Gardner Dozois (Ed)'s "The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection" (2008): Annotated table of contents

While Mr Dozois posted the ToC below more than 2 months back, & I'd seen it the day after he posted it, I've been postponing this note because I was hoping to read a few more of the stories from this list (my current read count is a third of the list). But at the moment, I'm focused on classics & this list is a bit low on my reading priorities.
Note: Dozois' ToC link above no longer loads as of late June 2008!

Since I've been tracking Dozois anthologies for a while, am making this post now for completeness' sake.

Where I have posted a review of an individual story, link on story title takes you there. My rating is in brackets. If I'm aware a story is available online, I also provide the download link.

Table of contents (32 stories, best first).

1. [novelette] Ted Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" (A); download; as a short book by Subterranean Press, July 2007; fantasy: Four time travel folktales - told in the style of (I think) Arabian Nights. Added to my best of the year 2007 list.
2. [novelette] Greg Egan's "Glory" (A); download; Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan (Eds)' "The New Space Opera", HarperCollins/Eos, 2007; science fiction: Two humans of far future have traveled to an alien world in a far away star system to make first contact. Extremely interesting interstellar travel arrangements. Added to my best of the year 2007 list.
3. [ss] Elizabeth Bear's "Tideline" (A); download; Asimov's, June 2007; science fiction: A sentimental robot teaches life skills to an urchin. Added to my best of the year 2007 list.
4. [ss] Greg Egan's "Steve Fever" (A); download; MIT Technology Review, November/December 2007; science fiction: An autonomous self-replicating robot swarm is on an impossible mission - to resurrect its dead creator!
5. [novelette] Alastair Reynolds' "The Sledge-maker’s Daughter" (A); download; Interzone #209 (April 2007); science fiction: A victim of sexual assault gets a weapon to punish her oppressor.
6. [novelette] David Moles' "Finisterra" (B); download; F&SF, December 2007; science fiction: Description of a criminal gang on an artificial world.
7. [ss] Stephen Baxter's "Last Contact" (B); George Mann (Ed)'s "The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction" (2007); science fiction: A description of apocalypse.
   
8. [novella] Bruce Sterling's "Kiosk" (B); download; F&SF, January 2007; science fiction: Consumers win a fight to get material copying machines legalized - after a violent revolution.
9. [novelette] Chris Roberson's "The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small" (B); Asimov's, July 2007; non-genre: Story of the early days of European Renaissance, but set in China instead.
10. [novelette] Kristine Kathyrn Rusch's "Craters" (B); download; Future Weapons of War/Baen, March 2007: A collection of two unnamed stories - first one very dark - on terrorism & war.
11. [novelette] James Van Pelt's "Of Late I Dreamt of Venus" (B); download; Eric T Reynolds (Ed)'s "Visual Journeys" (anthology), 2007; science fiction: A very rich woman has decided to terrafarm Venus, & make it better than earth. Story is about her 1000 year adventure - where most of the time she's in hibernation, along with her lover - waking up every few hundred years to review progress!
12. [novelette] Justin Stanchfield's "Beyond the Wall" (B); download; Eric T Reynolds (Ed)'s "Ruins: Extraterrestrial" (anthology), 2007; science fiction: Description of a very old enigmatic building of alien origin on Titan, a moon of Saturn.
    
13. [novella] Neal Asher's "Alien Archaeology" (B); Asimov's, June 2007; science fiction: A robber is chased to recover the loot, & to punish.
14. [ss] Robert Reed's "Roxie" (C); Asimov's, July 2007; non-genre: Joys & sorrows of owning a dog. It's actually a well written story if you are into dogs - not generally my taste.
15. [ts] Tom Purdom's "The Mists of Time" (C); download; Asimov's, August 2007; non-genre: In first of the two parts of this very tiny story, a century or two ago, an American slaveship is carrying 500 Africans kidnapped & to be sold to slavery. It's being chased by a British government ship that is primarily concerned with the Pound value of the slaves. In an unnecessary additional second part, story is given science fictional flavor by adding 2 time traveling observers watch the slaver ship & British chasers!
16. Ken MacLeod's "Lighting Out"; Ian Whates (Ed)'s "disLocations", 2007: Not read.
17. John Barnes' "The Ocean is a Snowflake, Four Billion Miles Away"; Jim Baen's Universe, August 2007: Not read.
18. Gweyneth Jones' "Saving Tiamaat": Not read.
19. Ian McDonald's "Verthandi's Ring"; Gardner Dozois & Strahan (Eds)' "The New Space Opera", 2007. Not read.
20. Una McCormack's "Sea Change"; Foundation, #100 (2007, month?) Not read.
21. Robert Silverberg's "Against the Current"; F&SF, October/November 2007: Not read.
22. [ss] Ian McDonald's "Sanjeev and Robotwallah": Not read.
23. Michael Swanwick's "The Skysailor's Tale"; Michael Swanwick's "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" (collection), 2007: Not read.
24. [novella] Vandana Singh's "Of Love and Other Monsters"; as a book by Aqueduct Press, 2007: Not read.
25. [novelette] Kage Baker's "Hellfire at Twilight"; Kage Baker's "Gods & Pawns" (collection), 2007: Not read.
26. Brian Stableford's "The Immortals of Atlantis"; Ian Whates (Ed)'s "disLocations", 2007: Not read.
27. Pat Cadigan's "Nothing Personal"; Mike Resnick (Ed)'s "Alien Crimes", 2007: Not read.
28. [ss] Keith Brooke's "The Accord"; "The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction", February 2007; this short story to be released in March 2009 in novel length under the same title: Not read.
29. Nancy Kress' "Laws of Survival"; Jim Baen's Universe, December 2007: Not read.
30. Ted Kosmatka's "The Prophet of Flores"; Asimov's, Sep 2007: Not read.
31. Benjamin Rosenbaum & David Ackert's "Stray"; F&SF, December 2007: Not read.
32. Gregory Benford's "Dark Heaven"; Mike Resnick (Ed)'s "Alien Crimes" (anthology), 2007: Not read.
    

Fact sheet.

Editor: Gardner Dozois
First published: To be published sometime in July 2008. Released.
Related: Gardner Dozois' "Year's Best" & "Best of Best" anthology series.

Legend.

ss = short story.
ts = tiny story (flash fiction).