden Age” or a near-future tale that blends economic theory and post-human plights in “The Green Leopard Plague,” to pick just a few, but they all feel fresh enough to come from this year. Or next.

Besides Abraham’s insightful forward, Williams offers some thoughts on each story in a collection of endnotes that are well worth perusing.

Unsurprisingly, a number of these stories did appear in annual collections and some garnered Nebulas or other awards. “Of Dinosaurs” was originally written for a science fiction magazine to be published by L. Ron Hubbard, but wound up in Asimov’s after Hubbard’s death. It also wound up in at least three Best-of collections for the year and garnered a Hugo nomination (among others). Of losing the Hugo to Le Guin for “Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight” Williams says, “Never get nominated against Ursula, Connie Willis, or Neil Gaiman because your defeat will be vast.”

If I have any complaint about this collection it’s that Williams is devoted to the novella, and his stories, while great at that length, could often cut a few pages and still get the job done. The cover blurb actually does a pretty good job of setting things up, so read it.

Lastly, Walter Jon Williams is, at this writing, a mere 67, hardly past his sell-by date and writing up a storm, as evidenced by Fleet Elements, which came out last December. The best of Jon Williams may be yet to come, but for now, Subterranean’s collection is a fine benchmark.

A nice variety of solid and imaginative stories. I haven't read any of the author's novels, but these short tales are good. I'm impressed by the author's talent.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

This is a treasure trove of stories by one of most versatile authors! Every story is a gem, and each is very different from the others. I savored every one, and highly recommend this book (and anything else by Walter Jon Williams).

The Best of Walter Jon Williams- This is a pretty good collection of stories, mostly novellas, from Walter Jon Williams. It starts of with the nebula-winning story "Daddy's World", which for its time was ground-breaking and surreal, and still holds on to its magic. My personal favorite probably is "The Golden Age", a colorful mash-up of fantasy and steampunk taking place during the California Gold rush period, almost in the spirit of a Joe R. Lansdale romp. Equally inventive is "Dinosaurs", which prefigures William's Dread Empire series and is also an essay on human evolution. I previously read "Surfacing" and "The Green Leopard Plague" and they hold up well years later. I was entertained by the rest, some better than others, but nothing off-putting. If you haven't read Walter Jon Williams, this is a good place to start. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC