Reviewing short SF since 2000
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.
Reed takes a different perspective on airplanes that go missing.
A clever story and I’m putting it onto the shortlist of the Best SF Short Story of the Year 2016 Award.
Reed’s stories of late have been quite contemplative in nature as I recall, and this is no exception.
An answer to a Big Question is sought, but the answer isn’t what was hoped for.
Reed starts off, as often he does, with a big picture, then focusses in on the individual.
A thoroughly unpleasant protagonist, without any redeeming features who has the wherewithal to fix the world’s problems (as he sees them) . Will he, or won’t he??
It’s one of his ‘Great Ship’ stories, which at their best are Space Opera on a BFO (Big Fuck Off) scale.
A story that looks at motivations, and hidden strengths, and is a page turner.
An extractified story from a ‘giant alternate-history novel’ that Reed has been working on for ‘a lot of years’ and just a hint of self-indulgence IMHO.
First story in a while from Reed, and it’s a short story, but that doesn’t stop Reed from writing on a large canvas – a chase of a couple of billion years on a galactic canvas.
Intriguing story from Reed. The narrator describes the rise to fame of an autistic young man, whose fame comes through a pseudo-science that becomes globally popular.
A clever take on human’s uploading to a virtual state, leaving their physical bodies behind – not always easy as it’s been done often enough before.
..truth be told, I was running out of steam towards the end, as Reed does takes the reader, and the characters, a long way (and back),
Another in Reed’s ‘Great Ship’ series, with two stories meshing against a very big backdrop.
A clever, understated story from Reed, that looks at those in our society who aren’t quite what they seem. Just who is the alien amongst us? And who is to decide?
A fairly bleak set up, with brain injury, bereavement, rape, HIV, climate change, and economic disaster, but the story, a good one, manages to end on a positive note.
A proper SF story by Robert Reed. A ‘Great Ship’ story by Robert Reed. A ‘Great Ship’ story by Robert Reed featuring Quee Lee and Perri!
Excellent short story (read it now!).
Short, dark look at politics, in a near-future in which a ‘voice of reason’ might appear to be able to head off the catastrophe into which the world appears to be heading.
The works of an author, long relegated to his past, find a new, robotic audience.
A complex story which doesn’t go for an obvious happy ending, and it’s one of Reed’s best for some time.
Reed on top form, and a shoo-in for a couple of next year’s Year’s Bests.
A tight, unsettling thriller
Another clever, throught-provoking story from Reed in Clarkesworld, following last year’s ‘Cull’.
New on Tor.com in August 2011 (link only)
Reed at his best – given the time to paint an epic story against a backdrop of immense time and space.
Follows on from ‘Stock Photos’ earlier in the issue, and sort of explains about that story, but opens up a whole range of new questions
Suburban lawn-mowing is interrupted by a nice young couple wanting to take some photographs.
A strange story – a blinded, maimed young man is one of a select few humans who are rescued from death by a greater force.
Clever story which looks at whether you can trust the world that is shown through the lens of a screen, and whether you are simply a character on someone else’s screen.
Reed taps into some modern memes, immersive online games, and a desire to gain instant wealth and celebrity with little real effort, in a wryly black story.
There’s a lot of issues handled in the story, all done through the impact of those issues on individuals, families and communities, done very cleverly, with strong characterisation.
Claustrophobic tension in an enclosed domed station, whose inhabitants are kept chemically happy by an AI doctor in human form.
A very lengthy look at running, but with an sfnal element.
Editor Sheila Williams mentions in the editorial that Reed is hard at work on a Young Adult novel, and, truth be told, there’s a touch of the YA about this story.
A bit of a curate’s egg of an issue.
Looks at a globally catastrophic event through its impact on a family.
A collection of excellent stories.
Excellent issue, with Paul Park the standout, and others from Robert Reed, Charles Oberndorf, Dean Whitlock, John Langan, Robin Aurelian, Marc Laidlaw, Steven Popkes, Kate Wilhelm.
L’empereur est mort. Vive L’empereur!
A strong issue, with stories by Landis, Reed, Steele, Shoulders, Tem, Roberson and Emshwiller.
Clever reflection on the current issues with the Iranian nuclear bomb-building programme. Reed postulates a world in which the USA keeps a very firm stranglehold on its nuclear bomb technology..
Lord Soho, Richard Calder. A rich, entertaining story, a far distant sequel to the author’s
Elizabeth Hand. The Far Shore. A middle-aged man, ballet dancer initially, ballet teacher after an
Reed, Wightman and O’Driscoll are the cream of the crop, with Kessel’s new story, Bisson and Cowdrey not quite up to their (well-established) best.
Daniel Abraham. The Curandero and the Swede : a Tale from the 1001 American Nights.
Wayne Wightman. A Foreign Country. Quentin A. Denmore is standing for President of the USA,
Albert E. Cowdrey. Inside Story. Retired Detective Sergeant Alphonse Fournet finds the lure of work,
Paolo Bacigalupi. Pump Six. The lead-out story in Bacigalupi’s collection ‘Pump Six and Other Stories’.
Ted Kosmatka. The Art of Alchemy. Excellent SF/science thriller. It has a sense of place
Robert Reed. Reunion. F&SF regular Reed hit top form with the previous issue’s ‘Five Thrillers’,
James Stoddard. The First Editions. Fantasy, in which a bibliophile falls afoul of a fellow
Dangnabbit, GvG has put the Ted Chiang story last of all. Can I resist a
Not having bothered with the lengthy Hughes story, as is my wont, there wasn’t a huge amount to get to grips with, with Reed, Rickert and Goulart all providing stories of the ilk that they regularly provide for F&SF ie well written and OK for what they are, but none of them a humdinger.
Jeremy Minton. The Darkness Between. Subterranean horrors, as group of men, part of a Klondike-type
Matthew Hughes. Bye the Rules. Another of Guth Bandar’s regular appearances in F&SF. M.Rickert. The
Chris Willrich. Penultima Thule. Gaunt and Bone return for more cod-fantasy fun, the story being
Matthew Hughes. A Herd of Opportunity. Another tale of Guth Bandar, this one evidently from
Daryl Gregory. Gardening at Night. Analog-style ‘scientist fiction’, or ‘lab opera’ as editor Gordon van
Alex Irvine. Shambhala. The story was inspired by the illustration by Mark Evans which graces
Robert Reed. Less Than Nothing. Reed further develops the story of the boy Raven, one
Delia Sherman. Walpurgis Afternoon. Cosy suburbia is threatened by a brand new house appearing overnight,
Matthew Hughes. Thwarting Jabbi Gloond. A prequel to the adventures of Hengis Hapthorn to which
An issue which gets stronger the further you get in (unless you’re a fan of the Kedrigern stories). For me Utley and McCalliser where the pick of the bunch, with Cowdrey, Reed and Shultz entertaining.
PDF version reviewed. Charles Coleman Finlay. Of Silence and the Man at Arms. The third
Steven Popkes. The Great Caruso. A long-term smoker sources some dubious cigarettes, and finds that
Matthew Hughes. Inner Huff. Further comic adventures of Guth Bandar (last seen in ‘A Little
Lisa Goldstein. Finding Beauty. Fairy Tale which looks at the Sleeping Beauty story from Prince
Mark W. Tiedemann. Rain from Another Country. Even after her death, Ann Myref is trying
Robert Reed. The Condor’s Green-Eyed Child. Reed returns to the strange milieu of ‘Raven'(F&SF Dec
A Best SF Review-LiteTM, on account of my having read this issue about a month
Paolo Bacigalupi. The People of Sand and Slag. Bacigalupi’s ‘The Fluted Girl’ (F&SF June 2003)
Judith Moffett. The Bear’s Baby. Moffett has written a couple of novels featuring the Hefn,
Ellen Klages. Basement Magic. A tale of a young child with a wicked (well, not
Robert Reed. Buffalo Wolf. When ‘Raven Dream’ appeared in the Dec 2001 issue of F&SF
Charles Coleman Finlay. A Democracy of Trolls. Not an obvious collective noun for the rock-dwelling
Robert Reed. The Majesty of Angels. Occasionally, very occasionally, you come across an SF short
Paul Di Filippo. The Short Ashy Afterlife of Hiram P. Dottle. The bookish Dottle finds
Robert Reed. Coelacanths. In the Dec 2001 issue of F&SF, Reed’s ‘Raven Dream’ brought us