Recommended!
“The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere” is on the 2013 Locus Recommended Reading List! I’m also thrilled to see on the Locus list some stories that I put on my recommended list for 2013. Since the blog link on my website now points here rather than to my Dreamwidth account, I’m going to repost my list here:
[Again, I will point out that this is, by necessity, an incomplete list. I haven’t read everything and I didn’t always remember to jot down which stories I loved. The list is in no particular order and whether I commented on the story reflects more on how much free time I had than on the quality of the story.
Also, either I’m doing something wrong or something is odd with Svbtle’s CSS files or both. When I previewed this post, the links in lists did not highlight when the pointer hovered over them. They are, however, underlined like the other links in this post.]
Short Stories
- “I Have Placed My Sickness Upon You” by Karin Tidbeck Strange Horizons 3/4/13
- “The Hanging Game” by Helen Marshall Tor.com 3/13/13
- “No Breather in the World But Thee” by Jeff VanderMeer Nightmare Magazine 3/27/13
- “No Portraits on the Sky” by Kali Wallace Clarkesworld 4/13
- “Deus Ex Arca” by Desirina Boskovich Lightspeed 4/13
- “A Fine Show on the Abyssal Plane” by Karin Tidbeck Lightspeed 4/16/13 (lovely, elegant writing as always.)
- “Sing” by Karin Tidbeck Tor.com 4/17/13 (absolutely sticks the landing)
- “The Ink Readers of Doi Saket” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt Tor.com 4/24/13 (it’s the structure and the voice that makes the story)
- “Soulcatcher” by James Patrick Kelly Clarkesworld May, 2013
- “The Wall” by Naomi Kritzer Asimov’s April/May 2013
- “A Love Song Concerning His Vineyard” by Megan Arkenberg Asimov’s June 2013 (smartly written, vast world building in few words, vivid characters)
- “The Urashima Effect” by E. LIly Yu Clarkesworld June 2013 (short story. Lots of wallop for size. Lovely meditation on memory and loss)
- “Loss, with Chalk Diagrams” by E. Lily Yu Eclipse Online March 2013, (Lots of beautiful writing. Another lovely editation on memory and loss. Note that the link goes to the subsequent EscapePod podcast of the story.)
- “Found” by Alex Dally MacFarlane Clarkesworld August 2013. (Nuanced story with big, bold world building. Gender fluid.)
- “The Ex-Corporal” by Leah Thomas Asimov’s August 2013. (Searing portrayal of abuse and mental health issues.)
- “Bits” by Naomi Kritzer Clarkesworld October 2013 (Sweet and charming. Somewhat pornographic.)
- “The Shore at the Edge of the World” by Eugene Mirabelli F&SF Sept/Oct 2013 (Terrific language. Satisfying read.)
- “Super Bass” by Kai Ashante Wilson Tor.com 5/22/13
Novelettes
- “Hotel” by Suzanne Palmer Asimov’s January 2013
- “They Shall Salt the Earth With Seeds of Glass” by Alaya Dawn Johnson Asimov’s January 2013
- “The Fountain” by G. David Nordley Asimov’s June 2013 (compelling alien, nicely structured. large scope in relatively few words.)
- “Kormak the Lucky” by Eleanor Arnason F&SF July/Aug 2013 (picaresque adventure that does a great job of fusing Nordic and celtic mythos.)
- “No Others Are Genuine” by Gregory Frost Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2013 (wonderful depiction of turn of the century Chicago. Unspoken horror that is all to clearly recognized and its consequences felt.)
- “A Rumor of Angels” by Dale Bailey Tor.com 9/11/13
- [“The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”](href=“http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2013/the_truth_of_fact_the_truth_of_feeling_by_ted_chiang)” by Ted Chiang Subterranean Press Magazine Fall 2013