Award-winning anthologists Jane Yolen and Patrick Nielsen Hayden have combed through a year's worth of books and magazines and websites to find the most outstanding fantasy and science fiction stories of 2004—and collected them into a single volume aimed specifically at teens and young adults. Many of today's most popular authors are represented here, including: * , author of , , and , who presents an unforgettable tale of two swords, two daughters, and two endings.... , sends a likeable young barbarian across the Channel to Alba, for a confrontation with a wizard from faraway Nantucket that will change his life forever... , creator of "The Trouble with Tribbles," who takes you to a remote countryside surrounded by a mysterious darkness, whose secret has yet to be revealed... "The stories in this anthology range from good to brilliant to jaw-dropping." - Cory Doctorow