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Best SF Presents makes available short stories which showcase the best the genre has to offer. As with the rest of the Best SF there's no publication schedule, so keep checking, or subscribe to the RSS feed!
I'll be putting up stories which have appeared elsewhere, in one of the major magazines or anthologies. I'm aiming to get a mix of old and new stories, from established and up and coming authors. Thanks go, of course, to the authors for their permission to make their stories available.
Paul Di Filippo. Return to Cockaigne.
Paul Di Filippo has been a favourite author of mine for some time, providing a steady stream of imaginitive fiction over many years. I reviewed one of his collections 'Babylon Sisters' a couple of years back, and his outstanding 'A Year in Linear City'. That latter world is being revisited in a sequel, recently completed. I'll be watching out for this volume (And check out his website for more information on this, and his other collections and publications).
I'm pleased to be able to make available 'Return to Cockaigne', which originally appeared Interzone 163, January 2001. I think it showcases his ability to address standard sf (and fantasy) tropes in a non-standard way. Enjoy. [added 6th July 2009]
Jack Skillingstead. Bean There.
Bean There was published in Asimovs April/May 2005. It is one of a series of strong stories by this new author to appear in recent years which have caught my eye.
He has a collection coming out in Fall 2009 - 'Are You There, and other stories', published by Golden Gryphon alongside other collections by Mike Resnick and Lucius Shepherd, which puts him in good company. Keep an eye out for this volume at his website. [added 4th January 2009]
Ian R. MacLeod. Isabel of the Fall.
Isabel of the Fall was published in Interzone #169, July 2001, and impressed me. Being a librarian, the appearance of three of the founding fathers of librarianship was a bonus! A followup story was featured in Asimovs a couple of years later - 'Breathmoss' was the title of one of a couple of collections of his that have appeared over the years.
You can keep up to date with Ian's work, and his novels, at his website. [added 3rd December 2008]
Tony Ballantyne. A New Beginning.
'A New Beginning' was published in Interzone in 2001, and I'm pleased to be able to make available this story of a subtle alien invasion.
Tony Ballantyne has been a regular contributor to Interzone, as has had three novels, published in recent year. You can catch up with him at his website : http://www.tonyballantyne.com/ [added 19th November 2008]
Charles Stross has had his short SF published for the best part of 20 years now, appearing sporadically in mostly British magazines during the 1990s whilst working as an IT journalist. Some of his early work is collected in the anthology 'Toast' in 2002, including a number of stories from Interzone and the short-lived Spectrum. His Manfred Mancx story sequence in Asimovs was subsequently published as a well received novel, Accelerando, and his novel output has been substantial since then. You can keep up to date at his regularly updated blog.
Fortunately for us short SF readers, he has yet to leave behind this market, and I'm very pleased that he's happy to make available 'Rogue Farm', which appeared in the excellent anthology 'Live Without a Net' in 2003. It's a cracking story, and rather than me waste my time waffling on, I'll shut up and let you read it. [Added 1st September 2007]
Chris Roberson. Companion to Owls.
'Companion to Owls' first appeared in Asimovs in March 2006. I particularly liked this story for, as I originally reviewed it, 'an impressive piece of world-building'.
Roberson's 'Celestial Empire' story series, set in an alternate background with China dominant, has garnered good reviews and earlier in 2008 'The Dragon's Nine Sons' [amazon.com | amazon.co.uk] was published by Solaris. You can keep up to date with Chris at his website. [added 2nd August 2007]
Jonathan Sherwood. Under the Graying Sea.
'Under the Graying Sea', which appeared in Asimovs in February 2006, was Sherwood's first published story, and I was most impressed. TangentOnline reviewed it as "filled with suspense, passion, and cleverness .. (it) stands above the other stories as the strongest contribution to the issue".
Sherwood has a strong blog presence, from where you can find out about the writing of this story, and his current endeavours. Enjoy. [Added 1st July 2007]
Gareth L. Powell. The Last Reef.
'The Last Reef appeared in Interzone #206 Jan/Feb 2006, and was long listed for a BSFA award, and came sixth in the Interzone Reader's Poll for best short story of 2006. It's the title story of his collection of stories, published in 2008 by Elastic Press (amazon.com | amazon.co.uk) , which has garnered good reviews. [Added 1st June 2007]
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