The Best New Stories of 2008
The Best New Short Stories of 2008
Seeing this is being discussed a bit here, what are other people's favorites of this year's crop?
(There is more discussion here, for those interested :- [url=http://www.asimovs.com/aspnet_forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=65&Page=1]http://www.asimovs.com/aspnet_forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=65&Page=1[/a])
Of those I have read.
Free SF Reader
5 out of 5
Crystal Nights - Greg Egan [Interzone 215]
Framing and Mounting Fairies - Kevin Anderson [Dunesteef]
Not Free SF Reader
5 out of 5
The Tear - Ian McDonald [Galactic Empires]
The Man With the Golden Balloon - Robert Reed [Galactic Empires]
4.5 out of 5
Free SF Reader
The Gambler - Paolo Bacigalupi [Fast Forward 2]
Overkill - Elizabeth Bear [Shadow Unit]
Shoggoths In Bloom - Elizabeth Bear [Asimov's 386]
Catherine Drewe - Paul Cornell [Fast Forward 2]
Freedom With A Small f - Jeffrey DeRego [Escape Pod 154]
Lusts Of The Cat Queen: A Dash Manning Adventure - Melanie Fletcher [Helix 09]
Shade - Steven Gould [Tor.com]
The Soldiers Of Serenity - Todd McAulty [Black Gate 12]
Not Free SF Reader
The Seer and the Silverman - Stephen Baxter [Galactic Empires]
The Political Prisoner - Charles Coleman Finlay [FSF 675]
Undead Camels Ate Their Flesh - Jason Fischer [Dreaming Again]
Angel Rising - Dirk Flinthart [Twelfth Planet Press]
Wetware 2.0 - Dave Freer [Transhuman]
Crusader - George R. R. Martin [Inside Straight]
Soul Printer - Wil McCarthy [Transhuman]
Little Lost Robot - Paul J. McAuley [Interzone 217]
Tenbrook Of Mars - Dean McLaughlin [Analog 931]
His Master's Voice - Hannu Rajaniemi [Interzone 218]
The Gutter Sees the Light That Never Shines - Alistair Rennie [The New Weird]
The Six Directions Of Space - Alastair Reynolds [Galactic Empires]
The Star Surgeon's Apprentice - Alastair Reynolds [The Starry Rift]
Defending Elysium - Brandon Sanderson [Asimov's 393 394]
Everything That Matters - Jeff Spock [Interzone 219]
Far Horizons - Jason Stoddard [Interzone 214]
4 out of 5
Free SF Reader
Fitting A New Suit - Madeleine Ashby [Flur 06]
Ballistic - Elizabeth Bear and Emma Bull and Sarah Monette and Amanda Downum [Shadow Unit]
The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder - Elizabeth Bear [Tor.com]
Your Collar - Elizabeth Bear [Subterranean Online 6]
Air and Angels - Beth Bernobich [Subterranean Online 6]
The Pile - Michael Bishop [Subterranean Online 5]
Kimberley Ann Duray Is Not Afraid - Leah Bobet [Strange Horizons]
The Andrassii Agreement - Stephanie Burgis [Lone Star Stories 30]
The Bitrunners - Tina Connolly [Helix 09]
Five Good Things About Megan Sheedy - A. M. Dellamonica [Strange Horizons]
All That We Leave Behind - Jeffrey DeRego [Escape Pod 149]
True Names - Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum [craphound.com/Fast Forward 2]
The Rapeworm - Charles Coleman Finlay [Noctem Aeternus 1]
No Love For the Middleman - Tony Frazier [Strange Horizons]
Oblivion Is The Sweetest Wine - John R. Fultz [Black Gate 12]
The Last Great Clown Hunt - Chris Furst [Weird Tales 352]
We're Awake, Let's Talk - Nathaniel Hellerstein [Flurb 5]
The Last American - John Kessel [Asimov's 385][Small Beer Press]
Scenting the Dark - Mary Robinette Kowal [Apex Digest]
Waiting For Rain - Mary Robinette Kowal [Subterranean Online 8]
Firewall - David D. Levine [Transhuman]
The Nature Of Blood - George Mann [Apex Digest]
The Kennel Club - Jennifer Pelland [Helix 09]
Where We Live - Daniel J. Pinney [Strange Horizons]
The Gnirut Test - Charles Platt [Flurb 6]
Kilimanjaro - Mike Resnick [Subterranean Online 7]
Death On the Crosstime Express - Chris Roberson [Sideways In Crime]
Mirror Of Fiery Brightness - Chris Roberson [Subterranean Online 8]
Salvagers Gold - Selina Rosen [Helix 07]
No Leaving New Orleans - Josh Rountree [Lone Star Stories 27]
The Film-Makers Of Mars - Geoff Ryman [Tor.com]
After the Coup - John Scalzi [Tor.com]
Denise Jones Super Booker - John Scalzi [Subterranean Online]
Through Thy Bounty - Lucy A. Snyder [Apex Digest]
Willpower - Jason Stoddard [Futurismic]
Down On the Farm - Charles Stross [Tor.com]
A Monkey Will Never Be Rid Of Its Black Hands - Rachel Swirsky [Subterranean Online 5]
The Situation - Jeff VanderMeer [PS Publishing]
The Einstein-Rosen Hunter-gatherer Society - George S. Walker [Helix 08]
Dead - Haddayr Copley Woods [Strange Horizons]
4 out of 5
Not Free SF Reader
Remote Control - R. R. Angell [Interzone 216]
The Hour Is Getting Late - Billie Aul [Interzone 216]
Pump Six - Paolo Bacigalupi [FSF 676]
The Last Great House Of Isla Tortuga - Peter M. Ball [Dreaming Again]
The Endling - Jamie Barras [Interzone 215]
In the Age Of the Quiet Sun - William Barton [Asimov's 392]
In From the Snow - Lee Battersby [Dreaming Again]
Sonny Liston Takes the Fall - Elizabeth Bear [The Del Rey Book Of Science Fiction and Fantasy]
Greenland - Chris Beckett [Interzone 218]
Private Eye - Terry Bisson [FSF 677]
In Cupboards And Bookshelves - Gary A. Braunbeck [Oddest Jobs]
The Empire - Simon Brown [Dreaming Again]
The Flowers Of Nicosia - David Ira Cleary [Asimov's 395]
Manumission - Tobias S. Buckell [JBU 12]
Resistance - Tobias S. Buckell [Seeds Of Change]
The Dinosaur Train - James L. Cambias [FSF 674]
The Guardian - Paul Chafe [Transhuman]
Grimes and the Gaijin Daimyo - A. Bertram Chandler [Dreaming Again]
Soldier Of the Singularity - Robert R. Chase [Asimov's 392]
Lure - Paul Collins [Dreaming Again]
Poison Victory - Albert E. Cowdrey [FSF 674]
No Traveller Returns - Dave Creek [Analog 929]
Monkey See - P. E. Cunningham [FSF 673]
An Open Letter To Earth - Scott Dalrymple [FSF 673]
Twilight In Caeli-Amur - A. Bertram Chandler [Dreaming Again]
Lost Arts - Stephen Dedman [Dreaming Again]
Amor Vincent Omnia - Craig DeLancey [Analog 928]
Demand Ecology - Craig DeLancey [Analog 930]
The Fooly - Terry Dowling [Dreaming Again]
What Drives Cars - Carl Frederick [Analog 929]
The Ray-Gun - James Alan Garner [Asimov's 385]
Akrfall - Carolyn Ives Gilman [FSF 676]
The Pit - Alexander Glass [Black Static 03]
Twinkletoes - J. A. Howe [JBU 14]
Helen's Last Will - James C. Glass [Analog 927]
Atwater - Cody Goodfellow [Black Static 04]
Repossession - Barbara Hambly [Oddest Jobs]
The Faces Of My Friends - Jennifer Harwood-Smith [Interzone 214]
Render Unto Caesar - Kevin N. Haw [FSF 671]
Listening For Submarines - Peter Higgins [Asimov's 393 394]
Feet Of Sciron - Rhys Hughes [Oddest Jobs]
Mystery Hill - Alex Irvine [FSF 668]
The New Deal - Trent Jamieson [Dreaming Again]
The Space Crawl Blues - Kay Kenyon [Solaris 2]
The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates - Stephen King [FSF 677]
The Art Of Alchemy - Ted Kosmatka [FSF 673]
Divining Light - Ted Kosmatka [Asimov's 391]
N-Words - Ted Kosmatka [Seeds Of Change]
Call Back Yesterday - Nancy Kress [Asimov's 389]
Jiving With Shadows And Dragons And Long Black Trains - Joe R. Lansdale [Oddest Jobs]
The Future By Degrees - Jay Lake [Seeds Of Change]
Incidental Music For Heroes - Stephen Leigh [Inside Straight]
The Night Of the RFIDs - Edward M. Lerner [Analog 929]
New Wineskins - Richard Lovett and Mark Niemann-Ross [Analog 933]
4 out of 5
Not Free SF Reader
Incomers - Paul J. McAuley [The Starry Rift]
Midnight Blue - Will McIntosh [Asimov's 392]
Street Hero - Will McIntosh [Interzone 215]
The Twilight Year - Sean McMullen [FSF 668]
A Room Of One's Own - China Mieville [Oddest Jobs]
Retrospect - Ann Miller [FSF 669]
But Wait! There's More! - Richard Muller [FSF 675]
Smoking, Waiting For the Dawn - Jason Nahrung [Dreaming Again]
Mars: A Traveler's Guide - Ruth Nestvold [FSF 668]
Old Friends - Garth Nix [Dreaming Again]
Strange Fishing In The Western Highlands - Garth Nix [Oddest Jobs]
Spider The Artist - Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu [Seeds Of Change]
A New Generation - Jerry Oltion [Analog 926]
Flotsam - Gareth L. Powell [The Last Reef]
Five Thrillers - Robert Reed [FSF 671]
Reunion - Robert Reed [FSF 672]
Salad For Two - Robert Reed [FSF 676]
Truth - Robert Reed [Asimov's 393 394]
Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders - Mike Resnick [Asimov's 384]
Honorable Enemies - Mike Resnick [JBU 12]
The Line Of Dichotomy - Chris Roberson [Solaris 2]
Horse Racing - Mary Rosenblum [Asimov's 392]
The Room Of Lost Souls - Kristine Kathryn Rusch [Asimov's 387 388]
Dragonfly Summer - Patrick Samphire [Interzone 215]
The Ships Like Clouds Risen By Their Rain - Jason Sanford [Interzone 217]
What You Are About To See - Jack Skillingstead [Asimov's 391]
The Mist of Lichthafen - Seth Skorkowsky [Black Static 03]
Blood On the Sun - Melinda M. Snodgrass [Inside Straight]
Dark Of the Moon - Melinda M. Snodgrass [Inside Straight]
Star Power - Melinda M. Snodgrass [Inside Straight]
Metagames - Caroline Spector [Inside Straight]
Maker Of Worlds - Norman Spinrad [JBU 13]
Following the Pharmers - Brian Stableford [Asimov's 386]
Premature Emergence - Eric James Stone [JBU 11]
Post-Ironic Stress Syndrome - Tricia Sullivan [The Starry Rift]
The Tin Man's Lament - Ian Tregillis [Inside Straight]
Sleepless Years - Steven Utley [FSF 677]
Ted - Tom Van Natta [JBU 13]
Drinking Problem - K. D. Wentworth [Seeds Of Change]
Exit Strategy - K. D. Wentworth [FSF 670]
Ass-hat Magic Spider - Scott Westerfeld [The Starry Rift]
Strangers When We Meet - Kate Wilhelm [Asimov's 387 388]
The Thursday Men - Tad Williams [Oddest Jobs]
Seeing this is being discussed a bit here, what are other people's favorites of this year's crop?
(There is more discussion here, for those interested :- [url=http://www.asimovs.com/aspnet_forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=65&Page=1]http://www.asimovs.com/aspnet_forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=65&Page=1[/a])
Of those I have read.
Free SF Reader
5 out of 5
Crystal Nights - Greg Egan [Interzone 215]
Framing and Mounting Fairies - Kevin Anderson [Dunesteef]
Not Free SF Reader
5 out of 5
The Tear - Ian McDonald [Galactic Empires]
The Man With the Golden Balloon - Robert Reed [Galactic Empires]
4.5 out of 5
Free SF Reader
The Gambler - Paolo Bacigalupi [Fast Forward 2]
Overkill - Elizabeth Bear [Shadow Unit]
Shoggoths In Bloom - Elizabeth Bear [Asimov's 386]
Catherine Drewe - Paul Cornell [Fast Forward 2]
Freedom With A Small f - Jeffrey DeRego [Escape Pod 154]
Lusts Of The Cat Queen: A Dash Manning Adventure - Melanie Fletcher [Helix 09]
Shade - Steven Gould [Tor.com]
The Soldiers Of Serenity - Todd McAulty [Black Gate 12]
Not Free SF Reader
The Seer and the Silverman - Stephen Baxter [Galactic Empires]
The Political Prisoner - Charles Coleman Finlay [FSF 675]
Undead Camels Ate Their Flesh - Jason Fischer [Dreaming Again]
Angel Rising - Dirk Flinthart [Twelfth Planet Press]
Wetware 2.0 - Dave Freer [Transhuman]
Crusader - George R. R. Martin [Inside Straight]
Soul Printer - Wil McCarthy [Transhuman]
Little Lost Robot - Paul J. McAuley [Interzone 217]
Tenbrook Of Mars - Dean McLaughlin [Analog 931]
His Master's Voice - Hannu Rajaniemi [Interzone 218]
The Gutter Sees the Light That Never Shines - Alistair Rennie [The New Weird]
The Six Directions Of Space - Alastair Reynolds [Galactic Empires]
The Star Surgeon's Apprentice - Alastair Reynolds [The Starry Rift]
Defending Elysium - Brandon Sanderson [Asimov's 393 394]
Everything That Matters - Jeff Spock [Interzone 219]
Far Horizons - Jason Stoddard [Interzone 214]
4 out of 5
Free SF Reader
Fitting A New Suit - Madeleine Ashby [Flur 06]
Ballistic - Elizabeth Bear and Emma Bull and Sarah Monette and Amanda Downum [Shadow Unit]
The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder - Elizabeth Bear [Tor.com]
Your Collar - Elizabeth Bear [Subterranean Online 6]
Air and Angels - Beth Bernobich [Subterranean Online 6]
The Pile - Michael Bishop [Subterranean Online 5]
Kimberley Ann Duray Is Not Afraid - Leah Bobet [Strange Horizons]
The Andrassii Agreement - Stephanie Burgis [Lone Star Stories 30]
The Bitrunners - Tina Connolly [Helix 09]
Five Good Things About Megan Sheedy - A. M. Dellamonica [Strange Horizons]
All That We Leave Behind - Jeffrey DeRego [Escape Pod 149]
True Names - Cory Doctorow and Benjamin Rosenbaum [craphound.com/Fast Forward 2]
The Rapeworm - Charles Coleman Finlay [Noctem Aeternus 1]
No Love For the Middleman - Tony Frazier [Strange Horizons]
Oblivion Is The Sweetest Wine - John R. Fultz [Black Gate 12]
The Last Great Clown Hunt - Chris Furst [Weird Tales 352]
We're Awake, Let's Talk - Nathaniel Hellerstein [Flurb 5]
The Last American - John Kessel [Asimov's 385][Small Beer Press]
Scenting the Dark - Mary Robinette Kowal [Apex Digest]
Waiting For Rain - Mary Robinette Kowal [Subterranean Online 8]
Firewall - David D. Levine [Transhuman]
The Nature Of Blood - George Mann [Apex Digest]
The Kennel Club - Jennifer Pelland [Helix 09]
Where We Live - Daniel J. Pinney [Strange Horizons]
The Gnirut Test - Charles Platt [Flurb 6]
Kilimanjaro - Mike Resnick [Subterranean Online 7]
Death On the Crosstime Express - Chris Roberson [Sideways In Crime]
Mirror Of Fiery Brightness - Chris Roberson [Subterranean Online 8]
Salvagers Gold - Selina Rosen [Helix 07]
No Leaving New Orleans - Josh Rountree [Lone Star Stories 27]
The Film-Makers Of Mars - Geoff Ryman [Tor.com]
After the Coup - John Scalzi [Tor.com]
Denise Jones Super Booker - John Scalzi [Subterranean Online]
Through Thy Bounty - Lucy A. Snyder [Apex Digest]
Willpower - Jason Stoddard [Futurismic]
Down On the Farm - Charles Stross [Tor.com]
A Monkey Will Never Be Rid Of Its Black Hands - Rachel Swirsky [Subterranean Online 5]
The Situation - Jeff VanderMeer [PS Publishing]
The Einstein-Rosen Hunter-gatherer Society - George S. Walker [Helix 08]
Dead - Haddayr Copley Woods [Strange Horizons]
4 out of 5
Not Free SF Reader
Remote Control - R. R. Angell [Interzone 216]
The Hour Is Getting Late - Billie Aul [Interzone 216]
Pump Six - Paolo Bacigalupi [FSF 676]
The Last Great House Of Isla Tortuga - Peter M. Ball [Dreaming Again]
The Endling - Jamie Barras [Interzone 215]
In the Age Of the Quiet Sun - William Barton [Asimov's 392]
In From the Snow - Lee Battersby [Dreaming Again]
Sonny Liston Takes the Fall - Elizabeth Bear [The Del Rey Book Of Science Fiction and Fantasy]
Greenland - Chris Beckett [Interzone 218]
Private Eye - Terry Bisson [FSF 677]
In Cupboards And Bookshelves - Gary A. Braunbeck [Oddest Jobs]
The Empire - Simon Brown [Dreaming Again]
The Flowers Of Nicosia - David Ira Cleary [Asimov's 395]
Manumission - Tobias S. Buckell [JBU 12]
Resistance - Tobias S. Buckell [Seeds Of Change]
The Dinosaur Train - James L. Cambias [FSF 674]
The Guardian - Paul Chafe [Transhuman]
Grimes and the Gaijin Daimyo - A. Bertram Chandler [Dreaming Again]
Soldier Of the Singularity - Robert R. Chase [Asimov's 392]
Lure - Paul Collins [Dreaming Again]
Poison Victory - Albert E. Cowdrey [FSF 674]
No Traveller Returns - Dave Creek [Analog 929]
Monkey See - P. E. Cunningham [FSF 673]
An Open Letter To Earth - Scott Dalrymple [FSF 673]
Twilight In Caeli-Amur - A. Bertram Chandler [Dreaming Again]
Lost Arts - Stephen Dedman [Dreaming Again]
Amor Vincent Omnia - Craig DeLancey [Analog 928]
Demand Ecology - Craig DeLancey [Analog 930]
The Fooly - Terry Dowling [Dreaming Again]
What Drives Cars - Carl Frederick [Analog 929]
The Ray-Gun - James Alan Garner [Asimov's 385]
Akrfall - Carolyn Ives Gilman [FSF 676]
The Pit - Alexander Glass [Black Static 03]
Twinkletoes - J. A. Howe [JBU 14]
Helen's Last Will - James C. Glass [Analog 927]
Atwater - Cody Goodfellow [Black Static 04]
Repossession - Barbara Hambly [Oddest Jobs]
The Faces Of My Friends - Jennifer Harwood-Smith [Interzone 214]
Render Unto Caesar - Kevin N. Haw [FSF 671]
Listening For Submarines - Peter Higgins [Asimov's 393 394]
Feet Of Sciron - Rhys Hughes [Oddest Jobs]
Mystery Hill - Alex Irvine [FSF 668]
The New Deal - Trent Jamieson [Dreaming Again]
The Space Crawl Blues - Kay Kenyon [Solaris 2]
The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates - Stephen King [FSF 677]
The Art Of Alchemy - Ted Kosmatka [FSF 673]
Divining Light - Ted Kosmatka [Asimov's 391]
N-Words - Ted Kosmatka [Seeds Of Change]
Call Back Yesterday - Nancy Kress [Asimov's 389]
Jiving With Shadows And Dragons And Long Black Trains - Joe R. Lansdale [Oddest Jobs]
The Future By Degrees - Jay Lake [Seeds Of Change]
Incidental Music For Heroes - Stephen Leigh [Inside Straight]
The Night Of the RFIDs - Edward M. Lerner [Analog 929]
New Wineskins - Richard Lovett and Mark Niemann-Ross [Analog 933]
4 out of 5
Not Free SF Reader
Incomers - Paul J. McAuley [The Starry Rift]
Midnight Blue - Will McIntosh [Asimov's 392]
Street Hero - Will McIntosh [Interzone 215]
The Twilight Year - Sean McMullen [FSF 668]
A Room Of One's Own - China Mieville [Oddest Jobs]
Retrospect - Ann Miller [FSF 669]
But Wait! There's More! - Richard Muller [FSF 675]
Smoking, Waiting For the Dawn - Jason Nahrung [Dreaming Again]
Mars: A Traveler's Guide - Ruth Nestvold [FSF 668]
Old Friends - Garth Nix [Dreaming Again]
Strange Fishing In The Western Highlands - Garth Nix [Oddest Jobs]
Spider The Artist - Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu [Seeds Of Change]
A New Generation - Jerry Oltion [Analog 926]
Flotsam - Gareth L. Powell [The Last Reef]
Five Thrillers - Robert Reed [FSF 671]
Reunion - Robert Reed [FSF 672]
Salad For Two - Robert Reed [FSF 676]
Truth - Robert Reed [Asimov's 393 394]
Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders - Mike Resnick [Asimov's 384]
Honorable Enemies - Mike Resnick [JBU 12]
The Line Of Dichotomy - Chris Roberson [Solaris 2]
Horse Racing - Mary Rosenblum [Asimov's 392]
The Room Of Lost Souls - Kristine Kathryn Rusch [Asimov's 387 388]
Dragonfly Summer - Patrick Samphire [Interzone 215]
The Ships Like Clouds Risen By Their Rain - Jason Sanford [Interzone 217]
What You Are About To See - Jack Skillingstead [Asimov's 391]
The Mist of Lichthafen - Seth Skorkowsky [Black Static 03]
Blood On the Sun - Melinda M. Snodgrass [Inside Straight]
Dark Of the Moon - Melinda M. Snodgrass [Inside Straight]
Star Power - Melinda M. Snodgrass [Inside Straight]
Metagames - Caroline Spector [Inside Straight]
Maker Of Worlds - Norman Spinrad [JBU 13]
Following the Pharmers - Brian Stableford [Asimov's 386]
Premature Emergence - Eric James Stone [JBU 11]
Post-Ironic Stress Syndrome - Tricia Sullivan [The Starry Rift]
The Tin Man's Lament - Ian Tregillis [Inside Straight]
Sleepless Years - Steven Utley [FSF 677]
Ted - Tom Van Natta [JBU 13]
Drinking Problem - K. D. Wentworth [Seeds Of Change]
Exit Strategy - K. D. Wentworth [FSF 670]
Ass-hat Magic Spider - Scott Westerfeld [The Starry Rift]
Strangers When We Meet - Kate Wilhelm [Asimov's 387 388]
The Thursday Men - Tad Williams [Oddest Jobs]