The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Nine. (ed Jonathan Strahan, Solaris Books, 2015)

strahan9The second in this series published by Solaris, the first seven volumes having been published by Night Shade Books, who Neil Clarke informs us are to publish a ‘The Best Science Fiction of The Year Volume 1’ edited by him in 2016.

Leaving that aside, you can of course buy the book in hand : amazon.com : book | kindle amazon.co.uk : book | kindle

Here are the stories in the volume, with links to those that are online, and the very few of them which I read.

Lauren Beukes. Slipping. Originally in Twelve Tomorrows, MIT 2014.

Paolo Bacigalupi. Moriabe’s Children Originally in : Monstrous Affections

Usman T. Malik. The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family Originally in :Qualia Nous.

Kelly Link. The Lady and the Fox. Originally in : My True Love Gave To Me.

Holly Black. Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (The Successful Kind). Originally in : Monstrous Affections.

Ken Liu. THE LONG HAUL from the ANNALS OF TRANSPORTATION, The Pacific Monthly, May 2009 Originally in : Clarkesworld Magazine and online there

Joe Abercrombie. Tough Times All Over. Originally in : Rogues

Genevieve Valentine. The Insects of Love. Originally in : Tor.com and online there

Nicola Griffith. Cold Wind. Originally in : Tor.com and online there

Caitlin R. Kiernan. Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No. 8) Originally in : Sirenia Digest #100

Greg Egan. Shadow Flock. Originally in : Coming Soon Enough

K.J. Parker. I Met a Man Who Wasn’t There. Originally in : Subterranean Magazine and online there

Rachel Swirsky. Grande Jete (The Great Leap) Originally in : Subterranean Magazine and online there

Alice Sola Kim. Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They are Terrifying. Originally in : Tin House #61

Garth Nix. Shay Corsham Worsted. Originally in : Fearful Symmetries

Karl Schroeder. Kheldyu. Originally in : Reach for Infinity. “..a near-future science thriller” I noted when reviewing it

Ellen Klages. Caligo Lane. Originally in : Subterranean Magazine and online here

Kai Ashante Wilson. The Devil in America. Originally in : Tor.com and online there

Michael Swanwick. Tawny Petticoats. Originally in : Rogues

Ian McDonald. The Fifth Dragon. Originally in : Reach for Infinity. “..a beautiful, elegaic story..” I noted when reviewing it

Amal El-Mohtar. The Truth About Owls. Originally in : Kaleidoscope

Tim Maughan. Four Days of Christmas. Originally in : Terraform

Elizabeth Bear. Covenant. Originally in : Hieroglyph

Theodora Goss. Cimmeria: from The Journal of Imaginary Anthropology. Originally in : Lightspeed Magazine and online there

Peter Watts. Collateral. Originally in : Upgraded

Eleanor Arnason. The Scrivener. Originally in : Subterranean Magazine and online there

James Patrick Kelly. Someday. Originally in : Asimovs Science Fiction, April/May 2014. “..a shortish story that takes a peek at some big issues” I noted when I reviewed it

Ellen Klages. Amica Aeternum. Originally in : Reach for Infinity. “..a tender, bittersweet story..” I noted when I read it last year.

As I avoid fantasy, I’d only expect to have had a chance to have read half of the stories in this volume, but there’s only one story from the Big 3 Magazines, and three stories from Strahan’s ‘Reach for Infinity’ collection that I’ve read.

So onto the straining shelves goes this volume, less than 5 years to retirement and the opportunity to start working my way through my collection of unread anthologies, a task that I reckon will take about 10 years if I work at it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

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