The book includes stories, all first published in 1986. The book also includes a summation by Dozois, a brief introduction to each story by Dozois and a referenced list of honorable mentions for the year. The stories are as follows:^[2]

• "R & R" (1986) by Lucius Shepard
• "Hatrack River [The Alvin Maker Saga]" (1986) by Orson Scott Card
• "Strangers on Paradise" (1986) by Damon Knight (variant of "Strangers in Paradise")
• "Pretty Boy Crossover" (1986) by Pat Cadigan
• "Against Babylon" (1986) by Robert Silverberg
• "Fiddling for Waterbuffaloes" (1986) by S. P. Somtow ([as by Somtow Sucharitkul9
• "Into Gold" (1986) by Tanith Lee
• "Sea Change" (1986) by Scott Baker
• "Covenant of Souls" (1986) by Michael Swanwick
• "The Pure Product" (1986) by John Kessel
• "Grave Angels" (1986) by Richard Kearns
• "Tangents" (1986) by Greg Bear
• "The Beautiful and the Sublime" (1986) by Bruce Sterling
• "Tattoos" (1986) by Jack Dann
• "Night Moves" (1986) by Tim Powers
• "The Prisoner of Chillon" (1986) by James Patrick Kelly
• "Chance" (1986) by Connie Willis
• "And so to Bed" (1986) by Harry Turtledove
• "Fair Game" (1986) by Howard Waldrop
• "Video Star" (1986) by Walter Jon Williams
• "Sallie C." (1986) by Neal Barrett, Jr.
• "Jeff Beck" (1986) by Lewis Shiner
• "Surviving" (1986) by Judith Moffett
• "Down and Out in the Year 2000" (1986) by Kim Stanley Robinson
• "Snake-Eyes" (1986) by Tom Maddox
• "The Gate of Ghosts" (1986) by Karen Joy Fowler
• "The Winter Market" (1985) by William Gibson

• Review and synopsis by Brad Shorr