Best Science Fiction of the Year
Page 81
As hers would be.
“I thought you would have some kind of tribal loyalty to prevent them invading,” Lionel said.
Avery thought about it a moment, then said, “We’re not defenseless, you know. We’ve got something they want. The gift of self, of mortality. God, I feel like the snake in the garden. But my alien will love me for it.” She could see the cooler in the rear view mirror, sitting on the floor in the kitchen. Already she felt fond of the person it would become. Gestating inside. “It gives a new meaning to alien abduction, doesn’t it?” she said.
He didn’t get the joke. “You aren’t afraid to become . . . something like me?”
She looked over at him. “No one can be like you, Lionel.”
Even after all this time together, he still didn’t know how to react when she said things like that.
RECOMMENDED READING
“The Art of Space Travel” by Nina Allen, Tor.com, July 2016
“Mika Model” by Paolo Bacigalupi, Slate, April 2016
“Fifty Shades of Grays” by Steven Barnes, Lightspeed, June 2016
“A Fair War” by Taiyo Fuji, Saiensu Fikushon 2016, edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington
“The Mutants Men Don’t See” by James Alan Gardner, Asimov’s, September 2016
“My Generations Will Praise” by Samantha Henderson, Interzone, November/ December 2016
“Origins” by Carlos Hernandez, The Grim Future, edited by Erin Underwood
“Stories of the Trees, Stories of the Birds, Stories of the Bones” by Kat Howard, The Grim Future, edited by Erin Underwood
“One Sister, Two Sisters, Three” by James Patrick Kelly, Clarkesworld, October 2016
“Kit: Some Assembly Required” by Kathe Koja, Asimov’s, September 2016
“The One Who Isn’t” by Ted Kosmatka, Lightspeed, July 2016
“Sleep Factory” by Rich Larson, Analog, October/November 2016
“Innumerable Glimmering Lights” by Rich Larson, Clockwork Phoenix 5, edited by Mike Allen
“Seven Birthdays” by Ken Liu, Bridging Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan
“Elves of Antarctica” by Paul McAuley, Drowned Worlds, edited by Jonathan Strahan
“Not Quite Taterona Kempi” by Ryan W. Norris, Analog, May 2016 ”
Travelling into Nothing” by An Owomoyela, Bridging Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan
“Unauthorized Access” by An Owomoyela, Lightspeed, September 2016
“A Song Transmuted” by Sarah Pinsker, Cyber World, edited by Jason Heller and Joshua Viola
“Red in Tooth and Cog” by Cat Rambo, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2016
“Passelande” by Robert Reed, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2016
“Those Shadows Laugh” by Geoff Ryman, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September/October 2016
“Firstborn, Lastborn” by Melissa Scott, To Shape the Dark, edited by Athena Andreadis
“The Whole Mess” by Jack Skillingstead, Asimov’s, September 2016
“Licorice” by Jack Skillingstead, Now We Are Ten, edited by Ian Whates
“Everybody from Themis Sends Letters Home” by Genevieve Valentine, Clarkesworld, October 2016
“La beauté sans vertu” by Genevieve Valentine, Tor.com, April 2016
“The Mind Is Its Own Place” by Carrie Vaughn, Asimov’s, September 2016
“That Game We Played During the War” by Carrie Vaughn, Tor.com, March 2016
“First Light at Mistaken Point” by Kali Wallace, Clarkesworld, August 2016
“Passion Summer” by Nick Wolven, Asimov’s, February 2016
“Painter of Stars” by Wang Yuan, Clarkesworld, December 2016
PERMISSIONS
“The Visitor from Taured” by Ian R. MacLeod. © 2016 by Ian R. MacLeod. Originally published in Asimov’s, September 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Extraction Request” by Rich Larson. © 2016 by Rich Larson. Originally published in Clarkesworld, January 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“A Good Home” by Karin Lowachee. © 2016 by Karin Lowachee. Originally published in Lightspeed, June 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Prodigal” by Gord Sellar. © 2016 by Gord Sellar. Originally published in Analog, December 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Ten Days” by Nina Allan. © 2016 by Nina Allan. Originally published in Now We Are Ten, edited by Ian Whates (NewCon Press). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Terminal” by Lavie Tidhar. © 2016 by Lavie Tidhar. Originally published in Tor.com, April 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Panic City” by Madeline Ashby. © 2016 by Madeline Ashby. Originally published in CyberWorld, edited by Jason Heller and Joshua Viola (Hex Publishers). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Last Gods” by Sam J. Miller. © 2016 by Sam J. Miller. Originally published in Drowned Worlds, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“HigherWorks” by Gregory Norman Bossert. © 2016 by Gregory Norman Bossert. Originally published in Asimov’s, December 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“A Strange Loop” by T. R. Napper. © 2016 by T. R. Napper. Originally published in Interzone, January/February 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Night Journey of the Dragon-Horse” by Xia Jia. © 2016 by Xia Jia. Originally published in Invisible Planets, edited by Ken Liu (Tor Books). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Pearl” by Aliette de Bodard. © 2016 by Aliette de Bodard. Originally published in The Starlit Wood, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe (Saga Press). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Metal Demimonde” by Nick Wolven. © 2016 by Nick Wolven. Originally published in Analog, June 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Iron Tactician” by Alastair Reynolds. © 2016 by Alastair Reynolds. Originally published by NewCon Press. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Mighty Slinger” by Karen Lord. © 2016 by Karen Lord. Originally published in Bridging Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“They Have All One Breath” by Karl Bunker. © 2016 by Karl Bunker. Originally published in Asimov’s, December 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea” by Sarah Pinsker. © 2016 by Sarah Pinsker. Originally published in Lightspeed, February 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“And Then, One Day, the Air was Full of Voices” by Margaret Ronald. © 2016 by Margaret Ronald. Originally published in Clarkesworld, June 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Three Lives of Sonata James” by Lettie Prell. © 2016 by Lettie Prell. Originally published in Tor.com, October 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Charge and the Storm” by An Owomoyela. © 2016 by An Owomoyela. Originally published in Asimov’s, February 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Parables of Infinity” by Robert Reed. © 2016 by Robert Reed. Originally published in Bridging Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Ten Poems for the Mossums, One for the Man” by Suzanne Palmer. © 2016 by Suzanne Palmer. Originally published in Asimov’s, July 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“You Make Pattaya” by Rich Larson. © 2016 by Rich Larson. Originally published in Interzone, November/December 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Number Nine Moon” by Alex Irvine. © 2016 by Alex Irvine. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January/February 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Things with Beards” by Sam J. Miller. © 2016 by Sam J. Miller. Originally published in Clarkesworld, June 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermi
t—Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts” by Ken Liu. © 2016 by Ken Liu. Originally published in Drowned Worlds, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Solaris). Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Touring with the Alien” by Carolyn Ives Gilman. © 2016 by Carolyn Ives Gilman. Originally published in Clarkesworld, April 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Neil Clarke is the editor of Clarkesworld and Forever Magazine; owner of Wyrm Publishing; and a four-time Hugo Award Nominee for Best Editor (short form). He currently lives in NJ with his wife and two children. You can find him online at neil-clarke.com.