The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2014 Edition

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The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2014 Edition Page 77

by Rich Horton


  Maureen McHugh’s first novel, China Mountain Zhang (Tor) won the Tiptree Award. Her most recent collection, After the Apocalypse (Small Beer Press) was one of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Best Books of 2011. She was born in Ohio and has lived in New York City, Sijiazhuang, China, Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, California.

  Karin Tidbeck is the award-winning author of Jagannath and Amatka. She lives in Malmö, Sweden, where she works as a creative writing teacher, translator and consultant of all things fictional and interactive. She writes in Swedish and English and has published short stories and poetry in Swedish since 2002 and English since 2010. Her short fiction has appeared in publications like Weird Tales, Tor.com, Lightspeed Magazine and numerous anthologies including The Time-Travelers Almanac, Steampunk Revolution and Aliens: Recent Encounters.

  Linda Nagata is the recipient of the Locus Award for best first novel (The Bohr Maker) and the Nebula award for best novella (“Goddesses”). Her 2013 story “Nahiku West”—a prequel to “Out In The Dark”—was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. Her newest novel is The Red: Trials, a sequel to the near-future thriller The Red: First Light. Linda has spent most of her life in Hawaii, where she’s been a writer, a mom, a programmer of database-driven websites, and lately an independent publisher. Find her online at: MythicIsland.com

  Naim Kabir is a current student at the University of Pennsylvania. The goal is to do some good research over the years and eventually end up on the ISS. You know, where all science suddenly becomes space science. When he’s not studying or writing, he’s drawing badly. You can check out the art to go along with his stories on KabirCreates.com.

  Tang Fei is a speculative fiction writer whose work has been featured (under various pen names) in magazines in China such as Science Fiction World, Jiuzhou Fantasy, Fantasy Old and New. She has written fantasy, science fiction, fairy tales, and wuxia (martial arts fantasy), but prefers to write in a way that straddles or stretches genre boundaries. She is also a genre critic, and her critical essays have been published in The Economic Observer. She lives in Beijing (though she tries to escape it as often as she can), and considers herself a foodie with a particular appreciation for dark chocolate, blue cheese, and good wine.

  Christopher Barzak is the author of the Crawford Fantasy Award winning novel, One for Sorrow, which has been made into the Sundance feature film “Jamie Marks is Dead.” His second novel, The Love We Share Without Knowing, was a finalist for the Nebula and Tiptree Awards. He is also the author of two collections: Birds and Birthdays, a collection of surrealist fantasy stories, and Before and Afterlives, a collection of supernatural fantasies. He grew up in rural Ohio, has lived in a southern California beach town, the capital of Michigan, and has taught English outside of Tokyo, Japan, where he lived for two years. His next novel, Wonders of the Invisible World, will be published by Knopf in 2015. Currently he teaches fiction writing in the Northeast Ohio MFA program at Youngstown State University.

  Yukimi Ogawa lives in a small town in Tokyo, where she write in English but never speaks the language. She still wonders why it works that way. Her fiction has appeared in such places as Strange Horizons and Clockwork Phoenix 4.

  Ian R. MacLeod grew up in the West Midlands, studied law, and worked for many years at honing his writing skills under his desk in the Civil Service before moving on to house-husbandry and education. His stories and novels at the more adventurous edges of the fantastic genres have won numerous awards and been translated into many languages. He now lives with his wife in the riverside town of Bewdley.

  Alan DeNiro is the author of the novel Total Oblivion, More or Less (Spectra) and the short story collection Tyrannia (Small Beer Press), which came out last year. His short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Interfictions, One Story, and elsewhere, and has been shortlisted for the O. Henry Award. He lives outside St. Paul, Minnesota.

  Eleanor Arnason published her first story in 1973. Since then, she has published five novels and forty works of shorter fiction. Her novel A Woman of the Iron People won the Tiptree and Mythopoeic Society Awards. Her story “Dapple” won the Spectrum Award. She lives in the Twin Cities Metro Area and is currently finishing a sequel to her novel Ring of Swords. “Kormak the Lucky” is one of series of short stories based on Icelandic medieval literature and Icelandic folklore. “Kormak” draws on the Egils saga Skallagrimssonar and an Eddic poem about the famous smith Volund.

  Recommended Reading

  Joe Abercrombie, “Some Desperado” (Dangerous Women)

  Mike Allen, “Still Life with Skull” (Solaris Rising 2)

  Nina Allen, “Spin” (Spin)

  Charlie Jane Anders, “Complicated and Stupid” (Strange Horizons, 8/5/13)

  Charlie Jane Anders, “The Master Conjurer” (Lightspeed, 10/13)

  Neal Asher, “Memories of Earth” (Asimov’s, 10-11/13)

  Peter M. Ball, “On the Arrival of the Paddle-Steamer on the Docks of V—” (Eclipse Online, 2/13)

  Stephen Baxter, “StarCall” (Starship Century)

  Gregory Benford, “Backscatter” (Tor.com)

  M. Bennardo, “The Herons of Mer de l’Ouest” (Lightspeed, 2/13)

  M. Bennardo “Water Finds Its Level” (Lightspeed, 5/13)

  Gregory Norman Bossert, “Bloom” (Asimov’s, 12/13)

  Gregory Norman Bossert, “Lost Wax” (Asimov’s, 8/13)

  Damien Broderick, “Do Unto Others” (Cosmos, 1-2/13)

  Damien Broderick, “Quicken” (Beyond The Doors Of Death)

  Rae Carson and C. C. Finlay, “The Great Zeppelin Heist of Oz” (Oz Reimagined)

  Ted Chiang, “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” (Subterranean, Fall 2013)

  Jacob Clifton, “This is Why We Jump” (Clarkesworld, 7/13)

  C.S.E. Cooney, “Life on the Sun” (Black Gate, 2/10/13)

  F. Brett Cox, “The Amnesia Helmet” (Eclipse Online, 1/13)

  Benjamin Crowell, “A Hole in the Ether” (Asimov’s, 9/13)

  Indrapramit Dis, “Karina Who Kissed Spacetime” (Apex Magazine, 6/13)

  Aliette de Bodard, “The Waiting Stars” (The Other Half of the Sky)

  Paul Di Filippo, “Redskins of the Badlands” (Analog, 11/13)

  Haris A. Durrani, “Tethered” (Analog, 7-8/13)

  Greg Egan, “Zero for Conduct” (Twelve Tomorrows)

  Kate Elliott, “Leaf and Branch and Tree and Vine” (Fearsome Journeys)

  Gemma Files, “Two Captains” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #125-126, 7/13)

  Jeffrey Ford, “The Fairy Enterprise” (Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells)

  Jeffrey Ford, “The Pittsburgh Technology” (The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination)

  Eugie Foster, “Whatever Skin You Wear” (Solaris Rising 2)

  Gregory Frost, “No Others are Genuine” (Asimov’s, 10-11/13)

  Greer Gilman, Cry Murder! In a Small Voice (Small Beer Press)

  Theodora Goss, “Estella Saves the Village” (Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells)

  Lev Grossman, “The Girl in the Mirror” (Dangerous Women)

  Daniel Hatch, “The Chorus Line” (Analog, 12/13)

  Maria Dhavana Headley, “The Psammophile” (Unlikely Stories 7, 11/13)

  Thomas Olde Heuvelt, “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” (Tor.com, 4/13)

  M.K. Hobson, “Baba Makosh” (F&SF, 11-12/13)

  Kat Howard, “Painted Birds and Shivered Bones” (Subterranean, Spring 2013)

  Matthew Hughes, “And Then Some” (Asimov’s, 2/13)

  Matthew Hughes, “The Ugly Duckling” (Old Mars)

  Alex Irvine, “Watching the Cow” (F&SF, 1-2/13)

  Alexander Jablokov, “Feral Moon” (Asimov’s, 3/13)

  K.J. Kabza, “The Color of Sand” (F&SF, 7-8/13)

  Vylar Kaftan, “The Weight of the Sunrise” (Asimov’s, 2/13)

  James Patrick Kelly, “The Promise of Space” (Clarkesworld, 9/13)

  Sylvia Kelso, Spring in Geneva (Aqueduct Press)

  Nancy K
ress, “Pathways” (Twelve Tomorrows)

  Matthew Kressel, “The Sounds of Old Earth” (Lightspeed, 1/13)

  Marc Laidlaw, “Bemused” (F&SF, 9-10/13)

  Margo Lanagan, We Three Kids (PS Publishing)

  Yoon Ha Lee, “The Coin of Heart’s Desire” (Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales)

  Yoon Ha Lee, “Iseul’s Lexicon” (Conservation of Shadows)

  Yoon Ha Lee, “The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars” (Lightspeed, 08/13)

  David D. Levine, “The Wreck of the Mars Adventure” (Old Mars)

  Heather Lindsley, “The Angel of Death Has a Business Plan” (The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination)

  Marissa Lingen, “Armistice Day” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 3/21/13)

  Ken Liu, “Ghost Days” (Lightspeed, 10/13)

  Ken Liu, “The Litigation Master and the Monkey King” (Lightspeed, 08/13)

  Scott Lynch, “The Effigy Engine: A Tale of the Red Hats” (Fearsome Journeys)

  Alex Dally MacFarlane, “Unwritten in Green” (Futuredaze)

  Ian R. MacLeod, “Entangled” (Asimov’s, 12/13)

  Kate MacLeod, “Din Ba Din” (Strange Horizons, 08/13)

  Paul McAuley, “Transitional Forms” (Twelve Tomorrows)

  Ian McDonald, “The Queen of the Night’s Aria” (Old Mars)

  Ian McDonald, “The Revolution Will Not Be Refrigerated” (Twelve Tomorrows)

  Ian McHugh, “The Canal Barge Magician’s Number Nine Daughter” (Clockwork Phoenix 4)

  Will McIntosh, “Over There” (Asimov’s, 1/13)

  Sean McMullen, “The Firewall and the Door” (Analog, 3/13)

  Sean McMullen, “Technarion” (Interzone #248, 9-10/13)

  Sam J. Miller, “The Beasts We Want to Be” (Electric Velocipede, Winter/13)

  Eugene Mirabelli, “The Shore at the End of the World” (F&SF, 9-10/13)

  Ramez Naam, “Water” (An Aura of Familiarity: Visions from the Coming Age of Networked Matter)

  Alec Nevala-Lee, “The Whale God” (Analog, 09/13)

  Val Nolan, “The Irish Astronaut” (Electric Velocipede #26, Spring 2013)

  G. David Nordley, “The Fountain” (Asimov’s, 6/13) (RH-Yes)

  An Owomoyela, “In Metal, In Bone” (Eclipse Online, 3/13)

  Suzanne Palmer, “Hotel” (Asimov’s, 1/13)

  K.J. Parker, “The Sun and I” (Subterranean, Summer 2013)

  Richard Parks, “Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #131, 10/13)

  Rachel Pollack, “The Queen of Eyes” (F&SF, 9-10/13)

  Tim Pratt, “Revels in the Land of Ice” (Glitter and Mayhem)

  Robert Reed, “Among Us” (F&SF, 1-2/13)

  Robert Reed, “Mystic Falls” (Clarkesworld)

  Robert Reed, “Precious Mental” (Asimov’s, 6/13)

  Christopher Rowe, “Jack of Coins” (Tor.com, 05/13)

  Sofia Samatar, “Selkies are for Losers” (Strange Horizons, 01/13)

  Jason Sanford, “Monday’s Monk” (Asimov’s, 3/13)

  Georghe Sasarman, “Sah-Hara” (Squaring the Circle)

  Kenneth Schneyer, “Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer” (Clockwork Phoenix 4)

  Priya Sharma, “Rag and Bone” (Tor.com, 4/10/13)

  John Shirley, “The Kindest Man in Stormland” (Interzone, 10-12/13)

  Vandana Singh, “Cry of the Kharchal” (Clarkesworld, 08/13)

  Vandana Singh, “Sailing the Antarsa” (The Other Half of the Sky)

  Angela Slatter, “Flight” (Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales)

  Zadie Smith, “Meet the President” (The New Yorker, 08/12/13 & 08/19/13)

  Neal Stephenson, “Atmosphaera Incognita” (Starship Century)

  Sathya Stone, “Jinki and the Paradox” (Strange Horizons, 6/3/13)

  Michael Swanwick, “The She-Wolf’s Hidden Grin” (Shadows of the New Sun)

  Rachel Swirsky, “What Lies at the Edge of a Petal is Love” (The Dark, 10/13)

  Rachel Swirsky, “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” (Apex, 03/13)

  Karin Tidbeck, “Sing” (Tor.com, 04/13)

  Lavie Tidhar, “The Book Seller” (Interzone #244, 1-2/13) A.B. Treadwell, “Bakemono, or, The Thing That Changes” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 3/13)

  Tori Truslow, “Boat in Shadows, Crossing” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #112-113, 1/13)

  Lisa Tuttle, “The Dream Detective” (Lightspeed, 3/13)

  Genevieve Valentine, “86, 87, 88, 89” (Clarkesworld, 3/13)

  Genevieve Valentine, “Abyssus Abyssum Invocat” (Lightspeed, 2/13)

  Carrie Vaughn, “The Art of Homecoming” (Asimov’s, 7/13)

  Carrie Vaughn, “The Best We Can” (Tor.com, 7/17/13)

  Desmond Warzel, “The Blue Celeb” (F&SF, 1-2/13)

  Rick Wilbur, “At Palomar” (Asimov’s, 7/13)

  Liz Williams, “The Lighthouse” (Solaris Rising 2)

  Liz Williams, “Out of Scarlight” (Old Mars)

  Sean Williams, “Face Value” (Lightspeed, 8/13)

  A.C. Wise, “The Last Survivor of the Great Sexbot Revolution” (Clarkesworld, 3/13)

  Gene Wolfe, “The Sea of Memory” (Shadows of the New Sun)

  Patricia C. Wrede, “Mad Hamlet’s Mother” (Apex Magazine, 2/13)

  E. Lily Yu, “The Pilgrim and the Angel” (McSweeney’s 45)

  Publication History

  “Soulcatcher” by James Patrick Kelly. © by James Patrick Kelly. Originally published in Clarkesworld, May. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Trafalgar and Josefina” by Angélica Gorodischer. © by Angélica Gorodischer. Originally published in Trafalgar. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “A Stranger from a Foreign Ship” by Tom Purdom. © by Tom Purdom. Originally published in Asimov’s, September. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Blanchefleur” by Theodora Goss. © by Theodora Goss. Originally published in Once Upon a Time. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Effigy Nights” Yoon Ha Lee. © by Yoon Ha Lee. Originally published in Clarkesworld, January. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Such & Such Said to So & So” by Maria Dahvana Headley. © by Maria Dahvana Headley. Originally published in Glitter & Mayhem. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Grizzled Veterans of Many and Much” by Robert Reed. © by Robert Reed. Originally published in F&SF, May/June. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Rosary and Goldenstar” by Geoff Ryman. © by Geoff Ryman. Originally published in F&SF, September/October. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Bees Her Heart, the Hive Her Belly” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew. © by Benjanun Sriduangkaew. Originally published in Clockwork Phoenix 4. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Dragonslayer of Merebarton” by K.J. Parker. © by K.J. Parker. Originally published in Fearsome Journeys. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Oracle” by Lavie Tidhar. © by Lavie Tidhar. Originally published in Analog, September. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Martyr’s Gem” by C.S.E. Cooney. © by C.S.E. Cooney. Originally published in Giganotosaurus, May. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Loss, with Chalk Diagrams” by E. Lily Yu. © by E. Lily Yu. Originally published in Eclipse Online, March. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “They Shall Inherit the Earth with Seeds of Glass” by Alaya Dawn Johnson. © by Alaya Dawn Johnson. Originally published in Asimov’s, January. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “A Window or a Small Box” by Jedediah Berry. © by Jedediah Berry. Originally published in Tor.com, June. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Game of Chance” by Carrie Vaughn. © Carrie Vaughn, LLC. Originally published in Unfettered. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Live Arcade” by Erik Amundsen © by Erik Amundsen. Originally published in Strange Horizons, February. Reprinte
d by permission of the author. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Social Services” by Madeline Ashby. © by Madeline Ashby. Originally published in An Aura of Familiarity. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Found” by Alex Dally MacFarlane. © by Alex Dally MacFarlane. Originally published in Clarkesworld, August. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel” by Ken Liu. © by Ken Liu. Originally published in F&SF, January/February. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Ilse, Who Saw Clearly” by E. Lily Yu. © by E. Lily Yu. Originally published in Apex, May. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “It’s the End of the World As We Know It, and We Feel Fine” by Harry Turtledove. © by Harry Turtledove. Originally published in Analog, March. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Killing Curses: A Caught-Heart Quest” by Krista Hoeppner Leahy. © by Krista Hoeppner Leahy. Originally published in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, January. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Firebrand” by Peter Watts. © by Peter Watts. Originally published in Twelve Tomorrows. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Memory Book” by Maureen McHugh. © by Maureen McHugh. Originally published in Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Dead Sea-Bottom Scrolls” by Howard Waldrop. © by Howard Waldrop. Originally published in Old Mars. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “A Fine Show on the Aybssal Plain” by Karin Tidbeck. © by Karin Tidbeck. Originally published in Lightspeed, April. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Out in the Dark” by Linda Nagata. © by Linda Nagata. Originally published in Analog, June. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “On the Origin of Song” by Naim Kabir. © by Naim Kabir. Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. October. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Call Girl” by Tang Fei. © by Tang Fei. Originally published in Apex, June. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Paranormal Romance” by Christopher Barzak. © by Christopher Barzak. Originally published in Lightspeed, June. Reprinted by permission of the author.

 

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