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11/2/2009 3:24:50 PM
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gdozois
Posts 3506
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I liked that too, Fabrice.
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11/2/2009 10:55:28 PM
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bluetyson
Posts 1020
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2009 Best New Stories
4.5 out of 5
Free SF Reader
Fire and Sleet - James Enge [Pyr.com]
Moon Moon Moon - Kim Newman [Subterranean Online 11]
Not Free SF Reader
The Lost Princess Man - John Barnes [New Space Opera 2]
One Of Our Bastards Is Missing - Paul Cornell [Solaris New SF 3]
Paradiso Lost - Albert E. Cowdrey [FSF 683]
The Wide Carnivorous Sky - John Langan [By Blood We Live]
Rendezvous At Angels Thirty - Tom Ligon [Analog 939]
Firehorn - Robert Reed [FSF 683]
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Super Reader
Australian SF Reader
Space Opera Reader
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11/2/2009 11:22:13 PM
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bluetyson
Posts 1020
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4 out of 5
Free SF Reader
The Best Monkey - Daniel Abraham [Solaris New SF 3]
Off-Track Betting - Madeleine Ashby [Flurb 7]
This Must Be the Place - Elliott Bangs [Strange Horizons]
Cuckoo - Elizabeth Bear and Emma Bull and Leah Bobet [Shadow Unit]
TVA Baby - Terry Bisson [Tor.com]
Placa del Fuego - Tobias S. Buckell [Clarkesworld 34]
An Education Of Scars - Philip Brewer [Futurismic]
All About the Sponsors - Jeffrey R. DeRego [Escape Pod]
Six Bullets For John Carter - Chad Eagleton [Beat To A Pulp]
Within Your Soul I Sightless See - Eugie Foster [HPL's Mag of Horror 5]
Fortune's Soldiers - Julie Frost [Cosmos]
High Stakes - Sarah A. Hoyt [Darwin's Evolutions]
Soul Mate - Shelly Li [Cosmos]
Open Your Eyes - Paul Jessup [Apex]
The Ascendant - Ted Kosmatka [Subterranean Online 10]
Rolling Steel - Jay Lake and Shannon Page [Clarkesworld 31]
Crimes and Glory - Paul J. McAuley [Subterranean Online 10]
In the Autumn Of Empire - Jerry Oltion [Diamonds In the Sky]
Another End of the Empire - Tim Pratt [Strange Horizons]
Mother Scorpion's House Of Fallen Flowers - Mike Resnick [Subterranean Online 11]
Scales - Alastair Reynolds - [guardian.co.uk]
Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs - Leonard Richardson [Strange Horizons]
The Very Difficult Diwali of Sub-Inspector Gurushankar Rajaram - Jeff Soesbe [DayBreak]
This Was Education - Jeff Somers - [eternalprison.com]
The Culture Archivist - Jeremiah Tolbert [Federations]
The Nostalgist - Daniel H. Wilson [Tor.com]
Not Free SF Reader
Silent Blade - Ilona Andrews [Samhain]
Magic Mourns - Ilona Andrews [Must Love Hellhounds]
Artifacts - Stephen Baxter [Solaris New SF 3]
Miles To Isengard - Leah Bobet [Interzone 220]
The Qualia Engine - Damien Broderick [Asimov's 403]
A Lovely Little Christmas Fire - Jeff Carlson [Asimov's 407]
Gunfight On Farside - Adam-Troy Castro [Analog 938]
Hot Rock - Greg Egan [Oceanic]
Hell Of A Fix - Matthew Hughes [FSF 686]
Morality - Stephen King [Esquire]
Act One - Nancy Kress [Asimov's 398]
To Raise A Mutiny Betwixt Yourselfs - Jay Lake [New Space Opera 2]
From the Heart - John Meaney [New Space Opera 2]
A Clown Escapes From Circus Town - Will McIntosh [Interzone 221]
The Art Of the Dragon - Sean McMullen [FSF 684]
Mother Of Champions - Sean McMullen [Interzone 222]
The Spiral Briar - Sean McMullen [FSF 682]
Another Life - Charles Oberndorf [FSF 685]
Memory Dust - Gareth L. Powell [Interzone 220]
The Fixation - Alastair Reynolds [Solaris New SF 3]
Sinbad the Sand Sailor - R. Garcia y Robertson [Asimov's 402]
Wife-stealing Time - R. Garcia y Robertson [Asimov's 405]
Defect - Kristine Kathryn Rusch [New Space Opera 2]
Lion Walk - Mary Rosenblum [Asimov's 396]
The Price Of Silence - Deborah J. Ross [FSF 682]
Sublimation Angels - Jason Sanford [Interzone 224]
Dog-Eared Paperback Of My Life - Lucius Shepard [Other Earths]
Halloween Town - Lucius Shepard [FSF 685]
The Highway Code - Brian Stableford [We Think, Therefore We Are]
Colliding Branes - Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling [Asimov's 397]
Rescue Mission - Jack Skillingstead [Solaris New SF 3]
Palimpset - Charles Stross [Wireless]
Adaptogenia - Wayne Wightman [FSF 683]
The Island - Peter Watts [New Space Opera 2]
Inevitable - Sean Williams [New Space Opera 2]
The Tenth Muse - Tad Williams [New Space Opera 2]
Fearless Space Pirates Of the Outer Rings - Bill Willingham [New Space Opera 2]
This Peaceable Land Or The Unbearable Vision Of Harriet Beecher Stowe - Robert Charles Wilson [Other Earths]
edited by bluetyson on 11/5/2009
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11/3/2009 9:10:47 AM
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StevenLP
Posts 538
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Fabrice D. wrote:
"Blocked" by Geoff Ryman is a wonderful story (in the oct/nov F&SF).
Fabrice: I enjoyed it, but it didn't wholly work for me. The Rickert and Shepard stories in that issue were good too - though I would have liked the latter more without the monsters.
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11/3/2009 9:30:17 AM
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Lukas Jackson
Posts 761
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StevenLP wrote:
Fabrice D. wrote: "Blocked" by Geoff Ryman is a wonderful story (in the oct/nov F&SF). Fabrice: I enjoyed it, but it didn't wholly work for me. The Rickert and Shepard stories in that issue were good too - though I would have liked the latter more without the monsters.
I have that issue but was turned off by the first story about a male ballerina. What do you think are the standouts from that ish?
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http://darkerblogistan.livejournal.com
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11/3/2009 10:45:25 AM
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StevenLP
Posts 538
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Lukas Jackson wrote:
I have that issue but was turned off by the first story about a male ballerina. What do you think are the standouts from that ish?
Curiously Elizabeth Hand's story sort of reminded me of the kind of stories Fritz Leiber would occasionally do (though I suspect he would not have made the protagonist either gay or a male ballerina!). It didn't work for me.
The best story in that issue is Charles Oberndorf’s “Another Life”.
edited by StevenLP on 11/3/2009
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11/5/2009 3:52:14 PM
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Fabrice D.
Posts 945
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"Another Life" by Charles Oberndorf in the oct/nov F&SF is topnotch. Never heard about him before....
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11/5/2009 8:37:57 PM
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Sam Wilson
Posts 727
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I really like ILLUSIONS OF TRANQUILITY by Brendan Dubois in the current F&SF, and if I were editing a Year's Best that story would certainly go in.
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If the rule that you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?
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11/5/2009 8:46:02 PM
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Rich Horton
Posts 282
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"Another Life" was my favorite from that issue. I also like "Blocked" a lot, and too Silveberg's and Hand's stories.
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11/13/2009 11:49:08 AM
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StevenLP
Posts 538
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I recently finished the Jonathan Strahan edited “Eclipse 3”. The first two volumes were very good - however I found this one a little disappointing. Part of this is not the fault of the stories themselves – though the Cadigan (too long) and the Ford are not these excellent authors at the top of their game – its more that the book is advertised as an SF and fantasy collection, but most of the contents would fit more comfortably into an issue of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet or a volume of Polyphony: it was bit like ordering banana ice cream but getting strawberry ice cream – you may like strawberry ice cream, but your enjoyment is hindered by your thinking “but I wanted banana flavour”. The collection opens with Karen Joy Fowler’s “The Pelican Bar”, a perfectly good story but only minimally genre – there’s a suggestion of SF at the end, but more to make a perhaps too obvious point than being integral to the story: an odd choice for an opening story to an SF/fantasy anthology – likely to put off a casual reader trying to get a taste of the book by reading the opening story; they’d likely end up exclaiming “Hold it, this is strawberry flavour but the packaging said banana!”.
For me the stand-out story was "It Takes Two" by Nicola Griffith, a fine example of mundane SF. Also good was "A Practical Girl" by Ellen Klages, with interesting stories by Molly Gloss (“The Visited Man”), Paul Di Filippo (“Yes We Have No Bananas”) and Caitlín R. Kiernan ("Galápagos"), as well as the aforementioned Fowler. Most of the other stories were enjoyable (Elizabeth Bear’s was probably better than that, but it wasn’t my sort of tale). Given that the first volume was dominated by fantasy and the second had more of a SF emphasis, it may be that Strahan is trying to make each volume distinct from the others, which is a reasonable ambition.
Online, the October 31st edition of Electric Spec has a good fantasy by Nina Kiriki Hoffman called “Larger Than life” about collectors and Yard Sales; also impressive was Erica L. Satifka’s story about clones for body parts, “Copies”.
The November Apex Magazine has a memorable story by Peter M Ball “To Dream of Stars: An Astronomer’s Lament”, combining Cthulhu-like aliens (i.e. icky and betentacled) with sex and astrology with same.
Abyss & Apex (4th Quarter 2009) has a promising story by Paul Carlson called “Mirror Girl” which is let down by the protagonist finding it too easy to resolve her problems once she becomes aware of her true situation. Craig Watson’s tale “Epitaph in Oak” is a touching tale featuring that ever-popular character, the sentimental robot.
The November Clarkesworld has pretty good story by Jason K Chapman called “Brief Candle”, in which a murder is seen from the perspective of a sanibot.
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11/22/2009 12:25:34 AM
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pc
Posts 1664
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Thanks for the mention, StevenLP. 
The editors at A&A recognized "Mirror Girl" as belonging to a fairly familiar trope/situation (for us SF readers, anyway). My primary ambition was simply to find a new 'take' on it all.
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If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us. -Herman Hesse
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11/22/2009 9:04:26 PM
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bluetyson
Posts 1020
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StevenLP wrote:
I recently finished the Jonathan Strahan edited “Eclipse 3”. The first two volumes were very good - however I found this one a little disappointing. Part of this is not the fault of the stories themselves – though the Cadigan (too long) and the Ford are not these excellent authors at the top of their game – its more that the book is advertised as an SF and fantasy collection, but most of the contents would fit more comfortably into an issue of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet or a volume of Polyphony: it was bit like ordering banana ice cream but getting strawberry ice cream – you may like strawberry ice cream, but your enjoyment is hindered by your thinking “but I wanted banana flavour”. The collection opens with Karen Joy Fowler’s “The Pelican Bar”, a perfectly good story but only minimally genre – there’s a suggestion of SF at the end, but more to make a perhaps too obvious point than being integral to the story: an odd choice for an opening story to an SF/fantasy anthology – likely to put off a casual reader trying to get a taste of the book by reading the opening story; they’d likely end up exclaiming “Hold it, this is strawberry flavour but the packaging said banana!”.
For me the stand-out story was "It Takes Two" by Nicola Griffith, a fine example of mundane SF. Also good was "A Practical Girl" by Ellen Klages, with interesting stories by Molly Gloss (“The Visited Man”), Paul Di Filippo (“Yes We Have No Bananas”) and Caitlín R. Kiernan ("Galápagos"), as well as the aforementioned Fowler. Most of the other stories were enjoyable (Elizabeth Bear’s was probably better than that, but it wasn’t my sort of tale). Given that the first volume was dominated by fantasy and the second had more of a SF emphasis, it may be that Strahan is trying to make each volume distinct from the others, which is a reasonable ambition.
Completely agree with this. As in disappointing, somewhat not as advertised and Griffith is the clear standout. (and Kiernan etc. interesting).
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11/23/2009 12:05:18 PM
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jasonkchapman
Posts 180
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StevenLP wrote:
The November Clarkesworld has pretty good story by Jason K Chapman called “Brief Candle”, in which a murder is seen from the perspective of a sanibot.
Thanks for mentioning it.
StevenLP wrote:
the October 31st edition of Electric Spec has a good fantasy by Nina Kiriki Hoffman called “Larger Than life” about collectors and Yard Sales; also impressive was Erica L. Satifka’s story about clones for body parts, “Copies”.
I agree. I liked both of these stories. Electric Spec, in general, is well worth keeping an eye on.
--
Jason K. Chapman
jasonkchapman.com
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11/25/2009 11:46:57 AM
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StevenLP
Posts 538
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The best story in the November/December Interzone was Colin Harvey’s “The Killing Streets” (though I suspect most people reading it will think "Oh, I know what film he's seen"); I can’t recall reading anything previously by him, but apparently he’s had a few novels published and a collection. He’s also edited a couple of anthologies: one (“Future Bristol”), published earlier this year, included stories by Harvey, Liz Williams and Gareth L Powell, and as amazon.uk had it for £6.90 (post free), I ordered it.
I’ve now read it: I can’t call “Future Bristol” a mixed collection as, though half the nine stories are good and the other half OK, it’s actually ordered - the four weaker stories are at the beginning and the four strongest ones at the end, with an intermediate one in the middle!
For me the best story is “What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?" by Gareth L Powell, which combines the end of the world and lotteries! Jim Mortimore’s “The Sun in the Bone House” isn’t far behind, moving from anglo-saxon times to the far future (and back again). Joanne Hall’s “Pirates of the Cumberland Basin” is good too, and I also enjoyed Colin Harvey’s own story “Thermoclines”. The other stories certainly aren’t without interest, but weren’t wholly successful for me.
edited by StevenLP on 11/25/2009
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11/25/2009 4:38:19 PM
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strahanjonathan
Posts 6
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[quote]Completely agree with this. As in disappointing, somewhat not as advertised and Griffith is the clear standout. (and Kiernan etc. interesting).
Steve and Blue: I'm sorry you were disappointed by the book. I think the point with Eclipse was that it was always going to be different, volume-to-volume. The first was a varied affair, the second more SFnal, and the third more slipstreamy. I actually think it's one of the best anthologies I've done, but these things are always subjective. I'm not yet sure what the direction for Eclipse Four will be, though it's most likely going to be somewhere between Eclipse One and Eclipse Three, I suspect. There are books in the works, though, that are more likely to appeal. I'm editing a hard SF anthology for Solaris called ENGINEERING INFINITY, which could be the ticket, and an SF anthology of stories set on Mars for Viking, called LIFE ON MARS. Both should be very definitely SF. And, of course, one day GODLIKE MACHINES will come out, which would be swell.
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11/25/2009 4:44:43 PM
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gdozois
Posts 3506
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GODLIKE MACHINES would have been the best anthology of the year, if the Book Club had ever brought it out.
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11/25/2009 6:24:42 PM
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strahanjonathan
Posts 6
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gdozois wrote:
GODLIKE MACHINES would have been the best anthology of the year, if the Book Club had ever brought it out.
Thanks for the kind words about the book. Fingers crossed it'll be the best anthology of 2010, then I do think it'll come out, though exactly when is proving difficult to pin down. Forum readers will already have seen the Egan story from the book, "Hot Rock", but the Al Reynolds, Bob Reed, Sean Williams, Cory Doctorow and Steve Baxter stories are all ones I think are really good. It's just frustrating it's taking so long for them to see the light of day.
I should add, based on the stories I have, ENGINEERING INFINITY, should make Forum readers happy.
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11/26/2009 2:48:28 AM
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bluetyson
Posts 1020
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Not that the SFBC is any use to me for getting stuff, anyway, barring third hand from elsewhere.
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11/26/2009 6:04:20 AM
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StevenLP
Posts 538
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strahanjonathan wrote:
I think the point with Eclipse was that it was always going to be different, volume-to-volume. The first was a varied affair, the second more SFnal, and the third more slipstreamy. .
Hi Jonathan
The problem is the subtitle "New Science Fiction & Fantasy", particularly (to be extra fussy and extra pedantic!) as it opens with 'SF' not 'Fantasy' - i.e. not in alphabetical order - suggesting the accent will be on SF. Having the content vary volume to volume is (as I mentioned in my original post) a reasonable ambition, but I feel the subtitle should really be "New Speculative Fiction".
Anyway, I'll certainly be buying Eclipse 4.
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11/26/2009 7:17:34 PM
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strahanjonathan
Posts 6
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StevenLP wrote:
The problem is the subtitle "New Science Fiction & Fantasy", particularly (to be extra fussy and extra pedantic!) as it opens with 'SF' not 'Fantasy' - i.e. not in alphabetical order - suggesting the accent will be on SF. Having the content vary volume to volume is (as I mentioned in my original post) a reasonable ambition, but I feel the subtitle should really be "New Speculative Fiction".
Anyway, I'll certainly be buying Eclipse 4.
Hey Stephen - First, I appreciate the support. The series needs every reader it can get, and I'm really happy to see the book discussed here. Second, on the subtitle, I do take your point. I'm not sure if it'll be possible, and the series will vary from volume to volume, but it's certainly something worth considering.
J
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