Tangent Online 2024 Recommended Reading List
Science Fiction Writers Association:
Social Justice
or
Writers Organization
A Modest Proposal
Last year I used this space as preface to our Recommended Reading List to comment on several issues pertaining to SF at large, and SFWA in particular. This year I would like to continue my thoughts on why I believe SFWA is traveling down a dark road, further expanding what it believes is its ever-increasing role of liberal social activism in addition to that of its founding mission as a literary organization devoted to bettering its writers in the areas of fair contracts, how to acquire an agent and what to look for in an agent, subsidiary rights, writing advice in general, and fair and timely payment for works both long and short. The organization’s basic remit was to inform, support, promote, defend, and advocate for its members. Along the way, relatively early in SFWA’s history, it offered a pair of benefits to its writer members—a legal fund and a medical fund—both of which would be offered to writers with a proven need, with the proviso that any monies loaned must in time be repaid. These benefits to writers were, and are, nice perquisites to finally meeting the entry requirements of having achieved a certain number of professional sales and becoming a member of this new writers organization, one devoted to science fiction and fantasy, the literature they loved to read and now write. The hard work of selling a story or novel to a professional market (usually after many rejection slips) would finally pay off when one could proudly say they belonged to SFWA. Hard work had paid off.
Damon Knight founded SFWA in 1965. The initial requirements for full, Active membership were something along the lines of 3 short fiction sales within a 2 or 3 year period (I forget which) or a novel sale within 5. After meeting these requirements for first time membership all one had to do was repeat the sales requirements and pay the annual dues to remain Active. Years would pass, and then I believe it was sometime in the 1980s that it was proposed as a new bylaw that once an author had met the initial requirements once, then there would be no requirement to requalify. Writers would remain on Active status as long as annual dues were paid. Once you were in, you were in for life as long as annual dues were paid. This major change led to quite a bit of passionate discussion as you might imagine, but the deed was done. Requalification was a thing of the past. Every few years after this momentous bylaw change the so-called Requal War would rear its ugly head, only to be soundly defeated by the membership. The last time I can recall its being put on a bylaw referendum was in 1998, when it was solidly defeated once again by a margin (IIRC) of 2 to 1. After all, who would vote for a bylaw amendment that meant one had to actually begin selling short fiction or the occasional novel again, instead of merely paying annual dues? So once in, you were in for good. Add to this the fact that as No Requal became the norm, slowly but surely the requirements for Active membership were lowered in various ways: the number of sales would give way to a certain monetary dollar amount to be met for membership, or a certain minimum number of words had to be sold. None of these requirements were perfect so tinkering with them from time to time was always one of SFWA’s fun parlor games. But after all was said and done, an author had only to meet SFWA’s now greatly reduced bar of admission requirements to win Active status, and then never again as long as dues were paid worry about selling another story or novel. Membership has increased almost asymptotically with these new membership requirements, while somewhat surprisingly membership dues have increased to $100 annually. I recall that when I resigned as Bulletin editor in 2002 and then let my Affiliate membership happily lapse I think dues were in the neighborhood of $35. While I realize everything gets more expensive over time and real world circumstances necessitate occasional price adjustments, I find it hard to believe that SFWA dues have risen to $100, almost tripling in the 22 years since I was a member. Remember too that when I was a member, SFWA membership fell in the range of 1,000 to maybe 1,500, where now, as recently as 2022 it claims membership around 2,200. 2,200 x $100 per member equals around $220,000 in dues per year. I am hard pressed to account for where all this money goes, as it accumulates, minus expenses, quite nicely year after year. For all intents and purposes there is no SFWA Bulletin to pay for, the once annual Nebula Showcase volumes are now published in-house by SFWA (supposedly saving money from paying a book publisher), though their schedule has become quite erratic though a new volume is slated to appear in 2025, and besides the annual Nebula Conferences Weekend (which they could afford for decades before the hike in membership dues), I’m at a loss to figure out where all the money goes. Some of it is probably spent on medical or legal expenses for qualifying members, but these monies are loans meant to be repaid, so no net loss for SFWA. Is the money put in banks? Is any of it given in grants to certain organizations or groups? If so, how much and to which groups? Does the membership at large get to vote on how their hard-earned dues are spent, or does the Board decide on its own without consulting the membership?
With the influx of new members over the past 15 or 20 years, the membership has also altered appreciably. With new members come new social and political ideologies reflecting their lived cultural and educational experiences in the real world. This is to be expected and is fine as long as it doesn’t change the very nature of the organization itself, from one of primarily a literary organization to one more concerned with social or political activism. Two instances where SFWA has obviously promoted social (and almost outright political) groups on its website are Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Black Lives Matter (the official organization, not the sentiment) was founded by self-proclaimed Marxists. From part of a statement from SFWA and signed by the entire Board of Directors in 2020: “We support Black Lives Matter and the protesters who are seeking justice for centuries of white supremacy and police brutality.” https://www.sfwa.org/2020/06/04/a-statement-from-sfwa-on-black-lives-matter-and-protests/
And the DEI page at SFWA: https://www.sfwa.org/what-is-sfwa/committees/dei/
Please note that DEI departments have been included in many corporations since its heyday around 2019. The following link lists 44 well known corporations or other businesses where DEI has been cancelled, dismantled, or cut back. It has been tried and found that it just isn’t feasible or practical in the real world and some have called it borderline racist. Some of the names may surprise you, a few of which are the University of Michigan, Southwest Airlines, Target, Walmart, Federal Communications Commission, United Airlines, Boeing, Toyota, Ford, Microsoft, CNN, UPS, Chipotle, Starbucks, and John Deere). Promotion of socio/political groups like DEI have no place in a writers organization. In the cases of BLM (the organization) and DEI remember that, like cancer, Woke represents stage 4 Political Correctness and you don’t get much more Woke than DEI. The link to the entire list: https://buildremote.co/companies/ending-dei/#companies
Was SFWA’s membership at large asked for their input via vote to promote these two items on the pages of the organization to which they pay annual dues of $100? Or does the Board of Directors just do what they please with members’ money because they think they can. SFWA should stay away from politics and pseudo-political movements.
But if SFWA decides after a vote from its members to double down on promoting social or pseudo-political agendas, then so be it. That said, I offer a modest proposal as an alternative to BLM and DEI. I propose two organizations whose services actually provide great help and relief not just to a few granted victimhood status but to males and females and children of all colors and ethnicities. After all, SFWA makes it a point whenever it finds the opportunity to proclaim that it is looking out for all of its creators/members, not just those cherry-picked for their leftist leanings such as BLM and DEI. Therefore, I suggest that SFWA mount a promotional campaign (equal to the exposure it gives to BLM and DEI) to advertise the much needed, patriotic work done by the Tunnel to Towers (T2T) Foundation. That organization providing hard-earned relief for first responders (medical, fire, police) and servicemen and women severely wounded from injuries received on active duty assignment. You’ve no doubt seen their ads on TV and know how vital their help is to those who are most worthy, given the nature of their sacrifice, which is sometimes the ultimate sacrifice. I hope SFWA might step up and recognize the Tunnel to Towers Foundation for its help to those most deserving, regardless of their gender or skin color. Tunnel to Towers mission statement and link: “Since 9/11, we have been helping America’s heroes by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and by building specially-adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. We are also committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and helping America to Never Forget September 11, 2001.” https://t2t.org/
Again, if SFWA is bound and determined to promote certain social or political viewpoints on its website, then rather than BLM or DEI, I would offer as a much more inclusive venue, one that provides literally life-saving care to infants and small children at no cost to families—Danny Thomas’s St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. https://www.stjude.org/directory/t/danny-thomas-founder.html
Finally, a little perspective goes a long way sometimes. It might prove valuable to take a look near the beginnings of SFWA from a first hand account. Back in 2016 Greg Benford sent me a hitherto undistributed account of the 3rd annual SFWA Day Program and Nebula Banquet that took place in March of 1970 from Berkeley, CA. It was only the third in SFWA’s short history. Greg asked me to clean it up and capture as closely as possible the single remaining tattered mimeographed account of the whole day, guest speakers, panel discussions, and art. It was a more difficult and time-consuming task than I imagined, for the state of OCR (optical character recognition) software left a lot to be desired. I ended up typing almost the whole account by hand and placing the art as closely to where it appeared on any given page as I could. Approving the final draft, Greg sent it off to then SFWA President Cat Rambo on October 31, 2016 as a piece of historical relevance from SFWA’s earliest days, in hope that those interested in the beginnings of SFWA and any other SF fans could get a glimpse of the concerns and birthing pangs a writers’ organization went through at its start. A few names contributing to speeches or discussions are Harlan Ellison, Ursula K. LeGuin, Poul Anderson, Harry Harrison, Greg Benford, Larry Shaw, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Samuel R. Delany, and Norman Spinrad. The entire account I found fascinating and I hope others will as well. Please note that after opening the file to the title page (Between Worlds) Cat Rambo has added a brief intro just above the title page, so to read this you must scroll up one page.
https://nebulas.sfwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Benford-Between-WorldsFINAL-docx.dt-2.pdf
All of the above reminds me of Ben Franklin’s response to the question posed to him in 1787 by Elizabeth Willing Powel. She asked Franklin “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” To which Franklin famously replied: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
This memorable exchange led me without hesitation to imagine a totally fictitious bit of fancy: I imagined an SF writer approaching Damon Knight shortly after SFWA had been created, and asking him “Well, Mr. Knight, what have we got, a social justice or writers organization?” To which Damon would have replied “A writers organization, if you can keep it.”
Dave Truesdale, December 2024
As with previous years, the following list is not meant as comprehensive, there being a number of items we didn’t see, especially at the novella length. As was the case with the last several years, we narrowed our focus (with some exceptions) to those stories published in professionally paying markets as defined by SFWA.
There are 290 stories on this year’s list (up 43 from last year’s 247): 226 short stories (up 24 from last year’s 202), 54 novelettes (up 14 from last year’s 40), and 10 novellas (up 5 from last year’s 5). As with any such list—especially ours with its ever-changing review staff—different reviewers bring different perspectives on how to approach stories, how they are thus measured, and of course the stories themselves are of different “quality” (up or down) if such a thing as quality can be measured by any objective standard. However, it does seem as if each year has its own nebulous, general level of quality, with some years being commented upon in retrospect as great years for quality fiction and others not so much. There are just too many variables to nail down as to why any given year—or recommended reading list—has more or fewer stories placed on it by a different cast of reviewers, each of whom brings their own individual set of standards to the fiction they read.
Such a list as the one below brings to it a rather broad cross section of the genre’s readership (i.e., that nameless reader at which short fiction venues are always aiming to attract). Some reviewers are relatively new to SF/F, while others have a long relationship with the genre but may not have experience at the reviewing end of the process. There are those who have read extensively for decades and who have experience at reviewing as well; there are a few selling writers who know from experience what goes into crafting a work of fiction, and there are those with an academic viewpoint and wide knowledge of the genre who bring a more critical approach to the fiction they review, and then place on this list.
As is our custom, there are four sections to each length category. Those making the list in the short story, novelette, and novella lengths but having no stars, and those with either one, two, or three stars, according to how well the reviewer or reviewers valued a particular story. From time to time you will see more than a single reviewer’s initials following a given entry. We have placed the story in the category receiving the most stars. Thus, it is possible that while one reviewer placed a story on the list without any stars, another also placed it on the list but with one or more stars, thus elevating that story to the higher ranking. Where there are more than one reviewer’s initials following a story recommendation, they appear in no particular order, thus making it impossible to determine which of the reviewers provided this higher ranking. Conversely, it is also possible that each reviewer held the same opinion of any given story.
If a story is placed in an incorrect length category, please let us know and we’ll be happy to correct the oversight. Reviewers are free to place stories on this list from any of their reading during the year, and are not restricted to those venues covered here, nor to publications they have personally reviewed.
If you would like to review for Tangent Online, knowledge of the SF/F/H genres is a must, and reviewing experience is highly preferred. Interested parties may contact the editor at tangent.dt1@gmail.com. Please note that Tangent Online is a fanzine (eligible for Hugo award consideration in the fanzine category) and does not pay its contributors.
2024 Reviewer names and initials
Mike Bickerdike (MB), Richard Cartwright (RC), David Wesley Hill (DWH), Geoff Houghton (GH), C. D. Lewis (CDL), Mina (M), Chuck Rothman (CR), Seraph (S), Victoria Silverwolf (VS), László Szegedi (LSz), Dave Truesdale (DT).
I wish to thank the reviewers for the time and energy they have devoted to reading and reviewing this year’s offerings. Without them, no Tangent Online and no Recommended Reading List; they’re the ones who make it all work. Thanks are also due those who sent material for review, and of course our loyal readership throughout 2024—our 31st year since that first, slim July/August 1993 print issue was mailed out.
Below are covers from original anthologies that included a least one story making our list. Magazine covers (print and online) are interspersed throughout the list in no particular order.
Short Stories
“Song of Nyx” by Sam W. Pisciotta (Analog, 1-2/24) SF (VS)
“The Most Expensive Family Vacation on Record” by Sheldon J. Pacotti (Analog, 1-2/24) SF (VS)
“You’re 16” by Steve Ingeman (Analog, 1-2/24) SF (VS)
“Tepid War” by Jay Werkheiser (Analog, 1-2/24) SF (VS)
“A Cure For Solastalgia” by E.M. Linden (Strange Horizons, 1-1/24) F (M)
“Rail Meat” by Marie Vibbert (Clarkesworld #208, 1/24) SF (VS)
“It Goes So Fast” by Lisa Papademetriou (Asimov’s, 1-2/24) SF (M)
“Early Adopter” by Zack Be (Asimov’s, 1-2/24) SF (M)
“The Scalar Intercepts” by Michael Cassutt (Asimov’s, 1-2/24) SF (M)
“Empty Your Cup, Or Dry It?” by Nick Mamatas (Weird World War: China, 1/24) SF (VS)
“Flawed Evolution” by Brian Trent (Weird World War: China, 1/24) SF (VS)
“Sp1k3” by Deborah A. Wolf (Weird World War: China, 1/24) SF (VS)
“Do Dragons Text?” by Brenda W. Clough (Weird World War: China, 1/24) F (VS)
“Fool’s Gold” by Dan Willis (Down These Mean Streets, 1/24) F (CDL)
“Breathe” by Griffin Barber (Down These Mean Streets, 1/24) F (CDL)
“It’s Always Sunny in Key West” by Laurell K. Hamilton (Down These Mean Streets, 1/24) F (CDL)
“The Last Wardog” by Michael R. Fletcher (Grimdark #37, 1/24) F (DWH)
“Farewell to Faust” by Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed #164, 1/24) F (MB)
“Mackson’s Mardi Gras Moon Race” by David DeGraff (F&SF, Winter 2024) SF (VS)
“Changeling” by Michael Gardner (Aurealis #167, 1/24) F (DWH)
“The Combat Pilot’s Dictionary” by Arden Baker (Aurealis #167, 1/24) SF (DWH)
“Call Me Sunny” by TC Ross (Full Steam Ahead, 1/24) F (M)
“Innovation” by Erin Furby (Full Steam Ahead, 1/24) F (M)
“510 to Marakaj” by Peter Delcroft (Full Steam Ahead, 1/24) F (M)
“Gentlemen of Brave Metal” by Lee Allred (Full Steam Ahead, 1/24) SF (M)
“The Enceladus South Pole Base Named after V. I. Lenin” by Zohar Jacobs (Clarkesworld #209, 2/24) SF (VS)
“Rembrandt, graffiti, and the strange disappearance of ducks” by C. H. Irons (Strange Horizons, 2/12/24) SF (VS)
“Scarlett” by Everdeen Mason (Lightspeed #165, 2/24) SF (VS)
“Mecha at the State Fair” by Sarah Arnette (Giant Freakin’ Robots, 2/24) SF (S)
“The Federation of Intergalactic Mechanized Orsacan Combat” by Peter Delcroft (Giant Freakin’ Robots, 2/24) SF (S)
“Mariposa de Hierro” by Matt McHugh (Analog, 3-4/24) SF (VS)
“Undertow” by Gregory Hartmann (Analog, 3-4/24) SF (VS)
“Caf-Fiend” by Julie Frost (Cirsova #18, Spring 2024) F (VS)
“Computer Games” by Louise Sorensen (Cirsova #18, Spring 2024) SF (VS)
“limerence” by Samir Sirk Morató (Flash Fiction Online #126, 3/24) F (DWH)
“The Birds of the Muses” by Iver P. Cooper (Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond #4, 3-4/24) SF (VS)
“One Flew Over the Songhua River” by Qi Ran (Clarkesworld #210, 3/24) SF (VS)
“The Ghost Tenders of Chornobyl” by Nika Murphy (Apex #143, 3/24) F (DWH)
“Everything in the Garden Is Lovely” by Hannah Yang (Apex #143, 3/24) F (DWH)
“Chị Tấm Is Tired of Being Dead” By Natasha King (Apex #143, 3/24) F (DWH)
“Peck” by Dr. Bunny McFadden (Asimov’s, 3-4/24) F (M)
“A Magician Did It” by Rich Larson (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #402, 3/7/24) F (VS)
“Level One: Blowtorch” by Jared Oliver Adams (Diabolical Plots #109, 3/24) SF (Lsz)
“The Patron Saint of Flatliners” by K.A. Wiggins (Mysterion, 3/24) F (DWH)
“The Pitch Pipe Forest” by Barbara A. Barnett (DreamForge Anvil #15, Spring/24) F (M)
“Empty Nest” by Arthur H. Manners (DreamForge Anvil #15, Spring/24) SF (M)
“In Space No-One Can Hear You Play Alto Sax” by Hesper Leveret (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 3/24) SF (M)
“Fragments of a Symbiotic Life” by Will McMahon (Lightspeed #166, 3/24) F (VS)
“Kopki and the Fish” by Alex Irvine (Lightspeed #166, 3/24) F (VS)
“Median” by Kelly Robson (Reactor, 3/24) F (VS)
“Our Very Best Selves!” by Fatima Taqvi (Nightmare #138, 3/24) F (CDL)
“The Federation of Intergalactic Mechanized Orsacan Combat” by Peter Delcroft (Giant Freakin’ Robots,2/24) SF (S)
“To Catch The Light Off Other Stars” by A. J. Rocca (Sci Phi Journal, Spring/24) F/SF (VS)
“The Lark Ascending” by Eleanna Castroianni (Clarkesworld #211, 4/24) SF (VS)
“Da-Ko-Ta” by Amir Agoora (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) F (M)
“Squiddy” by John Eric Schleicher (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) SF (M)
“Halo” by Nancy Kress (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) SF (M)
“Project Desert Sparrow” by Chana Kohl (Analog, 5-6/24) SF (VS)
“Susan Rose Sees Mars as the First Frontier” by Charles Velasquez-Witosky (Analog, 5-6/24) SF (VS)
“Mayflies” by Richard A. Lovett (Analog, 5-6/24) SF (VS)
“Justice Runs Like Clockwork” by Christine Norris (Other Aether, 6/24) F (S)
“The Limits of My Language” by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne (Grimdark #38, 4/24) F (DWH)
“Redstarts in the Last Summer” by Vajra Chandrasekera (Grimdark #38, 4/24) SF (DWH)
“Mother’s Day, After Everything” by Susan Palwick (Lightspeed #167, 4-24) SF (VS)
“A Pilgrimage to the God of High Places” by Marissa Lingen (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #406, 5/2/24) F (M)
“Mail from Up-Time” by George Grant (Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond #5, 5-6/24) SF (VS)
“Dog of War” by Colin Clark (Aurealis #170, 5/24) SF (DWH)
“The Spindle of Necessity” by B. Pladek (Strange Horizons, 5-20/24) F (MB)
“Songs of Loss and Love” by Jim Breyfogle (Cirsova #19, Summer/24) F (VS)
“The Weight of Your Own Ashes” by Carlie St. George (Clarkesworld #212, 5/24) SF (DWH)
“Our Father” by K. J. Khan (Clarkesworld #212, 5/24) SF (DWH)
“Blood and Desert Dreams” by Y. M. Pang (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #408, 5/30/24) F (M)
“Twenty-Four Hours” by H. H. Pak (Clarkesworld #213, 6/24) SF (VS)
“The Guest” by Ashley Cracknell (Aurealis #171, 6/24) F (CDL)
“Are They Cake?” by Justine Gardner (Flash Fiction Online #129, 6/24) SF (DWH)
“The Eyes of Damocles” by Brian Trent (Tales of the United States Space Force, 6/24) SF (M)
“Luna Lacuna” by Laura Montgomery (Tales of the United States Space Force, 6/24) SF (M)
“A Fair Defence” by C. Stuart Hardwick (Tales of the United States Space Force, 6/24) SF (M)
“The Help Hotline” by Dominica Phetteplace (Lightspeed #169, 6/24) SF (MB)
“Tamaza’s Future and Mine” by Kenneth Schneyer (Asimov’s, 7-8/24) SF (VS)
“Don’t Look!” by Larry Hodges (Sci Phi Journal, Summer/24) SF (VS)
“Human Processing Unit” by David W. Kastner (Sci Phi Journal, Summer/24) SF (VS)
“Our Lady of the Clay” by Daniela Tomova (Apex #145, 7-8/24) F (VS)
“Ascension’s Eve” by Rich Larson (Flash Fiction Online #130, 7/24) SF (DWH)
“Perfect Vaca, No Filter” by Vivian Chou (Flash Fiction Online #130, 7/24) SF (DWH)
“I Will Meet You When the Artefacts End” by Amal Singh (Clarkesworld #214, 7/24) SF (M)
“Stellar Evolutions in Pop Idol Artistry” by Em X. Liu (Clarkesworld #214, 7/24) SF (M)
“Born Outside” by Polenth Blake (Clarkesworld #214, 7/24) SF (M)
“Grottmata” by Thomas Ha (Nightmare #142, 7/24) SF (VS)
“A Hero’s Tale” by E. Florian Gludovacz (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 7/24) F (M)
“I’ll Miss Myself” by John Wiswell (Reactor, 7/24) SF (VS)
“Smarthouse Revolution” by Curtis James McConnell (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF (M)
“Our Foul Ancestors” by Neil James Hudson (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF (M)
“A Kid with Six Arms Wants to Kick My Ass” by Edward Barnfield (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF (M)
“What Would You Do for Me” by Jesse Back (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF (M)
“Pink Pickled Pixies” by Wulf Moon (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) F (M)
“The Missing Music in Milo Piper’s Head” by David Hankins (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF (M)
“Rosemary’s Kitten” by Jean Marie Ward (Cats, Dragons, & Formidable Femmes, 7/24) F (CDL)
“Pas de Demons” by Jean Marie Ward (Cats, Dragons, & Formidable Femmes, 7/24) F (CDL)
“The Sibyl” by Anna Dallara (Flash Fiction Online #131, 8/24) F (VS)
“The Problem With Feelin’ Flo-Jo’s Glory Pose” by Aurelius Raines II (Strange Horizons 8/12/24) SF (VS)
“The Time Capsule” by Alice Towey (Clarkesworld #215, 8/24) SF (VS)
“Molum, Molum, Molum the Scourge” by Rich Larson (Clarkesworld #215, 8/24) SF (VS)
“The Physician’s Tale” by Jonathan Duckworth, (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #61, 8/24) F (S)
“Under the Skin” by Deborah L. Davitt (Lightspeed #171, 8/24) SF (VS)
“They Who Have Lost Their Way” by Danielle Ackley-McPhail (Forgotten Lore Two: A Cry of Hounds, 8/24) F (VS)
“A Tapestry of Dreams” by Victor Forna (Apex #146, 9-10/24) F (VS)
“How to Remember Perfectly” by Eric Schwitzgebel (Clarkesworld #216, 9/24) SF (VS)
“Dead Ringer” by Ali Householder (Strange Horizons, 9/9/24) F (MR)
“What It Means to Drift” by Rajeev Prasad (F&SF, Summer/24) SF (VS)
“Red Ochre, Ivory Bone” by Deborah L. Davitt (F&SF, Summer/24) SF (VS)
“Bad Cop, No Donut” by Ryan Hunke (Analog, 9-10/24) SF (MB)
“A Stream of Leaves” by Tony Ballantyne (Analog, 9-10/24) SF (MB)
“The Circumambulation” by James Van Pelt (Analog, 9-10/24) SF (MB)
“Transitive Property of Names” by Mark W. Tiedemann (Analog, 9-10/24) SF (MB)
“An Unplanned Hold” by Zohar Jacobs (Asimov’s, 9-10/24) SF (M)
“Vinegar-Gurgle” by Andrew K Hoe (Flash Fiction Online #133, 10/24) H (VS)
“Black Wine From the Slopes of Dawn” by Rajiv Moté (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #417, 10/3/24) F (VS)
“Giant of the Stars” by Alex Langer (On Spec #129, Fall/24) F (M)
“The Blood Webs” by Fiona Moore (On Spec #129, Fall/24) F (M)
“Before Her Eyes” by R.Haven (On Spec #129, Fall/4) SF (M)
“The Neighborly Thing To Do” by Scott Edelman (DreamForge Anvil #17, Fall/24) F (M)
“Little Things Nobody Remembers” by Matt McHugh (DreamForge Anvil #17, Fall/24) F (M)
“If This Flesh Were Thought” by Matt McHugh (Analog 11-12/24) SF (VS)
“The New Saharan Energy Company, Annual Report 2058” by David McGillveray (Analog 11-12/24) SF (VS)
“Things Lost Forever” by Auston Habershaw (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #419, 10/31/24) F (VS)
“The Diablo is in the Details” by Aaron Jameison Greso (Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond #8, 11-12/24) SF (VS)
“Bells Beyond the Shore” by Phil Emery (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #62 11/24) F (VS)
“Red Rain” by John Ter Horst (Aurealis #176 11/24) SF (VS)
“A Slightly Different Sunrise from Mercury, Nevada” by Ide Hennessy (Strange Horizons 11/18/24) SF (VS)
“Hazards of Being Related to the Chosen One” by Emmie Christie (Flash Fiction Online #134, 11/24) F (M)
“In (Future) Memory of an Absent Father” by A. W. Prihandita (Mysterion 11/24) F (VS)
“The Vessels of Song” by Avram Klein (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #421, 11/28/24) F (VS)
“In Which Christopher Robin Visits the In-Between Places” by Alex Shvartsman (The Horror at Pooh Corner, 10/24) H (VS)
“In Which Christopher Robin Has Grown, and Tells a Story of His Own” by Michaelbrent Collings (The Horror at Pooh Corner, 10/24) H (VS)
“The Thousand Mile Track” by Andrew Hughes (Story Unlikely, 12/24) F (VS)
“Fixing the Turtle” by Tais Teng (Cirsova #21, Winter/24) F (M)
“Swords in the Tomb” by Harold R. Thompson (Cirsova #21, Winter/24) F (M)
“Tokens of Moonlight and Mist” by Stanley Wheeler (Cirsova #21, Winter/24) F (M)
“Luminous Glass, vibrant seeds” by D. A. Xiaolin Spires (Clarkesworld #218, 11/24) SF (M)
“The Painted Skin and the Final Stroke” by Zhu Yixuan (Clarkesworld #219, 12/24) F (VS)
“A Ray So Alone” by Jack Morton (DreamForge Anvil #18, Winter/24) F (M)
“Ties That Bind” by Mark English (DreamForge Anvil #18, Winter/24) F (M)
“Recipes For A Voyage To The Far Shore” by Jared Oliver Adams (DreamForge Anvil #18, Winter/24) F (M)
“A Wish For the Drowned” by Corey Farrenkopf (Strange Horizons, 12/9/24) F (M)
“Exit Interview” by K. W. Onley (Strange Horizons, 12/16/24) SF (M)
“Collaborators” by Michael H. Payne (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 12/24) F (M)
“Muddy Memories” by Dana Vickerson (On Spec #130, Winter/24) SF (VS)
“St. Thomas Aquinas Administers the Turing Test” by Mary Berman (Diabolical Plots #118, 12/24) SF/F (M)
Short Stories One Star
“When No One Has to Say Goodbye” by Elisabeth Ring (Apex #142, 1-2/24) H* (CR)
“For As Long as You Want It” by Kanishk Tantia (Apex #142, 1-2/24) SF* (CR)
“Burning Grannies” by Rory Harper (Asimov’s, 1-2/24) F* (M)
“Ghosts of Kaskata” by Marisa Wolf (Down These Mean Streets, 1/24) SF* (CDL)
“Urban Renewal” by Chris Kennedy (Down These Mean Streets, 1/24) SF* (CDL)
“Blotter Report” by Spearman Burke (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF* (S)
“Incident at Spurgle Station” by Tom Rogneby (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF* (S)
“Just One” by JJ Lynn Daniels (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF* (S)
“Walking in the Black” by Michael Morton (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF* (S)
“Remember the Avalon” by J. Kenton Pierce (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF* (S)
“For the Triumph of Evil” by Jamie Ibson (United We Stand, 3/24) SF* (RC)
“Taking the Next Steps” by Jody Lynn Nye (United We Stand, 3/5) SF* (RC)
“Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber” by James Davies (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) SF* (M)
“Life and Death and Love in the Bayou” by Stephannie Tallent (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) F* (M)
“Gods and Monsters and Brothers” by J. Bridges (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #407, 5/16/2024) F* (M)
“Sever and Bind” by Amanda Helms (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #407, 5/16/2024) F* (M)
“We Shall Drink Wine” by Andrew K. Hoe (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #408, 5/30/24) F* (M)
“Kami of the Mountain” by Cynthia Radthorne (Other Aether, 6/24) F* (S)
“Not a War” by Harry Turtledove (Tales of the United States Space Force, 6/24) SF* (M)
“Defence of Waygo Port” by M.T. Reiten (Tales of the United States Space Force, 6/24) SF* (M)
“Billy Blue” by Ally Wilkes (Nightmare #141, 6/24) H* (Lsz)
“Every Hopeless Thing” by Tia Tashiro (Clarkesworld #214, 7/24) SF* (M)
“Messiah in the Machine” by Yelena Crane (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF* (M)
“Dreams of Rain: Probability of Precipitation” by Juliana Rew (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF* (M)
“What Remains of the Rainbow” by David Cleden (Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, 7/24) SF* (M)
“The Nameless Stranger” by Jean Marie Ward (Cats, Dragons, & Formidable Femmes, 7/24) F* (CDL)
“A Taste of Heaven” by Jean Marie Ward (Cats, Dragons, & Formidable Femmes, 7/24) F* (CDL)
“The Wailing Keep” by Tim Hanlon, (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #61, 8/24) F* (S)
“All We Ever Had” by M. A. Akins (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 8/24) SF* (M)
“Eternity Is Moments” by R.P. Sand (Asimov’s, 9-10/24) SF* (M)
“Bargains” by Rachel Unger (On Spec #129, Fall 2024) F* (M)
“The Rescue” by Nigel Brown (Aurealis #175, 10/24) SF* (CR)
“To Curse with Needle and Thread” by Vijayalaxmi Samal (Flash Fiction Online #134, 11/24) F* (M)
“An Acre a Year” by Gregory Marlow (Flash Fiction Online #134, 11/24) F* (M)
“Little Bird” by Aggie Novak (Flash Fiction Online #134, 11/24) F* (M)
“The Rogue Tractor of Sunshine Gulch” by Kelli Fitzpatrick (Last Train Outta Kepler-283c, 10/24) SF* (CR)
“Enjoy Every Sandwich” by Mark L. Van Name (Last Train Outta Kepler-283c, 10/24) SF* (CR)
“LuvHome TM” by Resa Nelson (Clarkesworld #218, 11/24) SF* (M)
“Cross-Pollination” by Taylor Jones (DreamForge Anvil #18, Winter/24) F* (M)
Short Stories Two Stars
“Spread the Word” by Delilah S. Dawson (Apex #142, 1-2/24) H** (CR)
“Just You and Me, Now” by KT Bryski (Apex #142, 1-2/24) H** (CR)
“Low Mountain” by Larry Correia (Down These Mean Streets, 1/24) SF** (CDL)
“Hiyannet” by Phoenix Alexander (Beyond Ceaseless Skies #400, 2/24) SF** (CR)
“Blood Redeemers” by Spearman Burke (Giant Freakin’ Robots, 2/24) SF** (S)
“I’m in Love with a Helicopter: A Titan Mage Story” by Edie Skye (Giant Freakin’ Robots, 2/24) SF** (S)
“Things to Do in Denver When It’s Dead” by Sarah A. Hoyt (United We Stand, 3/24) SF** (RC)
“Maligator Republic” by Lydia Sherrer (United We Stand, 3/24) SF** (RC)
“How to Decline Lodgers with Extreme Prejudice” by Lori Janeski (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF** (S)
“Full Moon Men” by Charles Hackney (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF** (S)
“Call to Quarters” Wally Waltner (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF** (S)
“Semper Fi” by Bruce Erling Strange (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF** (S)
“The Assassin’s Blade” by Daniel G. Zeidler (Space Marines 3, 3/24) SF** (S)
“The Sand Boat” by James Chambers (Other Aether, 6/24) F** (S)
“No One Alone” by David Lee Summers (Other Aether, 6/24) F** (S)
“Breathing Constellations” by Rich Larson (Reactor, 6/24) SF** (CDL)
“The Big Fish” by Jean Marie Ward (Cats, Dragons, & Formidable Femmes, 7/24) F** (CDL)
“The Ex Hex” by Jae Steinbacher (Lightspeed #144, 9/24) F** (CR)
“The Mote in Bird’s Eye; or, Note Attached to a Frozen Corpse Retrieved from Deep Space” by Jon Lasser (Lightspeed #144, 9/24) SF** (CR)
“Living by the Sword” by David Mack (Last Train Outta Kepler-283c, 10/24) SF** (CR)
“The Double R Bar Ranch on Alpha Centauri 5” by David Afsharirad (Last Train Outta Kepler-283c, 10/24) SF** (CR)
“The Last Word” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe, (Lightspeed #174, 11/24) F** (S)
“Furious Communion” by R.K. Duncan (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #422, 12/16/24) F** (CR)
Short Stories Three Stars
“The Price of Peace” by Craig A. Reed, Jr (Giant Freakin’ Robots, 2/24) SF*** (S)
“Do Not Steal” by Mel Todd (United We Stand, 3/5) SF*** (RC)
“The Old Bastard” by Dave Freer (United We Stand, 3/5) SF*** (RC)
“The Bride Wore Camo” by Mike Massa (United We Stand, 3/5) SF*** (RC)
“Gonzo’s Gauntlet” Christopher L. Smith (United We Stand, 3/5) SF*** (RC)
“Isle of Masks and Blood” by Brian Trent (United We Stand, 3/5) SF*** (RC)
“Reconstructing ‘The Goldenrod Conspiracy,’ Edina Room, Saturday 2:30-3:30” by Gabriela Santiago (Lightspeed #144, 9/24) SF*** (CR)
Novelettes
“Places You Have Never Been” by David Cleden (Analog, 1-2/24) SF (VS)
“Stars Don’t Dream” by Chi Hui (Clarkesworld #208, 1/24) SF (VS)
“Lucifer’s Lode” by R. Garcia y Robertson (Asimov’s, 1-2/24) SF (M)
“Kardashev’s Palimpsest” by David Goodman (Clarkesworld #209, 2/24) SF (VS)
“Nine Billion Turing Tests” by Chris Willrich (Reactor, 2/24) SF (MB)
“Enough” by William Ledbetter (Analog, 3-4/24) SF (VS)
“The Inefficiency of Pangenetic Self-Replication as a Theory of Anthrobotic Evolution by Yantra Arora” by Ashok K. Banker (Asimov’s, 3-4/24) SF (M)
“Five Days Until Sunset” by Lance Robinson (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) SF (M)
“The Imagalisk” by Galen Westlake (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) F (M)
“Money, Wealth, and Soil” by Lance Robinson (Analog, 5-6/24) SF (VS)
“Travelers’ Tales from the Ends of the World” by Vandana Singh (Lightspeed #167, 4-24) F (VS)
“Blackjack” by Veronica Schanoes (Reactor, 4/24) F (MB)
“Among the Faithful” by Bob Finegold (Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond #5, 5-6/24) SF (VS)
“City of Dreadful Light” by James Enge (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #60, Summer/24) F (DWH)
“Death Upon the Turquoise Road” by Gregory Mele (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #60, Summer/24) F (DWH)
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld #212, 5/24) SF (DWH)
“Sisters of the Flare” by Stephen Case (Asimov’s, 7-8/24) SF (VS)
“This Good Lesson Keep” by James Van Pelt (Asimov’s, 7-8/24) SF (VS)
“Yarns” by Susan Palwick (Asimov’s, 7-8/24) SF (VS)
“The Last Flight of the One-Eyed Jack” by F. R. Michaels (The Chaos Clock: Tales of Cosmic Aether, 7/24) F (VS)
“The Ring of Hours and Seconds” by Jeffrey Lyman (The Chaos Clock: Tales of Cosmic Aether, 7/24) F (VS)
“Vouch For Me” by Greg Egan (Analog, 7-8/24) SF (M)
“The Best Version of Yourself ” by Grant Collier (Clarkesworld #214, 7/24) SF (M)
“This Unintelligible World” by Samuel Chapman (Beneath Ceasesless Skies #412, 7/25/24) F (VS)
“The Heist for the Soul of Humanity” by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko (Lightspeed #170, 7/24) SF (VS)
“An Isle in a Sea of Ghosts” by J. A. Prentice (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #413, 8/8/24) F (VS)
“In the Thrall of Tessa Nyx” by Michael Gallagher (Cirsova #20, Fall/24) F (VS)
“Heartshock” by NickWolven (Asimov’s, 9-10/24) SF (M)
“Growth Rings of the Earth” by Xinwei Kong (F&SF, Summer/24) SF (VS)
“Set in Stone” by K. J. Parker (Reactor, 9/24) F (VS)
“Vigilant” by Cory Doctorow (Reactor, 9/24) SF (VS)
“The Compromise” by Tom R. Pike (Analog, 9-10/24) SF (MB)
“Heartshock” by NickWolven (Asimov’s, 9-10/24) SF (M)
“Nine Tenths of the Law” by K. J. Parker (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #417, 10/3/24) F (VS)
“That Far, Uncharted Ocean” by Auston Habershaw (Analog 11-12/24) SF (VS)
“The Slide” by Oliver Stifel (Clarkesworld #218, 11/24) SF (M)
Novelettes One Star
“Shadow Films” by Ben Peek (Lightspeed #164, 1/24) SF* (MB)
“Turtles to the Sea” by Sandra McDonald (Asimov’s, 3-4/24) F* (M)
“The Last Cloud Painter” by Rajan Khanna (Asimov’s, 3-4/24) F* (M)
“Charon’s Final Passenger” by Ray Nayler (Asimov’s, 3-4/24) SF* (M)
“Butter Side Down” by Kal M (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) SF* (M)
“Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!” by TJ Klune (Reactor, 6/24) SF* (CDL)
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea” by Naomi Kritzer (Asimov’s, 9-10/24) F* (M)
“And to Their Shining Palaces Go” by Betsy Aoki (Asimov’s, 9-10/24) SF* (M)
“Grace Under Fire” by Lezli Robyn (Last Train Outta Kepler-283c, 10/24) SF* (CR)
“What of the Mountains?” by Joseph Bernstein (Cirsova #21, Winter/24) F* (M)
“Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being” by A. W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld #218, 11/24) SF* (M)
“Duty of Care” by E. N. Auslender (Clarkesworld #218, 11/24) SF* (M)
Novelettes Two Stars
“Ten Thousand Crawling Children” by R.A. Busby (Nightmare #136, 1/24) H** (DWH)
“The Sunset Suite” by Matthew O. Fromboluti (Beyond Ceaseless Skies #400, 2-8/24) SF** (CR)
“Twice-Marked, Wild Against City” by R.Z. Held (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #401, 2-22/24) SF/F** (CR)
“Do Not Waver, My Heart” by Shanna Germain (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #401, 2-22/24) SF/F** (CR)
“Son, Spirit, Snake” by Jack Ash (Writers of the Future #40, 5/24) F** (M)
Novelettes Three Stars
“King of the Kaiju” by James Young (Giant Freakin’ Robots, 2/24) SF*** (S)
Novellas
“Proof of Concept” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov’s, 1-2/24) SF (M)
“The Iron Serpent” by H R Laurence (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #59, 2/24) F (DWH)
“Ganny Goes to War” by David Gerrold (Analog, 3-4/24) SF (VS)
“How Sere Kept Herself Together” by Alexander Jablokov (Asimov’s, 3-4/24) F (M)
“Une Time Machine, S’il Vous Plait” by Peter Wood (Asimov’s, 3-4/24) SF (M)
“Barbarians” by Rich Larson (Asimov’s, 5-6/24) SF (VS)
“Uncle Roy’s Computer Repairs and Used Robot Parts” by Martin L. Shoemaker (Analog, 5-6/24) SF (VS, DT)
“Fractal Karma” by Arula Ratnakar (Clarkesworld #217, 10/24) SF (VS)
Novellas One Star
“Death and the Gorgon” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s, 1-2/24) SF* (M)
“The Last Days of Good People” by A.T. Sayre (Analog, 7-8/24) SF* (M)
Novellas Two Stars
None.
Novellas Three Stars
None.
