In the spirit of Lightspeed Magazine's famous People of Color Destroy Science Fiction series, here are 67 stories by 60 people of color that had scores of 3 or higher from RSR's 2019 Best SF/F list. That list contains the 331 most-recommended stories out of 700+ covered, so the 67 stories by people of color make up around 20% of the best of 2019.
Some stories not reviewed by RSR are in the Best SF/F list because they were award finalists π, included in year's best anthologies π, or recommended by other prolific reviewers π (see Q&A for SF/F awards, year's best anthologies, and prolific reviewers followed).
Readers asked us to make it easy for them to find good stories written by authors with diverse racial backgrounds, and that’s what this list is meant to accomplish (author identity plays no role in our ratings). This is the fourth year we've done this list (2018, 2017, 2015-2016).
Showing posts with label 2019. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2019. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Monday, November 23, 2020
Outstanding High Fantasy of 2019
Here are 35 outstanding high fantasy stories from 2019 that were finalists for major SF/F πawards, included in "year's best" SF/F πanthologies, or recommended by prolific πreviewers in short fiction (see Q&A). That's 35 out of 330+ best SF/F stories from 2019. A story's score is the sum of the +n points in it's "Recommended By" list (click the Details link to see the awards, year's best, and reviewers and the points).
For our purposes, we define "high fantasy" as a fantasy story that takes place in a secondary world. That is, something like Lord of the Rings, where Middle Earth is clearly not in the past or future of our world.
We've included portal fantasies, provided the destination is a secondary world.
For our purposes, we define "high fantasy" as a fantasy story that takes place in a secondary world. That is, something like Lord of the Rings, where Middle Earth is clearly not in the past or future of our world.
We've included portal fantasies, provided the destination is a secondary world.
Labels:
2019,
Blog,
HighFantasy,
Ratings,
Selection
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Outstanding SF/F Horror of 2019
Although horror isn't our focus, we do review horror stories that turn up in our regular magazines, so in honor of Halloween, here are 28 outstanding SF/F horror stories from 2019 that were finalists for major SF/F πawards, included in "year's best" SF/F πanthologies, or recommended by prolific πreviewers in short fiction (see Q&A). That's 28 out of 330+ best SF/F stories from 2019. A story's score is the sum of the +n points in it's "Recommended By" list (click the Details link to see the awards, year's best, and reviewers and the points).
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Outstanding Hard Science Fiction of 2019
Here are 19 outstanding hard science fiction stories from 2019 that were finalists for major SF/F πawards, included in "year's best" SF/F πanthologies, or recommended by prolific πreviewers in short fiction (see Q&A). That's 19 out of 300+ best SF/F stories from 2019. A story's score is the sum of the +n points in it's "Recommended By" list (click the Details link to see the awards, year's best, and reviewers and the points).
Monday, June 8, 2020
Outstanding LGBT Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2019
June is Pride Month, and here are 31 outstanding stories with LGBT characters from 2019 reviewed by RSR that were either finalists for major SF/F awards π, included in "year's best" SF/F anthologies π, or recommended by prolific reviewers π in short fiction (see Q&A). For earlier outstanding stories, click this link.
This list of stories and the recommendations for each story will be updated as award finalists/winners and the table of contents for year's best anthologies are announced. As long as an LGBT story scores 2 or more (even if it was not recommended by RSR), it will be included here.
As always, our focus is on the stories, not the authors. These are stories with memorable LGBT characters—not necessarily stories by noted LGBT authors. These include stories in which a key character merely happens to be an LGBT person as well as stories where the LGBT angle is crucial to the plot.
This list of stories and the recommendations for each story will be updated as award finalists/winners and the table of contents for year's best anthologies are announced. As long as an LGBT story scores 2 or more (even if it was not recommended by RSR), it will be included here.
As always, our focus is on the stories, not the authors. These are stories with memorable LGBT characters—not necessarily stories by noted LGBT authors. These include stories in which a key character merely happens to be an LGBT person as well as stories where the LGBT angle is crucial to the plot.
Monday, February 3, 2020
Annotated 2019 Locus Reading List for Short Fiction
Update 11/9/23: Tagged 37 honorable mentions in πNeil Clarke's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 2/22/21: Tagged 1 πBritish Fantasy Award winner for Novella (click to highlight it).
Update 11/1/20: Tagged 2 πWorld Fantasy Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 10/25/20: Tagged 6 πBritish Fantasy Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 10/22/20: Tagged 3 πSturgeon Award winners (click to highlight them).
(More)
Update 9/7/20: Tagged 1 πEugie Award winner (click to highlight it).
Update 8/25/20: Tagged 35 stories in πRich Horton's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 8/1/20: Tagged 3 πHugo Award winners (click to highlight them). Update 7/27/20: Tagged 11 πWorld Fantasy Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 7/22/20: Tagged 28 stories in πNeil Clarke's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 7/14/20: Tagged 20 stories in the πBest American Science Fiction & Fantasy anthology + 35 of 60 notable stories (click to highlight them).
Update 7/13/20: Tagged 2 πShirley Jackson Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 6/28/20: Tagged 3 πLocus Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 6/18/20: Tagged 14 stories in πAllan Kaster's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 6/16/20: Tagged 3 πReaders Poll winners each for Analog and Asimov's magazines (click to highlight them).
Update 6/10/20: Tagged 11 πSturgeon Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 6/9/20: Tagged 5 πShirley Jackson Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 6/4/20: Tagged 5 πEugie Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 6/1/20: Tagged 1 πLambda Award winner (click to highlight it).
Update 5/31/20: Tagged 3 πNebula Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 5/29/20: Tagged 30 πLocus Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 5/20/20: Tagged 1 πBSFA Award winner (click to highlight it).
Update 4/19/20: Tagged 1 πStoker Award winner (click to highlight them).
Update 4/17/20: Tagged 4 of 22 stories in πEllen Datlow's year's best horror anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 4/14/20: Tagged 1 πOtherwise Award finalist (formerly Tiptree) (click to highlight them).
Update 4/9/20: Tagged 11 of 25 stories in πPaula Guran's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 4/7/20: Tagged 18 πHugo Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 3/13/20: Tagged 28 stories in πJonathan Strahan's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 3/11/20: Tagged 1 πLambda Literary Award finalist (click to highlight it).
Update 2/21/20: Tagged 18 πNebula Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 2/11/20: Tagged 13 πAnalog Readers' Award finalists (click to highlight them) with links to the now-free stories.
Update 2/11/20: Tagged 15 πAsimov's Readers' Award finalists (click to highlight them) with links to the now-free stories.
Update 2/10/20: Tagged 6 πBSFA finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 2/10/20: Tagged 5 finalists & 1 winner of the πUncanny Favorite Fiction Reader Poll (click link to highlight).
Update 2/6/20: Added 7 links to now-free stories from πAnalog and πAsimov's in the Locus List (click link to highlight).
Here is the annotated 2019 Locus Recommended Reading List for short fiction, merged with RSR's 2019 Best SF/F list (aka our aggregated list of "outstanding" stories from 2019 that score 2 or more based on πreviewers, πawards, and year's best πanthologies). All the stories are grouped by length and score, with stories from the Locus list highlighted in red.
The merge lets us analyze the Locus list to see which stories that were broadly recognized as outstanding were left out, which publications stood out, which authors did particularly well (or not), how many were eligible for the Astounding Award, and how RSR's own recommendations stack up with Locus reviewers in general.
As with every RSR annotated list, there are links galore to the stories, their authors, the magazines, any award nominations/wins or "year's best" anthology inclusions, and search-links to find other reviews.
Anyone can vote for the Locus Awards at this link. Due date is Monday April 15, 2020.
If you want to skip the analysis and just start reading, click here (free stories highlighted).
Update 2/22/21: Tagged 1 πBritish Fantasy Award winner for Novella (click to highlight it).
Update 11/1/20: Tagged 2 πWorld Fantasy Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 10/25/20: Tagged 6 πBritish Fantasy Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 10/22/20: Tagged 3 πSturgeon Award winners (click to highlight them).
(More)
Update 9/7/20: Tagged 1 πEugie Award winner (click to highlight it).
Update 8/25/20: Tagged 35 stories in πRich Horton's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 8/1/20: Tagged 3 πHugo Award winners (click to highlight them). Update 7/27/20: Tagged 11 πWorld Fantasy Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 7/22/20: Tagged 28 stories in πNeil Clarke's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 7/14/20: Tagged 20 stories in the πBest American Science Fiction & Fantasy anthology + 35 of 60 notable stories (click to highlight them).
Update 7/13/20: Tagged 2 πShirley Jackson Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 6/28/20: Tagged 3 πLocus Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 6/18/20: Tagged 14 stories in πAllan Kaster's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 6/16/20: Tagged 3 πReaders Poll winners each for Analog and Asimov's magazines (click to highlight them).
Update 6/10/20: Tagged 11 πSturgeon Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 6/9/20: Tagged 5 πShirley Jackson Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 6/4/20: Tagged 5 πEugie Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 6/1/20: Tagged 1 πLambda Award winner (click to highlight it).
Update 5/31/20: Tagged 3 πNebula Award winners (click to highlight them).
Update 5/29/20: Tagged 30 πLocus Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 5/20/20: Tagged 1 πBSFA Award winner (click to highlight it).
Update 4/19/20: Tagged 1 πStoker Award winner (click to highlight them).
Update 4/17/20: Tagged 4 of 22 stories in πEllen Datlow's year's best horror anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 4/14/20: Tagged 1 πOtherwise Award finalist (formerly Tiptree) (click to highlight them).
Update 4/9/20: Tagged 11 of 25 stories in πPaula Guran's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 4/7/20: Tagged 18 πHugo Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 3/13/20: Tagged 28 stories in πJonathan Strahan's year's best anthology (click to highlight them).
Update 3/11/20: Tagged 1 πLambda Literary Award finalist (click to highlight it).
Update 2/21/20: Tagged 18 πNebula Award finalists (click to highlight them).
Update 2/11/20: Tagged 13 πAnalog Readers' Award finalists (click to highlight them) with links to the now-free stories.
Update 2/11/20: Tagged 15 πAsimov's Readers' Award finalists (click to highlight them) with links to the now-free stories.
Update 2/10/20: Tagged 6 πBSFA finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 2/10/20: Tagged 5 finalists & 1 winner of the πUncanny Favorite Fiction Reader Poll (click link to highlight).
Update 2/6/20: Added 7 links to now-free stories from πAnalog and πAsimov's in the Locus List (click link to highlight).
Here is the annotated 2019 Locus Recommended Reading List for short fiction, merged with RSR's 2019 Best SF/F list (aka our aggregated list of "outstanding" stories from 2019 that score 2 or more based on πreviewers, πawards, and year's best πanthologies). All the stories are grouped by length and score, with stories from the Locus list highlighted in red.
The merge lets us analyze the Locus list to see which stories that were broadly recognized as outstanding were left out, which publications stood out, which authors did particularly well (or not), how many were eligible for the Astounding Award, and how RSR's own recommendations stack up with Locus reviewers in general.
As with every RSR annotated list, there are links galore to the stories, their authors, the magazines, any award nominations/wins or "year's best" anthology inclusions, and search-links to find other reviews.
Anyone can vote for the Locus Awards at this link. Due date is Monday April 15, 2020.
If you want to skip the analysis and just start reading, click here (free stories highlighted).
Labels:
2019,
Annotated,
Blog,
Hugo Awards,
Ratings
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Flags Flying Before a Fall, by Osahon Ize-Iyamu
★★☆☆☆
(High Fantasy) A very young man worships his absent older brother, who supports the whole family through his success as an athlete in illegal sporting events. (5,230 words; Time: 17m)
Labels:
2019,
Osahon Ize-Iyamu,
Rating: 2,
Review,
Short Story,
Strange Horizons,
Vanessa Rose Phin
Friday, December 27, 2019
The Only Way Out is Through, by Setsu UzumΓ©
★★★☆☆
(High Fantasy) Dagn just needs to get through the feast without the squabbling heirs to the throne realizing that she plans to let a rebel army into the fortress. (4,557 words; Time: 15m)
Scapegoat, by Holly Messinger
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Weird West) In 1880, Boz and Trace come to a small, Kansas town where the locals are hostile and cause them to see hallucinations. A place where something truly terrible seems to have happened. (9,382 words; Time: 31m)
This is a nice introduction to the author’s “Trace and Boz” characters. This story is simple, but the characters are engaging.
Dislocation Space, by Garth Nix
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Historical SF) Stalin calls an imprisoned assassin back to duty for a special mission which involves her slipping through a tiny opening. (11,568 words; Time: 38m)
Into the Eye, by S.L. Harris
★★★☆☆
(Lovecraftian Pastiche) Unearthly creatures destroyed the Earth, but captain Moore aims to set things right through a mission that targets the maelstrom of Azathoth. (5,936 words; Time: 19m)
A deep familiarity with the works of H.P. Lovecraft is essential to appreciate this story.
Labels:
2019,
Rating: 3,
Review,
S.L. Harris,
Short Story,
Strange Horizons,
Vanessa Rose Phin
Sunday, December 15, 2019
December 2019 Ratings
5★ & 4★ Stories: 4; Time & Words: [4h:35m] π¬83K
Recommended By Stories: 15; Time & Words: [9h:25m] π¬170K
Total Stories: 40; Time & Words: [19h] π¬360K
Read How to Use RSR on the sidebar or this link to use this post.
Recommended By Stories: 15; Time & Words: [9h:25m] π¬170K
Total Stories: 40; Time & Words: [19h] π¬360K
Read How to Use RSR on the sidebar or this link to use this post.
Saturday, December 14, 2019
The Time Invariance of Snow, by E. Lily Yu
★★★☆☆
(Fairy Tale Pastiche) In which grown up Gerda and Kay from “The Snow Queen” get separated, and she goes after him again, finding that much has changed and yet a lot is just the same. (2,892 words; Time: 09m)
Before reading this story, you should read “The Snow Queen,” by Hans Christian Anderson—or at least read a synopsis. Otherwise you won’t get much out of it.
Labels:
2019,
E. Lily Yu,
Jonathan Strahan,
Rating: 3,
Review,
Short Story,
Tor.com
The Garden's First Rule, by Sheldon Costa
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Horror) People come to stare at a teen boy partly turned into a tree and planted in a garden, but he’s actually cool with it. Unlike the other kids in the exhibit. (6,542 words; Time: 21m)
Labels:
2019,
Rating: 3,
Review,
Sheldon Costa,
Short Story,
Strange Horizons,
Vanessa Rose Phin
End of the Sleeping Girls, by Molly Gutman
★★☆☆☆
(Slipstream Apocalypse) Two tiny sisters who sleep in hollowed-out fruits have to relocate to town when their forest is logged. (6,311 words; Time: 21m)
Labels:
2019,
John Joseph Adams,
Lightspeed Magazine,
Molly Gutman,
Rating: 2,
Review,
Short Story
The Path of Pins, the Path of Needles, by K.T. Bryski
★★★☆☆
(Fairy Tale Pastiche) Everything we ever heard about Red Riding Hood was wrong. She actually had a thing for wolves. (2,255 words; Time: 07m)
Labels:
2019,
John Joseph Adams,
K.T. Bryski,
Lightspeed Magazine,
Rating: 3,
Review,
Short Story
A Bad Day in Utopia, by Matthew Baker
★★☆☆☆
(Dystopia) The only men on Earth live in concentration camps, and a rare heterosexual woman goes to visit one. (4,280 words; Time: 14m)
Labels:
2019,
John Joseph Adams,
Lightspeed Magazine,
Matthew Baker,
Rating: 2,
Review,
Short Story
Motherhood, by Pat Murphy
★★☆☆☆
(SF) A senator faces consequences from an anti-abortion law he himself promoted. (1,138 words; Time: 03m)
Labels:
2019,
John Joseph Adams,
Lightspeed Magazine,
Pat Murphy,
Rating: 2,
Review,
Short Story
Symbiosis Theory, by Choyeop Kim
★☆☆☆☆
(Fantasy Science) Scientists look for a link between an eccentric artist with “memories” of an alien planet and odd voices that only infants can hear. (8,918 words; Time: 29m)
Labels:
2019,
Choyeop Kim,
Clarkesworld,
Joungmin Lee Comfort,
Neil Clarke,
Novelette,
Rating: 1,
Review
Appointment in Vienna, by Gabriel Murray
Not Rated No Speculative Element
(Historical Fiction) In 1963, a photographer discusses a restrospective album with his editor. (10,114 words; Time: 33m)
Labels:
2019,
Clarkesworld,
Gabriel Murray,
Neil Clarke,
Novelette,
Rating: NR,
Review
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