The Campbell award is given annually at Worldcon (the World Science Fiction Convention) for the best new writer. The award defines a new writer as one who has had their first paid published work in the two years prior to the award (and thus authors have two years of eligibility). Prior to the nominating period for 2016, the editors of this book gave themselves the monumental task of compiling works by every author who might be eligible.

The collection is massive, containing over one million words of fiction. Since these are mostly new authors with not a lot of experience and many of the publications which first published these stories are semi-pro, the quality is a bit uneven. There are some stories which are so-so and some which are excellent. It is also advisable to dip in and out of the book, rather than trying to read the whole thing straight through. A bit of sameness can creep reading too much at once. Nevertheless, it is still a worthwhile and valuable look at up and coming science fiction and fantasy authors. ( )