Editorial
Thirty-Eighth Annual Readers’ Awards Results
by Sheila Williams
Our deepest thanks go out to everyone who voted for the 2023 Readers’ Awards. As always, it was a delight to peruse the comments that accompanied the ballots. Mark Pitman of Francistown, NH, wrote, “2023 was a great year for stories in Asimov’s. I had multiple selections in each category that had to be pared down to only three. Two stories and a Guest Editorial from Ray Nayler were bright spots as were the three Kristine Kathryn Rusch stories. Keep them coming.” Doug Lee wrote, “I’m really enjoy the magazine. Keep up the good work! Long live Asimov’s.”
Mark Pitman wasn’t the only one who enjoyed our Kris Rusch stories. John Haworth of Reseda, CA, told us, “Once again, Asimov’s was a good escape from everyday life. One of my favorite authors is Kristine Kathryn Rusch; I look forward to many more books and stories by this author.” Alan Lipton of Berkeley, CA, agreed, saying, “I love when authors write many stories in the same ‘universe.’ Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Diving stories are Exhibit A, always fresh characters and credible plots.” He was not as impressed with some of our other offerings, but ended his comments with, “Small quibbles about overall stellar story selection. Just renewed my subscription. Please keep doing what you do.”
Selecting the top three stories in each category was not easy for some readers. Michael Edwardes of Brampton, Ontario Canada, wrote, “Another strong year. This time, across all categories. My choice yesterday was not the same as today’s or tomorrow’s; but then I am not exactly the same me as I was or will be. Especially loved seeing Norman Spinrad’s story!” Austin Chapman, of Columbia, SC, said, “As usual, there was a plethora of great choices. It was particularly difficult to narrow down choices for novellas. In the end, I went with Paul McAuley’s ‘Blade and Bone,’ probably because I favor that kind of lyrical and cinematic style. Ray Nayler is another good practitioner of that style, and so his stories always end up in my top three! My favorite story on the more experimental side was Derek Künsken’s ‘Six Incidents of Evolution Using Time Travel.’” Ken Papai, of Walpole, MA, told us that, “As expected, another excellent year for Asimov’s. Choosing the ‘best’ short story is almost impossible, but Tochi Onyebuchi’s hard science story of robotic surgery was really excellent and seemed to stand out. These bimonthly appearances of Asimov’s really are a six-time highlight of the year for me. So thanks Sheila and Emily—hoping your stable of authors choose Asimov’s first when they submit.”
Kind words came in from Jeffrey Powell of Youngstown, OH, who offered us, “Congratulations and thanks for another year of SF. I would like to mention how much I enjoyed the stories from authors that live overseas; such as, Kofi Nyameye’s short story, ‘The Pit of Babel.’ The diversity of worldviews enhances what Asimov’s offers. Can’t wait to see what 2024 brings.” His son, Jeffrey D. Powell, who also lives in Youngstown, was not as impressed with our selections. Fortunately, he did describe “The Pit of Babel” and Peter Wood’s novelette about “The Less Than Divine Invasion” as “exceptional.”
Praise also arrived from Ignacio Viglizzo of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who wrote, “Thanks for another year of great stories! Keep on publishing my favorite authors (like Greg Egan, Ray Nayler, Suzanne Palmer, and Dominica Phetteplace) as well as the new ones.” Alex Zoubine of White Plains, NY, said, “Great stories this year!” Philip and Jill Barringer of Lawrence, KS, echoed his remarks and others when they wrote, “Thanks for another great year of fiction. A shout out to Peter Wood and humorous stories in general! Not that we don’t also like the serious dramas. Not sure we’ve ever commented on the poetry before, but this year it was hard to get our list of ten favorites down to three.” Author James Van Pelt of Grand Junction, CO, agreed with the Barringers. ”Another strong year for Asimov’s. I love that the magazine continues to include poetry. If I only have a couple of minutes, that’s where I go. When I have an hour, I can settle into a novella, but sometimes I just need that quick shot of evocative language in service of a cool thought.”
Judy Melanson of Minneapolis, MN, let us know that this was her second year of voting for Ursula Whitcher (“The Last Tutor,” 2022; “The Fifteenth Saint,” 2023). She said the author’s “gift for creating highly imaginative worlds as settings for powerful, wrenching stories makes her a real standout. I would love to see more from her soon!” Chris DeSantis of Horseheads, NY, thought that “The March/April issue of Asimov’s was the best issue of any speculative fiction magazine in 2023. You could probably re-publish it as a Best Speculative Stories of 2023 anthology, it’s that good.” The ballots were due by the beginning of February so Marie Grimes of Stockton Springs, MD, let us know that she was “already enjoying the 2024 stories!”
Piet Nel, writing from Cape Town, South Africa, said, “A tip of the hat to our intrepid editor, Sheila Williams, who, as I write this, has surpassed Gardner Dozois’s tenure as the magazine’s longest-serving editor. Congratulations, Sheila, and thanks for all the stories!” and finally David Hook, of San Jose, CA, told us, “It’s very exciting to vote after my first full year as a subscriber. There were many great stories that didn’t quite get into my top three. I will be thinking about these stories for Hugo nominations.”
This issue wraps up my twentieth year as editor of Asimov’s, and I’m well into selecting stories for my twenty-first! We look forward to your thoughts on the 2024 tales. We’re always gratified to read the comments from new and long-time readers alike. Indeed, we’d love to hear from more of you!
Copyright © 2024 Sheila Williams