Individual Stories

Simone Heller. When We Were Starless. (Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2018)

Heller is an author new to me, but a name I would be looking out for now if I was still in the habit of reading a lot of short SF in it’s original appearance.

Lavie Tidhar. New Atlantis. (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May/June 2019).

Another masterful piece of writing from Tidhar.

Robert Bloch. I Do Not Love Thee, Doctor Fell. (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 1955)

Sitting down at the computer in a brief interlude from a day gardening in the sunshine I did have the option to re-read the story. but..

Ivan Janvier. Thing. (Fantastic Universe, March 1955)

Written some 18 or more years after John W. Campbell’s ‘The Thing’, but with a similar underpinning idea.

Tom Godwin. You Created Us. (Fantastic Universe, October 1955)

I started this story with high hopes – one from no less an author than Tom ‘The Cold Equations’ Godwin, but found that this story doesn’t quite live up to his most famous work.

Frank M. Robinson. Dream Street. (Imaginative Tales, March 1955.)

I may be late to the party, but a Best SF Huzzah! for the late Robinson.

Algis Budrys. The Man Who Always Knew. (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1956).

A story that doesn’t go much beyond the principal conceit : a man has the uncanny knack of knowing just where and when someone is going to have a brainwave or invent something – and therefore be on hand to licence and exploit it.

Cordwainer Smith. The Game of Rat and Dragon. (Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955.)

The story has many excellent turns of phrase, and leads the reader through the story introducing background concepts and technology, with the odd clever ‘reveal’.

L. Sprague de Camp. Judgment Day. (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1955).

A minimal SFnal element to a story that peers into the dark recesses of one human mind.

Robert F. Young. Jungle Doctor. (Startling Stories, Fall 1955).

A strong start to Dikty’s anthology, with a story that stands the test of time well.

C.M. Kornbluth. The Cosmic Expense Account. (Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1956)

A story that would sit nicely in today’s F&SF with only a few changes – blackly comic and satirical, it features two men setting out into zombie-infested territory.

John Bernard Daley. The Man Who Liked Lions. (Infinity Science Fiction October 1956).

Mr. Kemper has been on Earth for millenia and finds little to differentiate the creatures in cages at the zoo from those staring in at them.

Eric Frank Russell. Allamagoosa. (Astounding May 1955)

A fairly weak story for a Hugo Winner.

Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. Home There’s No Returning. (No Boundaries, 1955.)

‘Mr. & Mrs. Henry Kuttner’ ponder whether flesh & blood, despite their inherent weaknesses, are superior to computers.

Steve Allen. The Public Hating. (The Blue Book Magazine, January 1955)

Imagine, a sports stadium full of hateful people, encouraged to be hateful, by the government. Sheer fantasy of course.

Damon Knight. The Country of the Kind. (The Magazine of Fantasy of Science Fiction, February 1956.)

A rather dark, disturbing story from Knight, somewhat at odds with the rest of the volume (and possibly the majority of SF in the mid-50s).

Isaac Asimov. Dreaming Is A Private Thing. (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1955)

Asimov posits a new technology, ‘dreamies’, a form of immersive VR, but instead of being digitally coded, the dreamies are created by capturing and editing the dreams of the small percentage of the population who dream vivid dreams.

Jack Finney. Of Missing Persons. (Good Housekeeping, March 1955)

A travel agent can get you a one-way ticket to somewhere very different and very special. It’s one-way and a one-off chance.

Mildred Clingerman. Birds Can’t Count. (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1955).

A touch of sauciness for the 1950s!

Willard Marsh. The Ethicators. (Worlds of If Magazine, August 1955)

Humorous story in which missionaries from the Antarean region arrive on Earth and are horrified by what they see – flesh-eating monsters and barbaric humans.

Shirley Jackson. One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts. (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1955.)

Nice little story featuring the awfully nice Mr. Johnson, who spends his day in New York being rather helpful to people who cross his path.

E.C. Tubb. The Last Day of Summer. (Science Fantasy #12 1955)

After three rejuves, old age comes apace, and John Melhuey wishes to avoid decrepitude.

Algis Budrys. Nobody Bothers Gus. (Astounding November 1955)

One of a trio of stories about Gussie Kusevic, one of a breed of humans that have developed beyond homo sapien.

Zenna Henderson. Pottage. (Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1955)

One of a series of stories in Henderson’s ‘The People’ series, featuring an alien race, indistinguishable from humans and living amongst us, typically in small remote communities, hiding their special abilities and remaining incognito.

Mark Clifton. Sense From Thought Divide. (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1955)

A mildly amusing tale of psi, swamis, scientific framework and anti-gravity. Rather longer than it really needed to be….

Theodore Sturgeon. Bulkhead. (Galaxy, March 1955)

A solo ‘Long Haul’ trip to pass muster for the role of starship captain. Except, there is someone else to keep you company.

Walter M. Miller Jr. The Hoofer. (Fantastic Universe, September 1955)

A great read with some wonderful writing.

James E. Gunn. The Cave of Night. (Galaxy February 1955)

Gunn’s tale foreshadows the drama of Apollo 13 and the ‘fake Moon landing’ conspiracy theorists.

Robert Abernathy. Junior. (Galaxy Magazine January 1956)

A troublesome teen decides that he wants more from life than putting roots down with a nice girl. (Oh, and he’s an alien).

Avram Davidson. The Golem. (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1955)

A sweet little story in which an elderly, retired Jewish couple sitting on their porch are paid a visit by a Golem hell-bent on world domination.

Michael F. Flynn. Nexus. (Analog, March/April 2017.)

A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining story.

Maureen McHugh. Sidewalks. (Omni Magazine, November 2017)

Sensitive story from McHugh.

H. Pueyo. What the South Wind Whispers. (Clarkesworld Magazine, #146 November 2018)

Two people on the spectrum, and a British AI, and treachery…

Rich Larson. Octo-Heist in Progress. (Clarkesworld Magazine #146 November 2018)

A short, fun story from Larson.

Alec Nevala-Lee. The Proving Ground. (Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact, January/February 2017).

Very much in the ‘Analog’ vein, of scientists coming across a scientific challenge/conundrum and having to resolve it

Harry Turtledove. Zigeuner. (Asimovs Science Fiction, September/October 2017).

I went into this story with low expectations. Sadly the story didn’t even reach those low expectations.

Jessica Barber and Sara Saab. Panhumanism : Hope and Pragmatics. (Clarkesworld Magazine, #132 September 2017).

A touching story, with a very strong sense of place, and of the people populating it.

Lavie Tidhar. The Road to the Sea. (Sunvault : stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation, ed Wagner/Wieland, Upper Rubber Boot, 2017.)

A shorter story from Tidhar, and classy as usual.

Jaine Fenn. The Martian Job. (Newcon Press 2017)

Read in The Year’s Best Science Fiction Thirty Fifth Annual Collection (Dozois, 2018). Published by Newcon Press 2017. I liked the opening pages of this longer story, introducing an intriguing female protagonist with a back story and dodgy family to match. However the story moved into a relatively routine heist story, of the ‘procedural’ type… Continue reading Jaine Fenn. The Martian Job. (Newcon Press 2017)

James S.A. Corey. The Hunger after You’re Fed : Who is Hector Prima? (The Wired Fiction Issue, 2016)

An intriguing vignette from Corey.

Naomi Kritzer. Waiting Out the End of the World in Patty’s Place Cafe. (Clarkesworld Magazine #126, March 2017)

Whilst not SF, altogether a good story about grownups and grownup issues.

Alastair Reynolds. Night Passage. (Infinite Stars ed Schmidt, Titan Books, 2017)

clever stuff, although admittedly the characters are rather one-dimensional, with one of them handily having prior knowledge that helps explain the background.

Nancy Kress. Dear Sarah. (Infinity Wars, ed Strahan, Solaris 2017)

Three dimensional and believable.

Carter Scholz. Vanguard 2.0. (Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures, ASU 2017)

As with the opening story in the volume, the fourth one is also a reflective one, which will similarly disappoint seekers of action-driven adventure.

Indrapramit Das. The Moon Is Not a Battlefield. (Infinity Wars ed Strahan, Solaris 2017)

A thoughtful and powerful reflection.

Tobias S. Buckell. Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance. (Cosmic Powers, ed Adams, Saga 2017)

A clever story to end Clarke’s volume.

Suzanne Palmer. The Secret Life of Bots. (Clarkesworld Magazine #132, September 2017)

A cute little story.

Peter Watts. ZeroS. (Infinity Wars, ed Strahan, Solaris Books 2017)

There’s a great balance of characterisation, tech, socio-political background and story here.

Rich Larson. An Evening with Severyn Grimes. (Asimovs July/August 2017)

A near-future cyberpunky cyber-thriller, with a couple of twists, double crosses, and neat touches.

Madeline Ashby. Death on Mars. (Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities, Arizona State University, 2017.)

Short, tight, claustrophobic and up close and personal.

Robert Reed. The Speed of Belief. (Asimovs January/February 2017)

Reed’s ‘Great Ship’ is the setting for a sprawling series of stories, an he has been writing them for about 20 years now, and there’s no reason as far as the setting goes, for stopping any time now.

Finbarr O’Reilly. The Last Boat-Builder in Ballyvoloon. (Clarkesworld Magazine #133 October 2017)

Very well told, and altogether a pleasure to read.

Aliette de Bodard. In Everlasting Wisdom. (Infinity Wars ed Strahan)

An interesting conceit, but the story whizzes through quickly.

Yoon Ha Lee. Extracurricular Activities. (Tor.com)

There was stuff I *really* did like – gender fluidity, non-CIS sexuality and flirting, but the undercover spy thing and the generally light tone of the story didn’t work for me.

Kathleen Ann Goonan. The Tale of the Alcubierre Horse. (Extrasolar ed Nick Gevers, PS Publishing 2017)

The story moves through the gears smoothly, starting as a traditional ship politics story and ramping us the tension and the scale and scope of the story nicely.

Karin Lowachee. Meridian. (Where the Stars Rise, ed Law/Mak)

A good read, although if you’d asked me after reading it what the theme of the anthology was from which it was taken, ‘Asian SF and Fantasy’ would have been a long, long way down the list of suggestions.