The Year’s Best Science Fiction: 28th Annual Collection

Gardner Dozois’ magisterial annual anthology, published as The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 24 in the UK, reprints the following stories:

Flying in the Face of God by Nina Allan (Interzone 227)

Again and Again and Again by Rachel Swirsky (Interzone 226)

The Shipmaker by Aliette de Bodard (Interzone 231)

Chimbwi by Jim Hawkins (Interzone 227)

The Honourable Mentions section for 2010 lists:

The Upstairs Window by Nina Allan (Interzone 230)

The Shoe Factory by Matthew Cook (Interzone 231)

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark by Jim Hawkins (Interzone 229)

The History of Poly-V by Jon Ingold (Interzone 227)

Over Water by John Ingold (Interzone 228)

Hibakusha by Tyler Keevil (Interzone 226)

Human Error by Jay Lake (Interzone 226)

Love and War by Tim Lees (Interzone 230)

Dance of the Kawkawroons by Mercurio D. Rivera (Interzone 227)

In the Harsh Glow of its Incandescent Beauty by Mercurio D. Rivera (Interzone 226)

Camelot by Patrick Samphire (Interzone 230)

Memoria by Jason Sanford (Interzone 231)

Plague Birds by Jason Sanford (Interzone 228)

The Insurance Agent by Lavie Tidhar (Interzone 230)

Iron Monk by Melissa Yuan-Innes (Interzone 228)

I hope I haven’t missed anyone out.

As well as praising Interzone in his year’s summation, Dozois also says that Music For Another World was one of several interesting small-press anthologies that came out in 2010.

The Year’s Best SF: Twenty-Seventh Annual Collection

Gardner Dozois says in The Year’s Best SF: Twenty-Seventh Annual Collection (or The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 23 as the British edition is titled) that “Interzone had an above-average year” in 2009.

He reprints Black Swan by Bruce Sterling (Interzone 221) and Butterfly Bomb by Dominic Green (Interzone 223) and gives honourable mentions to The Festival of Tethselem by Chris Butler (Interzone 224), Ys by Aliette de Bodard (Interzone 222), Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast by Eugie Foster (Interzone 220), The Transformation of Aishwarya Desai by Eric Gregory (Interzone 223), Coat of Many Colours and Glister by Dominic Green (Interzone 223), Eagleburger’s Lawn by by Alex Irvine (Interzone 223), Saving Diego by Matthew Kressel (Interzone 221), A Clown Escapes from Circus Town by Will McIntosh (Interzone 221), Mother of Champions by Sean McMullen (Interzone 222), Bone Island by Shannon Page & Jay Lake (Interzone 225), Silence and Roses by Suzanne Palmer (Interzone 223), By Starlight by Rebecca J. Payne (Interzone 225), Unexpected Outcomes by Tim Pratt (Interzone 222), Sublimation Angels by Jason Sanford (Interzone 224), No Longer You by Katherine Sparrow & Rachel Swirsky (Interzone 224), Monetized by Jason Stoddard (Interzone 220), and Funny Pages by Lavie Tidhar (Interzone 225).

Locus 592

Gardner Dozois reviews Interzone 226 in June’s Locus. He says that Jay Lake’s Human Error is probably the best story, although Mercurio D. Rivera’s In the Harsh Glow of Its Incandescent Beauty is “also good”, Rachel Swirsky’s Again and Again and Again is “ an incisive and and amusing study of Future Shock”, and Tyler Keevil’s Hibakusha is “intense and passionate”.

Bone Island

Mark Watson reviews Shannon Page and Jay Lake’s Bone Island (Interzone 225).

Human Error

Dan Powell reviews Jay Lake’s Human Error (Interzone 226).

Interzone 226

Artwork by Warwick Fraser-Coombe.

Clear a wall! This year all six covers are by Fraser Warwick-Coombe and they will join together to form one giant piece of art. The interior is full colour throughout and is mind-blowingly stunning, with more artwork from Ben Baldwin, Mark Paxton, Jim Burns and Daniel Bristow-Bailey. Am I biased? Yeah – but it doesn’t mean that I’m wrong. There is fiction from Jason Sanford, Tyler Keevil, Mercurio D. Rivera, Jay Lake, Rachel Swirsky and Stephen Gaskell, and non-fiction from David Langford, Tony Lee and Nick Lowe. There’s also an index for all the stories published last year because it’s time for the readers’ poll. Go on – show your favourite authors some love.

The BookZone this month reviews:

The Secret History of Science Fiction edited by James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel (reviewed by Andy Hedgecock)

Winter Song by Colin Harvey (reviewed by Paul F. Cockburn)

The Cardinal’s Blades by Pierre Pevel (reviewed by Ian Hunter)

The Battle of the Sun by Jeanette Winterson (reviewed by Maureen Kincaid Speller)

Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov (reviewed by Ian Sales)

The Sad Tales of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington (reviewed by Iain Emsley)

The New Space Opera 2 edited by Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan (reviewed by Ian Sales)

Ars Memoriae by Beth Bernobich (reviewed by Peter Tennant)

Black and White by Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge (reviewed by Vikki Green)

Go here to sample some of the contents or to buy your copy or – better still – subscribe. And you can follow its adventures here.

Transmission 25

Jay Lake’s Dreams of the White City (Interzone 194) is available as a free podcast from Transmissions From Beyond.

Transmissions From Beyond editor Pete Bullock was recently interviewed for Radio 5 Live‘s Pods and Blogs programme. You can still listen to it or download it until Monday 11th January.

Interzone 225

Artwork by Adam Tredowski

Interzone 225 is out on November 12th in this jaw-dropping wrap-around cover and will feature fiction from Jason Sanford, Lavie Tidhar, Rebecca J. Payne, Colin Harvey, Shannon Page and Jay Lake, with non-fiction from David Langford, Tony Lee and Nick Lowe, and more artwork from Mark Pexton and Warwick Fraser-Coombe.

The Bookzone will carry the following reviews:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (reviewed by Paul Cockburn)

Acts of Destruction by Mat Coward (reviewed by Peter Loftus)

Storm Glass by Maria Snyder (reviewed by Lawrence Osborn)

Years Best SF26 edited by Gardner Dozois (reviewed by Maureen Kincaid Speller)

Transition by Iain Banks (reviewed by Paul Kincaid)

Oceanic by Greg Egan (reviewed by Paul Graham Raven)

The Gift of Joy by Ian Whates (reviewed by Mike Cobley)

Bauchelian and Korbal Broach by Steven Erikson (reviewed by Duncan Lunan)

Broken Symmetries by Steve Redwood (reviewed by Ian Sales)

The Bride Stripped Bare by Rachel Kendall (reviewed by Andy Hedgecock)

Heart of Veridon by Tim Akers (reviewed by me)

Order your copy here. Or subscribe – it’ll provide a glowing light in the winter darkness.

Interzone 222

Artwork by Adam Tredowski.

On 14 May Interzone will equal a British SF magazine record when issue 222 is published. So far only New Worlds has published that number of issues but, barring the end of the world (or New Worlds suddenly starting up again), Interzone will have the record before the summer is out. I’ve got a great love of both magazines – if you’ve got a complete run of both you’ll have an excellent history of British post-war science fiction, not to mention a massive collection of some of the best short stories ever published.

And what is inside Interzone 222? Fiction from  Sean McMullen, Aliette de Bodard, Tim Pratt, Sarah L. Edwards, Nina Allan, and Kim Lakin-Smith, plus news’n'reviews from David Langford, Nick Lowe and Tony Lee. And the result of the Readers’ Poll. You did vote, didn’t you?

In the Bookzone this month Peter Loftus gives us a review of Paul Di Filippo’s Cosmocopia as well as a interview with both Paul and illustrator Jim Woodring. I seriously recommend taking a look at some of Jim’s artwork while you’re here. Other books reviewed this month are:

Lavinia by Ursula le Guin (reviewed by Lawrence Osborn)

Green by Jay Lake (reviewed by Maureen Kincaid Speller)

The Accord by Keith Brooke (reviewed by David Mathew)

“It” Came From Outer Space by Christopher Priest (reviewed by Duncan Lunan)

Psychological Methods To Sell Should Be Destroyed by Robert Freeman Wrexler (reviewed by Paul Kincaid)

The City And The City by China Mieville (reviewed by Mike Cobley)

And Andy Hedgecock delivers a massive review of British SF anthologies (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction Volume 3, Subtle Edens, Premonitions: Causes For Alarm, Fantastic Bristol, and Subterfuge).