Spar by Kij Johnson

I enjoyed "Spar," although not as much as some others on the internet. One human and one alien share a tiny lifeboat after their ships are destroyed in a collision. Their only communication is sex. The description of their wordless interaction is unsparing. There is little context. The story starts after the collision and ends at the moment of rescue, as the lifeboat is opened from outside. The bulk of the story is interior monologue as the human woman endures within the lifeboat. Since her partner in the lifeboat is alien and all communication is non-verbal, the story is claustrophobic. The non-verbal nature of the story leaves it ambiguous as to whether the alien is sentient. Another reading is that the relationship is pre-verbal and that the story's subtext is that of childhood sexual abuse.

The story fits within Japanese tradition of "tentacle erotica." There's a Wikipedia entry for tentacle erotica.

Related post: The Years Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, Volume Four, table of contents

The Pelican Bar by Karen Joy Fowler

This story is taut and suspenseful, immersive and unpredictable. It is a character study that starts with an unsympathetic character and by the end the reader is cheering for her. Norah is an out of control teenager. Her parents contract with an organization that will set her straight. Without warning, Norah is kidnapped from her bedroom and taken to a rundown motel where she endures "group," where she must reveal her faults and secrets. For lying, she is sent for TAP, the Think Again Position, where she must lie face down on the bare floor without moving for hours. If she moves she is put in restraint where one staff member places a knee on her spine while others pull her arms and legs up and backward. Norah must earn points for the privilege of having a toothbrush and hairbrush. There are indications that the people running the organization are not human.

There are many wonderful things happening: a lost teenager seeks her identity, a horrible and possibly rehabilitative center is revealed layer by layer, and images and events suggest a science-fictional underpinning. This is an outstanding story.

"The Pelican Bar" by Karen Joy Fowler first appeared in Eclipse Three (Night Shade Books) edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

"A Wild and a Wicked Youth" by Ellen Kushner

A "coming of age" fantasy, it feels a little like a story ticking items off a checklist: Here we learn that Richard is fabulously agile and has an unusually developed sense of balance. Here he meets a broken-down old swordsman who will, over the course of years, teach him about swordsmanship. Here is a homosexual encounter. Here is Richard's first public display of his early mastery of the sword. Here is his first heterosexual encounter.

That makes it sound overly routine. Instead, it is quite fine. It takes place within the author's "Riverside" series of novels and short fiction. I haven't read any of this series before. Now, I would like to.

"A Wild and a Wicked Youth" by Ellen Kushner originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April/May 2009.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

Ferryman by Margo Lanagan

A gem of a story, told in evocative prose, it is a literalization of the ferryman of the River Styx. To bring the ferryman his lunch, his daughter, Sharon (which I don't think rhymes with Charon, but nevermind), descends a dark stairway while singing. This is excellent throughout. My minor protest is that the story seems too hermetically sealed. I wondered what might be visible outside the windows of Sharon's house.

"Ferryman" by Margo Lanagan first appeared in the anthology Firebirds Soaring (Firebird-Penguin, 2009) edited by Sharyn November.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

The Island by Peter Watts

There is a struggle for survival both inside and outside the starship. Inside the ship the human crew contends with Chimp, the artificial intelligence that runs the ship. Outside, a vast alien "island" must negotiate for its own existence. Watts story is rigorous and bleak and easily one of the best science fiction novelettes of the year. It is a finalist for the upcoming Hugo awards.

Coincidentally, I was listening today to the Notes from Coode Street podcast, Episode 6: Live with Gary K. Wolfe, where Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan were discussing "The Island." They were drawing a distinction between the kinds of stories that work and don't work as good introductions to the genre for non-science fiction readers, and they both agreed that "The Island" was an example of a story that would not be easily understood by non-science fiction readers. I can see their point, to an extent. I think "The Island" asks a lot of a reader who is not familiar with standard tropes of science fiction. Still, this is exactly the challenging material that I would want a non-sf reader to engage with. This is science fiction at its best and its most rewarding.

"The Island" by Peter Watts first appeared in The New Space Opera 2 (Eos-HarperCollins, 2009) edited by Gardner Dozois and Strahan.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

The Night Cache by Andy Duncan

"The Night Cache" is a love story. While working at Yarns Ignoble bookstore, Jenny and Destiny have a "meet-cute" moment. They share an interest in scary old movies, ciphers, and geocaching. They become lovers. Tragedy intervenes. The story is told sweetly, with a charming sense of humor and a wonderful ear for dialog. It left me wanting more.

"The Night Cache" by Andy Duncan first appeared as The Night Cache (PS Publishing, 2009) by Andy Duncan.  This novelette was produced in an excellent hardback edition from the estimable small press PS Publishing. Having that edition at hand, I can say it is worth getting a copy. PS Publishing produces remarkable books year after year. Please see the "SF Small Press" list of links at the right for this and other small publishers that deserve your attention.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

Three Twilight Tales by Jo Walton

These three very short linked stories are a delight. There is nothing particularly original or innovative about them. They are fantasy in a rural, medieval mold that is familiar to genre readers. By turn they concern a man made of magic, a peddler, and a king. They are slight, yet they are well done. The passage describing the items on the mantelpiece of the village pub has more wonder and stories within stories than many longer works achieve.

"Three Twilight Tales" by Jo Walton first appeared in the anthology Firebirds Soaring (Firebird-Penguin, 2009) edited by Sharyn November.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

It Takes Two by Nicola Griffith

Nicola Griffith’s story treats gender and sexual behavior in an intelligent manner. It is stylishly written, moves well, and has a good resolution. Unfortunately, I didn’t believe it for a moment. The internal logic of the story demands that the main character, Cody, would allow herself to be the subject of experimental modification of her personality and behavior in order to sign a client. I didn’t buy it. There is nothing to suggest that Cody is reckless. This problem is doubled by the fact that another woman has to be brought into the scheme and convinced to undergo the same experimental personality modification. Even more damaging to the logic of the story, Cody and her friend Richard, both believe they know exactly what the client’s reaction will be when Cody displays the behavior she is programmed to perform. I didn’t buy that either. Real people (as opposed to abstract characters used to advance the plot) behave in unexpected ways. Even if the client has a fantasy about witnessing a public display of sexuality, when his fantasy becomes reality his reaction could be strongly negative. A very interesting story where the internal logic didn't hold up.

"It Takes Two" by Nicola Griffith originally appeared in Eclipse Three (Night Shade Books, 2009) edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four: Introduction

Jonathan Strahan's introduction to The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, is brief, unlike the thorough year in review that Gardner Dozois provides in his annual year's best science fiction anthology. He notes the current trends in science fiction toward zombie stories and what he calls the "retro-futurism" of steampunk. Strahan sees a more significant trend in how we consume books, with a surge in popularity for electronic book readers such as the Kindle and the nook. Since he is writing in 2009 about 2009, and can be forgiven for not seeing the future, he cannot mention the big debut for the Apple iPad, which has, for now, stolen the thunder from the other electronic readers.

In the publishing world the year was one of new efficiencies, cutbacks, and hard economic choices, especially in the short fiction markets. Print magazines were published in new formats or reduced to bimonthly schedules. Realms of Fantasy ceased publication and was later revived by another publisher. Online, the changes came even more quickly, with sites closing or cutting back, and newer sites (Tor.com and Clarkesworld Magazine) quickly establishing themselves as sources of excellent short fiction. 

Strahan mentions the most interesting anthologies of 2009, including The New Space Opera 2 edited by Dozois and Strahan, Eclipse 3 edited by Strahan, Other Earths edited by Nick Gevers and Jay Lake, The Solaris Book of Science Fiction, Volume 3, edited by George Mann, and Firebirds Soaring edited by Sharyn November.

The best single-author short story collections of 2009 he lists as Ian McDonald's Cyberabad Days, Greg Egan's Oceanic, Gwyneth Jones's Grazing the Long Acre, Charles Stross's Wireless, and Peter S. Beagle's We Never Talk About My Brother. He also cites excellent career retrospective collections: The Best of Gene Wolfe, The Best of Michael Moorcock, Trips by Robert Silverberg, the first two volumes of The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, and the staggering six-volume Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny.

Strahan ends his introduction with a tribute to Charles N. Brown, the co-founder of publisher Locus, who died in 2009. "He was, I think, science fiction's best and truest advocate. His passion for the field was deep, profound, and perspicacious. He influence me greatly but he influenced the field he loved far more." Clearly, Brown was an important figure in the field for the past 40 years or more, and Locus is the best evidence, but I think many stories have not been told about his career advice to writers and his work on unpublished manuscripts. Someday I hope those stories will be told as well.

Related post: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, table of contents

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four

I'll be writing briefly about each story in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Four, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books, 2010). Items on the table of contents below will be updated with links to each review as it is posted.

• Introduction -- Jonathan Strahan
• It Takes Two -- Nicola Griffith
• Three Twilight Tales -- Jo Walton
• The Night Cache -- Andy Duncan
• The Island -- Peter Watts
• Ferryman -- Margo Lanagan
• "A Wild and Wicked Youth" -- Ellen Kushner
• The Pelican Bar -- Karen Joy Fowler
• Spar -- Kij Johnson
• Going Deep -- James Patrick Kelly
• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown -- Holly Black
• Zeppelin City -- Michael Swanwick and Eileen Gunn
• Dragon's Teeth -- Alex Irvine
• This Wind Blowing, and This Tide -- Damien Broderick
• By Moonlight -- Peter S. Beagle
• Black Swan -- Bruce Sterling
• As Women Fight -- Sara Genge
• The Cinderella Game -- Kelly Link
• Formidable Caress -- Stephen Baxter
• Blocked -- Geoff Ryman
• Truth and Bone -- Pat Cadigan
• Eros, Philia, Agape -- Rachel Swirsky
• The Motorman's Coat -- John Kessel
• Mongoose -- Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
• Echoes of Aurora -- Ellen Klages
• Before My Last Breath -- Robert Reed
• JoBoy -- Diana Wynne Jones
• Utriusque Cosmi -- Robert Charles Wilson
• A Delicate Architecture -- Catherynne M. Valente
• The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles -- Kij Johnson