Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Experience

The Wonder Timeline: SF&F Retrospective

2008-01-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY HISTORY:
RETROSPECTIVE REVIEWS

The idea of "The Wonder Timeline" is to highlight selected stories throughout SF&F history (all 100 years of it). Every "Year in SF&F" page contains reviews of stories, collections, original anthologies and novels published in that year in the certain month. This way we'll gradually fill out reviews for thousands of stories listed on our site, as well as enjoy a fun perspective on the genre.

- 2000-Now

2008 - Jan, Apr
2007 - Jan
2006 - Jan, Jun
2005 - Jan, Jul
2004 - Sep, Oct
2003 - Jan, Oct, Nov
2002
2001 - Jun
2000 - Jan, Feb, Mar

- Decade of the 1990s

1999 - Jul
1998 - Jan
1997 - Jun
1996 - Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
1995 - Jan, Sep, Oct
1994
1993
1992
1991 - Mar, Jun
1990 - Jan

- Decade of the 1980s

1989
1988
1987
1986 - Jan, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Dec
1985 - Jul, Sep, Nov, Dec
1984 - Jan, Feb
1983 - Jan, Jul
1982 - Jul
1981 - May, Oct
1980

- Decade of the 1970s

1979
1978
1977 - Jun
1976 - Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
1975
1974 - Jan, Apr, Nov
1973 - Jan
1972 - Jan, Mar
1971 - Jan
1970

- Decade of the 1960s

1969 - Apr
1968 - Jan
1967 - Jul, Oct
1966 - Jan, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
1965 - Jan, Mar, Aug, Dec
1964 - Jan, Jun
1963 - Feb, Dec
1962 - Jan
1961 - Jun
1960 - Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Oct

- Decade of the 1950s

1959 - Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug
1958 - Apr, Aug, Dec
1957 - Aug
1956 - Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
1955 - Feb, Mar, May
1954 - Jan, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec
1953 - Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Nov, Dec
1952 - Feb, Jun, Jul, Sep, Oct, Nov
1951 - Mar, Sep
1950 - Jun, Sep, Dec

- Decade of the 1940s

1949 - Jun, Oct
1948 - Jul, Nov, Dec
1947 - Oct, Dec
1946 - May, Jul, Aug, Sep
1945
1944 - Jun, Aug
1943 - Feb, Apr
1942 - Jan, Apr, May, Jun, Dec
1941 - May, Nov, Dec
1940 - Jul, Aug

- Decade of the 1930s

1939 - Jan, Apr, Aug
1938 - Dec
1937 - Jun, Nov
1936 - Feb, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
1935 - Jan, Feb, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
1934 - Jan, Mar, Apr, Aug, Oct
1933
1932 - May, Jul, Aug, Sep, Nov
1931 - Jan, Mar
1930 - May

- Decade of the 1920s

1929 - full year
1928 - full year
1927
1926 - full year
1925 - full year
1924 - full year
1923
1922
1921
1920

- Decade of the 1910s

(original unknown)

Email us your own observations and reviews to be included in this timeline!

1972 - Year in SF&F: March

2009-09-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

James Tiptree, Jr.
"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side"
© F&SF, Mar 1972
Ten Thousand Light-Years From Home, 1973
--short story : 1972 Nebula
--short story : 1973 Hugo
--short story : 1973 Locus
--/ third place space sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award
--/ emotion award
--/ shock value

The way how humans get plastered over some aliens, and fall head-over-heals in love (or lust) spells disaster for humanity's self-esteem and erodes its soul... This is a sad, shining, bittersweet, irresistible tale, the true masterpiece of story-within-a-story narration and simply gorgeous alien / spaceship visions. I am in awe of Alice Sheldon - one of the best space adventure / space romance writers ever to grace the face of the Earth.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Best "Space SF" Story (1961 to now)

2006-06-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

MODERN "SPACE SCIENCE FICTION" STORY
______________________________________
FIRST PLACE Best "Space SF" Story (1961 to now)

Michael Swanwick "Slow Life"

_____________________________________________________
SECOND PLACE Best "Space SF" Story (1961 to now)

Greg Bear "A Martian Ricorso"
Larry Niven "Known Space" stories:
"At the Core"; "The Coldest Place"; "The Ethics of Madness"
"Flatlander"; "Neutron Star"; "A Relic of Empire"
Alastair Reynolds "Galactic North"

_____________________________________________________
THIRD PLACE Best "Space SF" Story (1961 to now)

J. G. Ballard "The Message From Mars"
Stephen Baxter "Gossamer"
Barrington J. Bayley "The Cabinet of Oliver Naylor"
Gregory Benford "A Worm in the Well"
Tony Daniel "Life On The Moon"
Dmitry DeSpiller "Udivitelnaya Igvi"
Samuel R. Delany "Cage of Brass"
Paul Di Filippo "A Martian Theodicy"
Geoffrey A. Landis "Approaching Perimelasma"
Judith Ann Lawrence "This Is My Beloved"
"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat"
Stanislaw Lem "On Patrol"; "Terminus"; "The Test"
George R. R. Martin "Fast-Friend"; The Plague Star"
Alastair Reynolds"A Spy in Europa", "Weather"
Ted Reynolds "Can These Bones Live?"; "Trial Sample"
"What Mad Diversion?"
Cordwainer Smith "On the Gem Planet"; "On the Sand Planet"
"On the Storm Planet"
Bruce Sterling "Spider Rose"; "Sunken Gardens"
A. & B. Strugatskie "Strashnaya Bolshaya Planeta"
Michael Swanwick "The Very Pulse of the Machine"
James Tiptree, Jr. "And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side"
John Varley "Lollipop and the Tar Lady"; "The Pusher"
John C. Wright "Guest Law"
Askold Yakubowski "Na Dalekoi Planete"
Roger Zelazny "A Rose for Ecclesiastes"

_____________________________________________________
FOURTH PLACE Best "Space SF" Story (1961 to now)

Poul Anderson "Kyrie"; "Sunjammer"
A. Balazh "Vstrecha"
Iain M. Banks "Odd Attachment"
Sydney J. Bounds "The Animators"
J. G. Ballard "Report on an Unidentified Space Station"
Stephen Baxter "The Gravity Mine"; "Planck Zero"
"Sheena 5"
Barrington J. Bayley "The Ship That Sailed the Ocean of Space"
Gregory Benford "In Alien Flesh"
Dmitry Bilenkin "Nebo V Almazah"; "Nichego Krome Lda"
"Ten Sovershenstva"; "Ukhodyaschikh - Prosti!"
"Proverka Na Razumnost"
Eric Brown "Myths Of The Martian Future"
Robert L. Davis "Teratohippus"
Jack Dann, Michael Swanwick and Gardner Dozois "Gods Of Mars"
Dmitry DeSpiller "Kosmoplan Kotory Nigde"
"Obmanchivaya Vneshnost"; "Planeta Kaleidoskopov"
"Poyuschie Skaly"; "Raundy Planety Ksenos"
Andrei Dmitruk "Skolzyaschi Po Moryu Kosmosa"
M. Emtzev & E. Parnov "Zheltye Ochi"
Dennis Etchinson "Damechild"
Yury Glazkov "Polyot "Svytogo Patrulya"
Phillip C. Jennings "Teddy Bug and the Hot Purple Snowball"
Victor Komarov "Perevorot Otkladyvaetsya"
Vladislav Ksionzhek "Polyubi Menya"
Geoffrey A. Landis "At Dorado"; "Impact Parameter"
"The Long Chase"; "Outsider's Chance"; "Sundancer Falling"
Boris Lapin "Pervy Shag"; "Pod Schastlivoy Zvezdoi"
Fritz Leiber "Moon Duel"
Stanislaw Lem "The Accident"; "The Albatross"
"The Conditioned Reflex"
C. C. MacApp "For Every Action"
K. Malinovski "Tretia Planeta Prociona"
Robert E. Margroff "Caterpillar Express"
Vyacheslav Morochko "Tam, Gde Vechno Dremlet Taina"
George R. R. Martin "A Beast for Norn"; "Guardians"
"Loaves and Fishes"; "Nor The Many-Colored Fires of a Star Ring"
"Second Helpings"; "Starlady"; "The Way of Cross and Dragon"
Vladimir Mikhailov "Chernye Zhuravli"; "Odisseya Valgusa"
"Ruchei Na Yapete"; "Svistok, Kotorogo Ne Slyshish"
Vladimir Mikhanovski "Put Karavelly"; "Strela I Koloss"
Larry Niven "At the Bottom of a Hole"; "Becalmed in Hell"
"The Hole Man"
Sergei Pavlov "Ploskogorie Ognennykh Zmei"
Mikhail Puhov "Kartinnaya Galereya"; "Spasenie Zhizni"
Marta Randall "The Captain And The Kid"
"The State Of The Art On Alyssum"
Robert Reed "Night Of Time"
Victor Savchenko "Roza Vetrov"
Svyatoslav Slavchev "Golos, Kotory Tebya Zovyot"
Fred Saberhagen "Berserker' Prey" ("Pressure"); "The Face of the Deep"
"Fortress Ship" ("Without A Thought"); "The Lifehater" ("The Peacemaker")
"Period Of Totality"; "Sign Of The Wolf"
Bob Shaw "Appointment on Prila"; "Retroactive"
Allen Steele "The Return of Weird Frank"; "Zwarte Piet's Tale"
V. Tzyganov "Marsianskie Rasskazy"
Yury Tupitzyn "Khodovye Ispytaniya"
Richard Wadholm "The Ice Forest"
Vladlen Yufryakov "Tikhaya Planeta"
Askold Yakubowski "Iskatel"; "Schastie"
Chelsey Quinn Yarbro "Fugitive Colors"; "The Meaning Of The Word"
Sarah Zettel "Kinds Of Strangers"
Timothy Zahn "Pawn's Gambit"
Roger Zelazny "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth"

<< Return to Top of Page

------------

Also see: (full navigation tree)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL:
Best SF Novel (General Themes)
Best Space SF Novel
Best Time SF Novel
Best Apocalyptic SF Novel

BEST SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTIONS

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SERIES:
Best SF Series (general themes)
Best Space SF Series

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA:
Best SF Novella 1920-1960 (general themes)
Best SF Novella 1961-now (general themes)
Best Space SF Novella 1920-1960
Best Space SF Novella 1961-now
Best Time SF Novella
Best Apocalyptic SF Novella

BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY:
Best SF Story 1920-1960 (general themes)
Best SF Story 1961-now (general themes)
Best Space SF Story 1920-1960
Best Space SF Story 1961-now
Best Time SF Story
Best Apocalyptic SF Story

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

BEST FANTASY COLLECTION

BEST FANTASY SERIES

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

BEST FANTASY STORY:
Best Fantasy Story 1920-1960
Best Fantasy Story 1961-now

---------------------

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

1990 - Year in SF&F: January

2009-09-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Lisa Tuttle
"Husbands"
© "Alien Sex", ed. E. Datlow, 1990
Memories of the Body, 1992
--short story : Locus Poll Award (7)
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award
--/ rare find

Can genders and gender lines be re-invented, re-drawn, re-implemented? What defines gender in our imagination (as opposed to, in the reality, where we do not have any choice in the matter?). Lisa Tuttle has been successfully exploring gender desires and transformation in her cycle "Memories of the Body" - a recommended treat for everyone willing to question and entertain realities of their sexual identity.

----------------------------------------------

Lewis Shiner
"Scales"
© "Alien Sex", ed. by E. Datlow, 1990
Love In Vain, 2001
--/ fourth place f story
--/ emotion award
--/ shock value
--/ rare find

I was simply enchanted by the quiet, very sensitive storytelling of Lewis Shiner in this story: significantly different from his edgy cyberpunk offerings: in fact, he writes from the viewpoint of a woman, trustworthy wife who encounters a sex vampire stealing her husband and her daughter... great treatment of an age-old subject, very high quality prose.

----------------------------------------------

K. W. Jeter
"The First Time"
© "Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990
--short story : 1991 Locus /4
--/ fourth place dark f story
--/ shock value
--/ rare find

This is very effective, shocking tale - see if you can come out unaffected on the other side; K. W. Jeter notes that he modeled the story's atmosphere and environment from the US-Mexican border towns. Absolutely professional, great "blockbuster" treatment of the shadowy side of growing up among the aliens - bad, lusty aliens, at that.

----------------------------------------------

Richard Christian Matheson
"Arousal"
© "Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990
--short story : Locus Poll
--/ shock value
--/ rare find

Very subversive, subliminal, sexy story - that tackles a taboo subject matter with astonishing clarity and daring. Very sincere, laconic, "rousing" prose.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Best Fantasy Story (1961 to now)

2006-06-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

MODERN FANTASY STORY
_____________________________
FIRST PLACE Best Fantasy Story (1961 to now)

Joseph Brodsky all poems

_____________________________________________________
SECOND PLACE Best Fantasy Story (1961 to now)

Ron Wolfe "Our Friend Electricity"
Jeff Vandermeer "The Transformation of Martin Lake"

_____________________________________________________
THIRD PLACE Best Fantasy Story (1961 to now)

James Blaylock "Paper Dragons"; "Small Houses"; "Thirteen Phantasms"
Terry Carr "Stanley Toothbrush" (as Carl Brandon); "They Live On Levels"
Jonathan Carrol "Friend's Best Man"
A. M. Dellamonica "Nevada"
Paul Di Filippo "Mama Told Me Not To Come"
Graham Joyce "The Coventry Boy"
Garry Kilworth "Mirrors"
Bentley Little "The Potato"
Ursula Le Guin "Darkness Box"
Tanith Lee "Bite-Me-Not, Or Fleur De Fiur"; "La Dame"
Lucius Shepard "The Glassblower's Dragon"
Richard Matheson "Duel"
Karl Edward Wagner "Two Suns Setting"

_____________________________________________________
FOURTH PLACE Best Fantasy Story (1961 to now)

Kim Antieau "Sanctuary"
Clive Barker "The Age Of Desire"; "The Body Politic"
"In The Hills, The Cities"; "The Inhuman Condition"
"The Midnight Meat Train";"On Jerusalem Street";
"Rawhead Rex"; "Revelations"; "Scapegoats";
"The Skins Of The Fathers"; "Son Of Celluloid"
Michael Blumlein "Hymenoptera"; "Keeping House"
J. G. Ballard "The Screen Game" ; "The Singing Statues"
Terry Bisson "Bears Discover Fire"
James Blaylock "Hula Ville"; "In For A Penny"
Robert Bloch "The Funny Farm"; "The Yugoslaves"
Joseph Payne Brennan "The Jugular Man"
Michael Chabon "The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance"
Stepan Chapman "The Comedian"
Pat Cadigan "Dirty Work"
Ramsey Campbell "Above The World"; "Call First"
David Campton "At the Bottom of the Garden"
Jonathan Carrol "The Sadness Of Detail"
Lin Carter "Black Moonlight"
Suzy McKee Charnas "Unicorn Tapestry"
Storm Constantine "My Lady of the Hearth"
Tony Daniel "Sun So Hot I Froze To Death"
Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois "Night Of The Dead"
Thomas M. Disch "Descending"; "The Squirrel Cage"
"The Descent Of The West End"; "Minnesota Gothic"
"Eggs And Chips"; "The Roaches"
M. J. Engh "Moonblood"
Harlan Ellison "Basilisk"; "Bleeding Stones"
"The Deathbird"; "Delusion for a Dragon Slayer"
"Do-It-Yourself"; "Flop Sweat"; "Neon"; "Rock God"
"The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World"
"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman"
Dennis Etchinson "Deathtracks"
Sharon Farber "Return of the Dust Vampires"
Alan Dean Foster "The Thunderer"
Neil Gaiman "A Study In Emerald"
M. John Harrison "Empty"
Rick Hautala "Schoolhouse"
Robert Holdstock "The Graveyard Cross"; "High Pressure";
"Scarrowfell"; "The Shapechanger"; "Thorn"; "Time of the Tree"
Russel Kirk "Lex Talionis"
Kathe Koja "At Eventide"
Naomi Kritzer "Comrade Grandmother"
Stephen King "Trucks"; "The Crate"
Nancy Kress "Words Like Pale Stones"
Michael Kube-McDowell "The Gargoyle"; "Slippage"
Tommaso Landolfi "Gogol's Wife"
Joel Lane "The Receivers"
Ursula Le Guin "The Word of Unbinding"
Tanith Lee "Because Our Skins Are Finer"; "Black As Ink"
"The Demoness"; "Elle Est Trois"; "The Gorgon"
"La Reine Blanche"; "Medra"; "Nunc Dimittis"
Fritz Leiber "Gonna Roll the Bones"; "The Snowbank Orbit"
Bret Lott "The Train, The Lake, The Bridge"
Ian R. MacLeod "The Giving Mouth"
Sarah Maitland "Why I Became a Plumber"
Richard Christian Matheson "Hiding"
George R. R. Martin "The Pear-Shaped Man"
Thomas Monteleone "Where All The Songs Are Sad"
Tom Piccirilli "Ice On Heated Steel Script"
Stacy Richter "The Cavemen In The Hedges"
Kristine Kathryn Rusch "Phantom"; "Precious Moments"
Eric Schaller "The Five Cigars Of Abu Ali"; "The Assistant to Dr. Jacob"
Michael Shea "The Horror on the No. 33"
Lucius Shepard "Jailwise"; "Senior Volto"
Lewis Shiner "Scales"
Neal Stephenson "Crunch"
Bruce Sterling "Dinner in Audoghast"
Langdon Swanson "Likeness of Julie"
Michael Swanwick "Five British Dinosaurs"
Melanie Tem & Steve Resnick Tem "Mama"; "The Man On The Ceiling"
Steve Resnick Tem "Invisible"
Karl Edward Wagner "Sticks"
Manly Wade Wellman "Goodman's Place"; "Trill Coster's Burden"
Chet Williamson "To Feel Another's Woe"
F. Paul Wilson "The November Game"

------------

Also see: (full navigation tree)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL:
Best SF Novel (General Themes)
Best Space SF Novel
Best Time SF Novel
Best Apocalyptic SF Novel

BEST SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTIONS

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SERIES:
Best SF Series (general themes)
Best Space SF Series

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA:
Best SF Novella 1920-1960 (general themes)
Best SF Novella 1961-now (general themes)
Best Space SF Novella 1920-1960
Best Space SF Novella 1961-now
Best Time SF Novella
Best Apocalyptic SF Novella

BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY:
Best SF Story 1920-1960 (general themes)
Best SF Story 1961-now (general themes)
Best Space SF Story 1920-1960
Best Space SF Story 1961-now
Best Time SF Story
Best Apocalyptic SF Story

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

BEST FANTASY COLLECTION

BEST FANTASY SERIES

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

BEST FANTASY STORY:
Best Fantasy Story 1920-1960
Best Fantasy Story 1961-now

---------------------

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Connie Willis

2005-10-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

"All My Darling Daughters"
© Firewatch, 1985
--novelette : 1986 Locus /7
--/ cool sf novella

"And Come from Miles Around"
© Galileo, Sep 1979
Fire Watch, 1985

"At The Rialto"
© OMNI, Feb 1989
Impossible Things, 1993
--novelette : 1990 Hugo
--novelette : 1990 Nebula W
--novelette : 1990 Locus /3
--novelette : 1990 SF Chronicle /2
--novelette : 1999 Locus All-Time Poll /46 (tie)
--/ cool sf story

"Blued Moon"
© IASFM, Jan 1984
Fire Watch, 1985
--novelette : 1985 Hugo
--novelette : 1985 Locus /3

"Daisy, in the Sun"
© Galileo, Nov 1979
Fire Watch, 1985
--short story : 1980 Hugo
--short story : 1980 Locus /10
--/ cool sf story

"The Father of the Bride"
© Twilight Zone, May 1982
Fire Watch, 1985

"Fire Watch" (coll)
© Bluejay Books, 1985
--collection : 1986 Locus /2
--all-time collection : 1999 Locus All-Time Poll /15 (tie)

"Fire Watch"
© IASFM, Feb 1982
Fire Watch, 1985
--novelette : 1983 Hugo W
--novelette : 1983 Nebula W
--novelette : 1983 Locus /4
--short fiction : 1983 Balrog
--novelette : 1983 SF Chronicle W
--novelette : 1999 Locus All-Time Poll /26 (tie)
--/ cool sf story

"The Last of the Winnebagos"
© IASFM, Jul 1982
Impossible Things, 1993
--novella : 1989 Hugo W
--novella : 1989 Nebula W
--novella : 1989 Locus /2
--novella : 1989 Asimov's Reader Poll W
--novella : 1989 SF Chronicle W
--novella : 1999 Locus All-Time Poll /8
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award

"A Letter From The Clearys"
© IASFM, Jul 1982
Fire Watch, 1985
--short story : 1983 Nebula W
--short story : 1983 Locus /7
--short story : 1983 SF Chronicle /3
--/ cool sf story
--/ style award

"Lost and Found"
© Twilight Zone, Jan 1982
Fire Watch, 1985

"Mail-Order Clone"
© F&SF, Aug 1982
Fire Watch, 1985

----------------------------------------------

"Nonstop to Portales"
© The Williamson Effect, ed. R. Zelazny, 1996
--novelette : 1997 Locus /23
--foreign short story : 2000 Ignotus W (tie)

----------------------------------------------

"Samaritan"
© Galileo # 9, 1978
Fire Watch, 1985

"Service for the Burial of the Dead"
© F&SF, Nov 1982
Fire Watch, 1985

"The Sidon in the Mirror"
© IASFM, Apr 1983
Fire Watch, 1985
--novelette : 1984 Hugo
--novelette : 1984 Nebula
--novelette : 1984 Locus /6

-----------------------------------

1985 - Year in SF&F: July

2009-09-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

William Gibson
"Dogfight"
(with Michael Swanwick)
© OMNI, Jul 1985
Burning Chrome, 1986
--novelette : 1986 Hugo
--novelette : 1986 Nebula
--novelette : 1986 Locus /5
--novelette : 1986 SF Chronicle /2
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

"Top Gun" meets "A Scanner Darkly". A darkly intense tale about fighter jet "flight simulation/virtual reality" warfare. Quite predictable, but lively and very cinematic. Ultimately forgettable joint effort between two giants in the field... produced a mouse, albeit with airscoops and ailerons :)
review: 2-Sep-06 (read in 1987)

----------------------------------------------

Pat Cadigan
"Roadside Rescue"
© OMNI, July 1985
"Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990
Patterns, 1989
--/ cool sf story

The car breaks, and the before the road crews arrive - aliens starved for human flesh arrive first! Oh yeah, baby, take that - the alien sex ensues, but it's not what you'd expect. The alien in question gets off simply by LISTENING to human beings talk. Oh well, different strokes for the different folks.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Pat Cadigan

2006-06-27T01:02:00.000-07:00

"After the Days of Dead-Eye Dee"
© IASFM, May 1985
Letters from Home, 1991
--/ cool sf story

"Another One Hits the Road"
© F&SF, Jan 1984
Patterns, 1989
--novelette : 1985 Locus /21
--/ cool sf story

"Criers And Killers"
© New Dimensions # 11, 1980
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ style award
--/ shock value

"The Day the Martels Got the Cable"
© 1982, F&SF
Patterns, 1989
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award

"Death In The Promised Land"
© 1995, IASFM
1995, OMNI Online
--novella : 1996 Locus /18
--/ cool sf novella

"Dirty Work"
© Blood Is Not Enough, ed.E.Datlow, 1989
Dirty Work, 1993
--/ fourth place f story
--/ style award
--/ shock value

"The Final Remake Of..."
© Future Histories, ed. S.McClelland, 1997
Event Horizon Online, 1998

"Fifty Ways to Improve Your Orgasm"
© IASFM, Apr 1992
--Hugo Award 1993, Best Short Story
--Locus Poll Award 1993, Best Short Story /14
--/ cool sf story
--/ humour award

"Fool To Believe"
© IASFM, Feb 1991
--novella : 1991 Hugo
--novella : 1991 Nebula
--novella : 1991 Locus /6
--/ fourth place sf novella
--/ wonder award

"Freeing The Angels"
(with Christopher Fowler)
(Trader Vic series)
© SciFiction, May 2000
--/ cool sf story

"Life On Earth"
© Sci Fiction, Dec 2001
--novelette : 2002 Locus /11

"Love Toys Of The Gods"
© 1993, OMNI Best SF 3
--short story : 1994 Locus /16
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award

"Mother's Milt"
© 1992, OMNI Best SF 2
Dirty Work, 1993
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award

"Nearly Departed"
(Deadpan Allie series)
© IASFM, June 1983
--/ cool sf story

"The Power And The Passion"
© OMNI, Mar 1989
Patterns, 1989
--short story : 1990 Locus /2
--short story : 1991 Nebula
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ style award

"Pretty Boy Crossover"
© IASFM, Jan 1986
Patterns, 1989
--short story : 1987 Nebula
--honorable mention : 1987 Sturgeon
--short story : 1987 Locus /9
--short story : 1987 SF Chronicle W
--/ cool sf story

----------------------------------------------

Pat Cadigan
"Roadside Rescue"
© OMNI, July 1985
"Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990
Patterns, 1989
--/ cool sf story

The car breaks, and the before the road crews arrive - aliens starved for human flesh arrive first! Oh yeah, baby, take that - the alien sex ensues, but it's not what you'd expect. The alien in question gets off simply by LISTENING to human beings talk. Oh well, different strokes for the different folks.

----------------------------------------------

"Rock On"
© 1984, Light Years and Dark, ed.M. Bishop
Mirrorshades, 1986 -a
Patterns, 1989
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ style award
--/ wonder award
--/ shock value

"Shoot The Moon"
© OMNI, 1989
--/ cool sf story

"Sometimes Salvation"
© Sisters Of The Night, ed. B. Hambly, 1995
--short story : 1996 Locus Poll

"Two"
© 1988, F&SF
Patterns, 1989
--novelette : 1989 Locus
--/ cool sf story

"Witnessing the Millennium"
© Disco 2000, ed. S. Champion, 1999
--/ cool sf story

---------------------

1984 - Year in SF&F: February

2009-09-29T20:41:00.001-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Edward Bryant
"Dancing Chickens"
© "Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990
"Light Years and Dark", ed. M. Bishop, 1984
--/ emotion award
--/ shock value

This story is probably the most offensive in the whole history of science fiction, no wonder that it could not get an editor brave enough to publish it, nor was reprinted ever since in author's story collection. However, it reminded me of "District 9" sci-fi movie, and many other "alien abuse" stories. This time, though, it is pretty unflinching in its approach, so see if you can stomach it.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Edward Bryant

2006-06-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

----------------------------------------------

"Ashes on her Lips"
© Sirens, ed. E. Datlow, 1998

Strange, a bit revolting tale about a "sex-after-death" and a widow's weird mourning.
review: 16-Jul-06 (read in 2006)

----------------------------------------------

Edward Bryant
"Dancing Chickens"
© "Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990
"Light Years and Dark", ed. M. Bishop, 1984
--/ emotion award
--/ shock value

This story is probably the most offensive in the whole history of science fiction, no wonder that it could not get an editor brave enough to publish it, nor was reprinted ever since in author's story collection. However, it reminded me of "District 9" sci-fi movie, and many other "alien abuse" stories. This time, though, it is pretty unflinching in its approach, so see if you can stomach it.

----------------------------------------------

"gi-Ants"
© Analog, Aug 1979
Particle Theory, 1981
--short story : 1980 Hugo
--short story : 1980 Nebula W
--short story : 1980 Locus /2
--/ cool sf story

"Good Kids"
© 1989, Blood Is Not Enough, ed.E.Datlow
--/ cool f story

"Kicks Are For Kids"
© Chrysalis # 3, ed. R. Torgeson, 1978
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ idea award

"Mod Dogs"
© OMNI, Nov 1989

"Particle Theory"
© Analog, Feb 1977
Particle Theory, 1981
--novelette : 1978 Nebula
--short fiction : 1978 Locus /8
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award

"Paths"
© Vertex, Apr 1973
--/ cool time sf story

"Stone"
© F&SF, Feb 1978
Particle Theory, 1981
--short story : 1979 Hugo
--short story : 1979 Nebula W
--short story : 1979 Locus /3
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award

-----------------------------

1998 - Year in SF&F: January

2009-09-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Stephen Chapman
"Minutes of the Last Meeting"
© 1998, "Leviathan 2", ed. J. VanderMeer
--/ cool f novella
--/ wonder award

The Nuclear Age comes to the Imperial Russia just before the October Revolution. A great - even brilliant - idea, but could be better plotted and executed. As it is, this is an entertaining, but somewhat shallow read.

----------------------------------------------

Edward Bryant
"Ashes on her Lips"
© Sirens, ed. E. Datlow, 1998

Strange, a bit revolting tale about a "sex-after-death" and a widow's weird mourning.
review: 16-Jul-06 (read in 2006)

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Best Science Fiction Story (1961 to now)

2006-06-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

MODERN SCIENCE FICTION STORY
SEE ALSO IN OTHER CATEGORIES
(not included in this list!):

- BEST SPACE-THEMED SF STORIES
- BEST TIME-THEMED SF STORIES
- BEST APOCALYPTIC STORIES

Again let me repeat, this list omits any SPACE-themed or TIME-themed or "END-of-the-WORLD" themed stories - they get their own "best lists"!
In a way this is only cool ideas and stylistic impact compilation.

_____________________________________________________
FIRST PLACE Best SF Story (1961 to now)

Roger Zelazny "The Man Who Loved the Faioli"

_____________________________________________________
SECOND PLACE Best SF Story (1961 to now)

Storm Constantine "The Time She Became"
John Crowley "Snow"
Paul Di Filippo "The Reluctant Book"
Gardner R. Dozois "The Last Day of July"
Jeffrey Ford "Floating In Lindrethool"
Estelle Frye "The Face in the Mask"
David Langford "Different Kinds Of Darkness"
Fritz Leiber "When The Change-Winds Blow"
George R. R. Martin "Bitterblooms";
"The Second Kind of Loneliness"
"With Morning Comes Mistfall"
Rudy Rucker & Bruce Sterling "Junk DNA"
Lucius Shepard "Fire Zone Emerald"
Pamela Zoline "The Heat Death of the Universe"
George Zebrowski "The Idea Trap"; "The Word Sweep"

_____________________________________________________
THIRD PLACE Best SF Story (1961 to now)

J. G. Ballard "The Subliminal Man"; "The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista"
Barrington J. Bayley "The Big Sound"; "Flux" (with Michael Moorcock)
"Me And My Antronoscope"; "The Ship of Disaster"
Greg Bear "Petra"
Gregory Benford "Around The Curve Of A Cosmos"
"Exposures"; "The Voice"
Terry Bisson "An Office Romance"
Ted Chiang "Seventy-Two Letters"; "Understand"
Tony Daniel "No Love In All Of DwindleDoo"
Samuel R. Delany "Corona"; "Driftglass"; "High Weir"
"Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones"
Paul Di Filippo "Little Worker"; "Shipbreaker"
Philip K. Dick "The Electric Ant"; "The Pre-Persons"
"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"
Gardner R. Dozois "Morning Child"
Harlan Ellison "Seeing"
Jeffrey Ford "Man Of Light"
William Gibson "The Gernsback Continuum"
"Hinterlands"; "The Winter Market"
Gavin J. Grant "Editing For Content"
Frank Herbert "The Mary Celeste Move"
Richard Kadrey "Horse Latitudes"
Nancy Kress "Down Behind Cuba Lake"; "Talp Hunt"
Ursula Le Guin "Nine Lives"; "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow"
Stanislaw Lem "137 Seconds"
George R. R. Martin "...For a Single Yesterday"
"The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr" ; "Meathouse Man"
Kim Newman "The Next-To-One Man"
Susan Palwick "Cucumber Gravy"
Adam Roberts "The Order of Things"
Michael Shea "The Extra"
John Shirley "The Almost Empty Rooms"
Cordwainer Smith "Drunkboat"
Brian Stableford "The Pipes Of Pan"
Bruce Sterling "Dori Bangs"; "Taklamakan"
Charles Stross "Rogue Farm"
Michael Swanwick "The Dog Said Bow-Wow"
"The Man Who Met Picasso"; "Radiant Doors"
James Van Pelt "Resurrection"
John Varley "Air Raid"; "Bagatelle"; "Overdrawn At The Memory Bank"
Robert Charles Wilson "Divided By Infinity"; "State of the Art"

_____________________________________________________
FOURTH PLACE Best SF Story (1961 to now)

Leah Alpert "Love Is a Drug"
Brian Aldiss "Another Little Boy"; "The Dark Soul Of The Night"; "Lies!"
Poul Anderson "Fortune Hunter"; "Goat Song"; "Hunter's Moon"
"Industrial Revolution" ("The Rogue")
Piers Anthony "None But I"; "Quinquepedalian"
Catherine Asaro "Light And Shadow"
Isaac Asimov "The Billiard Ball"
Stephen Baxter "Lakes of Light"
Elizabeth Bear "The Chains That You Refuse"
R. V. Branham "Chango Chingamadre, Dutchman, & Me"
Kage Baker "Her Father's Eyes"
J. G. Ballard "The Cage of Sand"; "The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D"
"The Day Of Forever"; "Deep End"; "The Delta at Sunset"
"Dream Cargoes"; "End-Game"; "The Enormous Space"
"The Garden of Time"; "The Illuminated Man"; "Minus One"
"The Impossible Man"; "Mr. F is Mr. F"; "Now Wakes the Sea"
"The Overloaded Man"; "A Question of Re-Entry"
"Storm Bird, Storm Dreamer"; "The Terminal Beach"
"The Time-Tombs"; "The Watch-Towers"
Barrington J. Bayley (as P. F. Woods) "The Radius Riders"
Greg Bear "Tangents"
Charles Beaumont "Something in the Earth"
Gregory Benford "Matter's End"
Alfred Bester "They Don't Make Life Like They Used To"
Dmitry Bilenkin "Vechny Svet"
Michael Bishop "A Gift From The GrayLanders"
Terry Bisson "Charlie's Angels"; "He Loved Lucy"; "macs"
"There Are No Dead"
James Blaylock "The War Of The Worlds"
Ray Bradbury "The Love Affair"
Marion Zimmer Bradley "The Wild One"
Reginald Bretnor "The Gnurrs Come from the Voodvork Out"
David Brin "The Giving Plague"
Eric Brown "The Death Of Cassandra Quebec", "Heritage of Stars"
Edward Bryant "Kicks Are For Kids"; "Stone"
Richard Calder "The Allure"; "Mosquito"
Robert R. Chase "Bearings"; "The Figure Of Drosselmeyer"
R. Chetwynd-Hayes "The Cave"
Richard Chwedyk "The Measure Of All Things"
Pat Cadigan "Criers And Killers"; "The Power & The Passion";"Rock On"
Terry Carr "The Dance of the Changer and the Three"
Ted Chiang "Division By Zero"; "Tower Of Babylon"
Rob Chilson "This Side of Independence"
Michael Coney "Snow Princess"
"Whatever Became Of The McGowans?"
Ronald Anthony Cross "The Country Store"
Tony Daniel "Prizm Tree"
Jack Dann "Marilyn"; "There Are No Banisters"
Avram Davidson "The House The Blackeneys Built"
Samuel R. Delaney "Night and the Loves of Joe Dicostanzo"
Paul Di Filippo "Big Eater"; "Brain Wars"; "Neutrino Drag"
"One Night in Television City"; "Seeing is Believing"
"Take Me to the Pilot"
Philip K. Dick "Cantata 140" ("Top Stand-By Job"); "Oh, to Be a Blobel!"
"Project Plowshare"; "Return Match"; "The Waterspider"
Thomas M. Disch "The Number You Have Reached"
Anatoli Dneprov "Kraby Idut Po Ostrovu"
Cory Doctorow "Visit the sins"
Gardner Dozois "A Dream at Noonday"; "A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows"
Andy Duncan "The Chief Designer"
George Alec Effinger "B.K.A. The Master"
Greg Egan "The Extra"; ``TAP'' ; "Yeyuka"
Gordon Eklund "The Mother Of The Beast"
Harlan Ellison "All the Sounds of Fear"
"The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World"
"The Boulevard of Broken Dreams"; "Bright Eyes";
"Cold Friend"; "Count the Clock That Tells the Time"; "Croatoan"
"Eidolons"; "Ernest and the Machine God"; "Final Trophy"
"The Function of Dream Sleep"; "Hindsight: 480 Seconds"
"The Hour That Stretches"; "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"
"In Fear of K"; "Incognita, Inc."; "Jeffty Is Five";
"Kiss of Fire"; "Knox"; "Lonelyache";
"Night of Black Glass"; "On the Downhill Side"
"Pennies, Off a Dead Man's Eyes"; "Shatterday";
"Shattered Like a Glass Goblin"; "Silent in Gehenna"
"Strange Wine"; "Try a Dull Knife"; "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs"
"With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole"
Gregory Frost & John Kessel "Reduction"
Augustine Funnell "River of the Dying"
Jeffrey Ford "The Malthusian Zombie"
Karen Joy Fowler "Black Glass"; "Face Value"
David S. Garnett "The Only One"
Rick Gauger "The Vacuum-Packed Picnic"
Mary Gentle "Human Waste"
Jon Courtenay Grimwood "Point Of No Return"
Sever Gansovski "Vincent Van Gogh"
William Gibson & John Shirley "The Belonging Kind"
William Gibson "Burning Chrome"; "Fragments of a Hologram Rose"
"New Rose Hotel"; "Skinner's Room"; "Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City"
William Gibson & Bruce Sterling "Red Star, Winter Orbit"
William Gibson & Michael Swanwick "Dogfight"
Felix Gotschalk "Charisma Leak"; "Square Pony Express"
"Conspicuous Consumption"; "A Day In The South Squad"
"A Family Winter Of 1987"; "Home Sweet Geriatric Dome"
James Gunn "The Listeners"; "The North Wind"
Robert Hoskins "Pop Goes The Weasel"
Elisabeth Hand "In The Month Of Athyr"; "Snow On Sugar Mountain"
Alex Irvine "Jimmy Guang's House of Gladmech"
Philip C. Jennings "The Road To Reality"
K. W. Jeter "The New Floor", "The First Time"
Merle Kessler "Some Rooms"
Damian Kilby "Daniel's Labirinth"
Richard Kadrey "Synaptic Intrigue"
Richard Kearns "Grave Anglels"; "Love, Death, Time And Katie"
James Patrick Kelly "Breakaway, Backdown"
"Itsy-Bitsy-Spider"; "Undone"
Stephen King "Battleground"
Damon Knight "Masks"
Nancy Kress "Computer Virus"
"Shadows On The Cave Wall"; "To Cuddle Amy"
John M. Landsberg "And of the Earth, a Womb"
Mary Soon Lee "Lifework"
Elisabeth A. Lynn "Circus"
R. A. Lafferty "Bright Flightways"; "Splinters"
Marc Laidlaw "Four Hundred Boys"; "Jane"
Geoffrey A. Landis "The City of Ultimate Freedom"; "Ouroboros"
"Winter Fire"
David Langford "Comp.Basilisk FAQ"; "A Game of Consequences"
Keith Laumer "In The Queue"
Ursula Le Guin "Direction of the Road"; "Social Dreaming of the Frin"
Tanith Lee "You Are My Sunshine"
Fritz Leiber "One Station of the Way"
Stanislaw Lem "The Rat In The Maze"; "The Truth"
Phyllis MacLennan "Thus Love Betrays Us"
Tom Maddox "The Robot And The One You Love"
Ian R. MacLeod "Isabel Of The Fall"; "Starship Day"
George R. R. Martin "Dark, Dark Were The Tunnels"
"The Exit To San Breta"; "Override"
Jack McDevitt "The Fort Moxie's Branch"; "Tracks"
Vonda McIntyre "Little Faces"
China Mieville "An End To Hunger"
Michael Moorcock "Escape from Evening"; "The Time Dweller"
James Morrow "The Cat's Pajamas"; "Daughter Earth"
Pat Murphy "Art In The War Zone"; "Bones";"Peter"; "Rachel In Love"
"A Cartographic Analysis of the Dream State"; "His Vegetable Wife"
Larry Niven "All The Myriad Ways"; "The Jigsaw Man"; "Passerby"
"Rammer"; "Wrong-Way Street"
Charles Ott "The Ecologically Correct House"
Severna Park "The Cure For Everything"
Charles Platt "The Total Experience Kick"
Christopher Priest "The Perihelion Man"; "Real-Time World"
W. T. Quick "Cyberserker"
Robert Rohrer "Pattern"; "The Sheeted Dead"
Alan Ryan "Comstock"
Marta Randall "Secret Rider"
Tom Reamy"Under Hollywood Sign"
Kit Reed "Sisohpromatem"
Robert Reed "Aeon's Child"; "Brother Perfect"; "Sister Alice"
"The Children's Crusade"; "Mudpuppies"; "Tongues"
"Melodies Played Upon Cold, Dark Worlds"
"Treading in the Afterglow"
Keith Roberts "The Scarlet Lady" (as Alistair Bevan)
Spider Robinson "By Any Other Name"
Rudy Rucker "The Fifty-Seventh Franz Kafka"; "Soft Death"
"Monument To The Third International"
Richard Paul Russo "For A Place In The Sky"; "Just Drive, She Said"
Geoff Ryman "Everywhere"
Robin Scott "The Big Connection"
Richard R. Smith "Alien Used Cars"
Sherwood Springer "The Scorch on Wetzel's Hill"
Scott Sanders "The Eros Passage"; "Mountains Of Memory"
"Touch the Earth"
Pamela Sargent "Gather Blue Roses"
Vladimir Savchenko "Tupik"
Jack Sharkey "No Harm Done"
Bob Shaw "Call Me Dumbo"; "Frost Animals"; "A Full Member of the Club"
"The Giaconda Caper"; "Skirmish On A Summer Morning"
"Uncomic Book Horror Story"; "Waltz of the Bodysnatchers"
Robert Sheckley "Budget Planet"; "The Cruel Equations"
"The Day The Aliens Came"; "Dr. Zombie & His Furry Little Friends"
Lucius Shepard "The Arcevoalo"; "Black Coral"; "The Jaguar Hunter"
"Voyage South From Thousand Willows"
Lewis Shiner & Bruce Sterling "Mozart In Mirrorshades"
Lewis Shiner "Stuff of Dreams"; "Twilight Time"
John Shirley "Free Zone"; "Screens"; "Ticket to Heaven"; "Will The Chill"
Clifford Simak "The Autumn Land"; "Brother"
Dan Simmons "E-Ticket To NamLand"; "One Small Step For Max"
"Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds"
John Sladek "The Babe In The Oven"
("The Secret Of The Old Custard"); "The Bestseller"
"One Damned Thing After Another"; "Solar Shoe-Salesman"
Cordwainer Smith "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard"; "Under Old Earth"
"The Ballad of Lost C'Mell";"The Crime & the Glory of Commander Suzdal"
"The Dead Lady of Clown Town"; "The Lady Who Sailed the Soul"
"Three to a Given Star"; "Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons"; "Nancy"
Norman Spinrad "The Big Flash"; "Eye Of The Storm"
"Heroes Die But Once"; "The Lost Continent"
Brian Stableford "The Furniture Of Life's Ambition"
Bruce Sterling "Flowers of Edo"; "In Paradise"; "Maneki Neko"
Charles Stross "Tourists"
Michael Swanwick "Ancient Engines"; "The Dragon Line"
"The Edge of the World"; "A Midwinter's Tale"; "Walking Out"
"Moon Dogs"; "Mortal Engines"; "Scherzo With Tyrannosaur"
"Picasso De-constructed: Eleven Still-Lifes"; "Snow Angels"
"The Wisdom Of Old Earth"
Jeffrey Thomas "The Flaying Season"
Vladimir Tretyakov "Ya Ponyatno Govoryu?"
Walter Tevis Jr. "Rent Control"
James Tiptree Jr. "The Last Flight Of Dr. Ain"; "The Milk Of Paradise"
Lisa Tuttle "A Cold Dish"; "The Hollow Man"
"Memories Of The Body"
Steven Utley "The Despoblado"; "The Thirteenth Labour"
Frances Valery "Bumpie (tm)"
Jeff VanderMeer "Ghost in the Machine"
James Van Pelt "Parallel Highways"
Sydney J. Van Scyoc "A Visit to Cleveland General"
John Varley "Equinoctial"; "The Funhouse Effect"
"Good-Bye Robinson Crusoe"; "In Fading Suns And Dying Moons"
"In The Bowl"; "Manikins"; "Options"; "The Persistence Of Vision"
"The Phantom Of Kansas"; "Press Enter [] "; "Retrograde Summer"
Ian Watson "The Navigator's Children"
Liz Williams "Quantum Anthropology"
Ian Watson "Ahead!"; "Cold Light"; "The Flesh Of Her Hair"
"The People On The Precipice"; "Slow Birds"
"Thousand Cuts"; "Thy Blood Like Milk"
"A Time-Span To Conjure With"; "The Width Of The World"
Sharon Webb "Shadows From A Small Template"
Kate Wilhelm "And The Angels Sing"
Jack Williamson "The Firefly Tree"; "The Highest Dive"
Robert Charles Wilson "Extras"; "A Knight of Antiquity"
Gene Wolfe "Car Sinister"; "Petting Zoo"; "Procreation"
"The Tale Of The Rose And The Nightingale"; "The Headless Man"
Askold Yakubowski "Mefisto"; "Nechto"; "Sporu Net Konca"
"Poslednyaa Velikaya Okhota"; "Zveri Bolshie I Malenkie"
Robert F. Young "Little Dog Gone"; "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory"
"The Pyramid Project" ("The Sphynx")
Roger Zelazny "Devil Car"; "The Engine at Heartspring's Center"
"For a Breath I Tarry"
"The Furies"; "The Great Slow Kings"; "The Keys to December"
David Zindell "Shanidar"

------------

Also see: (full navigation tree)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL:
Best SF Novel (General Themes)
Best Space SF Novel
Best Time SF Novel
Best Apocalyptic SF Novel

BEST SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTIONS

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SERIES:
Best SF Series (general themes)
Best Space SF Series

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA:
Best SF Novella 1920-1960 (general themes)
Best SF Novella 1961-now (general themes)
Best Space SF Novella 1920-1960
Best Space SF Novella 1961-now
Best Time SF Novella
Best Apocalyptic SF Novella

BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY:
Best SF Story 1920-1960 (general themes)
Best SF Story 1961-now (general themes)
Best Space SF Story 1920-1960
Best Space SF Story 1961-now
Best Time SF Story
Best Apocalyptic SF Story

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

BEST FANTASY COLLECTION

BEST FANTASY SERIES

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

BEST FANTASY STORY:
Best Fantasy Story 1920-1960
Best Fantasy Story 1961-now

---------------------

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

2000 - Year in SF&F: March

2009-09-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Mark Z. Danielewski
"House of Leaves"
© 2000, Random House
--novel : 2000 Bram Stoker Award
--first novel : 2000 Int. Horror Guild Award
--first novel : 2001 Locus Poll
--novel : 2001 British Fantasy Award
Review by Deanna Josephson

"House of Leaves" is not a book, it's an experience. Mark Z. Danielewski grabs your attention, distorts your reality, makes you question your own sanity, then leaves you spent, disoriented and not quite the same as when you started this novel.

It opens with a brooding, inventive and unreliable narrator Johnny Truant. Johnny brings us along as he discovers a trunk of papers inside the apartment of a recently deceased man, Zampano, who died under suspicious circumstances. The trunk contains Zampano's collection and commentary of academic dissections of a documentary film, the Navidson Record. The Navidson Record is the axis of the story-within-a-story-within-a-story framework of the book, and documents the increasingly surreal and quietly horrific experience of a family who comes home to find a door that hadn't existed before. As Johnny reads through the papers and commentary he finds that Zampano, and perhaps he himself, is losing his grip on sanity as his obsession with the house grows deeper and deeper.

The storyline of "House of Leaves" is only a piece of the overall experience. The book's structure lends an additional layer of depth to this literary collage. The labyrinthine narrative is framed by an equally dizzying array of footnotes, lists and lists of names, texts that need to be decoded, texts that wind around the page... all of which are riddled with bland passages of intense academic discourse. Although some would argue that the layout of the book is pretentious and ostentatious, I think it's a necessary part of the overall artwork. "House of Leaves" is not an easy book to read, but it's worth the experience.

The book contains a large appendix which needs to be read thoroughly in order to get as much sense of the story as possible. This book is really like a collage, and like a collage, you can't look at each individual piece... you have to look at how all the pieces fit together. If you can make it through the layers of stories, ivory tower discourses, chaotic layout and haunting images, then take a step back and look again. I get the feeling the book will mean something different to you than it did to me.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

1995 - Year in SF&F: January

2009-09-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Neal Stephenson
"Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast"
© 1995, "Full Spectrum 5", ed. J. Hershey
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award

Tribes of the Suburbia: the Mall Sub-Culture. Basically, more cyberpunk than steampunk, also reminiscent of the George A. Romero's iconic "Dawn of the Dead" - "The stand-off between the gentlefolk adventurers and researchers and an enraged tribe of Mad Max-esque petrolhead barbarians in the ruins of a shopping mall".

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

C - Other Writers

2006-06-27T01:51:00.000-07:00

Scroll down for complete reviews and ratings:

P. D. Cacek
"A Book, By Its Cover"
© Shelf Life, ed. G. Ketter, 2002
--short story : 2003 Locus Poll
--/ cool f story

C. A. Cador
"Payment In Kind"
© Gnostika, Aug 1975

Jack Cady
"Jeremiah"
© F&SF, Sep 2000
--short story : 2001 Locus Poll

Jack Cady
"The Sons of Noah"
© OMNI, Jan 1991
The Sons of Noah & Other Stories, 1992
--/ cool f story

Joed Cahill
"The Pleasure Age"
© Thrilling Wonder Stories, Feb 1947

Lee Cahn
"Secret"
© Astounding, Jan 1953
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award
--/ humour award
--/ rare find

Martin Caidin
"Aquarius Mission" (nv)
© 1978, Bantam Books
--/ fourth place sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award

Martin Caidin
"Marooned" (nv)
© 1964, Dutton
russ. as "V Plenu Orbity"
--/ fourth place space sf novel
--/ adventure award

Richard Calder
"The Allure"
© Interzone, Oct 1990
--best of Interzone selection
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award
--/ shock value
--/ rare find

Richard Calder
"Mosquito"
© 1990, OMNI
also in - Interzone, 1989
--short story : 1990 Locus /23
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ style award
--/ wonder award
--/ shock value

John Scott Campbell
"Beyond Pluto"
© Wonder Stories, 1932
Fantastic Story, 1954

David Campton
"At the Bottom of the Garden"
© Armada Sci-Fi # 1, ed. R. Davis, 1975
also in - Whispers, Dec 1976
--/ fourth place dark f story
--/ idea award
--/ shock value

Jacqueline Carey
"Kushiel's Chosen" (nv)
(Kushiel 2)
© 2002, Tor Books
--fantasy novel : 2003 Locus /5

Ralph Carghill
"The Question"
© Fantastic Story, Aut 1952

Dennis R. Caro
"Couples"
© Chrysalis # 3, ed. R. Torgeson, 1978

Leonard Carpenter
"The Ebbing"
© Writers of the Future # 1, 1985
--Writers of the Future 1985 /2

----------------------------------------------

Dr. Arch Carr
(with Carl Buchanan)
"Warriors of Eternity"
(Daniel Futrell series)
© Astounding Stories, Aug 1934
--/ cool sf novella

To make a long story short.... wait, you can't. Too many epic conflicts, each totally insignificant and uninteresting, melded into some kind of pulpish Katamari Damacy whole.

----------------------------------------------

Carol Carr
"Inside"
© Orbit # 8, 1970
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award
--/ rare find

Carol Carr
"Look, You Think You've Got Troubles"
© Orbit # 5, 1969
--/ cool sf story

Bob Carrico
"Ex Logo Parentis"
© Analog, Feb 1983

Francis Carsac
"Begstvo Zemli" (nv)
"Terre en fuite"
© 1960, France
Begstvo Zemli, 1972
trans. from French
--/ cool sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ awesome scale

Francis Carsac
"Lvy Eldorado" (nv)
© 1962, France
Begstvo Zemli, 1972
trans. from French

----------------------------------------------

Paul Carter
"The Last Objective"
© Astounding, Aug 1946
--short story : Best SF selection
--/ cool apocalyptic sf story
--/ wonder award

Another apocalyptic scenario, and a curious one. The Earth's surface is destroyed by a previous conflict, so the warfare moved... into the planet's depths. The mole-like warships battle each other underground or circle on long patrols, not unlike nuclear subs during the Cold War. A gritty tale, this one sticks in the mind; the ending is all about self-sacrifice (one of the mole-ships develops a nuclear leak and has to be removed to a safe place where it blows up).
review: 28-Jul-06 (read in 1999)

----------------------------------------------

Scott William Carter
"The Tiger in the Garden"
© IASFM, Jun 2006
--/ cool sf story

"A constable on a poor, out-of-the-way planet, is expecting a government Agent, an alien with unpleasant appearance and even worse personality. He is there to apprehend a terrorist..." Well, this story left me cold.
review: 23-Jul-06 (read in 2006)

----------------------------------------------

Peter Cartur
"The Mist"
© F&SF, Sep 1952

James Causey
"The Gentle People"
© Spaceway, Nov 1955
--/ cool sf story

----------------------------------------------

James Causey
"Inferiority"
© Science Stories, Apr 1954
--/ cool sf story
--/ emotion award
--/ rare find

This light-hearted story could easily have been a part of Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" (with some improvement in writing, of course). Same atmosphere of poetic, gentle race confronted with seemingly superior human military civilization. The ultimate (and poignant) triumph of art and humble virtues makes this story almost Christian in its values, not to mention totally rare. (Whoever heard of the "Science Stories" pulp??)

----------------------------------------------

Susan Casper
"A Child of Darkness"
© Blood Is Not Enough, ed. E. Datlow, 1989
--/ cool f story

R. V. Cassil
"The War In The Air"
© 1952, Infinity Science Fiction

Hugh B. Cave
"From The Lower Deep"
(Lower Deep)
© Whispers # 2, 1979
The Lower Deep, 1990
--/ fourth place dark f story
--/ wonder award
--/ shock value

Narciso Ibanes Cerrador
"Vysokaya Missiya"
(also as "La Mission")
© 1967, Barselona
Trudnaya Zadacha, 1981
trans. from Spanish
--/ cool sf story
--/ humour award
--/ rare find

Perry A. Chapdelain
"Brood World Barbarian"
© IF, Sep 1969

Perry A. Chapdelain
"The Return of Prince John Israel Shaka"
© Pulsar # 2, ed. G. Hay, 1979

Perry A. Chapdelain
"Swampworld West" (nv)
© 1974, Shire / Coronet Books
--/ third place planetary sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award

----------------------------------------------

John L. Chapman
"Stroke"
© Science Fiction Quarterly, Summer 1942
--/ cool time sf story

Average piece about time paradoxes: learn about yourself being dead in the future, and get a stroke in the present.
review: 07-Jul-06 (read in 2006)

----------------------------------------------

Stepan Chapman
"The Comedian"
© The Ultimate Unknown, Win 1997
--short story : 2003 Locus Poll
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ romance award
--/ shock value

----------------------------------------------

Stephen Chapman
"Minutes of the Last Meeting"
© 1998, "Leviathan 2", ed. J. VanderMeer
--/ cool f novella
--/ wonder award

The Nuclear Age comes to the Imperial Russia just before the October Revolution. A great - even brilliant - idea, but could be better plotted and executed. As it is, this is an entertaining, but somewhat shallow read.

----------------------------------------------

Graham Charnock
"The Erogenous Zone"
© New Worlds, Jul 1969

Robert R. Chase
"Bearings"
© Analog, 1985
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

Robert R. Chase
"The Figure Of Drosselmeyer"
© IASFM, 1997
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

Yosef Cherna
"Peresadka Mozga"
© Biblioteka Sovr. Fantastiki, 1970
trans. from Hungarian
--/ cool sf story
--/ rare find

R. Chetwynd-Hayes
"The Cave"
© Tales From The Shadows, 1986
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award

R. Chetwynd-Hayes
"Long, Long Ago"
© Tales From The Shadows, 1986
--/ cool f story
--/ idea award

Frederik Chilander
"Sudebny Process"
© Zvet Nadezhd Zeleny, 1977
trans. from Swedish
--/ cool sf story

Richard Chwedyk
"The Measure Of All Things"
(Saurs series)
© F&SF, Jan 2001
--shortlist : 2002 Sturgeon
--novelette : 2002 Locus /13
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ idea award
--/ wonder award
--/ emotion award

John D. Clarke
"Minus Planet"
© Astounding Stories, 1935
--/ fourth place space sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award

John D. Clarke
"Space Blister"
© Astounding Stories, Aug 1937
--/ cool space sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award

Susanna Clarke
"Mr. Simonelli Or The Fairy Widower"
© Black Heart, Ivory Bones,
ed. E. Datlow, 2000
--novella : 2001 World Fantasy
--/ fourth place f novella
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

Susanna Clarke
"Tom Brightwind, or, How The Fairy
Bridge Were Build At Thoresby"
© Starlight # 3, ed. P. Hayden, 2001
--novelette : 2002 Locus Poll
--/ cool f story

Matthew Claxton
"Changing The Guard"
© Sci Fiction, Dec 2004
--short story : 2005 Locus Poll

P.E. Cleator
"Martian Madness"
© 1934, Wonder Stories
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award

Lucy Clifford
"The New Mother"
© 1882, Anyhow Stories
--/ fourth place dark f story
--/ idea award
--/ style award
--/ shock value

Mark Clifton
"Sense From Thought Divide"
© Astounding, Mar 1955
The SF of Mark Clifton, 1975

Mark Clifton
"The Conqueror"
(Mutants series)
© Astounding, Aug 1952

Mildred Clingerman
"Minister Without Portfolio"
© F&SF, Feb 1952
A Cupful Of Space, 1961
--/ cool sf story
--/ style award
----------------------------------------------

Mildred Clingerman
"Winning Recipe"
© F&SF, Nov 1952
also in - Colliers, Nov 1952
A Cupful Of Space, 1961

Somehow comforting to know that magazine SF has expanded into house-wife type story. Very cozy and fifty-ish feeling.
review: 04-Jul-06 (read in 1986)
----------------------------------------------

Brenda W. Clough
"May Be Some Time"
© Analog, Apr 2001
--novella : 2002 Hugo
--novella : 2002 Nebula
--novella : 2002 Locus /16
--novella : 2002 AnLab /5

John Clute
"The Disinheriting Party"
© New Worlds Quarterly # 5, 1973
--/ cool sf story
--/ style award

Robert Coates
"The Law"
© New Yorker, Nov 1947
The Mathematical Magpie, 1950

Robert Coates
"The Man Who Vanished"
© New Yorker, Oct 1955
--/ cool f story
--/ idea award
--/ rare find

Adrian Cole
"Astral Stray"
(Voidal Series)
© 1978, Heroic Fantasy, ed. G. Page
--/ cool f story
--/ wonder award

Adrian Cole
"Offside"
© 1979, Space # 5, ed. R. Davis

Samuel T. Coleridge
"The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner"
© 1798, Lyrical Ballads
--/ third place f novella
--/ wonder award
--/ style award
--/ emotion award

Morrison F. Colladay
"Giant in the Earth"
© Wonder Stories, Apr 1933
--Groff Conklin's story selection
--/ fourth place apocalyptic sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea: melting mountains
--/ awesome scale
--/ rare find

Nancy A. Collins
"The Love of Monsters"
(Underworld series)
© Dark Destiny,1994
--/ cool dark f story
--/ idea award
--/ shock value

Michael Conner
"Extinction of Confidence,
the Exercise of Honesty"
© New Constellations, ed. T. Disch, 1976

June Consadine
"To Dream Of White Horses"
© Thicker Than Water, ed. G. Snell, 2001

----------------------------------------------

Storm Constantine
"My Lady Of The Hearth"
(Magravandias Chronicles)
© Sirens, ed. E. Datlow 1998
The Thorn Boy, 2002
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ emotion award
--/ shock value

The best story about feline females (in my opinion) gets the cat/human shape-changer theme a very distinct baroque treatment, written in style as Bloch might've written it, or Derleth. In other words, good candidate for "Weird Tales" pulp if there was one now.
review: 14-Jul-06 (read in 2004)

----------------------------------------------

Storm Constantine
"The Time She Became"
© Zenith # 2, ed. D. Garnett, 1990
--/ second place sf story
--/ idea award
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

Rick Cook
"Mortality"
© Analog, Jan 1987
--/ cool sf story

Tom Cool
"Universal Emulators"
© F&SF, Jul 1997

Lee Cooper
"An Error In Punctuation"
© Stellar # 3, 1977

William S. Corwin
"Block Party"
© Spaceway, Nov 1955
--/ cool sf story

Mary Elizabeth Counselman
"Kellerman�s Eyepiece"
© Night Chills, Ed. K. McCauley, 1975
--/ cool f story
--/ wonder award: moon air creatures
--/ style award: letter exchange
--/ humour award
--/ rare find

Mary Elisabeth Councelman
"The Unwanted"
© Weird Tales, Jan 1951
--/ cool f story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award
--/ rare find

Richard Cowper
"The Custodians"
© F&SF, Oct 1975
The Custodians and Other Stories, 1976
--novella : 1976 Hugo
--novelette : 1976 Nebula
--novella : 1976 Locus /6
--/ cool sf novella

----------------------------------------------

Richard Cowper
"The Hertford Manuscript"
© F&SF, Oct 1976
The Custodians and Other Stories, 1976
--short story : 1977 Locus /7

Some readers call it a loose sequel to "The Time Machine" by H. G. Wells. That's probably a long stretch, but it's still an excellent time-travel story, written in a smooth respectable British style. It deals with the Dark Ages and Black Plague period in history.
review: 26-Oct-06 (read in 1994)

----------------------------------------------

Richard Cowper
"Out There Where the Big Ships Go"
© F&SF, Aug 1979
The Web of the Magi, 1980
--novelette : 1980 Locus /4
--/ cool sf story

Richard Cowper
"The Road To Corlay" (nv)
© 1978, Gollancz / Pan
--August Derleth Award (novel) : 1979 British Fantasy
--novel : 1980 Nebula
--sf novel : 1980 Locus /7
--novel : 1980 Balrog
--/ cool sf novel
--/ style award

Arthur J. Cox
"The Blight"
© Time To Come, ed. A. Derleth, 1954

Irwing E. Cox, Jr.
"Hole In The Sky"
© Time To Come, ed. A. Derleth, 1954

Irving E. Cox, Jr.
"Semantic Courtship"
© Science Fiction Adventures, July 1953

Irwing E. Cox, Jr.
"Too Many Worlds"
© Amazing Stories, Nov 1952

Sterling F. Cramer
"Death From Within"
© Wonder Stories, 1935
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ rare find

Robert Crane
"The Purple Fields"
© Star Science Fiction # 2, 1953

Charles Creighton
"A Day to Forget"
© Amazing Stories, Aug 1951
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ humour award

----------------------------------------------

Ian Creasey
"The Edge of the Map"
© IASFM, Jun 2006
--/ cool sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award

In a world, overrun with computerized nano-cameras, recording the whole sum of Earth events for the benefit of the blogging crowd and the news industry, only ONE place has been left out - not covered by the cameras. As you might expect, all mysterious and fantasy elements of our world are taking refuge there, and on top of that, the whole spot (called "The Weird") disappears with an act of observation, like a quantum entity governed by an "uncertainty principle". I loved this idea - one could make a glorious fantasy adventure out of it; but it gets under-developed and unexciting treatment in this story. It's really too bad. Michael Swanwick should collaborate on this idea with his stylistic flair, and a ghost of Henry Kuttner should supply an exciting plot.
review: 23-Jul-06 (read in 2006)

----------------------------------------------

Wil Creveling
"Fun"
© IASFM, Sep 1982

James Cross
"The Doll House"
© 1967, Dangerous Visions
--/ cool f story
--/ idea award

Peter Crowther
"Bedfordshire"
© Gathering The Bones, ed. D. Etchinson, 2003
--short story : 2004 Locus Poll

Seamus Cullen
"Astra & Flondrix" (nv)
© 1976, Allen Lane / Penguin
--/ shock value

Jere Cunningham
"The Visitor" (nv)
© 1978, Coronet Books
--/ cool dark f novel
--/ style award
--/ shock value

Betsy Curtis
"Latter-Day Daniel"
© IF, Mar 1967

Jean-Louis Curtis
"Idei Na Prodazhu"
© Iskatel, 1978
trans. from French
--/ cool sf story

------------------------------

1991 - Year in SF&F: June

2009-09-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Paul Di Filippo
"Victoria"
(Steampunk Trilogy)
© Amazing Stories, Jun 1991
Steampunk Trilogy, 1995
--/ third place f novella
--/ shock value
--/ humour award
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

Not only is the entertainment value of this novella is through-the-roof, the significance of its appearing as far back as 1991 is notable as well: it pushes the envelope in more ways than one, defining steampunk black comedy with its own brand of humour.

Try not to grin as you read: naughty, improbable, grotesque, the tale bests itself at every turn, featuring such wildly bizarre concoctions as a homunculus/newt on the throne of England, nuclear train engines and "ideoplasm"-powered transdimensional prairie schooners, with inevitable Lovecraft monsters duly appearing in the "Hottentots" sequel.

This is a highlight of any summer reading (for just like in the movies, there has to be a "Summer Blockbuster Reading Season"). You are not going to forget it, but some readers might think that Paul Di Filippo goes too far into the territory they can't follow.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

2003 - Year in SF&F: November

2009-09-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Michael Chabon
"The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance"
© McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, No.10, 2003
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

I will describe my experience of discovering fiction by Michael Chabon: at first bite it does not seem to be that intense, or delicious. You get into the story for a couple of pages, then you realize that the characters are too bizarre, the world-view does not fit, the plot does not compute, and even the words themselves that author uses are baroque, esoteric, obtuse... in other words, if you approach it lightly, Chabon's prose is not going to make much sense. But now you are too intrigued. You go back a couple of pages, read it again with more attention and respect - and BAM! you are hooked (or doomed) to read the whole story, with rewards piling up in every paragraph.

A Planetary Romance? Yes, but not in a conventional way. Subtle. Subdued. Emotional undercurrents require a careful appreciation of how characters speak, think and (rarely) behave. This is more of a meditative piece, and yet it's not lacking in adventure. If this is your first taste of Michael Chabon's fiction, I envy you. Now you will have to go and get more... more...

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Michael Chabon

2009-09-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Michael Chabon is one of the most talented, celebrated and unusual writers to enter the scene of the fantastic - complex language and emotionally-charged prose guarantee an intense, immersive reader's experience.

----------------------------------------------

Michael Chabon
"The God of Dark Laughter"
© New Yorker, Apr 2001
--short story : 2002 Locus Poll

----------------------------------------------

Michael Chabon
"The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance"
© McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, No.10, 2003
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

I will describe my experience of discovering fiction by Michael Chabon: at first bite it does not seem to be that intense, or delicious. You get into the story for a couple of pages, then you realize that the characters are too bizarre, the world-view does not fit, the plot does not compute, and even the words themselves that author uses are baroque, esoteric, obtuse... in other words, if you approach it lightly, Chabon's prose is not going to make much sense. But now you are too intrigued. You go back a couple of pages, read it again with more attention and respect - and BAM! you are hooked (or doomed) to read the whole story, with rewards piling up in every paragraph.

A Planetary Romance? Yes, but not in a conventional way. Subtle. Subdued. Emotional undercurrents require a careful appreciation of how characters speak, think and (rarely) behave. This is more of a meditative piece, and yet it's not lacking in adventure. If this is your first taste of Michael Chabon's fiction, I envy you. Now you will have to go and get more... more...

----------------------------------------------

Michael Chabon
"The Yiddish Policemen's Union" (nv)
© 2007, Fourth Estate / Harper Collins
--novel : 2008 Hugo W
--novel : 2008 Nebula W
--second place : 2008 Campbell Memorial/2
--sf novel : 2008 Locus W
--novel : 2008 British SF
--long form : 2008 Sidewise W
--/ second place "alternate history" sf novel
--/ idea award
--/ style award
--/ emotion award
--/ mystery award

A simply astonishing achievement. The novel is a gut-wrenching, soul-churning, emotional wreck, bringing to mind some Harlan Ellison's "phantasmagorical" hara-kiris - combined with Raymond Chandler, no less. The idea that Jewish people would end up in Alaska instead of Israel, is preposterous and yet... strangely plausible; the mystery plot is engaging (though somewhat blurry in places, as though seen through a swirling Northern fog), the writing style is incisive and sublime - even laconic, but never lacking in subtle poetry and realism. In fact, the weird characters inhabiting this novel are sometimes too real for comfort - with others taken from a lurid roster of pulp fiction heroes - and indeed they all create a marvelous mess, which only a true Messiah can possibly redeem.

If you can stomach the idea of universal angst blown to alternate-history proportions, and if you can catch the typically Jewish sense of optimism against the overwhelmingly miserable odds (in this book's brightest moments), then ‘The Yiddish Policemen’s Union’ will become the most memorable reading event of the year. Trust me, it's that good. Audacious! Atrocious! Brilliant!

(review by Avi Abrams)
----------------------------------------------

2000 - Year in SF&F: February

2009-09-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Ted Chiang
"Seventy-Two Letters"
© Vanishing Acts, ed. E. Datlow, 2000
Stories Of Your Life And Others, 2002
--novella : 2001 Hugo
--novella : 2001 World Fantasy
--shortlist : 2001 Sturgeon
--novella : 2001 Locus /4
--short form : 2001 Sidewise W
--foreign short story : 2001 Hayakawa W
--translated short story : 2002 Seiun W
--/ third place sf story
--/ idea award
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

I found this story a bit long and tedious, but these are probably the only faults in what turned out to be intriguing and entirely unique tale. The concept here is that Names (words) are truly powerful tools capable of creating or modifying reality – this is an important idea in ancient Hebrew culture, starting from Adam, who named (defined, co-created) all the animals in the Garden of Eden. In this story we have some ultimate "incantations" helping robots to achieve their peak performance, but of course, meddling with these building blocks of the Universe leads to the deeply disturbing results. If you remember, a similar idea was the basis for Arthur Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God", but Chiang gives it a highly sophisticated and learned makeover, creating another classic tale from the Genesis-old spiritual know-how.

Very impressive mixture of high-flight science fiction and meta-physical and meta-spiritual conjecture, which is really hard to do without overdoing it... but Chiang succeeds spectacularly (and garners a plethora of awards in the process).

----------------------------------------------

Joe R. Lansdale
"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel"
© 2000, The Long Ones
Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories, 2004
--/ fourth place f novella
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ shock value

"Dime Novel" it very well may be, but if it had appeared for sale some hundred years ago (unrated and unabridged), it could've caused a few fatalities among unprepared Victorian readers, through sheer shock and utter, disgusted disbelief. It is an entirely wicked novella, and is meant to be just that. I daresay it's even more offensive than Lansdale's "Zeppelins West" - but for all that hype and coarse sensationalism, it is a gorgeous example of no-holds-barred Wild West Steampunk Blockbuster. It is a blast, like many, many works of Joe R. Lansdale in his screwed-up version of the Wild West (think "cow-punk" plus a few "Saw" movies)

It is one heck of a ride, and it has everything a dime novel should have - mystery, wonder, adventure and crazed horror mixed with deeply dark atmosphere. You've been warned, but by all means, if you just watched, say, "Crank 2: High Voltage" and came out unaffected, then you'll see no problem with this novella either.

This sort of ferocious entertainment in literature reminds me of some wild and crazed Clark Ashton Smith stories in the 1930s "Weird Tales" pulp.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

Ted Chiang

2006-06-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

"Division By Zero"
© Full Spectrum # 3, 1991
Stories Of Your Life And Others, 2002
--short story : 1992 Locus /7
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ idea award

"Hell Is The Absence Of God"
© Starlight # 3, ed. P. Hayden, 2001
Stories Of Your Life, 2002
--novelette : 2002 Hugo W
--shortlist : 2003 Sturgeon
--novelette : 2003 Nebula W
--novelette : 2002 Locus W

----------------------------------------------

Ted Chiang
"Seventy-Two Letters"
© Vanishing Acts, ed. E. Datlow, 2000
Stories Of Your Life And Others, 2002
--novella : 2001 Hugo
--novella : 2001 World Fantasy
--shortlist : 2001 Sturgeon
--novella : 2001 Locus /4
--short form : 2001 Sidewise W
--foreign short story : 2001 Hayakawa W
--translated short story : 2002 Seiun W
--/ third place sf story
--/ idea award
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

I found this story a bit long and tedious, but these are probably the only faults in what turned out to be intriguing and entirely unique tale. The concept here is that Names (words) are truly powerful tools capable of creating or modifying reality – this is an important idea in ancient Hebrew culture, starting from Adam, who named (defined, co-created) all the animals in the Garden of Eden. In this story we have some ultimate "incantations" helping robots to achieve their peak performance, but of course, meddling with these building blocks of the Universe leads to the deeply disturbing results. If you remember, a similar idea was the basis for Arthur Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God", but Chiang gives it a highly sophisticated and learned makeover, creating another classic tale from the Genesis-old spiritual know-how.

Very impressive mixture of high-flight science fiction and meta-physical and meta-spiritual conjecture, which is really hard to do without overdoing it... but Chiang succeeds spectacularly (and garners a plethora of awards in the process).

----------------------------------------------

"Story Of Your Life"
© Starlight # 2, ed. P. Hayden, 1998
Stories Of Your Life And Others, 2002
--novella : 1999 Hugo
--winner : 1999 Sturgeon W
--short list : 1999 Tiptree
--novella : 1999 Locus /10 (tie)
--novella : 1999 HOMer
--novella : 2000 Nebula W
--foreign short story : 2001 Hayakawa W
--translated short story : 2002 Seiun W (tie)
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ idea award
--/ style award

"Tower Of Babylon"
© OMNI, Nov 1990
Stories Of Your Life And Others, 2002
--novelette : 1991 Hugo
--novelette : 1991 Nebula W
--novelette : 1991 Locus /4
--novelette : 1991 SF Chronicle /2
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award

"Understand"
© IASFM, Aug 1991
Stories Of Your Life And Others, 2002
--novelette : 1992 Hugo
--novelette : 1992 Locus /13
--novelette : 1992 Asimov's Reader Poll W
--foreign short story : 1994 Hayakawa W
--foreign short story : 1995 Seiun
--/ third place sf story
--/ adventure award
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award
--/ style award
--/ emotion award

---------------------------------

Joe R. Lansdale

2009-09-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

"The October Country"
© 1990, original
--/ cool f story

----------------------------------------------

Joe R. Lansdale
"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel"
© 2000, The Long Ones
Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories, 2004
--/ fourth place f novella
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ shock value

"Dime Novel" it very well may be, but if it had appeared for sale some hundred years ago (unrated and unabridged), it could've caused a few fatalities among unprepared Victorian readers, through sheer shock and utter, disgusted disbelief. It is an entirely wicked novella, and is meant to be just that. I daresay it's even more offensive than Lansdale's "Zeppelins West" - but for all that hype and coarse sensationalism, it is a gorgeous example of no-holds-barred Wild West Steampunk Blockbuster. It is a blast, like many, many works of Joe R. Lansdale in his screwed-up version of the Wild West (think "cow-punk" plus a few "Saw" movies)

It is one heck of a ride, and it has everything a dime novel should have - mystery, wonder, adventure and crazed horror mixed with deeply dark atmosphere. You've been warned, but by all means, if you just watched, say, "Crank 2: High Voltage" and came out unaffected, then you'll see no problem with this novella either.

This sort of ferocious entertainment in literature reminds me of some wild and crazed Clark Ashton Smith stories in the 1930s "Weird Tales" pulp.

----------------------------------------------

Joe R. Lansdale
"Zeppelins West" (nv)
(Ned the Seal series #1)
© Subterranian Press, 2001
--/ third place cowpunk sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ idea award: cowpunk
--/ humour award
--/ style award
--/ shock value
--/ rare find

1991 - Year in SF&F: March

2009-09-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

Ian R. MacLeod
"The Giving Mouth"
© IASFM, March 1991
Voyages by Starlight, 1996
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award
--/ style award
--/ shock value
--/ rare find

This is the most peculiar epic fantasy you ever likely to read (I realize this is quite a statement). Very stylish, very Ursula Le Guin-like at first (think of her low-key "Orsinian Tales"), it evolves into a ferocious Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique spawn, at once disgusting and irresistibly complex. Wonderful tour-de-force, liked it very much.

"The Giving Mouth" features a fantasy landscape of mining, coal and smoke where knights in animated armor ride steamhorses made of "liveiron." Soon it enters highly-cinematic territory, later explored by Michael Swanwick and China Mieville: post-industrial monsters with weird eating habits, wonderfully detailed epic quest and gross-out ending.

----------------------------------------------

Return to the Wonder Timeline

1985 - Year in SF&F: December

2009-09-18T03:12:00.001-07:00

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE
Read other issues here

----------------------------------------------

James Blaylock
"Lord Kelvin's Machine"
(Langdon St.Ives series)
© IASFM, Dec 1985
book: Arkham House, 1992
--collection : 1993 World Fantasy
--sf novel : 1993 Locus/19
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ style award

If you had to include one quintessential story in the genre-defining anthology of steampunk, this would be a good choice: it covers all the bases, and is unpretentious enough to fill most stomachs hungry for a quick meal of the Victorian Bizarre.

"A scientist-explorer Langdon St. Ives and his valet, Hasbro, pursue their arch-nemesis, the hunchback Dr. Ignacio Narbondo, across Norway, contesting Narbondo's plot to destroy the earth and, later, efforts to revivify Narbondo's apparently frozen corpse. In the process St. Ives gains access to a powerful device created by Lord Kelvin, which allows St. Ives to travel through time."

Quite an enjoyable steampunk romp through the (now already cliched) staples of the genre: deliciously cheesy arch-enemies, a plot spiced with mighty volcanoes and swell Victorian technology. Good stuff, recommended.

----------------------------------------------
Return to the Wonder Timeline

James Blaylock

2006-06-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

"The Elfin Ship"
(Elfin Series)
© 1982, Del Rey Books
--/ third place f novel
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

"His Own Backyard"
© Sci Fiction, Jul 2001
In For A Penny, 2003
--short story : 2002 World Fantasy
--short story : 2002 Locus /18
--/ cool f story
--/ style award

"Hula Ville"
© Sci Fiction, Dec 2003
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

"In For A Penny"
© Sci Fiction, Mar 2002
In For A Penny, 2003
--novelette : 2003 Locus /10
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

----------------------------------------------

James Blaylock
"Lord Kelvin's Machine"
(Langdon St.Ives series)
© IASFM, Dec 1985
book: Arkham House, 1992
--collection : 1993 World Fantasy
--sf novel : 1993 Locus/19
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ style award

If you had to include one quintessential story in the genre-defining anthology of steampunk, this would be a good choice: it covers all the bases, and is unpretentious enough to fill most stomachs hungry for a quick meal of the Victorian Bizarre.

"A scientist-explorer Langdon St. Ives and his valet, Hasbro, pursue their arch-nemesis, the hunchback Dr. Ignacio Narbondo, across Norway, contesting Narbondo's plot to destroy the earth and, later, efforts to revivify Narbondo's apparently frozen corpse. In the process St. Ives gains access to a powerful device created by Lord Kelvin, which allows St. Ives to travel through time."

Quite an enjoyable steampunk romp through the (now already cliched) staples of the genre: deliciously cheesy arch-enemies, a plot spiced with mighty volcanoes and swell Victorian technology. Good stuff, recommended.

----------------------------------------------

"Myron Chester and the Toads "
© IASFM, Feb 1987
Thirteen Phantasms and Other Stories, 2000
--/ cool f story

"The Other Side"
© Sci Fiction, Oct 2000
In For A Penny, 2003
--novelette : 2001 Locus /6
--/ cool f story

"Paper Dragons"
© Imaginary Lands, ed. R. McKinley, 1985
Thirteen Phantasms and Other Stories, 2000
--short story : 1986 Nebula
--short story : 1986 World Fantasy W
--short story : 1986 Locus /15
--short story : 1986 SF Chronicle W
--/ third place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award
--/ idea award
--/ emotion award

"The Shadow On The Doorstep"
© IASFM, May 1986
Thirteen Phantasms and Other Stories, 2000
--/ cool f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

"Small Houses"
© Sci Fiction, Sep 2001
In For A Penny, 2003
--short story : 2002 Locus /20
--/ third place f story
--/ style award
--/ emotion award

"Thirteen Phantasms"
© 1997, OMNI
Thirteen Phantasms and Other Stories, 2000
--short fiction : 1997 World Fantasy W
--shortlist : 1997 Sturgeon
--/ third place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award
--/ idea award

"The War Of The Worlds"
© SciFiction, Jun 2000
In For A Penny, 2003
--short story : 2001 Locus /15
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ idea award
--/ romance award
--/ humour award

--------------------

"Steampunk" Anthology, Edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

2009-09-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Making all gearheads and sci-fi punks in the world "feel lucky", since 2008

(right image credit: John Coulthart)

The term Steampunk is applied almost too often these days, with some sub-genres even branching out from it like from a twisted, tangled tree - dieselpunk, greenpunk, stitchpunk, you name it (see definitions of various "punk" literary varieties here). This book, however, aims to preserve the purity of the steampunk mainstream by collecting some ripe and delicious fruits from that rapidly-branching tree. Although none are very recent - most of the included stories are from the 1990s and before - there is a reason for that:

"The goal of the anthology was to collect the iconic first/second wave stories along with some interesting variants, also mostly from ten years ago or earlier," says co-editor Jeff VanderMeer, "Steampunk II, which we're working on now, collects reprints from the last ten years".

So, if you haven't read this book yet, what are you waiting for? Here is a handy guide to what's inside the covers (reviewed by Avi Abrams).

(image credit: John Coulthart)

Scroll down to read reviews of individual stories:

----------------------------------------------

James Blaylock
"Lord Kelvin's Machine"
(Langdon St.Ives series)
© IASFM, Dec 1985
book: Arkham House, 1992
--collection : 1993 World Fantasy
--sf novel : 1993 Locus/19
--/ fourth place sf story
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ style award

If you had to include one quintessential story in the genre-defining anthology of steampunk, this would be a good choice: it covers all the bases, and is unpretentious enough to fill most stomachs hungry for a quick meal of the Victorian Bizarre.

"A scientist-explorer Langdon St. Ives and his valet, Hasbro, pursue their arch-nemesis, the hunchback Dr. Ignacio Narbondo, across Norway, contesting Narbondo's plot to destroy the earth and, later, efforts to revivify Narbondo's apparently frozen corpse. In the process St. Ives gains access to a powerful device created by Lord Kelvin, which allows St. Ives to travel through time."

Quite an enjoyable steampunk romp through the (now already cliched) staples of the genre: deliciously cheesy arch-enemies, a plot spiced with mighty volcanoes and swell Victorian technology. Good stuff, recommended.

----------------------------------------------

Ian R. MacLeod
"The Giving Mouth"
© IASFM, March 1991
Voyages by Starlight, 1996
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ idea award
--/ style award
--/ shock value
--/ rare find

This is the most peculiar epic fantasy you ever likely to read (I realize this is quite a statement). Very stylish, very Ursula Le Guin-like at first (think of her low-key "Orsinian Tales"), it evolves into a ferocious Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique spawn, at once disgusting and irresistibly complex. Wonderful tour-de-force, liked it very much.

"The Giving Mouth" features a fantasy landscape of mining, coal and smoke where knights in animated armor ride steamhorses made of "liveiron." Soon it enters highly-cinematic territory, later explored by Michael Swanwick and China Mieville: post-industrial monsters with weird eating habits, wonderfully detailed epic quest and gross-out ending.

----------------------------------------------

Joe R. Lansdale
"The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down: A Dime Novel"
© 2000, The Long Ones
Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories, 2004
--/ fourth place f novella
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award
--/ shock value

"Dime Novel" it very well may be, but if it had appeared for sale some hundred years ago (unrated and unabridged), it could've caused a few fatalities among unprepared Victorian readers, through sheer shock and utter, disgusted disbelief. It is an entirely wicked novella, and is meant to be just that. I daresay it's even more offensive than Lansdale's "Zeppelins West" - but for all that hype and coarse sensationalism, it is a gorgeous example of no-holds-barred Wild West Steampunk Blockbuster. It is a blast, like many, many works of Joe R. Lansdale in his screwed-up version of the Wild West (think "cow-punk" plus a few "Saw" movies)

It is one heck of a ride, and it has everything a dime novel should have - mystery, wonder, adventure and crazed horror mixed with deeply dark atmosphere. You've been warned, but by all means, if you just watched, say, "Crank 2: High Voltage" and came out unaffected, then you'll see no problem with this novella either.

This sort of ferocious entertainment in literature reminds me of some wild and crazed Clark Ashton Smith stories in the 1930s "Weird Tales" pulp.

----------------------------------------------

Ted Chiang
"Seventy-Two Letters"
© Vanishing Acts, ed. E. Datlow, 2000
Stories Of Your Life And Others, 2002
--novella : 2001 Hugo
--novella : 2001 World Fantasy
--shortlist : 2001 Sturgeon
--novella : 2001 Locus /4
--short form : 2001 Sidewise W
--foreign short story : 2001 Hayakawa W
--translated short story : 2002 Seiun W
--/ third place sf story
--/ idea award
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

I found this story a bit long and tedious, but these are probably the only faults in what turned out to be intriguing and entirely unique tale. The concept here is that Names (words) are truly powerful tools capable of creating or modifying reality – this is an important idea in ancient Hebrew culture, starting from Adam, who named (defined, co-created) all the animals in the Garden of Eden. In this story we have some ultimate "incantations" helping robots to achieve their peak performance, but of course, meddling with these building blocks of the Universe leads to the deeply disturbing results. If you remember, a similar idea was the basis for Arthur Clarke's "Nine Billion Names of God", but Chiang gives it a highly sophisticated and learned makeover, creating another classic tale from the Genesis-old spiritual know-how.

Very impressive mixture of high-flight science fiction and meta-physical and meta-spiritual conjecture, which is really hard to do without overdoing it... but Chiang succeeds spectacularly (and garners a plethora of awards in the process).

----------------------------------------------

Michael Chabon
"The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance"
© McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, No.10, 2003
--/ fourth place f story
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

I will describe my experience of discovering fiction by Michael Chabon: at first bite it does not seem to be that intense, or delicious. You get into the story for a couple of pages, then you realize that the characters are too bizarre, the world-view does not fit, the plot does not compute, and even the words themselves that author uses are baroque, esoteric, obtuse... in other words, if you approach it lightly, Chabon's prose is not going to make much sense. But now you are too intrigued. You go back a couple of pages, read it again with more attention and respect - and BAM! you are hooked (or doomed) to read the whole story, with rewards piling up in every paragraph.

A Planetary Romance? Yes, but not in a conventional way. Subtle. Subdued. Emotional undercurrents require a careful appreciation of how characters speak, think and (rarely) behave. This is more of a meditative piece, and yet it's not lacking in adventure. If this is your first taste of Michael Chabon's fiction, I envy you. Now you will have to go and get more... more...

----------------------------------------------

Paul Di Filippo
"Victoria"
(Steampunk Trilogy)
© Amazing Stories, Jun 1991
Steampunk Trilogy, 1995
--/ third place f novella
--/ shock value
--/ humour award
--/ wonder award
--/ style award

Not only is the entertainment value of this novella is through-the-roof, the significance of its appearing as far back as 1991 is notable as well: it pushes the envelope in more ways than one, defining steampunk black comedy with its own brand of humour.

Try not to grin as you read: naughty, improbable, grotesque, the tale bests itself at every turn, featuring such wildly bizarre concoctions as a homunculus/newt on the throne of England, nuclear train engines and "ideoplasm"-powered transdimensional prairie schooners, with inevitable Lovecraft monsters duly appearing in the "Hottentots" sequel.

This is a highlight of any summer reading (for just like in the movies, there has to be a "Summer Blockbuster Reading Season"). You are not going to forget it, but some readers might think that Paul Di Filippo goes too far into the territory they can't follow.

Also included in this anthology:

----------------------------------------------

Michael Moorcock
"The Warlord of the Air" (nv)
(Oswald Bastable series)
© 1971, DAW Books, Ace Books
--/ cool sf novel
--/ wonder award
--/ adventure award

Seminal early steampunk novel, with wonderful airships jumping off the page, and Japanese animation-like action thunders into your ears - with some color and silly plot to boot.

----------------------------------------------

Stepan Chapman
"Minutes of the Last Meeting"
© 1998, "Leviathan 2", ed. J. VanderMeer
--/ cool f novella
--/ wonder award

The Nuclear Age comes to the Imperial Russia just before the October Revolution. A great - even brilliant - idea, but could be better plotted and executed. As it is, this is an entertaining, but somewhat shallow read.

----------------------------------------------

Neal Stephenson
"Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast"
© 1995, "Full Spectrum 5", ed. J. Hershey
--/ cool sf story
--/ idea award

Tribes of the Suburbia: the Mall Sub-Culture. Basically, more cyberpunk than steampunk, also reminiscent of the George A. Romero's iconic "Dawn of the Dead" - "The stand-off between the gentlefolk adventurers and researchers and an enraged tribe of Mad Max-esque petrolhead barbarians in the ruins of a shopping mall".

----------------------------------------------

(image credit: John Coulthart)

ALSO READ: "THE SURREAL OFFICE" ->
...and an interview with Jeff VanderMeer ->