Books by the Lake

A

Linda D. Addison • Smiley Roaches • short story • Dark Voices [Lycan Valley] • horror

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah • Friday Black [collection] • Mariner Books

• The Era • short story • science fiction
• Friday Black • short story • fantasy
• The Hospital Where • short story • fantasy
• Lark Street • short story • fantasy
• Light Spitter • short story • fantasy
• Through the Flash • novelette • science fiction
• Zimmer Land • short story • science fiction

Miracle Austin • Stilts • short story • The Sirens Call #37 (February) • horror

Kamika Aziza • Trisha and Peter • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror [Recommendations: James Goodridge]

B

Eugen Bacon • Dying & Other Stories [collection] • Fiction4All

• Bates' Invention • short story • science fiction
• A Case of Seeing • short story
• Dying • short story • fantasy
• A Man Full of Shadows • short story • science fiction
• A Nursery Rhyme • short story • horror
• A Pale Lure • short story • fantasy

Eugen Bacon • Ace Zone • short story • A Hand of Knaves [CSFG Publishing]

Eugen Bacon • Five-Second Button • short story • AntipodeanSF #243 (October) • fantasy

Eugen Bacon • The Skin • short story • AntipodeanSF #242 (September) • horror

Eugen Bacon • Snow Metal • short story • Bards and Sages Quarterly (July) • science fiction

Celeste Rita Baker • De MotherJumpers • novelette • Strange Horizons (October 15) • fantasy

James Beamon • A Song of Home, the Organ Grinds • short story • Lightspeed #98 (July) • steampunk [Recommendations: Gary Tognetti; Nebula Recommended Reading]

James Beamon • Three Meetings of the Pregnant Man Support Group • short story • Apex #109 (June) • science fiction

James Beamon • A Villain Considers His Options • short story • Daily Science Fiction (January 5) • superheroes

James Beamon • A Villain Turns Mad • short story • Daily Science Fiction (April 6) • superheroes

Jojo Bee • Iyanuoluwa—Mercy of God • short story • Fireside Magazine (March) • historical fantasy [Recommendations: Karen Burnham; Nicole Nogi]

Michele Tracy Berger • Nussia • novella • The Book Smugglers (June 26) • juvenile science fiction [Recommendations: Charles Payseur; A. C. Wise]

T. B. Bond • Just a Taste • novelette • Beautiful Skin [self-published] • fantasy romance

Maurice Broaddus • El Is a Spaceship Melody • novelette • Beneath Ceaseless Skies #244 (February 1) • science fantasy [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Nebula Recommended Reading]

Tobias S. Buckell • A World to Die For • short story • Clarkesworld #5 (January) • eco-apocalyptic science fiction [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Adam Siegel; Alex Steffen; Jeff Xilon]

Ama Josephine Budge • A Shoal of Lovers Leads Me Home • short story • Anathema #5 (August) • ecological science fiction [Recommendations: Kerry Truong]

Cranston Burney • Domencia and the Magic Juan • short story • Scierogenous II • science fiction

C

Christopher Caldwell • Hide Me in the Shadow of Your Wings • short story • Strange Horizons (July 30) • historical fantasy [Recommendations: Cecily Kane; Charles Payseur]

P. Djèlí Clark • Night Doctors • short story • Eyedolon (August) • horror

P. Djèlí Clark • The Paladin of Golota • novelette • Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Q37 • heroic fantasy

P. Djèlí Clark • The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington • short story • Fireside Magazine, February • historical fantasy [Recommendations: Karen Burnham; Indrapramit Das; Meg Elison; Maria Haskins; Natalie Luhrs; Bonnie McDaniel; Nicole Nogi; Charles Payseur; Cat Rambo; Jason Sanford; Gary Tognetti; Jeff Xilon; Nebula Recommended Reading]

P. Djèlí Clark • A Tale of Woe • novelette • Beneath Ceaseless Skies #253 (June 7) • dark fantasy [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Charles Payseur; Nebula Recommended Reading]

Dhonielle Clayton • Weight • short story • Foreshadow #0 • young-adult fantasy

Brandy Colbert • The Truth About Queenie • novelette • Toil & Trouble [Harlequin Teen] • young-adult fantasy [Recommendations: Courtney Garrison; Julie Zantopoulos]

Joseph E. Cole • Queen • novelette • Not So Stories [Abaddon] • fable [Recommendations: Anna; Luke Tolvaj; Sarah Waites]

Gerald L. Coleman • The Messiah Curse • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • fantasy

Donyae Coles • All Orphans in the End • short story • Enter the Rebirth [TANSTAAFL Press] • science fiction

Donyae Coles • When Dessa Danced • short story • The Future Fire #45 (May) • science fiction

Wenmimareba Klobah Collins • Walking Off the Doeskin • short story • The Dark #43 (December) • horror

Crystal Connor • Bryannah and the Magic Negro • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror [Recommendations: Sumiko Saulson]

Stefani Cox • Fyrewall • short story • Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers [World Weaver Press]; LeVar Burton Reads, Ep. 31 (September 4) • science fiction

Stefani Cox • Valley Fieldwork • short story • Fiyah #6 • science fiction

Malena Crawford • The People Who Sleep Beneath the Waves • short story • Strange Horizons (July 30) • historical fantasy

Sharon Cullars • Night of the Circus • short story • Weirdbook #38 (March) • horror

D

Anne Dafeta • Friday Night Games • short story • Fireside Magazine, September • fantasy

Milton Davis • Piggy Back • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

Milton Davis • Slipping Into Darkness • short story • Wit & Whimsy: The WhimsyCon Anthology [self-published] • steampunk

Samuel Delany • Fire in the Sky • short story • Particulates [Dia Art Foundation] • science fiction

Monique L. Desir • Bondye Bon • short story• Fiyah #5 • historical horror [Recommendations: Karen Heslop; Karen Burnham; Maria Haskins; Jason Sanford]

Monique L. Desir • Hide Your Love Away • short story • Nightlight (July 13) • horror

Mame Bougouma Diene • Dark Moons Rising on a Starless Night [collection] • CLASH Books • horror

• Black and Gold  • novelette
• Fistulas  • novelette
• Popobawa  • novelette
• The Whores, the Dealer and the Diamond  • novelette

Walter Dinjos • Being a Giant in Men's World • short story • Galaxy's Edge #32 (May) • fantasy

Walter Dinjos • Middle of Nowhere • short story • Abyss & Apex, 2nd Quarter • fantasy [Recommendations: Jason P. Crawford]

Walter Dinjos • Nneamaka's Ghost • short story • Beneath Ceaseless Skies #243 (January 18) • fantasy [Recommendations: Gary Tognetti]

Dilman Dila • Obibi • short story • A World of Horror [Dark Moon] • horror [Recommendations: Carson Winter]

Rèlme Divingu • The Switch • short story • Omenana #11 (April) • science fiction [Recommendations: Khaya Maseko]

Marcia Douglas • Warning: Flammable, See Back Label • short story • A World of Horror [Dark Moon] • horror

Ari Drue • Malfunction • short story • Exoplanet #1 (June) • science fiction

Eboni J. Dunbar • The Percivals: The Bennett Benefit • short story • Fiyah #7 • paranormal [Recommendations: Greg Andree; Charles Payseur; Will Shaw; Gary Tognetti]

E

Edosio Okeoghene • Bubble World • short story • African Writer (July 31) • fantasy

Malon Edwards • Candied Sweets, Cornbread, and Black-eyed Peas [The Half Dark #3] • short story • Sword and Sonnet [self-published] • dark fantasy

Malon Edwards • Heart of Ash, Heart of Steam • short story • Steampunk Universe [Alliteration Ink]; Escape Pod #631 (June 7) • steampunk

Ita Ekhaletruo • Adze • short story • Grotesque Quarterly Vol. 2, Issue 1 • horror

Chikodili Emelumadu • What to Do When Your Child Brings Home a Mami Wata • short story • Tales from the Shadow Booth, Volume 2 • horror

F

Dare Segun Falowo • Ku'gbo • short story • Fantasy & Science Fiction (May-June) • fantasy

Dare Segun Falowo • Vain Knife • short story • The Dark #38 (July) • horror [Recommendations: Maria Haskins]

Minister Faust • Reflection Eternal • short story • Particulates [Dia Art Foundation] • science fiction

Penelope Flynn • The Transport • novelette • Scierogenous II • science fiction

G

R. S. A. Garcia • The Anchorite Wakes • short story • Clarkesworld #143 (August) • science fiction [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Jacob Olson; Marie-Claire Shanahan; A. C. Wise]

Craig Laurance Gidney • Underglaze • short story • Eyedolon #2 (January-February) • horror

Tina Glasneck • A Dragon's Rising [a Dragons Series prequel] • Magic Rising • paranormal romance

H. J. Golakai • Lee-ah (Sister) • short story • Omenana #12 (August) • fantasy

Juliana Goodman • Furious Girls • short story • Fiyah #6 • young-adult fantasy [Recommendations: Karen Heslop; Starr K; Marissa Lingen; A. C. Wise]

James Goodrige • The Harlem Meers Affair • short story • Scierogenous II

Tiera Greene • Orphan Tsunami Heathens • short story • Strange Horizons (August 13) • dark science fiction [Recommendations: Maria Haskins]

Dicey Grenor • Black and Deadly • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Joseph Guthrie • Jessie's Song • The True History of the Strange Brigade [Abaddon] • game tie-in fantasy

H

M. Haynes • Embers •short story bull; Blacktastic! Blacktasticon 2018 Anthology [MVmedia] • superheroes

M. Haynes • Not Your (Magical) Negro • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • fantasy

Karen Heslop • Burning with Regret • short story • Theme of Absence (June 8) • horror

Yiro Abari High • Suicide in Heaven • short story • African Writer (July 30) • fantasy

Nalo Hopkinson • And More Slow • short story • Particulates [Dia Art Foundation] • science fiction

Alledria Hurt • The Prizewinner • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Zina Hutton • Strays Like Us • short story • Not So Stories [Abaddon] • fantasy

I

Innocent Chizaram Ilo • Of Things That May Come • short story • Big Echo #9 (August) • science fiction

Innocent Chizaram Ilo Of Warps and Wefts • short story • Strange Horizons (March 5) • fantasy [Recommendations: Charles Payseur]

Innocent Chizaram Ilo The Unusual Customer • short story • Fireside Magazine (August) • fantasy [Recommendations: Gary Tognetti]

Justina Ireland • Dread Quarter [a Dread Nation story] • short story • The Hanging Garden (January 25) • young-adult fantasy

Justina Ireland • Letters from Home [a Dread Nation story] • short story • Nightlight (June 26) • young-adult fantasy

Osahon Ize-Iyamu • And Songs Don’t End • short story • Fiyah #7 • horror [Recommendcations: Karen Heslop]

Osahon Ize-Iyamu • Be a Thunder, Release a Roar • short story • Robot Dinosaurs! (May 11) • juvenile science fiction

Oshaon Ize-Iyamu • For What Are Delusions If Not Dreams? • short story • Clarkesworld #142 (July) • science fiction

Oshaon Ize-Iyamu • In the Garden Watching Nim Noms • short story • Omenana #12 (August) • horror

Osahon Ize-Iyamu • Let Girls Learn • short story • L0wL1F3 #3 • science fiction

Oshaon Ize-Iyamu • Say It Low, Then Loud • short story • Clarkesworld #136 (January) • science fiction [Recommendations: A. Merc Rustad]

Osahon Ize-Iyamu • A Voice in Many Different Forms • short story • Sword and Sonnet [self-published] • fantasy

J

Haku Jackson • Play for Me • short story • African Writer (June 10) • fantasy

Tia Ja'nae • The Government Maintenance Man • short story • 365 Tomorrows (April 27) • science fiction

Valjeanne Jeffers • The Lost Ones • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror [Recommendations: James Goodridge; Sumiko Saulson]

N. K. Jemisin • How Long 'Til Black Future Month? [collection] • Orbit

• Cuisine des Mémoires • fantasy
• The Elevator Dancer • science fiction
• The Ones Who Stay and Fight • short story • science fiction
• The Storyteller's Replacement • fantasy

Delizhia Jenkins • Dark Moon's Curse • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Alan D. Jones • Blerd and Confused • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

R. J. Joseph • Left-Hand Torment • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror [Recommendations: Sumiko Saulson]

K

Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley • To Blight a Fig Tree Before It Bears Fruit • short story • Apex #104 (January) • dark science fiction [Recommendations: Joanna Z. Weston; A. C. Wise]

Nicole Givens Kurtz • Blood Magnolia • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

L

N. R. Larry • All the Thief's Men • Soul Spark [Bathory Gate] • fantasy romance

Inda Lauryn • Venus Witch's Ring • short story • Strange Horizons (July 30) • fantasy

Victor LaValle • Ark of Light • short story • Particulates [Dia Art Foundation] • science fiction

Kai Leakes • Sisters • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Tonya Liburd • Chronology of a Burn • short story • Vastarien Vol. 1, Issue 3 (Fall) • horror

Karen Lord • The Mysteries • short story • Particulates [Dia Art Foundation] • science fiction

Derek Lubangakene • Origami Angels • short story • Omenana #11 (April) • fantasy [Recommendations: Charles Payseur]

M

Kyoko M • My Dinner with Vlad • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

Stephanie Malia Morris • Bride Before You • short story • Nightmare #68, May 2018 • horror [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Nicole Nogi; Emma Törzs; A. C. Wise; HWA Recommended Reading; Nebula Recommended Reading]

Stephanie Malia Morris • The Chariots, the Horsemen • short story • Apex #110 (July) • fantasy [Recommendations: Jenny H; Marissa Lingen; Emma Törzs; Joanna Z. Weston; Nebula Recommended Reading]

Stephanie Malia Morris • Legal Tender • short story • Pseudopod #576 (January 6) • horror

Mohale Mashigo • Mutshidzi • short story • A World of Horror [Dark Moon] • horror

L. L. McKinney • The Music Box • short story • The Hanging Garden (February 2) • young-adult horror

Violette L. Meier • Another Day in the A • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

Violette L. Meier • Serket • short story • Blacktastic! Blacktasticon 2018 Anthology [MVmedia] • historical fantasy

Michelle Mellon • Down by the Sea and Other Tales of Dark Destiny [collection] • HellBound Books • horror

• The Corner of My Eye • short story
• Crash Test Dummy • short story
• Down by the Sea • short story
• Fountain of Youth • short story
• Green Thumb • short story
• Renasci • short story

Michelle Mellon • Adelinde's Last Supper • The Heart of a Devil [Fantasia Divinity] • fantasy

Michelle Mellon • Mulgrave's Resolve • short story • From a Cat's View [Post-to-Print] • horror

Michelle Mellon • Where Angels Fear to Tread • short story • Secret Stairs: A Tribute to Urban Legend [Silver Empire] • fantasy

LH Moore • Here, Kitty! • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

LH Moore • With These Hands: An Account of Uncommon Labor • short story • Fiyah #5 • historical fantasy [Recommendations: Jason Sanford; Jeff Xilon]

Kenya Moss-Dyme • Labor Pains • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Kenya Moss-Dyme • Men Don't Leave • short story • The Sirens Call #37 (February) • horror

Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali • She Searches for God in the Storm Within • short story • Sword and Sonnet [self-published] • fantasy

Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali • Taiyesha’s Fist • Robot Dinosaurs! (July 20) • juvenile science fiction

Ray Mwihaki • The Third Set of Stitches • short story • Omenana #11 (April) • fantasy

N

Tariro Ndoro • The River Doll • short story • Omenana #11 (April) • fantasy [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; A. C. Wise]

Mandisi Nkomo • Haunted by the City • short story • The Kalahari Review (July 10) • horror

Ikechukwu Nwaogu • Emergency Room • short story • The Bagus (March 1) • fantasy

Ikechukwu Nwaogu • Full Moon, Black Mamba • short story • The Bagus (March 1) • fantasy

O

Brandon O'Brien • Gasping • short story • Apex #111 (August) • fantasy

Brandon O'Brien • The Howling Detective • short story • Uncanny #21 (March-April) • fantasy [Recommendations: Jenny H; Charles Payseur]

Ogbewe Amadin • Riddle • short story • Fireside Magazine (January) • fantasy [Recommendations: Jodie; Yash Kesanakurthy]

Tobi Ogundiran • Maria's Children • short story • The Dark #40 (September) • horror

Chimedum Ohaegbu • Toothsome Things • novelette • Strange Horizons (November 19) • fantasy

Balogun Ojetade • Bomani and the Case of the Missing Monsters • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

Nnedi Okorafor • The Heart of the Matter • novelette • Twelve Tomorrows [MIT Press] • science fiction

Nnedi Okorafor • Mother of Invention • short story • Slate (February 21) • science fiction [Recommendations: Jason Sanford]

Suyi Davies Okungbowa • The Dead House • short story • Brick Moon Fiction (April 27) • science fiction

Suyi Davies Okungbowa • A Light for the Dark Under • short story • Brick Moon Fiction (July 5) • science fiction

Suyi Davies Okungbowa • The Secret Life of the Unclaimed • short story • A World of Horror [Dark Moon] • horror

Suyi Davies Okungbowa • We Are All Outies • short story • Brick Moon Fiction (January 30) • science fiction

Daniel José Older • Home • short story • Particulates [Dia Art Foundation] • science fiction

Deji Bryce Olukotun • When We Were Patched • short story • Slate (August 27) • science fiction [Recommendations: Nebula Recommended Reading]

Nuzo Onoh • Death Lines • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Nuzo Onoh • Walk Softly, Softly • short story • Eyedolon (July) • horror

Austine Osas • Acquisition • short story • Afreada (June 8) • science fiction

Austine Osas • On That Last Gettin’-Up Mornin’ • short story • Bewildering Stories #773 (August 13) • science fiction

Austine Osas • Peculiarity • short story • African Writer (April 1) • science fiction

P

Jelani Akin Parham • Sword & Shield • short story • Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines Who Hack [self-published] • young-adult science fiction

Irette Y. Patterson • Early Morning Service • short story • Strange Horizons (February 9) • fantasy

Irette Y. Patterson • Survival Lies • novelette • Fiyah #5 • fantasy [Recommendations: A. C. Wise]

Shari Paul • The Epic of Sakina • novelette • Fiyah #5 • historical fantasy [Recommendations: Starr K; Charles Payseur; Gary Tognetti]

L. Penelope • Before I Run • novelette • Heart's Kiss #10 (August/September) • magical romance

Gary Phillips • Grag's Last Escape • Blood and Gasoline [Hex Publishers] • science fiction thriller

Mina Polina • Appreciation • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror [Recommendations: Sumiko Saulson]

Q

R

Erin Roberts • The Grays of Cestus V • short story • Asimov's (September/October) • science fiction [Recommendations: Jason Sanford]

Erin Roberts • Snake Season • short story • The Dark #35 (April) • horror [Recommendations: Jodie; Brigid Keely; A. Merc Rustad; Gary Tognetti; A. C. Wise; HWA Recommended Reading]

Erin Roberts • Sour Milk Girls • short story • Clarkesworld #136 (January) • science fiction [Recommendations: Nicole Nogi; Charles Payseur; A. Merc Rustad; Jason Sanford; Nebula Recommended Reading]

Lindiwe Rooney • In Her Bones • short story • The Dark #32 (January) • horror [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; A. C. Wise]

Eden Royce • Caretaker • short story • Abyss & Apex, 1st Quarter • science fiction [Recommendations: Jeff Xilon]

Eden Royce • Every Good-bye Ain't Gone • short story • Strange Horizons (July 30) • horror [Recommendations: Jenny H]

Eden Royce • For Southern Girls When the Zodiac Ain't Near Enough • short story • Apex #111 (August) • magical realism [Recommendations: A. J. Fitzwater; Maria Haskins; A. Merc Rustad; Joanna Z. Weston]

S

Cinsearae S. • The Killer Queen • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Sofia Samatar • Hard Mary • novelette • Lightspeed #100 (September) • science fiction

Sofia Samatar • Universal Geography • short story • Particulates [Dia Art Foundation] • science fiction

DaVaun Sanders • Words Never Lost • short story • PodCastle #504 (January 9) • historical fantasy

Sumiko Saulson • Tango of a Telltale Heart • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Sumiko Saulson • We-ness • novelette • Scierogenous II • science fiction

Charles R. Saunders • Amudu's Bargain • short story • The Mighty Warriors [Ulthar Press] • sword and sorcery

Nisi Shawl • The Best Friend We Never Had • short story • Apex #104 (January) • science fiction [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Jeff Xilon]

Nisi Shawl • Living Proof • Mother of Invention [Twelfth Planet] • science fiction

Nisi Shawl • The Things I Miss the Most • short story • Uncanny #24 (September-October) • science fiction

Ivy Spadille • The Other Side of Otto Mountain • novelette • Fiyah #5 • horror [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Gary Tognetti; Nebula Recommended Reading]

Ivy Spadille • The Whist Clowns of Old Frizzle • short story • Syntax & Salt (June) • fantasy

Aziza Sphinx • Play the Wraith [a Wraith of Reapers story] • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

Aziza Sphinx • Reaping Willow [a Wraith of Reapers story] • short story • Blacktastic! Blacktasticon 2018 Anthology [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

Aziza Sphinx • Wel Come to Hails Hollow • short story • Twisted II [self-published] • horror

T

Wole Talabi • The Harmonic Resonance of Ejiro Anaborhi • short story • Fantasy & Science Fiction (March-April) • science fiction

Sheree Renée Thomas • Teddy Bump • short story • Fiyah #7 • horror [Recommendations: A. C. Wise]

Alicia Thompson • Sales Pitch • short story • Nightlight (August 28) • horror

Tabitha Thompson • Alternative™ • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Tabitha Thompson • Black Veil • short story • The Sirens Call #37 (February) • horror

Tabitha Thompson • Solitude • short story • The Sirens Call #39 (June) • horror

Tade Thompson • Yard Dog • short story • Fiyah #7 • fantasy [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Marissa Lingen; Gary Tognetti; Nebula Recommended Reading]

Lori Titus • Return to Me • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters • horror

Tlotlo Tsamaase • Murders Fell from Our Wombs • novelette • Apex #107 (April) • fantasy [Recommendations: Charles Payseur; Joanna Z. Weston]

Cadwell Turnbull • Jump • short story • Lightspeed #100 (September) • fantasy

Cadwell Turnbull • When the Rains Come Back • Asimov's (May/June) • science fiction [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Gary Tognetti]

U

Itoro Udofia • Running • novelette • The Book Smugglers (Aigust 28) • young-adult fantasy

Ose Utomi • The Story of a Young Woman • short story • Fireside (July) • myth

V

Steven Van Patten • A Nightmare on 34th Street • A New York State of Fright [Hippocampus Press] • horror

W

Lashawn M. Wanak • One for Sorrow, Two for Joy • short story • Fireside Magazine (April) • fantasy [Recommendations: Maria Haskins; Gary Tognetti]

Lashawn M. Wanak • Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie Sing the Stumps Down Good • novelette • Fiyah #7 • horror [Recommendations: Marissa Lingen; Charles Payseur; Gary Tognetti]

Kortney Y. Watkins • Of Home and Hearth • Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL [MVmedia] • fantasy

Troy L. Wiggins • Dying Lessons • short story • Strange Horizons (July 30) • horror [Recommendations: Jenny H]

Kenesha Williams • Hellfire • short story • Blacktastic! Blacktasticon 2018 Anthology [MVmedia] • urban fantasy

Kenesha Williams • Sweet Justice • short story • Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters [Mocha Memoirs Press]; Nightlight (September 4) • horror [Recommendations: James Goodridge]

Takim Williams • Inner Space • short story • Fireside Magazine, October • horror

Takim Williams • The Sower • short story • Fiyah #6 • horror [Recommendations: Karen Heslop; Charles Payseur]

Ashley Woodfolk • The Curse of Love • short story • The Hanging Garden (February 4) • young-adult horror

X–Y–Z

Anthologies and Magazines of Particular Interest

Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters, edited by Sumiko Saulson • Mocha Memoirs Press

Blacktastic! Blacktasticon 2018 Anthology, edited by Milton Davis • MVmedia

Particulates, edited by Nalo Hopkinson • Dia Art Foundation

Scierogenous II, edited by Valjeanne Jeffers and Quinton Veal • self-published

Terminus: Tales of the Black Fantastic from the ATL, edited by Milton Davis • MVmedia

Fiyah Issues 5–8, edited by Troy L. Wiggins, Justina Ireland, and Brandon O'Brien

Strange Horizons, Southeast US Special Issue (July 30), edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Erin Roberts, and Rasha Abdulhadi

The description of this fantasy anthology promises swordfighting and romance. Well, there is some of both in here, though not in every story; but that isn't the key to what gives the book unity. I realized part way through that many of the stories take place in settings where social dynamics involve strict, even ritualized codes of behavior. Actual duels may rarely feature, but the social meanings of forms of confilct are explored (and in some stories, conflict is prevented). More importantly, most of the authors here are extremely attentive to the dynamics of power: who has it, how it plays out, and the ways that people (especially those with less power) work within and against the codes of their society.

Heather Rose Jones has been expertly anatomizing Alpennian society (both like and unlike other 19th-century European countries) and the ways that her characters survive as independent women in a series of novels, and we here have a side story that is just as acute. In "Gifts Tell Truth," Jeanne, Vicomtesse de Cherdillac, is in the process of developing the skills for bringing people together she showed in The Mystic Marriage, and becomes involved in a case of espionage precisely because she understands Alpennian ways well; when she acts, she chooses to do so in a way that heads off violence.

"The Sharpest Cut," by Doranna Durgin, takes place in Denbarra, the most ritualized society in the book. I enjoyed the way that the author described the elaboration of clothing as symbols. The story concerns the fine line between the use of "honor" and propriety to smooth relations between people, and its use as weapons to shore up the power of people who have the upper hand. (It is stated that this is a very non-violent society, on the surface at least: they fight with disapproval not swords.) Abuse of power is a growing problem in Denbarra in this story and its main characters figure out how to act against it in a very Denbarran manner.

In "The Game of Lions," by Marella Sands, the main characters are the members of a women's team playing an international exhibition match of tikta (a game similar to cricket) in a quasi-African setting. Although the social mores described aren't wildly oppressive, still, as young women the players are disregarded and unimportant. They wind up using that very fact to their advantage when they need to be overlooked doing something daring to prevent a war. And their other advantage is their alliance with each other. The captain of the opposing team has some remarks to make about the relative importance of men's conflicts versus activities that bring people together, like tikta. And there's a sub-thread to the story about polygynous marriage and how women's alliances or conflicts work out in that setting.

"Hearts of Broken Glass," by Rosemary Edghill, is the bloodiest and most pessimistic story in the anthology. There is not the least disguise of the oppressive and violent use of power in this society, a European-type aristocracy. The main character is a well-born woman who's been fiercely schooled in disciplined obedience. Yet she may become desperate enough to break loose, even if she can't do much except run away to somewhere else (a difficult thing requiring toughness)--realizing that the game is unwinnable accompanies refusing to play the game.

Other themes that run throughout the anthology are justice, and choosing to act rightly when you have or win the power to act. "At the Sign of the Crow and Quill" by Marie Brennan is a particularly neat little story on this theme: its main character is truly heroic not because he wins a swordfight, but because of what he does after he wins: he makes a choice that splendidly turns his opponent's power-hungriness on its head, at the same time refusing to grasp for power himself.

"A Sword for Liberty" by Diana L. Paxson is set during the American Revolution and is fantasy only in that the goddess Libertas has a great deal of reality to its main character. I was suprised by how well the story worked. The difficulty of reconciling the grand ideals expressed in such documents as the Declaration of Independence with intolerent, racist, sexist, slave-owning reality is its theme. The ultimate affirmation of idealism can only be prevented from being facile if the idealist has been sufficiently faced by reasons to have reservations, and I believe the main character here was. The story's sitll sentimental, though, and making a (semi-repentent) slave-owner into a heroic character is a hard sell.

This is an imperfect anthology. I'm pretty sure there are no writers of color among the authors, which is a serious problem. There are a few stories that are poor stuff, and more that I forgot the instant I turned their last page. Even some of the better stories can be awkward. And the final story in the volume, while quite nice, doesn't seem to fit in thematically. Still, overall the combination of stories was a strong one, and they actually enhanced each other.

This page is an attempt to list everything published in English by black authors in 2017. I hope it can serve as a baseline data point for surveys of publishing, and also as a resource for readers. Given how long it has taken me to compile this page I won't have time to do the same for other years! Hopefully, a crowdsourced project can do so. This list is still in a preliminary stage and will be expanded indefinitely.

Mia Mitns's Black [African] Speculative Fiction Writers "Directory" (available free) was helpful in compiling this; other sources include Maurice Broaddus's African Americans in Speculative Fiction – A Reading Primer; Graveyard Shift Sisters; Diverse Writers & Artists of Speculative Fiction; and the #BlackSpecFic discussions at Fireside Magazine and elsewhere. For African writers, see Wole Talabi's List of Published African SFF.

NOVELS

Ifedayo Adigwe Akintomide • Holocaust (Virus #3) • self-published • apocalpytic horror

A. C. Arthur • Bound to the Wolf (The Alpha's Woman #3) • in the omnibuses Claimed by the Mate Vol. 3 and Hunger, St. Martin's Griffin • paranormal romance

A. C. Arthur • A Lion's Heart (Shadow Shifters Rebellion #1) • self-published • paranormal romance

Seta Aset • Nine X (Kemetstry #4) • self-published • science fiction

Odafe Atogun • Taduno's Song Pantheon Books • magical realism

Steven Barnes • Twelve Days • Tor • paranormal thriller

Sylvester Barzey • Bloodthirsty (Planet Dead #1) • self-published • horror

Kaia Bennett • Doing It to Death (Shivers and Sins #2) • self-published • paranormal romance

Jayde Brooks • Crown of Doom and Light (Eden Reid #3) • St. Martin's Griffin • epic fantasy

Constance Burris • Jade (Everleaf #3) • self-published • fantasy

Constance Burris • Giant Change (Confessions of a Giantess #1) • self-published • fantasy

Pamela E. Cash • The Deadly Twelve (Chausiku #4) • self-published • young-adult paranormal fantasy

A. Yamina Collins • The Last King [serial, ongoing] • self-published • fantasy romance

Christopher Collins • The Raggedy Man • Bloodshot Books • horror

Milton Davis • The Bene's Daughter [a Ki Khanga novel] • MVmedia • heroic fantasy

Milton Davis • Son of Mfumu (Changa's Safari #4) • MVmedia • heroic fantasy

Greg Dragon • The Judas Cypher (The Synth Crisis #1) • self-published • science fiction

Greg Dragon • The Unsung Frame (The Synth Crisis #2) • self-published • science fiction

Greg Dragon, David Kristoph, and Mark Gardner • Days to Home • Article 94 • science fiction

Terah Edun • Sworn to Quell (Courtlight #10) • self-published • fantasy

Terah Edun • Sworn to Restoration (Courtlight #11) • self-published • fantasy

Terah Edun • Blades of Illusion (Crown Service #2) • self-published • fantasy

Lynn Emery • Dead Wrong: A Joliet Sisters Psychic Detectives Mystery • self-published • psychic detective

Eyitemi Egwuenu • Archangels: Gods of the North • self-published • Christian fantasy

Lynn Emery • Third Sight Into Darkness: A LaShaun Rousselle Mystery • self-published • psychic detective

Kipjo K. Ewers • Fred & Mary • self-published • dark fantasy

L. L. Farmer • Slave Ship Rising • self-published • fantasy

L. L. Farmer • Black Borne (Warrior Slave #1) • self-published • fantasy

Dormaine G. • The Battle (The Connor Chronicles #3) • self-published • young-adult fantasy

Tina Glasneck • A Dragon's Desire (Dragons #2) • self-published • fantasy romance

Tina Glasneck • A Dragon's Heart (Dragons #3) • self-published • fantasy romance

Chanel Harry • The Other Child • self-published • horror

Chanel Harry • The Restless • self-published • horror

LA Hendricks • Skatia Reborn (The Skatia Narratives #3) • self-published • young-adult fantasy

Alledria Hurt • Wielding His Scythe (She Becomes Death #2) • in the omnibus Myths and Magic, Captive Quill Press • paranormal romance

N. K. Jemisin • The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) • Orbit • fantasy

Delizhia Jenkins • The Shadows (The Vampire Hunters Academy #2) • self-published • dark fantasy

Delizhia Jenkins • The Reckoning (The Vampire Hunters Academy #3) • self-published • dark fantasy

Delizhia Jenkins • Into the Shadows • self-published • paranormal romance

Nicole Givens Kurtz • Devourer (The Minister Knights #2) • Mocha Memoirs • fantasy

Mya Lairis • The Provider • self-published • paranormal romance

N. R. Larry and Margo Bond Collins • Underground Magic (Underground Magic #1) • Bathory Gate Presss • paranormal romance

N. R. Larry and Margo Bond Collins • Underground Resistance (Underground Magic #2) • Bathory Gate Press • paranormal romance

Victor LaValle • The Changeling • Spiegel & Grau • horror

Briana Lawrence • I Am Magical (magnifiqueNOIR #1) • self-published • young-adult fantasy

K. N. Lee • Fallen Empire (Empire of Dragons Chronicles #1) • Captive Quill Press • fantasy

K. N. Lee • Half-Blood Dragon (Dragon Born Trilogy #1) • Patchwork Press • fantasy

K. N. Lee • Magic-Born Dragon (Dragon Born Trilogy #2) • Patchwork Press • fantasy

K. N. Lee • Queen of the Dragons (Dragon Born Trilogy #3) • Patchwork Press • fantasy

Kyoko M • Of Cinder and Bone (Of Cinder and Bone #1) • self-published • fantasy

Khulekani Magubane • The Sirius Squad: Earth's Last Defense • umSinsi Press • science fiction

Brandon Massey • Frenzied • Dark Corner • horror

Montiese McKenzie • Blood of My Blood (Awakening of the Spirit #1) • self-published • horror

Natavia • Brick • self-published • paranormal romance

Natavia • A Mate's War (Beasts #2) • self-published • paranormal romance

Barry K. Nelson • Maximum Deevor (The McKenzie Files #4) • self-published • science fiction

Balogun Ojetade • The Beatdown: A Ki Khanga Novel • self-published • LitRPG fantasy

Balogun Ojetade • A Haunting in the SWATS (The Savannah Swan Files #1) • self-published • horror, urban fantasy

Nnedi Okorafor • Akata Warrior (Akata #2) • Viking Books for Young Readers • young-adult fantasy

Daniel José Older • Battle Hill Bolero (Bone Street Rumba #3) • Roc • urban fantasy

Daniel José Older • Shadowhouse Fall (The Shadowshaper Cypher #2) • Arthur A. Levine • young-adult urban fantasy

Deji Bryce Olukotun • After the Flare (Nigerians in Space #2) • The Unnamed Press • science fiction

Nuzo Onoh • Dead Corpse • Canaan-Star Publishing • horror

Tochi Onyebuchi • Beasts Made of Night • Razorbill • young-adult fantasy

Lisa G. Riley and Roslyn Hardy Holcomb • Acts of Wars (Of Wars #2) • self-published • urban fantasy

Rondney V. Smith • So I Might Be a Vampire (Chasing the Sun #1) • self-published • urban fantasy

Lola StVil • Shattered Souls (The Toren #1) • self-published • young-adult paranormal romance

Lola StVil • Cruel Mercy (The Toren #2) • self-published • young-adult paranormal romance

Lola StVil • Kissed by Shadows (Kissed by Shadows #1) • self-published • young-adult paranormal romance

A. C. Thompson • Cellblock Earth (Prison Earth #2) • self-published • young-adult science fiction

Lori Titus • Blood Relations • self-published • horror

Nikki Woolfolk • Mise en Death (Bittersweet Mysteries #1) • self-published • steampunk

JUVENILE NOVELS

Tracey Baptiste • Rise of the Jumbies (The Jumbies #2) • Algonquin

A. Bello • Emily Knight I Am ... Awakened (Emily Knight #2) • Hashtag Press

Zetta Elliott • The Ghosts in the Castle (City Kids #3) • Rosetta Press

Zetta Elliott • The Phantom Unicorn (City Kids #4) • Rosetta Press

Justina Ireland • Evie Allen vs. the Quiz Bowl Zombies (Devils' Pass #1) • Stone Arch Books

Justina Ireland • Jeff Allen vs. the Time Suck Vampire (Devils' Pass #2) • Stone Arch Books

Justina Ireland • Tiffany Donovan vs. the Cookie Elves of Destruction (Devils' Pass #3) • Stone Arch Books

Justina Ireland • Zach Lopez vs. the Unicorns of Doom (Devils' Pass #4) • Stone Arch Books/p>

Pete Kalu • Zombie XI (Striker #4) • HopeRoad Publishing

ANTHOLOGIES AND MAGAZINES

Mya Lairis, Kenya Moss-Dyme, and Eden Royce (eds.) • Forever Vacancy • Colors in Darkness

Susana M. Morris, Kinitra D. Brooks, and Linda D. Addison (eds.) • Sycorax's Daughters • Cedar Grove

Aggrey Moyi, Sally Ireri, Muthoni Mina, and Olivia Kidula (eds.) • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3 • self-published

Balogun Ojetade (ed.) • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology • self-published

Chinelo Onwualu and Mazi Nwonwu (eds.) • Omenana, Issues 9 and 10

Quinton Veal and Valjeanne Jeffers (eds.) • Scierogenous: An Anthology of Erotic Science Fiction • self-published

Maurice Waters and Shawn Alleyne (eds.) • The Scribes of Nyota: A Compendium • BlackSci-Fi.com

Troy L. Wiggins and Justina Ireland (eds.) • Fiyah Literary Magazine, Issues 1-4

Troy L. Wiggins and Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali (eds.) • Truancy, Issue 4 (June) 

Kenesha Williams (ed.) • Black Girl Magic Lit Mag, Issue 5

SHORT FICTION

Ronke Adeleke • Blood Ties • short story • Omenana #10 (September) • fantasy

Ademola Enoch • Our Gods Are Sly Ones • short story • African Writer, March 4 • horror

Aito Osemegbe Joseph • University College Hospital • short story • Afridiaspora, June 4 • science fiction

Shawn Alleyne • Book of the Griot • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Shawn Alleyne • Hierophant • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Shawn Alleyne • Kandake • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Shawn Alleyne • Path of the Hunt • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • fantasy

Shawn Alleyne • Sanctum • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Shawn Alleyne • The Sword • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Jorim Alosa • The Great Flood • short story • African Writer, September 5 • satirical science fiction

Jorim Alosa • The Subversive Immanence of the African Underwear 2020 • short story • African Writer, November 19 • satirical science fiction

Michelle Angwenyi • What Happens When It Rains • short story • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3, self-published • fantasy

Nora Anthony • Them Boys • short story • Strange Horizons, November 6 • fantasy

Lillian Akampurira Aujo • The Name Giver • short story • Omenana #10 (September) • fantasy

Miracle Austin • Boundless [collection] • self-published • horror

• 2nd Annual Z-Run • short story
• 927 Ghost Trails • short story
• Almost Extinct • short story
• App • short story
• Birthday Surprise • short story
• Double Trouble • short story
• The Gift • short story
• Hidden • short story
• Rebirth • short story
• Stormie's Birthday Wish • short story
• Sweet Secrets • short story
• Toxic • short story
• Unleashed • short story
• Willow's Dress • short story
• Zeke: The Unfreak • short story

Eugen Bacon • Cloned • short story • Sacrifice, Thirteen O'Clock Press • science fiction

Eugen Bacon • Entrepreneur • short story • AntipodeanSF #232 (November) • science fiction

Eugen Bacon • Mahuika • short story • Every Day Fiction, September 28 • fantasy

Eugen Bacon • Realtime TV • short story • Sacrifice, Thirteen O'Clock Press • science fiction

Eugen Bacon • Wolfmother • short story • AntipodeanSF #231 (October) • fantasy

Eugen Bacon and E. Don Harpe • A Mage's Prophecy • short story • Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #68 (September) • fantasy

Abdul-Qaadir Taariq Bakari-Muhammad • We Were X Men • short story • Open Minds, Schreyer Ink Publishing

Tracey Baptiste • Ma Laja • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Steven Barnes • Mozart on the Kalahari • short story • Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures, ASU Center for Science and the Imagination • science fiction

Sylvester Barzey • Adam • short story • Undead Worlds, Renimated Writers • horror

Sylvester Barzey • Blood Note • novelette • Descent Into Darkness, Packanack Publishing • horror

Sylvester Barzey • Unfit • short story • Mad Like Me, Insult to the Written Word Publishing • horror

James Beamon • Command Decision • short story • Cat's Breakfast, Third Flatiron • science fiction

James Beamon • Episodes from the Abner-Mortimer Karmic War • short story • No Shit, There I Was, Alliteration Ink • fantasy

James Beamon • Pitching Shemp • short story • Transitions and Awakenings: No Regrets, Sanguine Press

James Beamon • Soliloquy in a Cheap Diner Off Route 66 • short story • Apex #92 (January) • science fiction

James Beamon • The Wind You Touch When You Run • short story • Escape Pod #596 (October 5) • science fiction

James Beamon • Yours in Heaven • short story • Sci Phi Journal (January) • science fiction

Michele Tracy Berger • Reenu-You • novella • chapbook, Book Smugglers • horror

Prossy Bibangambah • I do • short story • Omenana #9 (April) • humorous science fiction

Venita Blackburn • Black Jesus and Other Superheroes [collection] • University of Nebraska Press • slipstream

• Dog People • short story
• Ephemeros • short story
• The Immolator • short story
• Rites • short story

C. W. Blackwell • The Thing in Room 204 • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Jeffrey Bolden • Brianna's Interlude • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Kwan Booth • Live from Planet Woke • short story • Chicago Literati: The Afrofuturism Issue • Afrofuturism

K. Tempest Bradford • The Copper Scarab • short story • Clockwork Cairo, Twopenny Books • steampunk

Regina N. Bradley • Letty • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Jennifer Marie Brissett • The Breeze in the Boughs • short story • Fiyah #3 (Summer) • satire

Jennifer Marie Brissett • Newsletter • short story • Welcome to Dystopia, OR Books • dystopia

Maurice Broaddus • The Voices of Martyrs [collection] • Rosarium

• Ah Been Buked • short story • historical fantasy
• Shadow Boxing • short story • horror
• Voices of the Martyrs • short story • science fiction
• The Volunteer • short story • alternate-history fantasy

Maurice Broaddus • The Ache of Home • short story • Uncanny 17 (July-August) • contemporary fantasy

Maurice Broaddus • Buffalo Soldier • novella • chapbook, Tor.com • steampunk

Maurice Broaddus • Dance of Bones • short story • Straight Outta Tombstone, Baen • weird west horror

Maurice Broaddus • The Dead Yard • short story • The Monster Hunter Files, Baen • dark fantasy

Maurice Broaddus • Vade Retro Satana • short story • Fiyah #2 (Spring) • science fiction

Tobias S. Buckell • Shoggoths in Traffic • short story • Lightspeed #88 (September) • Lovecraftian horror

Tobias S. Buckell • Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance • short story • Cosmic Powers, Saga • science fiction

Tobias S. Buckell and David Brin • High Awareness • short story • Overview: Stories in the Stratosphere, ASU Center for Science and the Imagination • science fiction

Chesya Burke • Say, She Toy • Apex #95 (April) • science fiction horror

Cranston Burney • Over the Weekend • novelette • Scierogenous, self-published • science fiction

Constance Burris • When Seeds Take Root (Everleaf #3.5) • novella • chapbook, self-published • fantasy romance

Jessica Cage • Imara (Siren #4) • novella • chapbook, self-published • paranormal romance

Jessica Cage • The Sphinx • novella • Fire and Fantasy, Carter and Bradley • fantasy

Christopher Caldwell • The Beekeeper's Garden • short story • Fiyah #2 (Spring) • fantasy

Christopher Caldwell • Serving Fish • short story • Fantastic Stories of the Imagination: People of Color Take Over FSI! • fantasy

Tara Campbell • Bad Stock • short story • Bartleby Snopes, Issue 15 • fantasy

Tara Campbell • Sasabonsam • short story • Strange Horizons, December 11 • horror

Tara Campbell • TurboLuxe SmartFridge 3000 • short story • Gathering Storm Magazine, Issue 6 (December)

Patricia E. Canterbury • The Armoire • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Christopher Chambers • The Psalm of Bo • short story • The Obama Inheritance, Three Rooms Press

Ross Chase • Fear Me • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • young-adult science fiction

Lausdeus Otito Chiegboka • Future Long Since Passed • short story • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3, self-published • science fiction

C. L. Clark • Sisyphus • short story • Fiyah #4 (Fall) • science fiction

P. Djèlí Clark • The Angel of Khan el-Kalili • short story • Clockwork Cairo, Twopenny Books • steampunk

Joy Copeland • The Tale of Eve of De-Nile • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Ophelia Crane • Three A.M. [collection] • self-published • horror

Sharon Cullars • Blood Pact • short story • Weirdbook #37 • horror

Sharon Cullars • Only the Hungry • short story • Chicago Literati: Halloween Issue IV • horror

Koran Curtis and Shawn Alleyne • A Hero's Diary: Ain't No Love in the City • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • superheroes

Anne Dafeta • What If I Fall? • short story • Omenana #9 (April) • fantasy

Andrew Dakalira • Rise of the Akafula • short story • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3, self-published • science fiction

M'Shai S. Dash • Magnets • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Milton Davis • Ghost • novelette • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Milton Davis • Bes [a Ki Khanga story] • short story • Ki Khanga: The Anthology (2nd edition), MVmedia • heroic fantasy

Milton Davis • The Skin Man [a Ki Khanga story • short story • Skelos #2 (Winter) • dark fantasy

Milton Davis • The Swarm • Steampunk Writers Around the World, Luna Press • steampunk

Samuel R. Delany • The Hermit of Houston • novelette • The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (September-October) • science fiction

Dahlia DeWinters • The Adjustors • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Dahlia DeWinters • Grandma Elsie's Typewriter • short story • The Sirens Call #31 (February) • horror

Mame Bougouma DieneA Contest of Farts: The Ballad of Faransoye Biram Ngor • short story • Truancy #4 (June) • fantasy

Mame Bougouma Diene • Underworld 101 • short story • Omenana #9 (April) • dark science fiction

Rèlme Divingu • Typewriter • short story • Omenana #9 (April) • science fiction

Seth Dolcy • The Dunamis Source • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Greg Dragon • Doom Squad • novelette • chapbook, Kindle Worlds • military science fiction

Tananarive Due • Field Trip • short story • Dark Cities, Titan • horror

Tananarive Due • The Reformatory • short story • Global Dystopias, Boston Review • dystopia

Wendi Dunlap • Revival • short story • Fiyah #1 (Winter) • science fiction

Wendi Dunlap • The Settlement • short story • PodCastle #460 (March 17) • fantasy

Wendi Dunlap • The Sixth Vital Sign • short story • Ride the Star Wind, Broken Eye • cosmic horror

Malon Edwards • Junebug’s Magical Magnificent Mercurial Barbershop • short story • Fireside (August)

Malon Edwards • Long Time Lurker, First Time Bomber • short story • Fiyah #1 (Winter) • science fiction

Malon Edwards • Shadow Man, Sack Man, Half Dark, Half Light • short story • Shimmer #35 (January) • horror

Eyitemi Egwuenu • Ehi • short story • Afreada, December 1 • fantasy

Okala Elesia • People That Sing • short story • The Molotov Cocktail, Vol. 8 Issue 10 • fabulism

J. S. Emuakpor • Descent • novelette • Afromyth, Afrocentric Books • fantasy

Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto • How Much We Have Become • short story • African Writer, September 5 • science fiction

Derrick Ferguson • In Need of a Friend • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Sibongile Fisher • A Door Ajar • short story • Migrations, Short Story Day Africa • fabulism

Eric James Fullilove • Ticket to Ride • short story • Welcome to Dystopia, OR Books • dystopia

V. H. Galloway • Sisi Je Kuisha (We Have Ended) • short story • Fiyah #1 (Winter) • historical fantasy

V. H. Galloway • There Are Children That Flower the Trees • short story • Truancy #4 (June) • historical fantasy

Tuere T. S. Ganges • Things like this don't happen here • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Akaliza Keza Gara • Impanga • short story • The Huza Press Anthology 2015: Versus and Other Stories , Huza Press • science fiction

R. S. A. Garcia • The Bois • short story • Truancy #4 (June) • short story • science fiction

Keith Gaston • Black Licorice • novelette • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Pamesh Gates • Fear Thy Neighbor • novella • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Craig Laurance Gidney • Beneath the Briar Patch • short story • Anathema #2 (August) • fantasy

Craig Laurance Gidney • Mirror Bias • short story • Looming Low Volume I, Dim Shores • horror

Lamar Giles • The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman • novelette • Three Sides of a Heart, HarperTeen • superheroes

Tina Glasneck • Hellish (The Hell Chronicles #1) • novella • chapbook, self-published • fantasy romance

Tina Glasneck • Hellbent (The Hell Chronicles #2) • novella • chapbook, self-published • fantasy romance

Tina Glasneck • Once Bitten (Order of the Dragon #1) • novella • chapbook, self-published • fantasy romance

Dicey Grenor • The Soul Painter • short story • chapbook, self-published • paranormal romance

James Goodridge • The Artwork II • short story • Scierogenous, self-published • science fiction

Melody Gordon • Excavate • short story • Fiyah #4 (Fall) • fantasy

Alexis Pauline Gumbs • BlueBellow • short story • Strange Horizons, January 16 • horror

Emmalia Harrington • Barbara in the Frame • short story • Fiyah #4 (Fall) • fantasy

M. Haynes • New Elements • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Adeatoyshe J. Heru • Shadowboxer: Neutral Corners • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Karen Heslop • At the End of Summer • short story • Fantasia Divinity #13 (August) • fantasy

Karen Heslop • Dear Humans • short story • Grievous Angel, May 8 • horror humor

Karen Heslop • The Forever Companion • short story • Dark Fire Fiction (April) • horror

Karen Heslop • Good Fortune • short story • The Future Fire #43 (December) • fantasy

Karen Heslop • A Moody Fairy • short story • Theme of Absence (February) • humorous fantasy

Karen Heslop • Playing Possum • short story • The Ginger Collect #2 (Summer) • horror

Karen Heslop • Reflections • short story • Bards and Sages Quarterly Vol. IX, Issue 11 (April) • horror

Karen Heslop • Testing Limits • short story • Broadswords and Blasters #3 (Fall)

Akua Lezli Hope • Skate • short story • Open Minds, Schreyer Ink Publishing

Nalo Hopkinson • Waving at Trains • short story • Global Dystopias, Boston Review • dystopia

Alledria Hurt • A Bargain and an Arrangement • short story • The Sirens Call #31 (February) • horror

Alledria Hurt • Rescuing Kat • short story • Like a Woman, self-published

Jordan Ifueko • Oshun, Inc. • short story • Strange Horizons, September 18 • fantasy

Justina Ireland • Dread South [a Dread Nation story] • novelette • Three Sides of a Heart, HarperTeen • young-adult fantasy

Ishola Abdulwasiu Ayodele • Nocturnal • novella • chapbook, OkadaBooks • science fiction

Imade Iyamu • The Night They Stole the Sun • short story • The Kalahari Review, August 1 • science fiction

Osahon Ize-Iyamu • Bolaji Has a Heart • short story • Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, October 18 dark fantasy

Osahon Ize-Iyamu • A Lasting Legacy • short story • The Dark #26 (July)• horror

Osahon Ize-Iyamu • The Mad Man of Third Street • short story • Brittle Paper, January 5 • horror

Tiffany D. Jackson • A Beautiful Monster • short story • The Hanging Garden, December 6 • young-adult fantasy

Tish Jackson • Cheaters • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Sandra Jackson-Opoku • Hotel Hades • short story • Revise the Psalm, Curbside Splendor

Tiara Janté • The Source Code  • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

N. K. Jemisin • The Evaluators • short story • Wired: The Science Fiction Issue • science fiction

N. K. Jemisin • Henosis • short story • Uncanny #18 (September-October) • horror

Alaya Dawn Johnson • A Hundred Thousand Threads • novelette • Three Sides of a Heart, HarperTeen • young-adult science fiction

Jocelyn Nicole Johnson • Control Negro • short story • Guernica, July 29 • science fiction

Tenea D. Johnson • Foundling • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • science fiction

Nos Jondi • Sentient Skies • short story • Bahati Books, July 19 • science fiction

N. D. Jones • Sins of the Sister • short story • Afromyth, Afrocentric Books • fantasy

Ronald Jones • Fall of the Caretakers • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

R. J. Joseph • Mama's Babies • short story • Road Kill, Volume 2, Eakin Press • horror

R. J. Joseph • To Give Her Whatsoever She Would Ask • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

R. J. Joseph • A Woman's Work • short story • Transitions and Awakenings: No Regrets, Sanguine Press • horror

Sierra July • A Paper's Weight • short story • Fifty Flashes, Whortleberry Press

Sierra July • Sand's Speaking Solemn • short story • Transitions and Awakenings: No Regrets, Sanguine Press

Kris Kabiru • The World Is Mine • short story • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3, self-published • science fiction

Alex Kadiri • My Brother's Ghost • short story • Afreada, October 6 • horror

James Kariuki • The Real Deal • short story • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3, self-published • humorous fantasy

Alvin Kathembe • Cordyceps • short story • Omenana #9 (April) • horror

Kathleen Kayembe • The Faerie Tree • short story • Lightspeed #90 (November) • fantasy

Kathleen Kayembe • You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych • novelette • Nightmare #54 (March) • horror

Linette King • Accalia • novella • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Linette King • The Chemist • novelette • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Linette King • The Haunted House • novelette • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Linette King • The Hitchhiker • novelette • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Linette King • Neighborhood Terror • novelette • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Linette King • Silent Screams • novelette • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Linette King • Truth or Dare: The Last Man Standing • novelette • chapbook, TrueGlory Publications • horror

Lance Oliver Keeble • Nikia the Pandora • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Justin C. Key • Afiya's Song • novelette • The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (July-August) • alternate-history fantasy

Jordan King-Lacroix • The Eyes of the Gorgon • short story • Unleashed: Monsters vs. Zombies, Stitched Smile • horror

Jordan King-Lacroix • The Last Day of Jerome Brown • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Jordan King-Lacroix • The Man with No Face • short story • Polar Borealis #4 (July/August) • horror

A. D. Koboah • Mama • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Nicole Givens Kurtz • Belly Speaker • short story • Lawless Lands, Falstaff Books • weird west horror

Nicole Givens Kurtz • Rise • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Nicole Givens Kurtz • The Wicked Wild • Straight Outta Tombstone, Baen • weird west horror

Mya Lairis • The Matriarch • short story • Monster Brawl!, Sirens Call • monsters

Mark Lekan Lalude • The Mortuary Man • short story • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3, self-published • horror

Brent Lambert • Blood Song • short story • Anathema #1 (April)

Brent Lambert • Police Magic • short story • Fiyah #1 (Winter) • post-apocalyptic fantasy

N. R. Larry • The Lost Men of Atlantis • Night Fire, Bathory Gate • paranormal romance

Alaina Shari Latham • To Be Black Magic [collection] • self-published

Kai Leakes • Taste the Taint: A Cursed Story • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

K. N. Lee • Blood Princess (The Chronicles of Koa #3) • novella • chapbook, self-published • paranormal

K. N. Lee • The Red Queen (Wonderland University #1) • novella • chapbook, self-published • paranormal romance

K. N. Lee • War of the Dragons (Dragon Born #4) • novella • chapbook, self-published • fantasy

K. N. Lee • Hunt of the Fallen • novella • Scorched, Madam's Books • paranormal romance

L. D. Lewis • Chesirah • novelette • Fiyah #1 (Winter) • fantasy

Tonya Liburd • A Question of Faith • short story • The Book Smugglers, July 11 • science fantasy

Tonya Liburd • Through Dreams She Moves • short story • UnCommon Minds, Fighting Monkey Press • fantasy 

Danny Lore • The Last Exorcist • short story • Fiyah #3 (Summer) • horror

Danny Lore • The Nasty at Bellua • short story • Author's website, November 29 • horror

N. N. Luwi • The Small Visitor • short story • The Kalahari Review, September 5 • fantasy

Kyoko M. • Back to Black (The Black Parade #2.5) • novella • chapbook, self-published • paranormal

Wesley Macheso • Waiting for the End • short story • African Writer, March 31 • horror

Ekari Mbvundula • Undying Love • short story • Omenana #10 (September) • fantasy

Jermaine McGill • I Understand • short story • Medium (February); Fantastic Stories of the Imagination: People of Color Take Over FSI! • science fiction

Dana Mcknight • Taking the Good • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Mignotte Mekuria • Of Fire • short story • Migrations, Short Story Day Africa • fantasy

Michelle Mellon • The Will and the Way of Things • short story • Realities Perceived, Left Hand Publishers

LH Moore • A Little Not Music • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Tonya R. Moore • Hybrid • short story • Black Girl Magic Lit Mag #5 (January) • science fiction

Tonya R. Moore • Kingdom of Lethe • short story • chapbook, self-published • science fiction, horror

Tonya R. Moore • Space Age Mermaid • short story • Becoming, self-published • science fiction

Anne Moraa • Lymph • short story • Migrations, Short Story Day Africa • science fiction

Stephanie Malia Morris • Forty Acres and a Mule • short story • Fiyah #4 (Fall) • fantasy

Walter Mosley • Cut, Cut, Cut • short story • Apex #95 (April) • horror

Walter Mosley • A Different Frame of Reference • short story • The Obama Inheritance, Three Rooms Press

Kenya Moss-Dyme • Roost • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali • Concessions • novelette • Strange Horizons, March 6 & 13 • science fiction

Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali • Talking to Cancer • short story • Fiyah #2 (Spring) • fantasy

Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali and Rachael K. Jones • Regarding the Robot Raccoons Attached to the Hull of My Ship • short story • Diabolical Plots #28 (June)

N. Muma Alain • Yuckl Ogle • short story • Lackington's #16 (Fall) • fantasy

Mutendei Writes • The Five: Introductions • short story • Chicago Literati: The Afrofuturism Issue • Afrofuturism

Barbara L. W. Myers • We Laugh in Its Face • short story • Fiyah #2 (Spring) • science fiction

Tariro Ndoro • The Whale of Tikpiti'i • short story • Fireside Magazine (September) • fantasy

Russell Nichols • The Hard Shell • short story • Fiyah #2 (Spring) • humorous fantasy

Dayo Ntwari • Nomansland • short story • The Huza Press Anthology 2015: Versus and Other Stories , Huza Press • science fiction

Kofi Nyameye • The Old Man with the Third Hand The Manchester Review, Issue 18 • fantasy

Rawle Nyanzi • Sword and Flower • novella • chapbook, self-published • fantasy

Brandon O'Brien • "Punch God (in the Face)" by The Harmnones • short story • Anathema #2 (August) • fantasy

Brandon O'Brien • Song of the Seirēnes • short story • Ride the Star Wind, Broken Eye • cosmic horror

Brandon O'Brien • They Will Take You from You • short story • Strange Horizons, May 1 • science fiction

Nyarsipi Odeph • My Sister's Husband • short story • Migrations, Short Story Day Africa • fantasy

Eugene Odogwu • Once Upon a Purple Pill (Fall Town Fables #1) • short story • chapbook, OkadaBooks • fantasy

Eugene Odogwu • In a Field of Purple Dreams (Fall Town Fables #2) • novelette • chapbook, OkadaBooks • fantasy

Eugene Odogwu • Saint Skinnerman's Blues (Fall Town Fables #3) • short story • chapbook, OkadaBooks • fantasy

Eugene Odogwu • Baby Bones • short story • Omenana #10 (September) • horror

Tega Oghenechovwen • Water Lily • short story • The Kalahari Review, March 7 • fantasy

Tony Ogunlowo • Mami-Wata • short story • African Writer, May 3 • fantasy

David O'Hanlon • The Devil of a Deal • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

David O'Hanlon • The Devil's in the Details • short story • Wicked Deeds, Sirens Call • horror

Balogun Ojetade • Heroes Again • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Balogun Ojetade • Q-T-Pies (The Savannah Swan Files #0) • novelette • chapbook, self-published • horror

Nnedi Okorafor • The Baptist • short story • Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, Del Rey • space opera

Nnedi Okorafor • Binti: Home • novella • chapbook, Tor.com • science fiction

Nnedi Okorafor • History • short story • The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories, Solaris • fantasy

Irenosen Okojie • Saudade Minus One (S-1=) • short story • 2084, Unsung Stories • dystopia

Suyi Davies Okungbowa • Can Anything Good Come • short story • The Dark #21, (February) • horror

Suyi Davies Okungbowa • Our Secrets, in Keys • short story • Fireside Magazine (August) • fantasy

Suyi Davies Okungbowa • When You Find Such a Thing • short story • PodCastle #496, November 14 • fantasy

Daniel José Older • Born in the Storm • short story • Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, Del Rey • space opera

Daniel José Older • Dead Light March [a Shadowshaper Cypher story] • novella • chapbook, Arthur A. Levine • young-adult urban fantasy

Ayodele Olofintuade • The Woman with a Thousand Stars in Her Hair • short story • Anathema #1 (April) • fantasy

Deji Bryce Olukotun • The Levellers • short story • Welcome to Dystopia, OR Books • dystopia

Hannah Onoguwe • • short story • Omenana #10 (September) • fantasy

Mary Ononokpono • Ayanti • short story • Migrations, Short Story Day Africa • historical fantasy

Chinelo Onwualu • Read Before Use •short story • Uncanny #16 (May/June) • science fiction

Stanley Onyewuchi • Until Only Shadows Remain • short story • Brittle Paper, February 14 • horror

Radha Zutshi Opubor • Eti Osa • short story • Chicago Literati: The Afrofuturism Issue • young-adult dystopian science fiction

An Owomoyela • The Last Broadcasts • novelette • Infinity Wars, Solaris • science fiction

L. Penelope • The Mankana-kil • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Gary Phillips • Thus Strikes the Black Pimpernel • novelette • The Obama Inheritance, Three Rooms Press • satire

Aisha Phoenix • Airswimming • short story • Strange Horizons, October 9 • fantasy

Aisha Phoenix • Making a Meal of It • short story • Bards and Sages Quarterly, Volume IX, Issue IV (October) • fantasy

Aurelius Raines II • Gotta Go! • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Kevin Rigathi • The Last History • short story • Will This Be a Problem, the Anthology: Issue 3, self-published • philosophical fantasy

Zin E. Rocklyn • Need • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Zin E. Rocklyn • Summer Skin • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Arnica Ross • Riley and Robot • short story • Fiyah #4 (Fall) • science fiction

Leone Ross • Come Let Us Sing Anyway [collection] • Peepal Tree Press • slipstream

• Echo • short story
• Love Letters • short story
• Maski-mon-gwe-zo-os (The Toad Woman) • short story
• Pals • short story
• Velvet Man
• What He Is • short story

Eden Royce • Spook Lights II [collection] • self-published • horror

• Blood Read • short story
• Carolina Blue • short story
• Chilly Bears - 10¢ • short story
• The Dating Pool • short story
• Folk • short story
• Grandmother's Bed • short story
• Haints of Azalea Hall • novelette
• The Laughter of Crows • short story
• The Mermaid Storm • short story
• The Strange Dowry of Spinster Pumpkin • short story
• To-Do List • short story

Eden Royce • Crickets Sing for Naomi • short story • PodCastle #477 (July 4) • dark fantasy

Eden Royce • A Cure for Ghosts • short story • Fireside (November) • horror

Eden Royce • Graverobbing Negress Seeks Employment • short story • Fiyah #2 (Spring) • horror

Eden Royce • A Long Way from the Ritz • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Eden Royce • Shine, Blackberry Wine • short story • Shadows Over Main Street, Volume 2, Cutting Block Books • horror

Eden Royce • Soupie's Lover • short story • Truancy #4 (June) • horror

Eden Royce • Sweetgrass Blood • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

A. A. Rufai • The Incredible Cock • short story • African Writer, June 5 • animal fantasy

Cinsearae S. • Creepy Crawlers 3 [collection] • self-published • horror

Kiini Ibura Salaam • The Malady of Need • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Sofia Samatar • Tender [collection] • Small Beer Press

• An Account of the Land of Witches • short story • fantasy
• Fallow • novella • science fiction

DaVaun Sanders • The Blood Will Come Later • short story • Ride the Star Wind, Broken Eye • cosmic horror

DaVaun Sanders • The Shade Caller • short story • Fiyah #1 (Winter) • dark fantasy

Xen Sanders • Cracks • novelette • Fiyah #3 (Summer) • fantasy

Brittney Sankofa • Intangible Evidence • short story • Afromyth, Afrocentric Books • fantasy

Nicole D. Sconiers • Kim • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Mark P. Steele • A Monstrous Journey • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Sumiko Saulson • The Void Between Emotions [collection] • Iconoclast • horror

• Bodies • short story
• The Dance of the Sea Hare and Tortoise • short story
• Shallow Waters • short story
• Therma Martin Zeda 2525 • short story
• This One Has Teeth • short story
• The Woman Who Couldn't Stop Crying • short story

Sumiko Saulson • The Honeymoon Suite: Jacob's Reunion • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Sumiko Saulson • My Clockwork Valentine • short story • Clockwork Wonderland, HorrorAddicts.net • horror

Sy Shanti • Hollygraham • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Nisi Shawl • The Colors of Money [an Everfair sequel] • Sunvault, Upper Rubber Boot Press • steampunk

Nisi Shawl • Evens • short story • The Obama Inheritance, Three Rooms Press • science fiction

Nisi Shawl • More Than Nothing • short story • Tor.com, March 8 • fantasy

Nisi Shawl • Queen of Dirt • short story • Apex #93 (February) • fantasy

Nisi Shawl • Slippernet • short story • Slate, February 22 • science fiction

Nisi Shawl • Sun River [an Everfair sequel] • short story • Clockwork Cairo, Twopenny Books • steampunk

Nisi Shawl • Sunshine of Your Love • short story • The Sum of Us, Laksa Media • science fiction

Cherrelle Shelton • Banshee • short story • Fireside (October) • fantasy

Cherene Sherrard • Scales • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Kendra Sims • Mirrors in the Valley • short story • Fireside (December) • science fiction

RaShell R. Smith-Spears • Born Again • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Nic Stone • Dream and Dare • short story • The Hanging Garden, May 1 • young-adult fantasy

Nic Stone • Fit for a Queen • short story • The Hanging Garden, July 3 • young-adult fantasy

Nic Stone • Near Inception on an Evening in the Summertime • short story • The Hanging Garden, February 27 • young-adult fantasy

Nic Stone • Old Wild Eyes • short story • The Hanging Garden, September 18 • young-adult fantasy

Tawanna Sullivan • Karma Suture • short story • Forever Vacancy, Colors in Darkness • horror

Hannibal Tabu • Django Unplugged: A T.A.S.K. Story • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Takeia Marie • Shadows • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • horror

Wole Talabi • Home Is Where My Mother's Heart Is Buried • short story • Fiyah #2 (Spring) • science fiction

Wole Talabi • Nneoma • short story • Space and Time Magazine #129 (Summer) • horror

Wole Talabi • The Regression Test • short story • The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (January/February) • science fiction

Sheree Renée Thomas • Aunt Dissy's Policy Dream Book • novelette • Apex #95 (April) • dark fantasy

Sheree Renée Thomas • Who Needs the Stars If the Full Moon Loves You? • short story • Revise the Psalm, Curbside Splendor

Sydnee Thompson • Toward the Sun • short story • Fiyah #3 (Summer) • dystopian science fiction

Tabitha Thompson • Decency Defiled • short story • Rejected for Content 6: Workplace Relations, J. Ellington Ashston • horror

Tabitha Thompson • Highway 54 • short story  • The Sirens Call #31 (February) • horror

Tade Thompson • Bootblack • short story • Expanded Horizons #53 (April) • science fiction

Tade Thompson • The Murders of Molly Southbourne • novella • chapbook, Tor.com • dark fantasy

Lori Titus • Anomalies • short story • Black Girl Magic Lit Mag #5 (January) • science fiction

Lori Titus • Asunder • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • paranormal

Lori Titus • Chrysalis Lights [Bennett Witch Chronicles] • novella • chapbook, Kindle Worlds • paranormal

Lori Titus • The Culling • novella • Something Wicked This Way Comes, WriteAhead • paranormal

Alexia Tolas • For the Best • short story • Black Girl Magic Lit Mag #5 (January) • science fiction

Cadwell Turnbull • Loneliness Is in Your Blood • short story • Nightmare (January) • horror

Cadwell Turnbull • Other Worlds and This One • novelette • Asimov's (July-August) • science fiction

Cadwell Turnbull • A Third of the Stars of Heaven • short story • Lightspeed #91 (December) • science fiction

Dennis R. Upkins • Where Monsters Roam • short story • Black Power: The Superhero Anthology, self-published • superheroes

Steven Van Patten • Naughtty • short story • The Shadow Over Deathlehem, Grinning Skull Press • horror

Wrath James White • Beast Mode • short story • Masters of Horror, Matt Shaw Publications • extreme horror

Wrath James White • The Bliss Point • short story • DOA III, Blood Bound • extreme horror

Wrath James White • Hurting Him • short story • VS:X, Shadow Works • extreme horror

Troy L. Wiggins • Black Like Them • short story • Fireside (January) • science fiction

Troy L. Wiggins • Sorrow and Joy, Sunshine and Rain • short story • Uncanny #19 (December) • science fiction

Kenesha Williams • The Prodigal Daughter • short story • The Scribes of Nyota, BlackSci-Fi.com • science fiction

Kai Ashante Wilson • The Lamentation of Their Women • novelette • Tor.com, August 24 • horror

L. Marie Wood • The Ever After • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

K. Ceres Wright • Of Sound Mind and Body • short story • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

Deana Zhollis • Perfect Connection • novelette • Sycorax's Daughters, Cedar Grove • horror

This is a hell of a pessimistic story. It is a story of haves and have-nots, of before the ecological collapse and after, and it argues relentlessly that without at least a bit of material prosperity, there is no such thing as human kindness or decency.

We don’t see the world of the “haves” in this story; these biochemically-manipulated and cyber-enhanced people are depicted in the novel A Calculated Life, which I haven’t read. In “The Enclave,” we only see them through the points of view of a boy who’s heard some second-hand snippets about them, and a woman who failed at being admitted among them (it’s easy to get excluded). Whether or not their lot is really enviable is not clear. It’s only certain that they carefully lock have-nots out of their spaces, consigning them to extra-urban enclaves and requiring a pass for travel to the cities.

Charnock is more concerned with depicting the before-and-after contrast in the life of her main character, twelve-year-old Caleb, who used to live in Spain before heat and drought sent everyone in that country fleeing north. Before, he had two parents, a school, friends, and friendly games. After, he had a missing father and an existence walking the road with his mother, unwelcome wherever they went. Although Caleb’s mother imagines that his papers, pedigree, and education will be sufficient to get him admitted to the cities, she disappears before finding out if that’s true, and Caleb is picked up by a child-trafficker and turned over to work in a recycling business in an enclave.

Caleb is bright and creative. And his childhood taught him to believe in friendship. He offers the gifts of his talents and his caring to the people in the enclave, and gets less than nothing in return. No one besides Caleb and his mother do a single act of generosity in the entirety of this story. The enclave and the surrounding countryside are a world where friendship doesn’t exist (there’s a scene where Caleb contrasts his games with old friends with the way the children in the enclave “play” by fighting and beating each other), where romance is sex and sex is a transaction, and where family is only a way of defining who belongs to your own gang, and you'd better obey the head of the family if you want to stay in.  Not surprisingly, the story ends with Caleb’s moral ruin.

What does the author get out of depicting poverty as a world of absolute exploitation and dog-eat-dog? Is it just a cautionary tale to middle-class people, don’t lose your prosperity? I must say I didn’t  find this setting entirely convincing. Nothing about it was original, the hinted-at technologically-enhanced society didn’t seem particularly plausible, and more importantly, the relentlessly negative interactions of the enclave residents didn’t add up to much more than a checklist of social evils. There were very few well-developed characters; even Caleb seemed more of a signifier than an individual, with his past amounting to a checklist of middle-class “normality.”

This isn’t a particularly bad story; it’s smoothly written and moves right along, with just the right amount of content for its length. But it isn’t outstanding in any way either.

The premise of this story makes it sound like it’s going to be a dark, intense read—and that’s right on the money. Two main characters: Saint doesn’t know who or what he is, only that he’s immortal and has been repeating the same experience for two hundred years, where he meets a talented artist and falls into a passionate relationship with him, and the artist is inspired to creativity while withering away and dying, and Saint is charged with life—if Saint stayed away from artists he might die, perhaps, but he can’t bring himself to. And Grey Jean-Marcelin is a the brilliant Haitian-American painter who used to paint pictures based in his strong vodun faith, but who has been worn away by many years of crushing depression until he’s absolutely determined to die. Saint has finally found someone he can tell the truth to, and enter into a willing bargain with, but this would be the first time he wouldn’t be fighting against his nature the whole time, so does that make him a monster? Grey doesn’t want to make this relationship a mere bargain, he wants to know the real Saint, at the cost of falling genuinely in love.

As someone who lives with chronic depression myself, I found  this book to be hands-down the best description I’ve ever read of what it’s like to go on for years with the illness eroding your hope, accomplishments, and relationships; to try treatments that don’t help enough, until you lose hope in them; to have every respite tainted by the certain knowledge that it won’t last; to find it harder and harder to start over after each bad time. Xen Sanders knows it first-hand too, and he has found the right words for it. Here’s a passage that made me nod in recognition: “[Grey] hated when he got like this, restless and full of a thousand painful nothings, the darklings chasing themselves in circles inside his head until they wore ruts in his brain. Those ruts were what got him in trouble—because they became permanent, became pathways, and suddenly every new thought diverted down their channels to an end he couldn’t avoid. Once those channels had been shallow, and the thoughts could overflow them, spill the banks, run free and rampant. But now they were a deep and silent river, dragging everything inside him into their depths.”

There’s no glossing over the real damage here. The other thing that made this the best depiction of depression I’ve read is that Sanders doesn’t offer reassurances or glib encouragement. No, “of course you can pick yourself up off the ground again!” (which sounds like an accusation of weakness if you don’t). Just an acknowledgement that this is how things are. But also an acknowledgment and reminder of the good things in life that go on existing even while you can’t appreciate them; and a depiction of what it’s like when you do pick yourself up and carry on one more time. Love doesn’t cure anything in this novel, but it exists. At the end, Grey is going to have just as hard of a time as ever, but Saint will be there with him all the while—and that’s worth a lot.

The other thing I loved about this book was how Grey lived with vodun as a serious spiritual practice. Interestingly, although it’s a fantasy novel, the loas never appear directly; in fact, there are only what you might interpret as indirect indications of prayers being answered. This makes it feel like real religious experience.  Passionate faith fills his art (and the descriptions of the paintings are fascinating), and helps him at some moments of decision. All the kudos to the author for being able to depict this well.

As a romance and as a fantasy novel, Shatterproof works well. Both main characters are equally vivid (I’ve mostly talked about Grey, but Saint’s struggle to find a way to live with his guilt and feeling of being trapped is compelling too), and the connection between them is convincing and moving. It isn’t perfect: the descriptions of desire and passion are kind of purple, and it’s awkwardly structured that Saint is suddenly out of the blue told a key fact about his nature (that he’s been searching for for centuries) just in time to create a happy ending. But I can definitely recommend this book to anyone who’s willing to dive into some real darkness.

Stephanie Zvan estimated what de-puppied ballots would look like; since I used a different method and got very different results, I thought I’d post mine here. Zvan simply subtracted 330 “hardcore slate votes” in every category. But I attempted to adjust for the fact that slate voters got fewer and fewer as they went down the ballot, by estimating a separate number to subtract in every category based on items that hardly any non-slate voters would have chosen (e.g. 440 in Best Novella; Nick Cole’s Fear of the Unknown and Self-Loathing in Hollywood got 438 nominations). Yes, this is very inexact guesswork -- the list below is no one’s opinion but mine. I found the results of the EPH analysis of the 2016 data very useful, since it magnified small differences in the raw number of nominations. I considered such small differences to be statistical fluctuations that might have changed if anything whatsoever about the year had been different; therefore, in cases where items had very similar numbers of nominations, I used the relative rankings established by EPH. The fifth place in Best Short Story was tied between “Madeleine” and “Pocosin” with 177 nominations apiece; but “Madeleine” had 119.5 EPH points compared to “Pocosin”’s 111.833.

BEST NOVEL

Ancillary Mercy (Ann Leckie)

The Fifth Season (N. K. Jemisin)

Uprooted (Naomi Novik)

Seveneves (Neal Stephenson)

Aurora (Kim Stanley Robinson)

Karen Memory (Elizabeth Bear)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant (Seth Dickinson)

The Just City (Jo Walton)

The Grace of Kings (Ken Liu)

Sorcerer to the Crown (Zen Cho)

BEST NOVELLA

Binti (Nnedi Okorafor)

Penric’s Demon (Lois McMaster Bujold)

“The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Djinn” (Usman T. Malik)

Slow Bullets (Alastair Reynolds)

“Waters of Versailles” (Kelly Robson)

“The Citadel of Weeping Pearls” (Aliette de Bodard)

Witches of Lychford (Paul Cornell)

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (Kai Ashante Wilson)

“The New Mother” (Eugene Fischer)

Perfect State (Brandon Sanderson)

BEST NOVELETTE

“Our Lady of the Open Road” (Sarah Pinsker)

“And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” (Brooke Bolander)

“So Much Cooking” (Naomi Kritzer)

“Another Word for World” (Ann Leckie)

“The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild” (Catherynne M. Valente)

“Grandmother-nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds” (Rose Lemberg)

“Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan” (Ian McDonald)

“Folding Beijing” (Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu)

“The Deepwater Bride” (Tamsyn Muir)

“Entanglements” (David Gerrold)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Cat Pictures Please” (Naomi Kritzer)

“Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” (Alyssa Wong)

“Wooden Feathers” (Ursula Vernon)

“Today I Am Paul” (Martin L. Shoemaker)

“Madeleine” (Amal El-Mohtar)

“Pocosin” (Ursula Vernon)

“Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight” (Aliette de Bodard)

“Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer” (Megan Grey)

“Damage” (David Levine)

“Pockets” (Amal El-Mohtar)

BEST RELATED WORK

Letters to Tiptree (edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Alexandra Pierce)

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) (Felicia Day)

Invisible 2 (edited by Jim Hines)

John Scalzi Is Not a Very Popular Author and I Myself Am Quite Popular (Alexandra Erin)

Lois McMaster Bujold (Edward James)

The Wheel of Time Companion (Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons)

“Sad Puppies Bite Back” (Declan Finn)

Geek Knits (Toni Carr)

A History of Epic Fantasy (Adam Whitehead)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

Nimona (Noelle Stevenson)

Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine (Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Taki Soma, and Robert Wilson)

Saga, Volume 5 (Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples)

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Why (G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, and Jacob Wyatt)

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power (Ryan North and Erica Henderson)

The Sandman: Overture (Neil Gaiman and J. H. Williams III)

The Sculptor (Scott McCloud)

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (Sydney Padua)

Rat Queens, Vol. 2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N’rygoth (Kurtis J. Wiebe)

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 2: Fandemonium (Kieron Gillen, Jamie  McKelvie, and Matt  Wilson)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM)

The Martian

Mad Max: Fury Road

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Ex Machina

Inside Out
Jessica Jones, Season 1
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Avengers: Age of Ultron

Ant-Man
Sense8

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM)

Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent”

Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile”

Game of Thrones: “Hardhome”

The Expanse: “CQB” 

Person of Interest: “If-Then-Else”

Daredevil: “Cut Man”

The Expanse: “Dulcinea”

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: “4,722 Hours”

Doctor Who: “The Husbands of River Song”

Orphan Black: “Certain Agony of the Battlefield”

BEST EDITOR (SHORT FORM) [Note: I added together the nominations for "Lynne M. Thomas" and "Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas"]

John Joseph Adams

Neil Clarke

Ellen Datlow

Sheila Williams

Lynne M. Thomas

C. C. Finlay

Jonathan Strahan

Gardner Dozois

Ann Vandermeer

Jerry Pournelle

BEST EDITOR (LONG FORM) [Note: I left the late David Hartwell off the list because he once said he would not accept any more nominations]

Toni Weisskopf

Sheila Gilbert

Liz Gorinsky

Anne Lesley Groell

Devi Pillai

Marco Palmieri

Joe Monti

Miriam Weinberg

Jane Johnson

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

Julie Dillon  
John Picacio
Galen Dara
Cynthia Sheppard
Richard Anderson
Larry Elmore
Rowena Morrill
Chris McGrath
John Harris  
Kathleen Jennings 

BEST SEMIPROZINE

Uncanny Magazine (Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky)

Strange Horizons (Catherine Krahe et al.)

Beneath Ceaseless Skies (Scott H. Andrews)

The Book Smugglers (Thea James & Ana Grilo)

Interzone (Andy Cox)

Escape Pod (Mur Lafferty, Al Stuart et al.)

Fireside Magazine (Brian White)

Giganotosaurus (Rashida J. Smith)

[Multiple candidates nearly tied for the last places]

BEST FANZINE

File 770 (Mike Glyer)  

Lady Business (Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan)

Journey Planet (James Bacon and Christopher J. Garcia)

A Dribble of Ink (Aidan Moher)

Rocket Stack Rank (Greg Hullender & Eric Wong)

SF Signal (John DeNardo)

Mad Genius Club (Dave Freer)

nerds of a feather, flock together (The G)

Banana Wings (Claire Briarly & Mark Plummer)

Mark Watches (Mark Oshiro)

BEST FANCAST

Tea and Jeopardy (Emma Newman & Peter Newman)

Galactic Suburbia (Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, & Alisa Krasnostein)

Verity! (Deborah Stanish et al.)

The Skiffy and Fanty Show (Jennifer Zink )

Ditch Diggers (Matt Wallace & Mur Lafferty)

Sword and Laser (Veronica Belmont & Tom Merrill )

Fangirl Happy Hour (Renay Williams & Ana Grilo)

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men (Jay Edidin & Miles Stokes)

The Coode Street Podcast (Jonathan Strahan)

StarShipSofa (Tony C. Smith)

BEST FAN WRITER

Mike Glyer

Alexandra Erin

Natalie Luhrs

Mark Oshiro

Abigail Nussbaum

Eric Flint

George R. R. Martin

Foz Meadows

Liz Bourke

Jeffro Johnson

BEST FAN ARTIST

Steve Stiles
Megan Lara
Karezoid
Likhain
Matthew Callahan
Richard Man
Euclase
Brad W. Foster
Piper Thibodeau
Ninni Aalto

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD

Andy Weir
Alyssa Wong
Becky Chambers
Kelly Robson
Sunil Patel
Natasha Pulley
S. L. Huang
Isabel Yap
Scott Hawkins
Rachael K. Jones

Addendum: I think that articles related to the Puppy affair belong in Fan Writer rather than in Related Work, and in the unlikely event that the administrators had decided to shift them into that category, here's how things might look (uncertain, since there are surely many people who nominated the author in both categories, but they'd only be counted once, and also if a nominator already had 5 fan writers nothing else could be shifted in):

BEST RELATED WORK

Letters to Tiptree (edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Alexandra Pierce)

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) (Felicia Day)

Invisible 2 (edited by Jim Hines)

Lois McMaster Bujold (Edward James)

The Wheel of Time Companion (Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons)

Geek Knits (Toni Carr)

A History of Epic Fantasy (Adam Whitehead)

BEST FAN WRITER

Alexandra Erin

Mike Glyer

Natalie Luhrs

Mark Oshiro

Abigail Nussbaum

Eric Flint

George R. R. Martin

Foz Meadows

Liz Bourke

Declan Finn

In preparation for the Hugo nominations, I have been reading short fiction. Here follows a list (continually updated) of stories that struck me as above average; bold indicates award-worthy.

SHORT STORY

“And We, Spectators Always, Everywhere” - Kirsten Kaschock; Dead Letters [Titan Books, April]

“The English Translation of the Story of the Hero Who Named Many Places” - Will Kaufman; 20 Tall Tales [Fiction Attic Press, October] (link)

“How High Your Gods Can Count” - Tegan Moore; Strange Horizons, May 2 (link)

“Lullaby for a Lost World” - Aliette de Bodard; Tor.com, June 8 (link)

“Meltwater” - Benjamin C. Kinney; Strange Horizons, March 14 (link)

“The Men from Narrow Houses” - A. C. Wise; Liminal Stories, Spring/Summer (link)

“The Mountains His Crown” - Sarah Pinsker; Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 17 (link)

“The Name of the Forest” - Margaret Killjoy; Strange Horizons, March 21 (link)

“No Better Armor, No Heavier Burden” - Wunji Lau; Women in Practical Armor [Evil Girlfriend Media, August]

“Postcards from Natalie” - Carrie Laben; The Dark, July (link)

“Sea of Dreams” - Alter S. Reiss; Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 31 (link)

“Sweet Marrow” - Vajra Chandrasekera; Strange Horizons, July 4 (link)

“Three Points Masculine” - An Owomoyela; Lightspeed, May (link)

“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay” - Alyssa Wong; Uncanny, May/June (link)

NOVELETTE

“The Art of Space Travel” - Nina Allan; Tor.com, July 27 (link)

“Astray” - Nina Allan; Dead Letters [Titan Books, April]

“Breaking Water” - Indrapramit Das; Tor.com, February 10 (link)

“Is Your Blood as Red as This?” - Helen Oyeyemi; What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours [Riverhead Books, March]

“Love Is Never Still” - Rachel Swirsky; Uncanny, March/April (link)

“Foxfire, Foxfire” - Yoon Ha Lee; Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 3 (link)

“Polyglossia” - Tamara Vardomskaya; GigaNotoSaurus, March (link)

NOVELLA

Every Heart a Doorway - Seanan McGuire [Tor.com, April]

This Census-Taker - China Miéville [Subterranean Press, January]

The editor sent all his invited authors a writing prompt consisting of an envelope, looking as if gone astray, containing some odd document or object. I have to say, on the whole, I preferred the stories that used this item less literally. The opening story, "The Green Letter", used the arrival of a malevolent letter in a matter that was just too on-the-nose; this was one of the few where the letter itself, or its contents, had supernatural effects, others being "Over to You" and "Ledge Bants". More often, though, the stories concerned a mysterious letter's ability to spark an investigation, either into someone else's fate or the recipient's own memories. Sometimes the letter was only apparently misdirected, in which case it was almost inevitably a trap. There were a couple of stories that hinged on the fact of a sent letter's failure to arrive at its intended destination. "L0ND0N" doesn't have just one central piece of mail, and "And We, Spectators" has a corrupted verbal message.

Some of the stories stood out. "And We, Spectators Always, Everywhere" by Kirsten Kaschock is a creepy religious horror story, narrated by a guardian angel sent by a God whose ways are very much incomprehensible; the path that the watched child is shepherded down is a dark one. "Astray" by Nina Allen is a psychological story, a portrait of a narrator who reluctantly doles out information about herself. She is traumatized by events involving her father and an accident of her own, and becomes fascinated by a girl who disappeared decades before; it's all so oblique that it would be hard to say how it all adds up, but it does create a coherent, suffocating psychological atmosphere. "Gone Away" is narrated by a viciously snobby representative of an old family; in this story she learns something about the way her family tradition tries to manage the consequences of its dirty sources of wealth, and makes a decision about what it really means to her to be part of this family: to be implicated. "L0ND0N" by Nicholas Royle is a playful exercise in mise en abîme drawing on a lot of the author's actual work as an editor, full of doublings and identity confusions. The main character of "Cancer Dancer" by Pat Cadigan is, just like the author, diagnosed with terminal cancer; although obscure in construction, the story gets across the feeling of living with that news, and is very funny. "The Wrong Game" by Ramsey Campbell is even more metafictional; he starts by talking about the package that he was supposedly sent for this anthology, and creates an atmosphere of doubt around it, as to who is really in charge of his life; and tries, rather effectively, to pass that doubt on to the reader.

Favorites:

• "Astray" by Nina Allan
• "And We, Spectators Always, Everywhere" by Kirsten Kaschock

Liked:

• "Cancer Dancer" by Pat Cadigan
• "The Wrong Game" by Ramsey Campbell
• "Gone Away" by Muriel Gray
• "L0ND0N" by Nicholas Royle

Indifferent:

• "The Green Letter" by Steven Hall
• "Over to You" by Michael Marshall Smith
• "In Memoriam" by Joanne Harris
• "Wonders to Come" by Christopher Fowler
• "Is-and" by Claire Dean
• "The Hungry Hotel" by Lisa Tuttle
• "Change Management" by Angela Slatter

Disliked:

• "Ausland" by Alison Moore
• "Buyer's Remorse" by Andrew Lane
• "The Days of Our Lives" by Adam LG Nevill
• "Ledge Bants" by Maria Dahvana Headley and China Miéville

Every Heart a Doorway is simply beautiful.

The premise is a boarding school for teenagers who have gone to other worlds, fantasy worlds, and then returned, and are left longing to go back to the place they now feel is home. They need a school (run by someone who had the same experience) because people in the mundane world don’t believe them and can only try to force them to fit the surroundings where they don’t belong. Naturally the overriding mood of the story is wistfulness, and it’s perfectly captured.

The main characters are tremendously appealing (yes, even the amoral mad scientist); they are a group of clever misfits who support each other fiercely, although recognizing that they can’t provide a true home for each other — Nancy reflects that “this was the place where she came closest to belonging in the world.” The idea proposed about the otherworlds is that they are attracted by “sympathy” to people who are already out of place in their lives (to be sure it doesn’t always work out perfectly — not all world-travelers found themselves in a place where they would happily stay forever). That’s the reason that the vast majority of the students are girls, since they’re much more likely than boys to be disregarded and expected to squeeze themselves into a corner of the world rather than having the world shape itself to their wishes.

The main character is Nancy, who traveled to the Halls of the Dead, a place of ghosts that resembled the painter John William Waterhouse’s shadowy groves. (So many of the fantasy worlds described seem (at least in aesthetics) like ones we’ve heard of previously, that I wonder if the author means to imply that this world’s artists are depicting actual otherworlds.) Not only is Nancy asexual, making her need to conceal from her fellow high-schoolers that she doesn’t, like them, find mating games to be the most important thing in the world, but there is just a fundamental mismatch in the, you might say, energy of how she exists compared to everyone else, and the stillness of ghosts is perfect for her.

There’s also Sumi, a charmingly, chaotically energetic girl who escaped a very rigid and prim family to a nonsense world. And there’s Jack, a twin who says “Our parents were… the sort who always wanted to put things in boxes…. Ever watch a pair of perfectionists try to decide which of their identical children is the ‘smart one’ versus the ‘pretty one’? It would have been funny, if our lives hadn’t been the prize they were trying to win.” Jack went with her sister to a world of horror where she became apprenticed to a mad scientist, where the question was not what ought to be but only what could be, namely anything. And a number of other equally vivid characters.

It’s a short novella, and it’s just the perfect length. I don’t think anything needed to be added to flesh out its themes and characters; it says what it had to say and ends on the right note.

Could the Grail story have meaning in a context other than Medieval Christianity? This is a serious attempt at finding such meaning.

In the rest of this review, there will be spoilers.

Kingfisher shares some themes with McKillip's other recent novel Solstice Wood. But whereas that was set in our own world, this has a peculiar setting furnished with automobiles and asphalt but ruled by royalty and feudal nobility. The setting is the novel's greatest weakness: there is simply no way it can make sense. All superficial aspects of modern life are there, from tourism to credit cards, but there is no apparent industrial basis for high technology (no mention of industry at all), no noticeable economic foundation for the kingdom, and no explanation how its modern economy can coexist with a feudal network of small principalities whose rulers chafe to be independent of the king. The king is served by knights but it is unclear what governmental or social function they have; they don't seem like a very useful army, with their skills (however formidable) all shaped toward single combat, and there is no mention of any other army in spite of rumors of military threats. We expect the workings of a fairy-tale kingdom to be vague, but in this novel, things are so concretely described that they demand explanation. Therefore, the failure of the attempt to combine feudal structures and modern trappings means that I'm not convinced that royal courts can fit into a modern mythology such as the one this book tries to construct.

Much more successful is the web of meanings McKillip weaves around the Grail itself. It is many things to many people, in a world of many gods. The kingdom of Wyvernhold has its capital city in Severluna, at the confluence of rivers named for Severen, the god of metals, treasure, and weapons, and Calluna, the goddess associated with the moon and births. We find ourselves in the territory of conflict between matriarchal and patriarchal religion that is familiar from many modern Arthurian stories. The theme is developed with so much nuance and detail here, though, that it doesn't feel entirely hackneyed or obvious. The acolytes of the two gods each have their own, sharply different version of a myth involving the Grail: the devotees of Severen say it's a golden treasure that's his by right, with Calluna trying to steal it, whereas Calluna's myth (which the author will give the right to) has her healing Severen.

Furthermore, it turns out that this is a divided realm, the fairyland of Ravenhold, ruled by queens, having been suppressed by the conquering kings of Wyvernhold, but the two still parallel each other in a shadowy way. Both lands are damaged, with Ravenhold having fallen into ruin and Wyvernhold into a state of disenchantment signalled by the extinction of fabulous beasts such as wyverns; several people speak of feeling a sort of spiritual exhaustion (and the Guinevere/Lancelot story seems to be playing its traditional role of being a sign of spiritual trouble). The royal families of both realms are seeking to recover the Grail which they both believe would give new power to their reign. There is a story naming as the origin of evil Ravenhold having allowed itself, for the first and last time, to be ruled by a king; this king, after having brought ruin to Ravenhold, at which time the Grail was lost, continues to spread corruption in Wyvernhold. This origin story is tied in a complex way to the link between Calluna and Severen.

The Grail itself, the overflowing source of life and nourishment, plays a role outside these conflicts; it seems more at home in the "castle of the Fisher King" (currently serving as a fish fry restaurant) than in the hands of any power. Yet more meanings are attributed to it by the knights who seek it with a variety of personal attitudes and motivations, and of course, the possibility of the success of their quest is in their heart. The major elements of the Perceval story are repeated in this novel, but some of them are repurposed. Pierce Oliver, hidden from the world by his mother, but tempted toward the court and knighthood, is Perceval (with elements of Galahad in that his father is Lancelot) and a naive "fool" character; he is the "kitchen knight" whose skills are cooking not fighting. He has the usual complement of women that accompany a knight in such stories, but playing unusual variations on their roles: his sorceress mother (who saves him from a dangerous encounter on the road rather than him saving himself); a sister-figure, who assists him in his fight (but who has her own story that ultimately has little to do with him); and a damsel in distress (who takes his kitchen knife away from him and does in her captor with her own hands). His ultimate role is to bring people together, so that they can deal with the evil in the land, rather than to do anything active. And he accepts that at the end, saying that he's a cook rather than a knight, and the restorative, fellowship-promoting power of food is what he appreciates.

The ritual procession that Pierce/Perceval witnesses at the Fisher King's castle is as in the original legend. What we learn of the past suggests that these people are the true heirs of Calluna and old Ravenhold. The one element of the story that doesn't fit very neatly into this telling is Perceval having failed to ask a crucial question; that is brought up early on but not carried through to the end. However, the novel ends with the Fisher King being not yet healed. That's because the true damage is the estrangement between Ravenhold and Wyvernhold. There are signs of reconciliation, and people on both sides talking about the necessity of it, but it hasn't happened yet, and will presumably be an extended process. That's where the similarity to Solstice Wood lies: that novel considered the traditional view of fairyland as separate and hostile and suggested that in modern times that view might break down, that due to cultural shifts people might have reasons for not fearing and rejecting it any more.

Kingfisher is a complicated, many-charactered, somewhat problematic but ultimately quite appealing work whose themes of the reconciliation of different myths and different worlds of the imagination is indeed timely.

BEST NOVEL

Cuckoo Song - Frances Hardinge; Amulet Books, May

Lagoon - Nnedi Okorafor; Saga Press, July

The Mystic Marriage - Heather Rose Jones; Bella Books, April

Shadow Scale - Rachel Hartman; Random House, March

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley; Bloomsbury Publishing, July

BEST NOVELLA

“The Bone Swans of Amandale” - C.S.E. Cooney; Bone Swans [Mythic Delirium Books, July]

“Gypsy” - Carter Scholz; The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November/December

“On the Night of the Robo-Bulls and Zombie Dancers” - Nick Wolven; Asimov’s, February

“Quarter Days” - Iona Sharma; GigaNotoSaurus, December

Witches of Lychford - Paul Cornell [Tor.com, August]

BEST NOVELETTE

“The Body Pirate” - Van Aaron Hughes; The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July/August

“Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan” - Ian McDonald; Old Venus [Bantam Books, March 2015]

“Little Men with Knives” - L. S. Johnson; Crossed Genres Magazine, July

“Our Lady of the Open Road” - Sarah Pinsker; Asimov’s, June

“Saltwater Railroad” - Andrea Hairston; Lightspeed, July

BEST SHORT STORY

“The Cellar Dweller” - Maria Dahvana Headley; Nightmare, June

“The Game of Smash and Recovery” - Kelly Link; Strange Horizons, October 17

“Little Fox” - Amy Griswold; Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, June

“Rat Catcher's Yellows” - Charlie Jane Anders; Press Start to Play [Penguin Random House, August]

“Who Will Greet You at Home” - Leslie Nneka Arimah; The New Yorker, October 26

BEST RELATED WORK

The Anatomy of Curiosity - Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff; Carolrhoda Lab, October

Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds - Joseph P. Laycock; University of California Press, February

A History of Epic Fantasy - Adam Whitehead; The Wertzone, August 23-December 24

Letters to Tiptree - Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein; Twelfth Planet Press, August

Lois McMaster Bujold - Edward James; University of Illinois Press, July 

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

“The Groom” - Emily Carroll; author’s website, July 10

The Oven - Sophie Goldstein; AdHouse Books, June

The Sculptor - Scott McCloud; First Second Books, February

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage - Sydney Padua; Pantheon Books, April

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM)

BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR (SHORT FORM)

Carl Engle-Laird (Tor.com, short stories and novellas)

C.C. Finlay (Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

David Longhorn (Supernatural Tales magazine)

Chinelo Onwualu (Omenana magazine)

Wendy N. Wagner (Lightspeed & Nightmare magazines, especially Queers Destroy Horror! issue)

BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR (LONG FORM)

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

Jian Guo (example: cover of The Mists of Avalon: Mistress of Magic)

Chris McGrath (example: cover of Disciple of the Wind)

Goñi Montes (example: illustration for “Kingmaker”)

Victo Ngai (example: cover of Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard)

Morgana Wallace (example: “Necromancer”)

BEST SEMIPROZINE

GigaNotoSaurus

Lackington’s

Omenana

Strange Horizons

Uncanny

BEST FANZINE

Black Gate

Fantasy-Faction

File 770

Lady Business

BEST FANCAST

BEST FAN WRITER

Heather Rose Jones (blog)

James Davis Nicoll (reviews)

Abigail Nussbaum (blog)

Robin Reid (comments on File 770)

Rhiannon Thomas (blog)

BEST FAN ARTIST

Lauren Dawson a.k.a. Iguanamouth (example)

Deborah Hauber a.k.a. Boa (example)

Likhain (example)

Jason Porath (example)

Autun Purser (example)

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD

Charlotte Ashley (examples: “La Héron”, “Eleusinian Mysteries”)

Chikodili Emelumadu (examples: “Story, Story”, “Soup”)

L. S. Johnson (examples: “Little Men with Knives”, “The Tale of King Edgar”)

Iona Sharma (examples: “Quarter Days”, “Nine Thousand Hours”)

JY Yang (examples: “A House of Anxious Spiders”, “Song of the Krakenmaid”)

Emma on November 10, 2015 at 5:51 pm said:

My recent reads:

Planetfall by Emma Newman: Ooh, I loved this. Basically, it’s about a group (part scientific expedition, part . . . well, cult) who are guided by a woman (ex-roommate and BFF of the narrator) to a distant planet, with tragedy ensuing; the book starts 20-ish years after arrival, as the past comes back to haunt the narrator. (A very inadequate plot summary, but spoilers are hard to avoid here.) I read this book in a single sitting. I was kind of surprised at how . . . intimate? the story turned out to be. It takes place on an alien planet, in the shadow of a bizarre alien city, but it’s very much a story about the effects of trauma and grief on the individual and the community. Well-written, engaging, and highly recommended.

TheYoungPretender on November 16, 2015 at 10:03 am said:

If we’re talking about characterization in fiction, I think there’s a great deal to be said for Planetfall, by Emma Newman. The prose is excellent, the characterization will make you tear up at some points if you can sympathize, and building suspense and slow reveal of shape of the world is very well done. It’s definitely on my list for when I start to think of what I will or will not nominate this coming year.

If this opinion is shared, and the book is some definition of “hot” in terms of critical buzz and sales, I get the distinct feeling we’re looking at our dinosaur, our ancillary for the year. This is a good book. But there’s a distinct lack of male authority saving the day or violence being the answer, and a lot of it happens in the inner life of the narrator. If this makes people’s long and then short lists, I expect it to be contrasted negatively with whatever puppy-chow those who are good buddies with Hoyt or Paulk churn out this year.

If it does, f***’em. Planetfall is a solid book.

robinreid on November 16, 2015 at 11:09 am said:

@The Young Pretender: ooh, bought Planetfall on your rec! Sounds fascinating.

Steve Wright on November 16, 2015 at 11:33 am said:

Darn it, Young Pretender, I have been looking at Planetfall and thinking “no, spent too much on books lately as it stands, better hold off on this one”… and then you go and say good things about it. Bother.

lurkertype on November 16, 2015 at 4:21 pm said:

Intrigued by TYP’s Planetfall review.

Paul Weimer (@princejvstin) on November 17, 2015 at 2:59 am said:

What I am currently reading is Emma Newman’s Planetfall. I thought this was going to be a colonization story. I was not expecting this to be a first person intimate look at a colonist with mental illness. Given my emotional whiplash from vacation and returning to troubles at work, this is rather disconcerting. But very well written.

robinreid on November 17, 2015 at 7:03 am said:

The person whose name I no longer remember who recommended Planetfall: please reimburse me three hours of sleep I missed last night because I could….. not…… put……. the…… book…… (kindle)……… DOWN!

I had to keep reading.

It was…..wow.

Brilliant deconstruction of space colony tropes throughout.

snowcrash on November 17, 2015 at 7:53 am said:

::Heartily curses all of you::

::adds Planetfall to Mount F770::

Kendall on November 22, 2015 at 10:36 pm said:

I finished Planetfall and it was great! I should go out of town more often (more reading time). Although I hate present tense, it worked very well here (I didn’t even notice at first, blush), especially with the shifting back and forth into memory-in-past-tense, although I expected that to be set off (italics or whatever), but I got used to it and it was an effective technique in this case – wouldn’t work in other books.

Still, really, really great book! Cool SF, engrossing character . . . tough to put down. I’m tempted by the audiobook already; she reads it, and IMHO does a good job. I first found Planetfall via a recording of her reading.

JJ on December 9, 2015 at 2:07 am said:

Okay, to those of you who raved about Planetfall, I am joining your ranks. This is a book I will be thinking about for days. Just wow.

Kendall on December 9, 2015 at 11:53 pm said:

@JJ: Welcome to Planetfall fandom. Here’s your complimentary 3D-printed badge; it’s a little broken, but I’m sure you can fix it.

JJ on December 10, 2015 at 12:22 am said:

Thanks! I put it on the pile with the other things I’m going fix when I have a spare moment.

Kendall on December 29, 2015 at 11:15 pm said:

JDC: Thanks for the link to Jemisin’s column! I was taken aback by her description of Renata in Planetfall as “completely unlikable”; maybe I was too wrapped up in her narrative, but I didn’t read her like that.

JJ on December 30, 2015 at 12:12 am said:

Neither did I. Planetfall is on my Hugo shortlist right now. I thought the description from the main character’s point-of-view did a fantastic job of showing how

I know that one of the other commenters here thought she was awful because

I found the main character very sympathetic, and thought that she deserved her resolution. I’m really surprised that Jemisin found her “completely unlikeable” — I mean, I would have expected

rob_matic on December 30, 2015 at 1:13 am said:

I see where she’s coming from, and I’m inclined to agree. I don’t think it’s a negative comment in context. You can have sympathy for a character, and be an interested observer of their narrative, without necessarily liking them or being fond of them.

If the character was unlikable and uninteresting, that would be a problem.

Kendall on December 30, 2015 at 1:28 am said:  

@JJ: Agreed 100%, and it’s on my short list, too. You know, if anything, Mac seems to fit “completely unlikeable” a lot better! I mean,

And he comes off a bit smarmy, to boot.  

I may be rereading Planetfall via audiobook sooner than expected. Usually I try to let time pass, but this book was SO GOOD (I’m yelling, for the record). I’m having similar trouble putting off rereading (listening) The Girl with All the Gifts.

Kendall on December 30, 2015 at 1:43 am said:

@rob_matic: Hmm, maybe for me sympathy does require liking a character at least a bit. I don’t know. Anyway, I don’t feel Jemisin’s comment is negative, exactly; I was just surprised because I didn’t see Renata that way.  

Unlikable and uninteresting: traits leading to the eight deadly words. Uninteresting was definitely not (IMHO) one of Renata’s problems!

bookworm1398 on January 5, 2016 at 3:13 pm said:

Just finished Planetfall. I’m not quite sure how I would rate this book yet.

I found the first two-thirds quite fascinating. The premise, the mystery, the description of technologies used, and most especially the main character. The gradual unfolding of her character was great. But, after

redheadedfemme on January 5, 2016 at 5:33 pm said:

@bookworm1398

Planetfall. Gah. The ending to that book drove me nuts.

JJ on January 5, 2016 at 6:25 pm said:

I still say

redheadedfemme on January 5, 2016 at 6:41 pm said:

@JJ

I’m not sure I agree with that, but that’s certainly a legitimate interpretation.

JJ on January 5, 2016 at 7:21 pm said:

Kendall on January 5, 2016 at 11:19 pm said:

@bookworm1398, @redheadedfemme, & @JJ: I agree with JJ regarding Planetfall and Ren. Some more on how I took it below – obviously YMMV (and does).

The more I think about it, the more I love this book. I may have to listen to the audiobook sooner rather than later, as a re-read.

Review by redheadedfemme [December 12, 2015]

Kathodus on January 27, 2016 at 12:30 pm said:

Reading-wise – just finished Planetfall. Read it almost entirely in one sitting. It’s another one up there on the shortlist. Googling for filer discussion on it, my recollection that a lot of folk here agree with that is correct.

Kendall on January 28, 2016 at 12:26 am said:

@Kathodus: Count me as someone who loved Planetfall; let me say that it’ll take a lot to knock it off my short list.

Kyra on February 12, 2016 at 12:58 pm said:

Today’s read — Planetfall, by Emma Newman

As a note, I didn’t realize that Emma Newman of “Planetfall, by Emma Newman” was the same Emma Newman as “Tea and Jeopardy, hosted by Emma Newman”, until I read it. Neat.

I’m going to start with a compliment that may not be a common one — I was very impressed by the structure of this book. The pace at which information is revealed, the interplay between past and present, are beautifully handled. Also, the narrative voice was engrossing. That being said, I’m … not entirely satisfied by the ending. I thought what should have been key moments weren’t given enough preparation by the rest of the text to really have the impact they should have.

I still think it’s well worth reading, but the end left me feeling it was a good book rather than a great one.

lurkertype on February 12, 2016 at 1:54 pm said:

Enough people whose opinion I respect have said that Planetfall doesn’t stick the ending that I’ve not bothered to read it. I have more than enough stuff that’s good all the way through to read.

Dawn Incognito on February 12, 2016 at 6:51 pm said:

I am currently about 25% into Planetfall and really enjoying it. I’m a little saddened by the opinions that it doesn’t stick the landing. But I’m still curious about what the reveal will be. I may return and keyboard smash in a few days :-)

NickPheas on February 15, 2016 at 8:26 am said:

Finished Planetfall.

Hmm…

Dawn Incognito on February 20, 2016 at 2:36 pm said:

Not sure where to put this, but thought I’d give a follow-up on Planetfall by Emma Newman.

…oh man.

This book will probably live on in my mind as The One With

JJ on February 20, 2016 at 5:38 pm said:

I thought the ending was rather rushed as well, and would have liked it to have been developed more.

Dawn Incognito on February 20, 2016 at 6:24 pm said:

JJ on February 20, 2016 at 6:57 pm said:

Vasha’s thoughts on Planetfall [March 17, 2016]

NOTE: This essay discusses the entire novel with no regard for spoilers.
 
Readers, can we agree that the idea of teleological evolution doesn’t hold water scientifically? That’s fine. In the world of Planetfall, though, when the narrator speculates, “Could it be that our existence was somehow engineered and the same process carried out across multiple solar systems in the galaxy? Could it be that God scattered our building blocks, then called us back when we were ready?” she is nothing but right.
 
This is one hell of a frustrating novel. On the one hand, it’s nicely written and the main character, Renata (Ren) Ghali, is appealing (in my opinion, that is; many other readers have been put off by her); her anguished search for a way through her personal and social troubles keeps up steady suspense. On the other hand, the entire plot rests on multiple instances of immense stupidity by many people, and ultimately goes nowhere at all; if there’s a God pulling the strings of this plot, they’re just as stupid as the characters.
 
Ren’s beloved, Lee Suh-Mi, came across an unknown plant that compelled her to eat its seed, whereupon she was granted a vision of the location of another planet and how to get there. She planned an expedition (leaving a planet Earth ravaged by misgovernment and environmental collapse) and gathered over one thousand people to go along, people from all backgrounds and religions who paid their passage with either money or expertise. Her head of personnel, so to speak, was the “Ringmaster” Mack, a man with a genius for advertising; he chose most of the expedition members.
 
This group includes biochemists and geneticists. And yet, we don’t hear of any of them expressing surprise when the new planet proves to be populated with organisms that use the same DNA coding as on Earth (an impossibility if life originated separately there), and many of which strongly resemble earth life, down to “grasses” and “mammals”.
 
Shortly after arrival (Planetfall), the disaster strikes which, unrevealed at the start of the novel, will be gradually made clear: Suh-Mi leads an exploration group, including Ren, Mack, and Suh-Mi’s son Hak-Kun, through the innards of an immense organism they dub “God’s City”, since her visions tell her God will be found at the top of it. Here, as throughout the story, she is being treated as a charismatic leader rather than an organizer: she has taken along those members of the expedition who are closest to her rather than ones with relevant expertise. They wear protective gear since the inside of God’s City is full of biologically active exudates and microorganisms. They find signs of technology on their journey, and writings in no earthly language. At the top, Suh-Mi passes into a hidden room, then runs out of it saying that they’re too late and God is already dead, tears off her mask, and dies choking on the environmental toxins.
 
What to do? Mack, singlehandedly, makes the decision that Suh-Mi’s death (and what she said) must be concealed from the rest of the expedition, coercing Ren into backing him up and attempting to kill the others who know about it by marooning them far from the encampment. This is the point at which the plot becomes even more unbelievable than it has been so far. Mack manages to convince all thousand expedition members that Suh-Mi has remained in God’s City communing with the Creator, and plants a “message” from her each year... for twenty-two years. During all this time, the colonists sit around in their encampment at the foot of God’s City, building houses, enriching their comfortable lives (enabled by molecular printers), and thinking of their missing leader with round-eyed awe. They exhibit remarkably little curiosity: not doing much to investigate the peculiarities of their setting, not exploring the rest of the planet, and never, ever questioning Mack’s story. I can only explain this by supposing that when Mack chose expedition members, he specifically chose people who were gullible, incurious, and lacking all skepticism. (This is supported by noting that one of his few critics, whom he had to eliminate, was Hak-Kun who was not one of his choices.) This may be a good make-up for the members of a religious cult, but it is not at all suitable for a planetary colony, as the events of the novel will show. If he chose people who would go along on the expedition out of awed reverence and not out of curiosity or hope of gain (seriously, how many people wouldn’t be wild to see a new planet?) that explains why he felt he had to conceal from them the collapse of the rationale. I see no reason why he would make that choice except intending to keep them under his personal thrall. And I find it hard to believe that he succeeded with all thousand of them, no matter what a brilliant manipulator he is stated to be.
 
Twenty-two years later, a young man, Sung-Soo, turns up claiming to be Hak-Kun’s son and the sole survivor of the marooned expedition members. He is immediately accepted into the encampment although, to me, he seemed fishier than last week’s cod, telling inconsistent stories about his life, poking into every corner of the encampment, and acting much more naive at some moments than others. Sure enough, to everyone’s surprise he turns out to be scouting for a group of other descendants of the marooned who will attack and make off with technology and prisoners to run it. Even Mack doesn’t see through him, perhaps because he is preoccupied with shoring up the shakiness of his own deception.
 
This outcome demonstrates the extreme fragility of the community the expedition created. First, Mack’s deception diverted them into a pattern of doing nothing except waiting for Suh-Mi. They have shared values of tolerance, responsibility, and nonaggression; yet the way they turn on Ren at the end of the story shows that they don’t always adhere to these values. They were chosen for lack of aggressive tendencies; but the next generation, struggling to survive in the wilderness, reverted to more warlike ways. They became too reliant on one person, Ren, for maintaining the molecular printers. It really didn’t take the attack to bring down the colony; they were failing quite well on their own.
 
During these events, Ren is going through a personal hell: the anxiety and OCD she has suffered from all her life are greatly worsened by the events, starting with her daughter’s death decades ago, that load her with grief and guilt. Keeping up her part in concealing Suh-Mi’s death is nearly too much for her. She is also desperate to not let anyone know how badly she is doing mentally; she thinks of it as not wanting them to pry into her life and judge her. Her fear that people would react badly proves to not be entirely unfounded, although perhaps the sudden revelation after concealment didn’t help with that; but it also clearly arises from distorted thinking. This, for me, was the most compelling aspect of the book: learning more about Ren’s life and personality, and following her struggles as she tries to keep up a functional facade. She is also intelligent and creative, and it is interesting to watch her do her engineering work. Her story is essentially parallel to the other events, although there may be thematic significance to the similarity between the museumlike areas of God’s City and Ren’s attachment to objects that evoke memories and emotions. Her narration conceals the events of Planetfall from the reader because she is very reluctant to think about them.
 
But ultimately, the novel is a huge trick, a joke. Nothing that Ren learns during her final passage through God’s City contradicts her supposition that human evolution was intended and the expedition was led to this location. She sees an image of the story of how this happened, the last survivor of a humanlike species “throwing something depicted as tiny dots upward... The sender created the city and then people came from lots of different places to enter it, all much smaller than the sender. A segment shows the tiny people inside stylized tunnels and pods, each one showing the person getting bigger until there’s one of the topmost pod with a symbol that has to be the sun above it. The sender is above the city now and the little people who have grown during their passage through the city are reaching up.” We can believe this, because if Ren’s interpretations are sometimes unreliable, her perceptions are not, and also it explains (sort of) the shared biology of the two planets. But... what are we to make of the purpose and value of the long, long elaborate series of contrivances that led Ren here, as the first but perhaps not last of her species to reach this point?
 
What we see of Earth shows humanity mired in inequality, exploitation, and conflict, neither very spiritual nor very moral. Technology has advanced (in spite of medical tech such as artificial eyes, there apparently still is no easy solution for mental illness), but nothing else. They now have the ability to get to “God’s” planet, but does ability equal worth? The sheeplike expedition members are not glorious representatives of their kind either. All of their failings and problems keep them from entering the City. Ren (no paragon) ultimately stumbles into God’s City without protective gear, unplanned, out of sheer desperation... the lack of gear turns out to be necessary for her transformation and preparation. Gosh, if only all those years ago, the message that told Suh-Mi exactly where to go had somehow managed to tell her not to wear an environment suit! Somehow the genius mind that foresaw human evolution, and placed a message in a plant specifically engineered for them, didn’t foresee that! Apparently, all that a human(oid) needs in order to join “God” is to somehow arrive at God’s City; they are then passively transformed by its bioengineering. I cannot see much connection to spiritual worth in that, for all that the iconography of upwards travel, growing larger, and rising to the sun is very spiritual. I am left very much wondering why “God” had to go through so many steps to get to that point, sending DNA away to other planets and waiting billions of years for something to become technologically capable (whatever its other qualities) of returning. And then chose a quite inefficient means of getting them into the City.
 
I wonder if Newman is actually mocking the idea of humans being cosmically intended in this novel. She develops the scenario and leaves it looking thoroughly ridiculous. It would be no wonder then that the believers come off seeming like fools even though they are basically right. Even if this is her sneaky intention, I still think the story is pretty much a failure because its plot depends at so many points on the improbably idiotic behavior of human characters.

Charlotte Ashley

La Héron (Short story) Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2015

Sigrid Under the Mountain (Short story) Originally published in The Sockdolager, Summer 2015

John Ayliff

Belt Three (Novel excerpt) First published by Harper Voyager, 2015

Lucas Bale

To Sing of Chaos and Eternal Night (Novelette) Originally published in No Way Home, edited by Lucas Bale and Alex Roddie, Dark Matter Publishing, 2015

Nicolette Barischoff

Pirate Songs (Novelette) Originally published in Accessing the Future, edited by Kathryn Allan and Djibril al-Ayad, The Future Fire, 2015

Follow Me Down (Novelette) Originally published by Unlikely Story in their issue The Journal of Unlikely Academia, October 2015

In the Woods Behind My House (Short story) Originally published in audio format by PodCastle, January 6, 2016

Sofie Bird

A is for Alacrity, Astronauts and Grief (Short story) Previously published in the anthology Temporally Out of Order, released by the small press Zombies Need Brains LLC, 2015

Derrick Boden

Clay Soldiers (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction in November 2015

The Last Mardi Gras (Short story) Originally published by Flash Fiction Online in August 2015

Stefan Bolz

The Traveler (Short story) Originally published in The Time Travel Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Crystal Watanabe, Windrift Books, 2015

David Bruns

The Water Finder’s Shadow (Novelette) Originally published in Tails of the Apocalypse, edited by Chris Pourteau, Hip Phoenix Publishing, 2015

I, Caroline (Short story) Self-published, March 2015

Martin Cahill

It Was Never the Fire (Short story) Originally published by Nightmare Magazine, April 2014

Vanilla (Short story) Originally published by Fireside Fiction, May 2014

Aaron Canton

Dining Out (Short story) Originally published in Phobos Magazine, Issue 3: Troublemake, 2015

A Most Unusual Patriot (Short story) Originally published in Michael DeAngelo’s Tales of Tellest: Volume 1, 2015

D. K. Cassidy

Room 42 (Short story) Originally published in The Immortality Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Carol Davis, Windrift Books, 2015

Zach Chapman

Between Screens (Short story) Originally published in Writers of the Future Volume 31, Galaxy Press, 2015

Curtis C. Chen

Zugzwang (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction in September 2014

Making Waves (Short story) Originally published in SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror, Cohesion Press, 2014

Laddie Come Home (Short story) Originally published by Dreaming Robot Press in the 2016 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide

Z Z Claybourne

Agents of Change (Short story) Originally published by Samuel Peralta for the alternate history issue of The Future Chronicles, Alt.History 101, Windrift Books, 2015

Liz Colter

The Ties That Bind, the Chains That Break (Short story) First published in Galaxy’s Edge Magazine, March, 2015

Echoes (Short story) First published in Urban Fantasy Magazine, August, 2015, edited by Katrina Forest

The Clouds in Her Eyes (Short story) First published in Writers and Illustrators of the Future Volume 30, edited by Dave Wolverton, Galaxy Press, 2014

Nik Constantine

Last Transaction (Short story) originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2015

Daniel J. Davis

The God Whisperer (Short story) Originally published in Writers of the Future Volume 31, Galaxy Press, 2015

S. B. Divya

Strange Attractors (Short story) originally published by Daily Science Fiction in June, 2014

The Egg (Short story) Originally published by Nature, March 12, 2015

Ships in the Night (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction in May, 2015

Margaret Dunlap

Jane (Short story) Originally published by Shimmer in May, 2014

Broken Glass (Short story) Originally published by Wisdom Crieth Without in March 2015

Bookburners, Episode 5: The Market Arcanum (Novelette) Originally published by Serial Box Publishing as part of Bookburners, Season One, 2015

S. K. Dunstall

Linesman (Novel excerpt) Originally published by Ace Books, editor Anne Sowards, 2015

Jonathan Edelstein

First Do No Harm (Novelette) Originally published in Strange Horizons, November 16, 2015

Harlow C. Fallon

A Long Horizon (Short story) Originally published in The Immortality Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Carol Davis, Windrift Books, 2015

Rafaela F. Ferraz

The Lady of the House of Mirrors (Novelette) Originally published in Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian Mad Scientists, Lethe Press, 2015

Sam Fleming

She Gave Her Heart, He Took Her Marrow (Short story) Originally published in Apex Magazine, December 2015

Annalee Flower Horne

Seven Things Cadet Blanchard Learned from the Trade Summit Incident (Short story) Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2014

Ron S. Friedman

Game Not Over (Short story) Originally published by Galaxy’s Edge Magazine, January 2015

LUCA (Short story) Originally published in Enigma Front, Analemma Books, August 2015

David Jón Fuller

The Harsh Light of Morning (Short story) Originally published in Tesseracts Eighteen: Wrestling with Gods, edited by Liana Kerzner and Jerome Stueart, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, 2014

Caged (Short story) Originally published in Guns and Romances, edited by Nerine Dorman and Carrie Clevenger, Crossroad Press, 2015

In Open Air (Short story) Originally published in Accessing the Future, edited by Kathryn Allan and Djibril al-Ayad, The Future Fire, 2015

Sarah Gailey

Bargain (Short story) Originally published by Mothership Zeta, October 2015

Haunted (Short story) Originally published in Fireside Magazine in March 2016

Patricia Gilliam

The Backup (Short story) Originally published in The Immortality Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Carol Davis, Windrift Books, 2015

Jaymee Goh

Liminal Grid (Short story) Originally published in Strange Horizons, November 9, 2015

Elad Haber

Number One Hit (Short story) Originally published in Interfictions Online, November 2015

Auston Habershaw

Adaptation and Predation (Short story) Originally published by Escape Pod on December 11, 2015

A Revolutionary’s Guide to Practical Conjuration (Novelette) Originally published in Writers of the Future Volume 31, Galaxy Press, 2015

Philip Brian Hall

Spatchcock (Novella) Originally published by AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Spring 2014

The Waiting Room (Short story) Originally published by Flame Tree Publishing in Chilling Ghost Short Stories, September 2015

The Man on the Church Street Omnibus (Short story) Originally published in The Sockdolager, Spring 2015

John Gregory Hancock

The Antares Cigar Shoppe (Short story) Originally published in The Immortality Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Carol Davis, Windrift Books, 2015

Nin Harris

Sang Rimau and the Medicine Woman (Short story) Originally published in Lackington’s Magazine, Summer 2015

Your Right Arm (Short story) Originally published in Clarkesworld, November 2015

C. A. Hawksmoor

Y Brenin (Novelette) Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 19, 2015

Murder on the Laplacian Express (Short story) Originally published in Interzone, September/October 2015

Sean Patrick Hazlett

Boomer Hunter (Short story) Originally published in Grimdark #5, October 2015 

Entropic Order (Short story) Originally published in Outposts of Beyond, January 2015

Chandler’s Hollow (Short story) Originally published in Perihelion Science Fiction, March 2015

Holly Heisey

The Monastery of the Parallels (Short story) Originally published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, July 2015

An Understanding (Short story) Originally published by Escape Pod in June 2014

Contents of Care Package to Etsath-tachri, Formerly Ryan Andrew Curran (Human English Translated to Sedrayin) (Short story) Originally published by EGM Shorts in November 2015

Michael Patrick Hicks

Revolver (Short story) Originally published in No Way Home, curated by Lucas Bale, edited by Alex Roddie, Dark Matter Publishing, 2015

Preservation (Short story) Originally published in The Cyborg Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Crystal Watanabe, Windrift Books, 2015

S. L. Huang

Hunting Monsters (Short story) First published by The Book Smugglers, October 2014, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James

By Degrees and Dilatory Time (Short story) First published by Strange Horizons, May 18, 2015, edited by Julia Rios

Zero Sum Game (Novel excerpt) Self-published, 2014

Kurt Hunt

Paolo, Friend Paolo (Short story) First published in Ecotones: Ecological Stories from the Border Between Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by Andrew Leon Hudson, 2015

QSFT7mk2.7853 Has a Name (Short story) First published in Perihelion Science Fiction, December 2015

Tigerskin (Short story) First published in Strange Horizons, December 7, 2015

L. S. Johnson

Vacui Magia (Short story) Originally published in Strange Horizons, 5 January 2015

Little Men with Knives (Novelette) Originally published in Crossed Genres Magazine #31, July 2015

Cameron Johnston

The Economist and the Dragon (Short story) Originally published in Buzzy Mag, June 2014

Head Games (Short story) Originally published in Swords and Sorcery Magazine, February 2016

The Shadow Under Scotland (Short story) Originally published in The Lovecraft eZine, June 2014

Rachael K. Jones

Makeisha in Time (Short story) Originally published in the August 2014 issue of Crossed Genres Magazine, edited by Bart Lieb, Kay T. Holt, and Kelly Jennings

Who Binds and Looses the World with Her Hands (Short story) Originally published by PodCastle in February 2015’s Artemis Rising feature, edited by Dave Thompson and Anna Schwind

Charlotte Incorporated (Short story) Originally published by Lightspeed Magazine in February 2014, edited by John Joseph Adams

Jason Kimble

Broken (Short story) Originally published by Escape Pod, Episode 509, November 3, 2015

Hide Behind (Short story) Originally published by The Sockdolager, Issue 3, Fall 2015

Paul B. Kohler

Rememorations (Short story) Originally published in The Immortality Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Carol Davis, Windrift Books, 2015

The Soul Collector (Short story) Self-published, 2015

Jeanne Kramer-Smyth

Unsealed (Short story) Originally published by Dreaming Robot Press in the 2015 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide

View from Above (Short story) Originally published by Dreaming Robot Press in the 2016 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide

Jamie Gilman Kress

And Now, Fill Her In (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction, January 16, 2015

Jason LaPier

Unexpected Rain (Novel excerpt) Originally published by Harper Voyager, 2015

Fonda Lee

Zeroboxer (Novel excerpt) Originally published by Flux, 2015

Universal Print (Short story) Originally published in Crossed Genres Magazine, February 2015

S. Lynn

Ffydd (Faith) (Short story) Originally published in Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older, Crossed Genres Publications, 2014

Jack Hollis Marr

into the waters I rode down (Short story) Originally published in Accessing the Future, edited by Kathryn Allan and Djibril al-Ayad, The Future Fire, 2015

Arkady Martine

City of Salt (Short story) Originally published by Strange Horizons, 16 March 2015.

When the Fall Is All That’s Left (Short story) Originally published by Apex Magazine, October 2015

Adjuva (Short story) Originally published in Lakeside Circus, year 2 issue 1, March 2015

Kim May

Blood Moon Carnival (Short story) Originally published in Fiction River, Volume 13: Alchemy and Steam, edited by Kerrie Hughes, WMG Publishing, 2015

The Void Around the Sword’s Edge (Short story) Originally published in Fiction River, Volume 11: Pulse Pounders, edited by Kevin J. Anderson, WMG Publishing, 2015

Alison McBain

Grandmother Winter (Short story) Second place in Contest #22 by On the Premises Magazine, March 2014

The Lost Children (Short story) Originally published by Third Flatiron Anthologies in Abbreviated Epics, 2014

The Heart of Yuki-onna (Short story) Originally published by World Weaver Press in Frozen Fairy Tales, 2015

Rati Mehrotra

Charaid Dreams (Short story) Originally published by Apex Magazine, Issue 70, in March 2015

Ghosts of Englehart (Short story) Originally published by AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Issue no. 17, Winter 2014

Lia Swope Mitchell

Slow (Short story) Originally published in Apex Magazine 71, April 2015

Allison Mulder

Decay (Short story) Originally published in Crossed Genres Magazine, November 2015

Ian Muneshwar

Ossuary (Short story) Originally published in Clarkesworld, May 2015

Brian Niemeier

Strange Matter (Novelette) Originally published in Sci Phi Journal #3, January 2015

Nethereal (Novel excerpt) self-published, 2015

Wendy Nikel

Rain Like Diamonds (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction, September 4, 2015

The Tea-Space Continuum (Short story) Originally published by AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Summer 2015

The Book of Futures (Short story) Originally published in Ghost in the Cogs: Steam-Powered Ghost Stories, edited by Scott Gable & C. Dombrowski, Broken Eye Books, 2015

George Nikolopoulos

A Rise to the Surface (Short story) Originally published by SF Comet, November 2015

Razor Bill vs. Pistol Anne (Short story) Originally published in Bards and Sages Quarterly, January 2016

Megan E. O’Keefe

Of Blood and Brine (Short story) Originally published in Shimmer, January 2015

Steal the Sky (Novel excerpt) Originally published by Angry Robot Books, 2016

Malka Older

Tear Tracks (Short story) Originally published by Tor.com, October 21, 2015

Emma Osborne

The Box Wife (Short story) Originally published in Shock Totem: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted, Issue #9, October 2014

Zip (Short story) Originally published in Bastion Science Fiction Magazine, August 2014

Clean Hands, Dirty Hands (Short story) Originally published in Aurealis #71, June 2014

Chris Ovenden

Upgrade (Short story) Originally published by Penny Shorts, Jan 2015

Peace for Our Times (Short story) Originally published by Every Day Fiction, June 2015

Behind Grey Eyes (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction, Sept 2015

Steve Pantazis

Switch (Novelette) Originally published in Writers of the Future Volume 31, Galaxy Press, 2015

Carrie Patel

Here Be Monsters (Short story) Originally published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue #147, May 15, 2014

The Color of Regret (Short story) Originally published by PodCastle, Episode 401: Artemis Rising, February 2015

The Buried Life (Novel excerpt) Originally published by Angry Robot Books, 2015

Sunil Patel

The Merger: A Romantic Comedy of Intergalactic Business Negotiations, Indecipherable Emotions, and Pizza (Short story) Originally published by The Book Smugglers, June 2015

The Robot Who Couldn’t Lie (Short story) Originally published by Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show in May 2015

The Attic of Memories (Short story) Originally published by Fantastic Stories of the Imagination in September 2015

Laura Pearlman

I am Graalnak of the Vroon Empire, Destroyer of Galaxies, Supreme Overlord of the Planet Earth. Ask Me Anything. (Short story) This story originally appeared in Flash Fiction Online, April 2015

A Dozen Frogs, a Bakery, and a Thing That Didn’t Happen (Short story) This story originally appeared in Daily Science Fiction, October 2015

In the End, You Get Clarity (Short story) This story originally appeared in Unidentified Funny Objects 4, October 2015

Samuel Peralta

Hereafter (Short story) Originally published in Synchronic, edited by David Gatewood, 2014

Humanity (Short story) Originally published in The Robot Chronicles, edited by David Gatewood, 2014

Andrea Phillips

In Loco Parentis (Short story) Originally published in Escape Pod, Episode 476, 16 January 2015

Revision (Novel excerpt) Originally published by Fireside Fiction, 2015

Mark Robert Philps

Dragonfire Is Brighter Than the Ten Thousand Stars (Novella) Originally published in The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, edited by Sean Wallace, Running Press, 2015

Monica Enderle Pierce

Judgment (Novelette) Originally published in The Dragon Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Ellen Campbell, Windrift Books, 2015

Ivan Popov

The Keresztury TVirs (Short story) Translated by Vladimir Poleganov, Kalin Nenov, and Ivan Popov; originally published in the May 2015 issue of Sci Phi Journal

Bill Powell

The Punctuality Machine, or, A Steampunk Libretto (Short story) Originally published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies on May 14, 2015, both as a short story and also as a special large-cast podcast in celebration of the 150th episode of the BCS Audio Fiction Podcast

Stephen S. Power

Stripped to Zero (Short story) First published in Nature, August 6, 2015

Wire Paladin (Short story) First published in AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Summer 2015

Automatic Sky (Short story) First published in AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Summer 2014

Rhiannon Rasmussen

The Hymn of Ordeal, No. 23 (Short story) Originally published by Lightspeed, June 2014

Charge! Love Heart! (Short story) Originally published by The Sockdolager, Spring 2015

How to Survive the Apocalypse (Short story) Originally published by ZEAL, September 2015

Chris Reher

The Kasant Objective (Short story) Originally published in The Galaxy Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Jeff Seymour, Windrift Books, 2015

Ethan Reid

The Undying: Shades (Novel excerpt) Originally published by Simon & Schuster, 2015

Kelly Robson

Waters of Versailles (Novella excerpt) First published by Tor.com,10 June 2015

The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill (Short story) First published by Clarkesworld, February 2015

Two-Year Man (Short story) First published by Asimov’s Science Fiction, August 2015

Andy Rogers

The Doom of Sallee (Short story) Originally published in Grantville Gazette, November 2015

Brothers in Arms (Novella) Originally serialized in Star Citizen’s Jump Point from January through April 2015

Lauren M. Roy

The Eleventh Hour (Short story) Originally published in Fireside Magazine, July 2015

Steve Ruskin

Grand Tour (Short story) Previously published in the anthology Temporally Out of Order, released by the small press Zombies Need Brains LLC, 2015

K. B. Rylander

We Fly (Short story) First published on Baen.com, March 16, 2015

Hope Erica Schultz

Mr. Reilly’s Tattoo (Short story) Originally published in Fireside Fiction, Issue 18, December 2014

The Princess in the Basement (Short story) Originally published in Diabolical Plots #4, June 2015

Effie Seiberg

Re: Little Miss Apocalypse Playset (Short story) Originally published in Fireside Magazine, Issue 30, February 2016

Rocket Surgery (Short story) Originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January/February 2016

Thundergod in Therapy (Short story) Originally published in Galaxy’s Edge, January 2016

Tahmeed Shafiq

The Djinn Who Sought to Kill the Sun (Novelette) Originally published in Lightspeed Magazine, August 2014

Iona Sharma

Archana and Chandni (Short story) Originally published in Betwixt, July 2015

Alnwick (Short story) Originally published in Middle Planet, Summer 2015

Anthea Sharp

Ice in D Minor (Short story) Originally published in the Timberland Reads Together anthology, Timberland Regional Library, September 2015

The Sun Never Sets (Short story) Originally published in Alt.History 101, edited by Samuel Peralta and Nolie Wilson, Windrift Books, 2015

Fae Horse (Short story) Originally published in Tales of Feyland & Faerie by Anthea Sharp, November 2015

Elsa Sjunneson-Henry

Edge of the Unknown (Short story) Originally published in Ghost in the Cogs: Steam-Powered Ghost Stories, edited by Scott Gable & C. Dombrowski, Broken Eye Books, 2015

Daniel Arthur Smith

The Diatomic Quantum Flop (Short story) Originally published in The Time Travel Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Crystal Watanabe, Windrift Books, 2015

Tower (Short story) Self-published, October 2015

Hugh Howey Lives (Novella excerpt) Self-published, April 2015

Lesley Smith

The Soulless: A History of Zombieism in Chiitai and Mihari Culture (Short story) Originally published in The Z Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Ellen Campbell, Windrift Books, 2015

William Squirrell

Götterdämmerung (Short story) Originally published by AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Spring 2015

Fighting in the Streets of the City of Time (Short story) Originally published by Bewildering Stories, Issue 605, January 26, 2015

I Am Problem Solving Astronaut: How to Write Hard SF (Short story) Originally published by Blue Monday Review, May 2015

Dan Stout

Outpatient (Short story) First published in Nature, July 16, 2015

The Curious Case of Alpha-7 DE11 (Short story) First published by Mad Scientist Journal, Winter 2015

Naru Dames Sundar

A Revolution in Four Courses (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction, June 2, 2015

Infinite Skeins (Short story) Originally published by Crossed Genres Magazine, August 2015

Broken-Winged Love (Short story) Originally published by Strange Horizons, October 5, 2015

Will Swardstrom

Uncle Allen (Novelette) Originally published in The Alien Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by David Gatewood, Windrift Books, 2015

The Control (Novelette) Originally published in The Immortality Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Carol Davis, Windrift Books, 2015

Jeremy Szal

Daega’s Test (Short story) Originally published in Nature Physics, April 30, 2015

Last Age of Kings (Short story) Originally published in Fantasy Scroll Magazine, December 2015

Skingame (Short story) Originally published in Perihelion Science Fiction, May 2015

Lauren C. Teffeau

Forge and Fledge (Short story) Originally published in Crossed Genres Magazine, April 2014

Jump Cut (Short story) Originally published in Unlikely Story #11: The Journal of Unlikely Cryptography, February 2015

Natalia Theodoridou

The Eleven Holy Numbers of the Mechanical Soul (Short story) Originally published in Clarkesworld, February 2014

On Post-Mortem Birds (Short story) Originally published in Interfictions: A Journal of Interstitial Arts, June 2015

Android Whores Can’t Cry (Short story) Originally published in Clarkesworld, July 2015

Joseph Tomaras

Bonfires in Anacostia (Short story) Originally published in Clarkesworld, Issue 95, August 2014

Thirty-Eight Observations on the Nature of the Self (Short story) Originally published in Phantasm Japan, edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington, Haikasoru, 2014

The Joy of Sects (Short story) Originally published in Unlikely Story #11: The Journal of Unlikely Cryptography, February 2015

Vincent Trigili

The Storymaster (Short story) Originally published in The Dragon Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Ellen Campbell, Windrift Books, 2015

P. K. Tyler

Moon Dust (Novelette) Originally published by Evolved Publishing, edited by Philip A. Lee, March 2015

Avendui 5ive (Short story) Originally published in The Cyborg Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Crystal Watanabe, Windrift Books, 2015

Tamara Vardomskaya

The Metamorphoses of Narcissus (Short story) Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, January 8, 2015

Acrobatic Duality (Short story) Originally published by Tor.com, February 11, 2015

Leo Vladimirsky

Collar (Short story) Originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2014

Dandelion (Short story) Originally published by Boing Boing, September 21, 2015

Nancy S. M. Waldman

ReMemories (Short story) Originally published in Fantasy Scroll Magazine, August 2015

And Always, Murder (Short story) Originally published in AE – The Canadian Science Fiction Review, Fall 2015

Sound of Chartreuse (Short story) Originally published in Perihelion Science Fiction, November 2015

Thomas M. Waldroon

Sinseerly a Friend & Yr. Obed’t (Novelette) Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, April 16, 2015

Jo Lindsay Walton

It’s OK to Say If You Went Back in Time and Killed Baby Hitler (Short story) Self-published, December 2015

Kim Wells

The Book of Safkhet: Chronicler of the Journey, Mistress of the House of Books (Short story) Originally published in The Dragon Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Ellen Campbell, Windrift Books, 2015

Alison Wilgus

King Tide (Short story) Originally published in Terraform, December 1, 2014

Noise Pollution (Short story) Originally published in Strange Horizons, 6 April 2015

Nicolas Wilson

Trials (Novelette) Originally published in Alt.History 102, edited by Samuel Peralta and Nolie Wilson, Windrift Books, 2016

Multiply (Novelette) Originally published in The Galaxy Chronicles, created by Samuel Peralta, edited by Jeff Seymour, Windrift Books, 2015

Alyssa Wong

Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers (Short story) Originally published in Nightmare Magazine, October 2015

The Fisher Queen (Short story) Originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2014

Santos de Sampaguitas (Short story) Originally published in Strange Horizons, October 6 & 13, 2014

Eleanor R. Wood

Fibonacci (Short story) Originally published in Flash Fiction Online, December 2015

Pawprints in the Aeolian Dust (Short story) Originally published in Sci Phi Journal, September/October 2015

Daddy’s Girl (Short story) Originally published in Crossed Genres Magazine, October 2014

Frank Wu

Season of the Ants in a Timeless Land (Novelette) Originally published by Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2015

Jeff Xilon

H (Short story) Originally published in Daily Science Fiction, April 20, 2015

All of Our Days (Short story) Originally published in Fireside Magazine, June 2015

JY Yang

A House of Anxious Spiders (Short story) Originally published in The Dark, August 2015

Temporary Saints (Short story) Originally published in Fireside Magazine, October 2015

Song of the Krakenmaid (Short story) Originally published in Lackington’s Magazine, November 2015

Isabel Yap

Milagroso (Short story) Originally published by Tor.com, August 12, 2015

The Oiran’s Song (Novelette) Originally published by Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2015

Good Girls (Short story) Originally published by Shimmer, September 2015

Jo Zebedee

Inish Carraig (Novel excerpt) Self-published, August 2015

Jon F. Zeigler

Galen and the Golden-Coat Hare (Short story) Originally appeared in Tales of Zo, published by Uncanny Books, 2014

Anna Zumbro

The Pixie Game (Short story) Originally published by Daily Science Fiction, June 30, 2015

The Cur of County Road Six (Short story) Originally published by Grievous Angel, July 19, 2015

She remembered talking to Roger about Fermi's paradox. If the universe harbors life, intelligence, why haven't we seen evidence of it? Why are we alone?

Roger favored what he called the Mean Time Between Failures argument. Technological civilizations simply fail, just as the components that make up their technology fail, sooner or later, for reasons as individually insignificant as they are inexorable, and final. Complex systems, after a point, tend away from robustness.

Sixteen scientists and engineers embark on a tiny spaceship to Alpha Centauri: a desperate undertaking that pushes the very limits of what their ingenuity, technology, and resources can do. Behind them, humankind is in its death throes. This concise story alternates between the preparations for the voyage, the voyage itself as piece after piece of their preparations unravels, and what led them to do this in the first place. The situations on Earth and on board the spacecraft parallel each other on their path to failure.

This a grim, extraordinarily well-written exploration of the limits of possibility and the fragility of innovative systems, as seen through the lives of a few vivid characters. The spacecraft can't finish its mission because it's based on untested technology, with barely enough resources; possible points of failure multiply and there are no fallbacks or redundancies. Human civilization likewise, at the tipping point Scholz indicates (the 20th century, or maybe 19th, or...?) has entered a phase of explosive technological growth and socioeconomic innovation, outrunning the ability to test and refine changes, constantly pushing the limit of what resources are available to it. The real problem shown here, though, is the 21st-century interconnectedness of the whole world; globalization linked all economies and allowed an infintely greedy oligarchy to seize control of all resources and power (Scholz goes so far as to propose that agrotech companies managed to replace every single food plant in the world with patented, sterile ones). Connection is a two-edged sword: it brought together minds from all over to develop great ideas, like the team for the Alpha Centauri voyage; but also it allowed unprecedented control by self-interested powers, and in the end the latter outweighed the former. And with the entire world one society, with all resources concentrated, there was no longer any redundancy, any sources of alternatives. Finally, humankind had outstripped its ability to rebound from failure.

This is a dire warning: science fiction in the mode of "if this goes on..." Perhaps it has already gone too far, in which case the story is also an elegy for the good life which is already past. A thought-provoking story, indeed. I've often argued that returning to some past state of humanity is no longer possible; that the only hope lies in further innovation to try to find a new stable state. Scholz would agree with that (it is the view of many of the idealistic scientists in the story) but is arguing that the very nature of innovation (at least as humans, in the era of capitalism, have practiced it) is itself a source of instability. Yes, maybe growth as we have been doing it for the past centuries is not the only possible sort of complex civilization. Perhaps some other species may avoid putting all its eggs in one fragile basket. But the Fermi Paradox...

Depicts the process of breaking away from a fundamentalist upbringing with all the subtlety of a crayon drawing.  The characters, even Henni, are one-dimensional, the plot is a string of atrocities and absurdities committed by ee-vile fundamentalists, and it's all laid out in some of the worst, most baldly obvious dialogue I've ever read.  I give it an extra half star beyond one because the art is competent, though uninspired.