2007 SF & Fantasy Recommended Reading List

(Print Medium Only)

By Dave Truesdale

Copyright 2008 by New Epoch Press. All rights reserved.

A word or two about the following list. It contains 214 stories from various 2007 print publications only: magazines, single author collections containing one or more original stories, and original anthologies. They come from some 35 publications originally published in 2007. This is by no means a complete list of the print publications featuring original fiction from 2007, but it does represent all of the major magazines, as well as quite a number of the smaller venues. Many of them were purchased, with an equal number received as review copies, for which I gratefully thank the publishers. Alas, there were a few magazine publishers who decided not to send review copies and I could not find their publications in local bookstores, so you won’t find them on this list.

The List is divided into three ever-shorter lists. First is the general Recommended Reading List, where all 214 stories are listed by category: short story, novelette, and novella. Each category begins with stories from the beginning of the year and ends with stories from the end of the year. The Recommended List comprises (along with the very best of the year) those stories that in some way or other worked for me on at least one level, and while perhaps not award material nonetheless deserved a nod, and warranted giving a new author some exposure.

Following the Recommended Reading List is the smaller Best of the Year List, arranged in the same manner as the initial list. The third and final list contains my Personal Favorites in each category, those followed by an asterisk (*) indicating those I would vote for if I were a Hugo voter this year (which I regrettably am not), and if print publications only were to be considered.

Like you, when I scan such lists I inevitably utter under my breath (or out loud sometimes, depending) either a comment or a question. The comment is short: “Yes! I’m not the only one who liked that story!” The question takes several forms, sometimes with a curt expletive inserted, but runs something like this: “How could he not put this terrific story on the list! What is this guy thinking? It’s one of the best of the year!”

Inasmuch as reviewers and critics must rely on their experience as well as individual taste, and attempt to balance them as best they can, here are some of the elements that form why a particular story made the list, or failed to do so.

I don’t care for literary pretension, where the author’s writing skills may be beyond reproach, his way with words making one weep with the beauty of it all, but the story otherwise lacks substance, or says very little of import, or is naught but an excuse for a pretty scene with no surrounding story. Not that every story must have a beginning, a middle, and a clear end in a stylistic sense (though this formula has worked well since time immemorial and I champion it), but that regardless of how the story is presented, it must attempt, at its core, to be about something larger than the tedium of everyday life, which kind of story can be found outside the SF/F genres.

I am tired beyond belief with stories of spousal or child abuse, or any other sort of domestic violence, or dysfunctional families as either the springboard or the focus of the story. I’ve read far too many of them over the years and their impact for me has worn quite thin. There were several stories omitted from the list because of this overworked theme. I also don’t care for stories where either people, or the planet Earth, are forcefully disarmed out of the author’s naÃƒÂ¯ve belief that this will solve the problem of violence and/or End All Wars in one fell stroke, and just like that, we’ll all love each other and reach our true destiny while romping through the forest naked with flowers in our hair. It doesn’t work like that. Never will. Several stories were omitted from the list that tried to work this pharmaceutically-inspired, always ill-thought-out theme, eliciting only a groan and a tired shake of my head.

I prefer optimistic to pessimistic, though there is plenty of room for both when written intelligently. I find (from perusing my Personal Favorites) that I seem to be more of a softy than I would have imagined. Four of the six starred stories in the short story category moved me emotionally and had to do either with death (of a planet or an individual) or love in one form or another (the Baxter, Palwick, Ford, and Gilbow). Same with Alastair Reynolds’ starred novella “Minla’s Flowers.” Maybe I’m just growing old enough to appreciate love lost, and death’s a comin’ stories, I don’t know. But there you have it.

I enjoy being stimulated philosophically and intellectually (see Michael Flynn’s wonderful starred novelette “Quaestiones Super Caelo Et Mundo,” which offers deeper insights and rewards than might seem the case from merely the front story). I also enjoy a well-told, imaginative sword & sorcery tale on the other end of the spectrum (as in James Enge’s “The Lawless Hours”). I also love unfettered, wild imagination employed at full throttle, as in Greg Egan’s pair of starred SF novelettes (“Glory” and “Dark Integers”), or Andy Duncan’s (to my eye) bizarre take on Through the Looking Glass starred fantasy novelette “A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil’s Ninth Question.”

I also prefer the hard, realistic type of SF, that thoughtfully extrapolates from a timely, serious social or political problem and inserts the SF X-factor to telling, devastating effect. Such a story is Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s double-starred novelette “Craters,” probably the most overlooked award-caliber story of the year.

So you’ll find stories all over the map below, with, I can only hope, experience and personal taste at least in some reasonable facsimile of harmony.

Best of the Year

(Print Only)

Short Stories

“Last Contact” by Stephen Baxter (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Feb.) SF
“Personal Jesus” by Paul Di Filippo (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Feb.) SF
“The Wedding Party” by Simon Ings (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Feb.) SF/H
“Sorrel’s Heart” by Susan Palwick (The Fate of Mice/Tachyon, Feb.) SF
“End Game” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, Apr/May) SF
“Fifth Day” by Jack McDevitt (Asimov’s, Apr/May) SF
“The Manticore Spell” by Jeffrey Ford (Wizards/Berkley, May) F
“Zinder” by Tanith Lee (Wizards/Berkley, May) F
“Vivisepulture” by David Prill (Logorrhea/Bantam Spectra, May) H
“Appoggiatura” by Jeff VanderMeer (Logorrhea/Bantam Spectra, May) F
“The Smaragdine Knot” by Marly Youmans (Logorrhea/Bantam Spectra, May) F
“Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s, June) SF
“Blessed by an Angel” by Peter F. Hamilton (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Art of War” by Nancy Kress (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?” by Ken MacLeod (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“The Other Labyrinth” by Jedediah Berry (The Coyote Road/Viking, July) F
“The Dreaming Wind” by Jeffrey Ford (The Coyote Road/Viking, July) F
“PowerSuit^TM” by M. K. Hobson (F&SF, July) SF
“Honored Guest” by Ellen Kushner (The Coyote Road/Viking, July) F
“Cold Comfort” by Ray Vukcevich (F&SF, July) SF
“The Tomb Wife” by Gwyneth Jones (F&SF, Aug.) SF
“The Wizard of Macatawa” by Tom Doyle (Paradox #11, Oct.) F
“Electric Rains” by Kathleen Ann Goonan (Eclipse One/Night Shade, Oct.) SF
“Fort Bliss” by J. Kenneth Sargent (Paradox #11, Oct.) F
“Who Brought Tulips to the Moon?” by S. L. Gilbow (F&SF, Dec.) SF
“A Small Skirmish in the Culture War” by Mike Resnick & James Patrick Kelly (The Future We Wish We Had/DAW, Dec.) SF
“Good Genes” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (The Future We Wish We Had/DAW, Dec.) SF

(27 short stories: 16 SF, 1 SF/H, 9 F, 1 H)

Novelettes

“Safeguard” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, Jan.) SF
“The Farewell Party” by Eric Brown (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Feb.) SF
“The Old World” by Susan Palwick (The Fate of Mice/Tachyon, Feb.) SF
“YFL-500” by Robert Charles Wilson (Fast Forward 1/Pyr, Feb.) SF
“Dance of Shadows” by Fred Chappell (F&SF, Mar.) F
“The Looking Glass War” by Brendan DuBois (Future Weapons of War/Baen, Mar.) SF
“Craters” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Future Weapons of War/Baen, Mar.) SF
“Awakening” by Judith Berman (Black Gate #10, Spring) F
“A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil’s Ninth Question” by Andy Duncan (Wizards/Berkley, May) F
“Winter’s Wife” by Elizabeth Hand (Wizards/Berkley, May) F
“The Magic Animal” by Gene Wolfe (Wizards/Berkley, May) F
“The Valley of the Gardens” by Tony Daniel (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Glory” by Greg Egan (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Lazaro y Antonio” by Marta Randall (F&SF, June) SF
“The Emperor and the Maula” by Robert Silverberg (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“News From the Front” by Harry Turtledove (Asimov’s, June) SF
“Quaestiones Super Caelo Et Mundo” by Michael F. Flynn (Analog, July/Aug.) SF
“The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change” by Kij Johnson (The Coyote Road/Viking, July) F
“The Constable of Abal” by Kelly Link (The Coyote Road/Viking, July) F
“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (F&SF, Sep.) F
“By the Waters of the Ganga” by Stephen Gaskell (Writers of the Future, Vol. XXIII/Galaxy, Sep.) F/SF
“The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom” by Andrea Kail (Writers of the Future, Vol. XXIII/Galaxy, Sep.) SF
Ã¢â‚¬ËœThe Skysailor’s Tale” by Michael Swanwick (The Dog Said Bow-Wow, Tachyon, Sep.) SF “Ripping Carovella” by Kim Zimring (Writers of the Future, Vol. XXIII/Galaxy, Sep.) SF
“The Diamond Shadow” by Fred Chappell (F&SF, Oct./Nov.) F
“Dark Integers” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s, Oct./Nov.) SF
“Urdumheim” by Michael Swanwick” (F&SF, Oct./Nov.) SF
“Finisterra” by David Moles (F&SF, Dec.) SF

(28 novelettes: 18 SF, 1 F/SF, 9 F)

Novellas

“Recovering Apollo 8” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov’s, Feb.) SF
“Memorare” by Gene Wolfe (F&SF, Apr.) SF
“The End of the World” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Alien Crimes/SFBC, Apr.) SF
“The Master Miller’s Tale” by Ian R. MacLeod (F&SF, May) F
“Strawberry Thief” by Ian Creasey (Weird Tales, Jun/July) F
“Minla’s Flowers” by Alastair Reynolds (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Muse of Fire” by Dan Simmons (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Fountain of Age” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, July) SF
“The Lawless Hours” by James Enge (Black Gate #11, Summer) F
“All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s, Dec.) SF

(10 novellas: 7 SF, 3 F)

Best of the Year list includes 65 stories of 214 from the original Recommended Reading list, or 30%.

Personal Favorites

Short Stories

“Last Contact” by Stephen Baxter (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Feb.) SF*
“The Wedding Party” by Simon Ings (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Feb.) SF/H*
“Sorrel’s Heart” by Susan Palwick (The Fate of Mice/Tachyon, Feb.) SF*
“The Manticore Spell” by Jeffrey Ford (Wizards/Berkley, May) F*
“Art of War” by Nancy Kress (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?” by Ken MacLeod (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“The Dreaming Wind” by Jeffrey Ford (The Coyote Road/Viking, July) F*
“The Tomb Wife” by Gwyneth Jones (F&SF, Aug.) SF
“Who Brought Tulips to the Moon?” by S. L. Gilbow (F&SF, Dec.) SF*

(9 short stories: 6 SF, 1 SF/H, 2 F)

Novelettes

“Safeguard” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, Jan.) SF
“The Old World” by Susan Palwick (The Fate of Mice/Tachyon, Feb.) SF
“Dance of Shadows” by Fred Chappell (F&SF, Mar.) F
“Craters” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Future Weapons of War/Baen, Mar.) SF**
“A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or The Devil’s Ninth Question” by Andy Duncan (Wizards/Berkley, May) F*
“The Magic Animal” by Gene Wolfe (Wizards/Berkley, May) F*
“The Valley of the Gardens” by Tony Daniel (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF
“Glory” by Greg Egan (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF*
“Quaestiones Super Caelo Et Mundo” by Michael F. Flynn (Analog, July/Aug.) SF*
“The Constable of Abal” by Kelly Link (The Coyote Road/Viking, July) F
“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (F&SF, Sep.) F
“Ripping Carovella” by Kim Zimring (Writers of the Future, Vol. XXIII/Galaxy, Sep.) SF
“Dark Integers” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s, Oct./Nov.) SF*

(13 novelettes: 8 SF, 5 F)

The novelette category is easily the strongest this year, with many truly excellent choices. It’s a tough call, but Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Craters” ends up getting my nod for best of the year, though any of half a dozen others would well represent this category.

Novellas

“The End of the World” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Alien Crimes/SFBC, Apr.) SF*
“The Master Miller’s Tale” by Ian R. MacLeod (F&SF, May) F*
“Minla’s Flowers” by Alastair Reynolds (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF*
“Muse of Fire” by Dan Simmons (The New Space Opera/EOS, June) SF*
“All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s, Dec.) SF*

(5 novellas: 4 SF, 1 F)

“But Dave!” I can hear you say, “you didn’t have Sterling’s ‘Kiosk’ or Wolfe’s ‘Memorare’ as your personal favorites?” After much agonizing…no. I realize both are garnering a lot of buzz, but I felt the Sterling was more gimmick (however nifty it might have been) and lacked depth, and while the Wolfe started out nicely (customized asteroid tombs in space, how utterly cool!) I didn’t, in the final analysis, care for where he took the story after the initial “sense of wonder” stage-setting.

Personal Favorites list includes 27 of 65 from the Best of the Year list, or 42%. 27 of the original 214 breaks down to 13% of the Recommended Reading list.

Of the 27 Personal Favorites there are 16 from original anthologies, 9 from magazines, and 2 from single author collections (both from the Susan Palwick collection from Tachyon).

I hope this Recommended Reading List inspires readers to seek out some of these fine efforts. Maybe some will even make the final Hugo ballot.

Dave Truesdale began the short fiction review magazine Tangent in 1993. Since then, it has been honored with 4 Hugo nominations and 1 World Fantasy Award nomination. In 1978 he co-edited with David Gerrold the Starlog SF Yearbook. For several years in the 1990s, he was deeply involved with the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for Best Short Science Fiction of the Year, and in 1998 was a World Fantasy Award judge. He edited the Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1999-2002. He currently writes the first original online column for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Black Gate

Adventures in Fantasy Literature

2007 SF & Fantasy Recommended Reading List

(Print Medium Only)

By Dave Truesdale

Copyright 2008 by New Epoch Press. All rights reserved.

Recommended Reading List

(Print Only)

Short Stories

(106 short stories: 49 SF, 1 SF/F, 1 SF/H, 46 F, 1 F/H, 1 DF, 7 H)

Novelettes

(80 novelettes: 47 SF, 26 F, 1 F/SF, 1 DF, 1 DF/H, 4 H)

Novellas

(28 novellas: 25 SF, 3 F)

Best of the Year

(Print Only)

Short Stories

(27 short stories: 16 SF, 1 SF/H, 9 F, 1 H)

Novelettes

(28 novelettes: 18 SF, 1 F/SF, 9 F)

Novellas

(10 novellas: 7 SF, 3 F)

Personal Favorites

Short Stories

(9 short stories: 6 SF, 1 SF/H, 2 F)

Novelettes

(13 novelettes: 8 SF, 5 F)

Novellas

(5 novellas: 4 SF, 1 F)

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