As per previous years, Horton has cast his net far and wide to provide the biggest variety of SF & F possible, with by my reckoning, seven stories in this volume also appearing in Strahan’s take on the same year, which makes for 50 different SF&F stories, and 1100 pages across the two volumes.
I read and review the two Year’s Best SF volumes, but not the SF&F volumes, on account of the &F (and lack of time and bookshelf space).
Ray Nayler. Mutability.
Originally in : Asimovs, June 2015
Brooke Bolander. And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead.
Originally in : Lightspeed, February 2015
Naomi Kritzer. Cat Pictures Please.
Originally in : Clarkesworld, January 2015
‘..a great read‘ I noted when reading it elsewhere. Also a Nebula nominee.
Geoff Ryman. Capitalism in the 22nd Century, or Air.
Originally in : Stories for Chip.
Catherynne M. Valente. The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild.
Originally in : Clarkesworld, January 2015
John Barnes. My Last Bringback.
Originally in : Meeting Infinity.
Seth Dickinson. Please Undo This Hurt.
Originally in : Tor.com
C.C. Finlay. Time Bomb Time.
Originally in : Lightspeed, May 2015.
Yoon Ha Lee. The Graphology of Hemorrhage.
Originally in : Operation Arcana.
Kelly Link. The Game of Smash and Recovery.
Originally in : Strange Horizons.
Will Ludwigsen. Acres of Perhaps.
Originally in : Asimovs July 2015
Vonda N. McIntyre. Little Sisters.
Originally in : Book View Cafe.
Hao Jingfang. Folding Beijing.
Originally in : Uncanny, January/February 2015
Martin L. Shoemaker. Today I Am Paul.
Originally in : Clarkesworld Magazine, August 2015.
A Nebula nominee and I was impressed when I read it elsewhere.
Rich Larson. The King in the Cathedral.
Originally in : Beneath Ceaseless Skies 5 February 2015.
Simon Ings. Drones.
Originally in : Meeting Infinity
Nike Sulway. The Karen Joy Fowler Book Club.
Originally in : Lightspeed, October 2015
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro. Endless Forms Most Beautiful.
Originally in : Analog, September 2015.
A ‘disturbing, near-future story‘ I noted, when reading it elsewhere.
Genevieve Valentine. This Evening’s Performance.
Originally in : The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk
John Kessel. Consolation.
Originally in : Twelve Tomorrows.
Elizabeth Bear. The Heart’s Filthy Lesson
Originally in : Old Venus
Joe Pitkin. The Daughters of John Demetrius.
Originally in : Analog
Rebecca Campbell. Unearthly Landscape by a Lady.
Originally in : Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
Chaz Brenchley. The Astrakhan, the Homburg, and the Red, Red Coal.
Originally in : Lightspeed, June 2015
Seanan McGuire. Hello, Hello.
Originally in : Future Visions : Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft
Gregory Norman Bossert. Twelve and Tag.
Originally in : Asimovs, March 2015
I read it in it’s original magazine appearance and enjoyed it, noting ‘clever stories within stories‘.
Tamsyn Muir. The Deepwater Bride.
Originally in : The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July/August 2015
I read it in it’s original magazine appearance and noted a well written story from Muir, capturing the teen character and her aunt well.
Ian McDonald. Botanica Veneris : Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan.
Originally in : Old Venus
Andy Dudak. Asymptotic.
Originally in : Clarkesworld June 2015
C.S.E. Cooney. The Two Paupers.
Originally published by Fairchild Books.
I wonder has anyone computed how long it would take, assuming an average reading speed, to read every story in the major SFF print and online magazine, and the half dozen main original anthologies each year, and various chapbooks?? Horton casts his net the widest amongst the annual anthologists, so he’s clearly a quick reader!
And BTW big kudos to Horton, the publishers, and whoever else involved in either ensuring that all eight volumes so far have followed the same (excellent) design and so the spines align beautifully on the bookshelf (this *is* important). Assuming it’s not simply inertia, or they’re just sticking with the same design to save money ;-)
