Tangent Online 2022 Recommended Reading List
As with previous years, this 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.
There are 264 stories on this year’s list (down 36 from last year’s 300): 201 short stories (down 35 from last year’s 236), 52 novelettes (the same as last year), and 11 novellas (down 1 from last year’s 12). 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.
Before closing out these introductory remarks I would be remiss if I failed to mention a non-fiction book about science fiction magazines, not the stories within them but the magazines themselves. The Rise of the Cyberzines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines From 1991 to 2020 by Mike Ashley (Liverpool University Press, April 2022, hc, 444 pp.) is the final volume and capstone of his 5 volume history of the science fiction magazines. The previous four volumes (much sought by SF magazine historians and diehard SF collectors, not to mention increasingly difficult to find as time passes) are:
The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines from the Beginning to 1950 (2000)
Transformations: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1950-1970 (2005)
Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1970-1980 (2007)
Science Fiction Rebels: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1981-1990 (2016)
This 5th and final painstakingly researched addition to the evolution of the science fiction magazines delivers its information in a variety of ways. There are tables, charts, pages upon pages of anecdotes and the role certain magazines played in broadening the genre’s boundaries, the impact of the internet and online magazines, and last but not least two Appendix’s, the first is a whopping 80 pages and in a breathtaking “Summary of Science Fiction Magazines” lists every SF/F fiction magazine from 1991-2010—large or small, pro or semi-pro regardless of payment, and gives year by year how many issues each magazine published along with their dates, and a final total of issues when a magazine ceased publication or is still alive and ongoing when the book went to press. Appendix 2 details circulation figures for almost a dozen of the top magazines, print and online, and then thankfully there is an extensive index where hundreds of author names, both well known and newcomer are included, along with all magazines, editors, and publishers mentioned in the book.
Major sections of the book are titled “Before the Web,” “Into the Web,” “The Challenge” and “Taking Stock.” Many magazines are discussed individually, with specific stories and their authors given space. One of the features I found most interesting was the behind-the-scenes stories of how this or that magazine came to be, how its focus impacted the field one way or the other, or how outside forces shaped the field one way or the other. One example I will share here is how Gordon Van Gelder came to purchase The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction following his stint as its editor. The individual step-by-step circumstances are interesting in and of themselves, but the deciding factor influencing his decision to buy the magazine rested solely on a certain condition the publisher placed on the sale, and which after weighing his options moved Van Gelder to take the plunge and become the new owner. What this condition was will not be revealed here, alas, but know that this is the sort of colorful background material filling many pages of this one of a kind historical recounting of the 30 years comprising the SF magazine field from 1991-2020.
Want to know how many new online and print magazines there were by year? A table includes this information. Or how about the number of Black Spec Fic authors appearing in the sf magazines from 2015-2017? There’s a table showing that number as well. Or how about the proportion of stories by women in the leading pro/semi-pro print and online magazines from 2001-2010. There’s a table for this too. And there are many others on a variety of topics.
Mike Ashley’s dedicated, thoroughly researched history of the SF magazines during this specific time period is testament to his love of the genre. It is a remarkable book and a must have for serious collectors and those interested in the history of the SF magazine field. That said, it is a bit pricey and may be out of reach for many SF fans. If this is the case with you, I suggest twisting the arm of your local public library or academic institution’s library to adjust their annual budgets to include at least one copy of this landmark history.
If there is any justice in the SF world, The Rise of the Cyberzines should be nominated for (and win) the 2022 Hugo award in the Best Related Work category.
(For those unfamiliar with Mike Ashley, I quote from the rear cover of the book: Mike Ashley has specialised in the history of science fiction and fantasy for over fifty years. He is the author and editor of over 130 books that in total have sold more than a million copies worldwide. He received the Science Fiction Research Association’s Pilgrim Award in 2002 for Life Achievement in the field of science fiction scholarship.)
Finally, if you would like to review for Tangent Online, knowledge of the SF/F 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.
2022 Reviewer names and initials
Mike Bickerdike (MB), Richard Cartwright (RC), Tara Grimravn (TG), Kevin P Hallett (KPH), David Wesley Hill (DWH), Geoff Houghton (GH), C. D. Lewis (CDL), Chuck Rothman (CR), Seraph (S), Victoria Silverwolf (VS), 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 2022—our 29th year since that first, slim July/August 1993 print issue was mailed out.
Below are covers from original anthologies, or reprint collections which included original fiction making the list. Magazine covers (print and online) are interspersed throughout the list in no particular order.
Short Stories
“There Won’t be Questions” by Joe Baumann (F&SF, 1-2/22) F (KPH)
“It Happened in ‘Loontown” by Lavie Tidhar (Apex #129, 1-2/22) F (CR)
“Splitting a Dollar” by Meghan Hyland (Analog, 1-2/22) SF (KPH)
“By the Lake Where We First Loved” by Paul Starkey (Analog, 1-2/22) SF (KPH)
“Doe No Harm” by Louis Evans (Analog, 1-2/22) SF (KPH)
“The Lion and the Virgin” by Megan J. Kerr (Clarkesworld #184, 1/22) SF (KPH)
“Godmaker” by J. A. Prentice (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #348, 1/27/22) F (KPH)
“The Elements of Herself” by Kiyomi Appleton Gaines (Nightmare #112, January 2022) H (TG)
“Crow Born” by David Far (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 1/22) F (DT)
“We Are Not Monsters” by Steven Barnes (Weird World War IV, 3/22) SF (VS)
“Astral Soldier” by David VonAllmen (Weird World War IV, 3/22) SF/F (VS)
“Fruiting Bodies” by Kemi Ashing-Giwa (Tor.com, 1/22) SF (KPH)
“The Shapes of our Fever” by T.R. Napper (Grimdark #29, 1/22) SF (VS)
“Intimacies” by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko (Strange Horizons, 2/14/22) F (VS)
“Fried Rice” by Shih-Li Kow (Flash Fiction Online #101, 2/22) SF (TG)
“The Allocution of Bob Hayward” by Floris M Kleijne (Aurealis #147, 2/22) H (CR)
“Slow Communication” by Dominique Dickey (Fantasy #76, 2/22) F (KPH)
“NeuNet” by Sharang Biswas (Lightspeed #141, 2/22) SF (KPH)
“The Summer Castle” by Ray Nayler (Nightmare #113, 2/22) H (TG)
“In the Walls and Beneath the Fridge” by Jonathan L. Howard (Nightmare #113, 2/22) H (TG)
“The Chronologist” by Ian R. MacLeod (Tor.com, 2/22) F (VS)
“Empty Appendages” by William Broom (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #350, 2/24/22) SF/H (VS)
“Saturn Devouring His Son” by E. A. Mylonas (Clarkesworld #186, 3/22) SF (MB)
“The First Year” by R.L. Meza (Nightmare #114, 3/22) H (KPH)
“Embroidery of a Bird’s Heart” by Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas (Strange Horizons, 3/14/22) F (VS)
“Just Another Crappy Story That Kills Everybody In It” by Jim Breyfogle (Cirsova #10, Spring 2022) F (VS)
“The Sound of Silence” by Rodica Bretin (Cirsova #10, Spring 2022) F (VS)
“I Have Reached Into the Quantum Basket” by Marie H. Lewis (Fantasy #77, 3/22) F (TG)
“Christopher Mills, Return to Sender” by Isabel J. Kim (Fantasy #77, 3/22) F (TG)
“Collecting Ynes” by Lisa M. Bradley (Fantasy #77, 3/22) F (TG)
“The Dybbuk Ward” by Gabrielle Harbowy (Fantasy #77, 3/22) F (TG)
“The Historiography of Loss” by Julianna Baggott (Lightspeed #142, 3/22) SF (MB)
“Rat’s Tongue” by Xing Fan (Future SF Digest #14, 3/22) SF (CDL)
“The Sweetness of Berries and Wine” by Jo Miles (Future SF Digest #14, 3/22) SF (CDL)
“Do You Remember?” by Steve Rasnic Tem (Asimov’s, 3-4/22) SF (VS)
“The Hard Law” by D.G.P. Rector (Analog, 3-4/22) SF (MB)
“The Honeymooners” by Brenda Kalt (Analog, 3-4/22) SF (MB)
“Spirit to Spirit, Dust to Dust” by Anna Zumbro (F&SF, 3-4/22) F (CDL)
“Makers of Chains” by Sarah A. Macklin (F&SF, 3-4/22) F (CDL)
“Strata” by Benjamin Blattberg (Apex #130, 3-4/22) SF (VS)
“Oikos Needs Cook” by Geneviève Blouin (On Spec #119, Spring/22) SF (VS)
“The Phantom Carnival” by M. Elizabeth Ticknor (Writers of the Future #38, 4/22) F (KPH)
“Eshat’s Temple” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #353, 4/7/22) F (VS)
“The Heart in Her Hands” by Robert Minto (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #354, 4/21/22) F (VS)
“√i” by Martin Cahill (Nightmare #115, 4/22) H (KPH)
“Everything the Sea Takes, It Returns” by Izzy Wasserstein (Lightspeed #143, 4/22) SF (KPH)
“The Dominion of Leviathan” by Manish Melwani (Tor.com, 4/22) SF (MB)
“Uncomfortable Shoes” by Rob Vagle (Pulphouse #17, 4-5/22) F (KPH)
“The Diaper Room Key to Cosmic Plumbing” by Brenda Carre (Pulphouse #17, 4-5/22) H (KPH)
“Anything You Lose Comes Round in Another Form” by Jennie Evenson (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #355, 5/5/22) F (KPH)
“The Possibly Brief Life of Guang Hansheng” by Liang Qingsan (Clarkesworld #188, 5/22) SF (VS)
“Gamma” by Oskar Källner (Clarkesworld #188, 5/22) SF (VS)
“Mochi, With Teeth” by Sara S. Messenger (Diabolical Plots #87, 5/22) F (KPH)
“The Destination Star” by Gregory Marlow (Strange Horizons, 5/9/22) SF (VS)
“I Will Sing Your White Bones Home” by Cat Hellisen (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #356, 5/19/22) F (KPH)
“Arbitrium” by Anjali Sachdeva (Tor.com, 5/25/22) SF (KPH)
“Into the Water” by Rowan Wren (Nightmare #116, 5/22) H (TG)
“Esther (1855)” by Juan Martinez (Nightmare #116, 5/22) H (TG)
“The Hunger” by James Enge (F&SF, 5-6/22) F (KPH)
“Nightmares Come From Stolen Dreams” by Taemumu Richardson (F&SF, 5-6/22) F (KPH)
“Aconie’s Bees” by Jessica Reisman (Analog, 5-6/22) SF (VS)
“Firebreak” by Alice Towey (Analog, 5-6/22) SF (VS)
“A Hundred Mouths and a Voice of Iron” by John Markley (Analog, 5-6/22) SF (VS)
“Destiny Delayed” by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Asimov’s, 5-6/22) SF (MB)
“First Fish” by Bruce McAllister (Asimov’s, 5-6/22) SF (MB)
“Hoodie” by Tonya Liburd (Apex #131, 5-6/22) F (VS)
“The Color of Thunder” by Alicia Cay (Galaxy’s Edge #56, 5-6/22) F (VS)
“These Hands Only Make Last Meals” by Evan Marcroft (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #357, 6/2/22) SF (KPH)
“The Bedlam Undesirables” by Julian Gyll (Aurealis #151, 6/22) F (KPH)
“Cities of Grand Illusion” by Wendy Nikel (DreamForge Anvil #8, Summer 2022) F (VS)
“The Integral of My Life Over All My Choices” by Peter S. Drang (DreamForge Anvil #8, Summer 2022) SF (VS)
“The Twenty-Second Lover of House Rousseau” by C.M. Fields (Diabolical Plots #88, 6/22) SF (VS)
“The Wall” by Lisa S. Silverthorne (Pulphouse #18, 6-7/22) SF (VS)
“Love the Way She Saw It” by C.H. Hung (Pulphouse #18, 6-7/22) SF (VS)
“Gossamer Ghosts” by Robert J. McCarter (Pulphouse #18, 6-7/22) SF (VS)
“Picnic, with Monster” by Susan Palwick (Lightspeed #145, 6/22) H (KPH)
“Zen Solaris and the God-Child” by Arden Powell (Lightspeed #145, 6/22) SF (KPH)
“Everyone Who Then Hears These Words” by Aimee Ogden (Analog, 7-8/22) SF (VS)
“The Wild Son” by Rajeev Prasad (F&SF, 7-8/22) SF (MB)
“Trapping Fairies” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (F&SF, 7-8/22) SF (MB)
“Heart of a Plesiosaur” by Andrew K Hoe (Diabolical Plots #89, 7/22) F (KPH)
“A Reputation for Prudence” by Richard Swan (Grimdark #31, 7/22) H (TG)
“Critical Mass” by Peter Watts (Lightspeed #146, 7/22) SF (VS)
Tender, Tether, Shell” by M. J. Pettit (Clarkesworld #191, 8/22) SF (VS)
“Pollatomish” by Finbarr O’Reilly (Clarkesworld #191, 8/22) SF (VS)
“A Modification and Application of Variola Major to Impart Limited Precognition Within Individuals” by H. R. R. Gorman (SciPhi Journal, Summer/22) SF (KPH)
“The Shapeshifter’s Lover” by Autumn Canter (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #362, 8/11/22) F (VS)
“Take Me To the Water” by Sarah Macklin (Diabolical Plots #90, 8/22) F (VS)
“Water From a Duck’s Back” by Geoff Hart (On Spec #120, Summer 2022) F (VS)
“Death and Renewal” by Jim Breyfogle (Cirsova #11, Summer 2022) F (VS)
“The Last Khazar” by Rev. Joe Kelly (Cirsova #11, Summer 2022) F (VS)
“Sunrunner” by Robert Bagnall (After the Gold Rush, 7/22) SF (KPH)
“Reassessed Value” by David Hankins (After the Gold Rush, 7/22) SF (KPH)
“The Last of the Gen Xers” by Angelique Fawns (After the Gold Rush, 7/22) SF (KPH)
“Clockwork Bayani” by EK Gonzales (Strange Horizons, 8/29/22) F (VS)
“Obsolesce” by Nadine Aurora Tabing (Strange Horizons, 8/29/22) SF (VS)
“1957” by Robert Buettner (No Game for Knights, 9/22) SF (VS)
“Utopia’s Sheep” by Craig Martelle (No Game for Knights, 9/22) SF (VS)
“The Tithe” by Frederick Gero Heimbach (Mysterion, 8/22) SF (KPH)
“Every Atom Belonging to Me as Good Belongs to You” by Endria Isa Richardson (Nightmare #119, 8/22) SF (KPH)
“Porgee’s Boar” by Jonathan Carroll (Tor.com, 8/22) F (VS)
“Siri, My Love; Zuckerbook, My Home” by Mose Njo (Future SF Digest #16, 9/22) SF (VS)
“Services” by Marlon Ortiz (Future SF Digest #16, 9/22) SF (VS)
“Bump in the Night” by Kevin J. Anderson (Pulphouse #19, 8-9/22) F (VS)
“Companion” by Ron Collins (Analog, 9-10/22) SF (MB)
“Bumblebot” by Marie Vibbert (Analog, 9-10/22) SF (MB)
“Each Separate Star” by Jonathan Sherwood (Analog, 9-10/22) SF (MB)
“Of the Body” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #365, 9/22/22) F (KPH)
“The Application of Strawberry Lip Gloss in a Low-Gravity Environment” by R. J. Theodore (Lightspeed #148, 9/22) SF (KPH)
“Fight of the Sandfishers” by Jim Breyfogle (Cirsova #12, 9/22) SF (KPH)
“Paradoxes and a Pair of Six-Guns” by David Boop (The Drowned Horse Chronicle Volume One: The Forrest Years, 10/22) F (VS)
“Taxed Three Times for Pride” by David Boop (The Drowned Horse Chronicle Volume One: The Forrest Years, 10/22) F (VS)
“Born from the Drowning Forest” by James Rowland (Strange Horizons, 10/17/22) SF (VS)
“A Piece of Movable Type” by Peter Orullian (The King Must Fall, 10/22) F (S)
“No Place in Space” by Mike Jack Stoumbos (DreamForge Anvil #9, Fall/22) SF (KPH)
“Skeleton Song” by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com, 10/22) F (KPH)
“Bigger Fish” by Jared Millet (Aurealis #155, 10/22) SF (DWH)
“And the Walls Came Tumbling Down” by James Morrow (Shapers of Worlds Volume III, 10/22) F (VS)
“Limbo” by David Ebenbach (Shapers of Worlds Volume III, 10/22) F (VS)
“Tithe the Bones, Sell the Blood” by Auston Habershaw (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #368, 11-3/22) F (MB)
“Sacred Cow” by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes (Analog, 11-12/22) SF (VS)
“Maximum Efficiency” by Holly Schofield (Analog, 11-12/22) SF (VS)
“Beneath the Surface, a Womb of Ice” by Deborah L. Davitt (Analog, 11-12/22) SF (VS)
“The Walking Mirror of the Soul” by Renan Bernardo (Apex #134, 11-12/22) SF (VS)
“Iconophobe” by Sam J. Miller (F&SF, 11-12/22) F (CDL)
“The Shotgun Lucifer” by Bennett North (F&SF, 11-12/22) SF (CDL)
“The Dragon’s Hand” by Alex Irvine (Lightspeed #150, 11/22) F (KPH)
“The Time Loop Device is Counting Down” by Beth Goder (Unidentified Funny Objects 9, 11/22) SF (KPH)
“Our Most Sincere Apologies to the People of Brazil” by Jane Espenson (Unidentified Funny Objects 9, 11/22) F (KPH)
“Emissary” by Joshua Grasso (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 11/22) F (KPH)
“Dark Eternity” by Jonathan Edelstein (Worlds Long Lost, 12/22) SF (VS)
“An Offer from the Fivefold God” by Rachel Meresman (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #370, 12/1/22) F (VS)
“Law of Tongue” by Naim Kabir (Clarkesworld #195, 12/22) SF (VS)
“It Begins with RAVEN” by Jenn Reese (Flash Fiction Online #111, 12/22) SF (KPH)
“Max Loves the Internet” by Rodrigo Culagovski (Future SF Digest #17, 12/22) SF (MB)
“To my daughter, in the dark of the moon” by P H Lee (Lightspeed #151, 12/22) F (KPH)
“Mad Honey” by Aimee Ogden (Lightspeed #151, 12/22) F (KPH)
“The Shadows Left Behind” by Ian Pohl (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 12/22) F (DWH)
“Downstairs at Dino’s” by Diana Hurlburt (Diabolical Plots #94, 12/22) F (DWH)
“Among Them” by David Kary (SciPhi Journal, Winter/22) SF (KPH)
“I Regret Any Future Impact Of My Words And Actions” by Zary Fekete (SciPhi Journal, Winter/22) SF (KPH)
“Christmas in Apocalypse” by Karl El-Koura (Mysterion, 12/22) SF (KPH)
“Burning Books for Pleasure and Profit” by K.J. Parker (Tor.com, 12/22) F (MB)
“The Joy Fund” by Susan Kaye Quinn (DreamForge Anvil #10, Winter/22) SF (CDL)
“The Express” by Michael Zahniser (DreamForge Anvil #10, Winter/22) SF (CDL)
“The Lost Village” by E.E. King (DreamForge Anvil #10, Winter/22) F (CDL)
“The Asshole of Christmas Present” by Ezekiel James Boston (Pulphouse #21, 12/22) F (CR)
Short Stories One Star
“The Hundred Hidden Kisses” by Carol Scheina (Flash Fiction Online #100, 1/22) F* (KPH)
“Lamia” by Cristina Jurado (Apex #129, 1-2/22) F* (CR)
“Yellow Boots” by Stephen L. Burns (Analog, 1-2/22) SF* (KPH)
“The Meeting of Two Riders” by James Rowland (Aurealis #147, 2/22) SF* (CR)
“Coffee, Doughnuts, and Timeline Reverberations” by Cory Swanson (Diabolical Plots #84, 2/22) SF* (KPH)
“Love Potion” by Anne E. G. Nydam (Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, 2/22) F* (KPH)
“Enough Builders” by Jennie Del Mastro (Aurealis #148, 3/22) F* (KPH)
“Four-Letter Word” by Alexy Dumenigo (Future SF Digest #14, 3/22) SF* (CDL)
“The Big Day” by A. T. Sayre (Analog, 3-4/22) SF* (MB)
“Where God Grows Wild” by Frank Oreto (F&SF, 3-4/22) F* (CDL)
“Vegetable Mommy” by Patrick Barb (Diabolical Plots #87, 5/22) SF* (KPH)
“The Mechanic” by Julie Le Blanc (F&SF, 5-6/22) SF* (KPH)
“30” by Rich Larson (Asimov’s, 5-6/22) SF* (MB)
“Witchbreaker” by Leah Ning (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #359, 6/30/22) F* (KPH)
“A Flying Ark for the Ghost Dolphins” by Antony Paschos (Galaxy’s Edge #57, 7-8/22) SF* (KPH)
“Facing Reality” by Yelena Crane (After the Gold Rush, 7/22) SF* (KPH)
“Grow” by Carrie Vaughn (Tor.com, 7/22) F* (KPH)
“Don’t Blame the Eggs” by T. J. Berg (SciPhi Journal, Summer/22) SF* (KPH)
“Civilian Assumptions” by Dominique Dickey (Lightspeed #148, 9/22) SF* (KPH)
“Fall of a Storm King” by Misha Burnett (Cirsova #12, 9/22) SF* (KPH)
“The Face of The King” by Adrian Tchaikovsky (The King Must Fall, 10/22) F* (S)
“The Vârcolac” by Matthew Ward (The King Must Fall, 10/22) F* (S)
“Vern Fronk Returns to Our Neighborhood” by Margaret Balch-Gonzalez (DreamForge Anvil #9, Fall/22) F* (KPH)
“Baby Teeth” by Lina Rather (Grimdark #32, 10/22) H* (KPH)
“Cory Sucks” by Auston Habershaw (Unidentified Funny Objects 9, 11/22) F* (KPH)
“Only When You Laugh” by Amanda Song (Nightmare #122, 11/22) H* (KPH)
“Sharnathium” by Wulf Moon (Galaxy’s Edge #59, 11-12/22) SF* (GH)
“Skin of the Beast” by Alexander Flores (F&SF, 11-12/22) F* (CDL)
“Forty-eight Minutes at the Trainview Café” by M. Bennardo (Asimov’s, 11-12/22) SF* (DWH)
“Wallers” by Mari Ness (Nightmare #123, 12/22) F* (KPH)
“Max, Marilyn, Murder, and Me” Ray Vukcevich (Pulphouse #21, 12/22) F* (CR)
Short Stories Two Stars
“Sheri, At This Very Moment” by Bianca Sayan (Apex #129, 1-2/22) F** (CR)
“The Cure for Loneliness” by M. Shaw (Apex #129, 1-2/22) F** (CR)
“A Friend on the Inside” by Will McIntosh (Future SF Digest #14, 3/22) SF** (CDL)
“Venturing” by Jonathan Louis Duckworth (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #352, 3/24/22) F** (KPH)
“The Elysian Job” by Margaret Ronald (Strange Horizons, 4–4/22) F** (S)
“The Squid Is My Brother” by Mike Jack Stoumbos (Writers of the Future #38, 4/22) SF** (KPH)
“On Charis Station” by D.G.P Rector, (Mysterion, 4/22) F** (S)
“Ascent of a Lifetime” by Karen Aria Lin (Pulphouse #17, 4-5/22) F** (KPH)
“The Trial of Corin of Westfyr” by K.J. Khan, (Mysterion, 5/22) F** (S)
“The Angel’s Call” by Jae Steinbacker (F&SF, 5-6/22) F** (KPH)
“Operation Meltwater” by Philip A. Kramer (Robosoldiers: Thank You for Your Servos, 6/22) SF** (RC)
“Thank You, Clicking Person” by Jeff Noon (Interzone 292/293, 7/22) SF** (CR)
“Turn To Stone Ourselves” by Marie Croke (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #364, 9/8/22) F** (KPH)
“The Sculptor” by Chris Butler (Aurealis #154, 9/22) SF** (KPH)
“Santa Knows” by Jo Miles (F&SF, 11-12/22) F** (CDL)
“Emergency Elf” by Stefon Mears (Pulphouse #21, 12/22) F** (CR)
Short Stories Three Stars
“Paean for a Branch Ghost” by Filip Wiltgren (Future SF Digest #14, 3/22) SF*** (CDL)
“Resilience” by Monalisa Foster (Robosoldiers: Thank You for Your Servos, 6/22) SF*** (RC)
“The Pinocchio Gambit” by Brad R. Torgersen (Robosoldiers: Thank You for Your Servos, 6/22) SF*** (RC)
“The Ghost Eaters” by Spencer Ellsworth (Nightmare #121, 10/22) F*** (KPH)
“Door to Portal: A Salesman’s Story” by Adam Jarvis (DreamForge Anvil #10, Winter/22) F*** (CDL)
Novelettes
“Bone Broth” by Karen Heuler (F&SF, 1-2/22) SF (KPH)
“Rakshasa In a Pot” by Prashanth Srivatsa (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #51, 2/22) F (KPH)
“Wanting Things” by Cal Ritterhoff (Clarkesworld #186, 3/22) SF (MB)
“Bhatia, P.I.” by Shiv Ramdas (Lightspeed #142, 3/22) F (MB)
“Mender of Sparrows” by Ray Nayler (Asimov’s, 3-4/22) SF (VS)
“Dollbot Cicily” by Will McIntosh (Asimov’s, 3-4/22) SF (VS)
“Dream Factory” by Greg Egan (Clarkesworld #187, 4/22) SF (VS)
“Agatha’s Monster” by Azure Arther (Writers of the Future #38, 4/22) F (KPH)
“Return to the Tower” by Harry Piper (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #52, 5/22) F (MB)
“One Hive. Two Queens.” by S.E. Lindberg (Terra Incognita: Lost Worlds of Fantasy and Adventure, 5/22) F (VS)
“The Big Many” by Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF, 5-6/22) SF (KPH)
“Simple Pleasures” by Bud Sparhawk (Analog, 5-6/22) SF (VS)
“Rocket Girls” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov’s, 5-6/22) SF (MB)
“The Wine-Dark Deep” by Sheila Finch (Asimov’s, 5-6/22) SF (MB)
“Punctuated Equilibrium” by Auston Habershaw (Analog, 7-8/22) SF (VS)
“The Dark Ages” by Jerry Oltion (Analog, 7-8/22) SF (VS)
“Across the River” by A. T. Sayre (Analog, 7-8/22) SF (VS)
“The Song of Lost Voices” by Brian Trent (F&SF, 7-8/22) SF (MB)
“Work Minus Eighty” by Will McIntosh (Asimov’s, 7-8/22) SF (VS)
“Carapace” by David Goodman (Clarkesworld #190, 7/22) SF (KPH)
“This Place Is Best Shunned” by David Erik Nelson (Tor.com, 7/22) H (KPH)
“Solidity” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s, 9-10/22) SF (VS)
“Things to Do in Deimos When You’re Dead” by Alastair Reynolds (Asimov’s, 9-10/22) SF (VS)
“One Wild Night” by Adam-Troy Castro (Pulphouse #19, 8-9/22) SF (VS)
“No One the Wiser” by Tom Greene (Analog, 9-10/22) SF (MB)
“Le Sorcier de Lascaux” by Douglas Schwarz (F&SF, 9-10/2022) F (DWH)
“Les Chimères: An Ode” by Molly Tanzer (F&SF, 9-10/2022) SF (DWH)
“Eternal Bond” by R.W. Wallace (Pulphouse #20, 10-11/22) F (VS)
“Hummingbird, Resting on Honeysuckles” by Yang Wanqing (Clarkesworld #194, 11/22) SF (VS)
“The Noon Witch Goes to Sound Planet” by Kristina Ten (Lightspeed #150, 11/22) F (KPH)
“Lonely Hill” by James Maxey (Asimov’s, 11-12/22) SF (DWH)
“Upstart” by Lu Ban (Clarkesworld #195, 12/22) SF (VS)
Novelettes One Star
“Prison Colony Optimization Protocols” by Auston Habershaw (F&SF, 1-2/22) SF* (KPH)
“Gentle Dragon Fires” by T. K. Rex (Strange Horizons, 1/17/22) F* (S)
“The Linton Banshee” by Rev. Joe Kelly (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #51, 2/22) F* (KPH)
“In Transit” by J. T. Sharrah (Analog, 3-4/22) SF* (MB)
“Lilt of a Lark” by Michael Panter (Writers of the Future #38, 4/22) F* (KPH)
“Hearts of Stone” by Emma Newman (Tor.com, 5/18/22) F* (KPH)
“The Pain Barrier” By Alexander Glass (Interzone 292/293, 7/22) SF* (CR)
“A Crisis of Fate” by Zach Shephard (Unidentified Funny Objects 9, 11/22) SF* (KPH)
“Swarm Time on Maruzar,” by Dariel R. A. Quiogue (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #54, 11/22) F* (CR)
“Time to Wake UP!” by Nick Wolven (Asimov’s, 11-12/22) SF* (DWH)
Novelettes Two Stars
“The Gentle Dragon Tells His Tale of Love” by J. A. Pak (F&SF, 1-2/22) F** (KPH)
“To Embody a Wildfire Starting” by Iona Datt Sharma (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #346, 1/1/22) F** (KPH)
“The Sadness Box” by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld #190, 7/22) SF** (KPH)
“Bridget Has Disappeared” by Tamika Thompson (Interzone 292/293, 7/22) SF** (CR)
“On Wings of Song” by Deborah A. Wolf (The King Must Fall, 10/22) F** (S)
“The Stonemen’s Curse,” by Tom Jolly (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #54, 11/22) F** (CR)
“The Flame in the Bottle,” by Howard Andrew Jones (Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #54, 11/22) F** (CR)
Novelettes Three Stars
“Crypt Currency” by Sara Ellis (F&SF, 11-12/22) F*** (CDL)
“Optimist Cleaver’s Last Transmission” by J.C. Hsyu (F&SF, 11-12/22) SF*** (CDL)
Novellas
“Snowflake” by Nick Wolven (Asimov’s, 1-2/22) SF (VS)
“Burning the Ladder” by Adam-Troy Castro (Analog, 5-6/22) SF (VS)
“Kora is Life” by David D. Levine (Clarkesworld #188, 5/22) SF (VS)
“Live Update” by Lettie Prell (Clarkesworld #192, 9/22) SF (VS)
Novellas One Star
“Bishop’s Opening” by R. S. A. Garcia (Clarkesworld #184, 1/22) SF* (KPH)
“Kingsbury 1944” by Michael Cassutt Analog, 9-10/22) SF* (MB)
“The Cottage in Omena” by Charles Andrew Oberndorf (F&SF, 9-10/2022) SF* (DWH)
“The Day the Gods Went Silent” by Justin Call (The King Must Fall, 10/22) F* (S)
Novellas Two Stars
“Communion” by Jay Werkheiser & Frank Wu (Analog, 1-2/22) SF** (KPH)
“Exile’s Grace” by Mark W. Tiedemann (Analog, 3-4/22) SF** (MB)
“The Last Days of Old Sharakhai” by Bradley F. Beaulieu (The King Must Fall, 10/22) F** (S)
“The King-Killing Queen” by Shawn Speakman (The King Must Fall, 10/22) F** (S)
Novellas Three Stars
None.
