The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

Top Ten SF Novels by Women

John Joseph Adams — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:43:03 +0000

In the Guardian, Gwyneth Jones has a Top Ten list of SF novels written by women. It’s an interesting list, though I note that only two of them are from the 21st century. Which is fair enough, considering it’s a Top Ten of all-time sort of list. But seeing the list made me wonder: What would this top ten list look like if we restricted the timeframe to books published in 2000 or later? So let’s hear it: What’s in your top ten? (Keep in mind we’re specifically talking about SF here, not fantasy.)

Tor’s free ebooks

John Joseph Adams — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:38:24 +0000

By now most of you will have noticed Tor’s shiny new Tor.com website, which is chock full of geeky goodness. What you may not have noticed is that through July 27, you can go download all of the free ebooks that Tor had released via its Watch the Skies promotional newsletter over the course of the last several months. So go download before they’re gone forever!

The Plausibility of Batman

John Joseph Adams — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:37:59 +0000

Scientific American has a cool (and spoiler-free) article about the plausibility of Batman. It’s presented as a Q&A with the author of Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero. It looks pretty cool–a shame, though, that it’s not coming out til October; they’re going to miss all this free publicity, though maybe The Dark Knight will be just about ready for DVD by then.

Acquisitions: May 2008

John Joseph Adams — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:18:06 +0000

Here’s a list of the new stories we bought in May and will be coming soon to an issue near you:

Esoteric City by Bruce Sterling
Changeling by Dean Whitlock
The Boy Who Sang by Joseph M. Feehan
The Perfect Infestation by Carol Emshwiller
Blocked by Geoff Ryman
A Wild and Wicked Youth by Ellen Kushner
Catalog by Eugene Mirabelli

Free Fiction: Footnotes by Charles Coleman Finlay

John Joseph Adams — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:40:13 +0000

"Footnotes" by Charles Coleman Finlay originally appeared in our August 2001 issue. It’s currently available on Finlay’s website.

io9 on The Political Prisoner

John Joseph Adams — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:52:32 +0000

io9.com has posted a nice review of Charles Coleman Finlay’s "The Political Prisoner" (which includes some discussion of the story prior to that, "The Political Officer," which you can currently read on our website).

They also shower some more love on Maurizio Manzieri’s illustration for Robert Reed’s "Five Thrillers," which they reviewed a few months ago.

Free Fiction: Dale Bailey (x3)

John Joseph Adams — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:38:49 +0000

The following stories by Dale Baliey originally appeared in the pages of F&SF. Now they’re all available online:

"Heat," Sep. 2000 [link]

"The Rain at the End of the World," Jul. 1999 [link]

"Night of the Fireflies," Jan. 1998 [link]

Free Fiction: James Patrick Kelly (x2)

John Joseph Adams — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:44:38 +0000

"Serpent" by James Patrick Kelly originally appeared in our May 2004 issue. Kelly has since adapted it to audio as part of his "Free Reads" podcast. [link]

Another story of Kelly’s, "The Pyramid of Amirah," appeared in our March 2002 issue. That one is also now available via Free Reads. [link]

Acquisitions: April 2008

John Joseph Adams — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:46:21 +0000

Here’s a list of the new stories we bought in April and will be coming soon to an issue near you:

The Scarecrow’s Boy by Michael Swanwick (3350 words)
The Boy Who Sang for Others by Michael Meddor (3600)
The Perfect Infestation Carol Emshwiller (3300)
Blocked by Geoff Ryman (6600)
A Wild and Wicked Youth by Ellen Kushner (9620)
Catalog by Eugene Mirabelli (6579)

Finisterra Wins Sturgeon Award

John Joseph Adams — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:55:17 +0000

Congrats to David Moles, whose story from F&SF, "Finisterra" (Dec. 2007), has won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, which is given annually to the best science fiction short story, novelette or novella of the year. It was presented this weekend at the 2008 Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas. (Note: "Finisterra" actually tied with "Tidelines" by Elizabeth Bear, so technically both won.) Other F&SF stories tied for second place: between "Memorare" by Gene Wolfe (Apr. 2007) and "The Master Miller’s Tale" by Ian R. MacLeod (May 2007).