Saturday, December 31, 2016

Recommended Short Stories from my 2016 Reading

I read 130 stories this year, including many fabulous ones. This list is always a mixed bag in terms of the variety of genre – some are what Graham Greene would call ‘entertainments’ and others not. But if they’re on the list, I loved them. It's a bit of an unusual list in that it's just the short stories I've read this year rather than those published in 2016. As I'm not a critic or reviewer, I feel no pressure to read the very latest. 

I could have added plenty more from At the Edge too, but I’m always hesitant with publications I’ve works in.

 I’m now 50 stories in to That Glimpse of Truth. 

Several other recommended reads from Rogues can be found in last year's list.  

Happy to provide further comment on any stories listed below. 


29 Fantastic Short Stories from my 2016 Reading: A Celebration of Short Stories. 

‘Steam Girl’ Dylan Horrocks (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                                           

‘What we Found’ Geoff Ryman (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                                                 

‘Restoration’ Robert Shearman (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                                                 

‘Wakefield’ E.L Doctorow (All the Time in the World)                                              

‘Edgemont Drive’ E.L Doctorow (All the Time in the World)                                      

‘Gimpel the Fool’ Isaac Bashevis Singer (That Glimpse of Truth: 100 of the Finest Stories Ever Written ed. David Miller)                                                                      

‘Guests of the Nation’ Frank O’Connor (That Glimpse of Truth: 100 of the Finest Stories Ever Written ed. David Miller)                                                               

‘A House on the Plains’ E.L Doctorow (All the Time in the World)                          

‘White Lines on a Green Field’ Catherynne M. Valente (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                              

‘The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives’ Lisa Tuttle (Rogues ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois)                                                                                                                            

‘How the Marquis Got his Coat Back’ Neil Gaiman (Rogues ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois)                                                                                                

‘Relic’ Jeffrey Ford (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                                                                                
                                                                                   
‘The Invasion of Venus’ Stephen Baxter (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)

‘Assimilation’ E. L Doctorow (All the Time in the World)                                           

The Caravan to Nowhere’ Phyllis Eisenstein (Rogues ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois)                                                                                                               

‘The Dala Horse’ Michael Swanwick (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                              

‘After the Apocalypse’ Maureen F. McHugh (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                           

‘Fleet-Footed Hester’ George Gissing (That Glimpse of Truth: 100 of the Finest Stories Ever Written ed. David Miller)                                                                            

‘A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong’ K. J. Parker (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                       

‘The Paper Menagerie’ Ken Liu (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)  

‘Street Furniture’ Joanne Anderton (At the Edge Ed. Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray)                                                                               

‘The Urge’ Carlington Black (At the Edge Ed. Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray)           
                                                                                                                                    
‘The Island at the End of the World’ Paul Mannering (At the Edge Ed. Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray)                                                                                                          
 
‘Catastrophic Disruption of the Head’ Margo Lanagan (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                             

‘Underbridge’ Peter Beagle (The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Six ed Jonathan Strahan)                                                                                       

‘The Badger Bride’ Angela Slatter (Live Reading)                                                        

‘Hurt Me’ M.L.N. Hanover (Songs of Love and Death Ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois)                                                                                                  

‘The Rocking–Horse Winner’ D. H Lawrence (That Glimpse of Truth: 100 of the Finest Stories Ever Written ed. David Miller)

'Seven Excerpts from Season One' David Versace (At the Edge Ed. Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray)

Monday, December 12, 2016

Writers [on Writing]: Jane Smiley


Yes, I thought, a novel is a spot where language, movement, feeling, and thought gel for a moment, through the agency of, let's say, a particular volunteer, but it is not an object or a possession. It is an act of love.

Jane Smiley, A Reluctant Muse Embraces His Task and Everything Changes