Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016 Edition

by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Carl Engle-Laird (Editor), Liz Gorinsky (Editor), Justin Landon (Editor), Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Editor), Diana Pho (Editor), Ann Vandermeer (Editor), Miriam Weinberg (Editor)

Some of the Best from Tor.com (2016), Tor.com Short Fiction (Annual 2016)

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A collection of some of the best original science fiction and fantasy short fiction published on Tor.com in 2016. Includes stories by Charlie Jane Anders, Nina Allan, Tara Isabella Burton, Monica Byrne, Rebecca Campbell, P. Djèlí Clark, Indrapramit Das, Alix E. Harrow, N. K. Jemisin, Margaret Killjoy, Cixin Liu, Melissa Marr, David Nickle, Laurie Penny, Daniel Polansky, Lettie Prell, Delia Sherman, Angela Slatter, Caighlan Smith, Lavie Tidhar, Rajnar Vajra, Genevieve Valentine, Carrie show more Vaughn, and Alyssa Wong. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. show less

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6 reviews
A collection of shorts published on the Tor website. Very much a curate's egg of a book; some stories I liked very much, others I thought not very good (either stylistically or subject matter). Some authors are better at writing short fiction than others or have some short pieces that serve as a good introduction to their work, others, let's say I won't be looking out for them! The stories were mostly science fiction or urban fantasy; there wasn't much in the way of more traditional fantasy (but it's rather difficult to pack a multi-volume epic into a short story).

On the whole enjoyable, and good reading for the daily commute as you can easily fit a story in each way.
For me, Ellen Datlow is one of the finest anthologists around, so it should be no surprise that this is a superb collection of fiction. If there is any surprise at all, it is perhaps that she could only pick from short fiction published by tor.com the previous year, but I think that the quality of the volume says a great deal about the quality of the work on Tor.



There's not a single story on here that i would consider poor - the vast majority I scored 4- or 5- stars and, for those I didn't, it was more that they were simply not my type of thing. For instance, there were a couple that I thought more vignettes for sketches, not fleshed out enough to be trues stories, but I know that is something of a personal taste issue.



The real joy of show more this collection, though, is that it has introduced me to so many authors I may otherwise never have come across but are now no-questions-asked purchases. I can't wait to get to the other tor.com "some of the best" volumes.




I've reviewed the tales individually as I've gone along, so will just give the ratings here.


Clover by Charlie Jane Anders - 5/5

The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allen - 4/5

The Destroyer by Tara Isabella Burton 4/5

Traumphysik by Monica Byrne 2/5

The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell - 4/5

Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard 3/5

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 5/5

Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das 5/5

Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half Savage by Alix E. Harrow 5/5

The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin 5/5

Everything that isn't winter by Margaret Killjoy 4/5/

The Weight of Memories by Cixin Liu 3/5

The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr 4/5

The Caretakers by David Nickle 3/5

Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny 4/5

meat drink by Daniel Polansky 3/5

The Three Lines of Sonata James by Lettie Prell 4/5

The Great Detective by Delia Sherman 3/5

Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter 4/5

The Weather by Caughlan Smith 3/5

Terminal by Lavie Tidhar 5/5

Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra 5/5

La beaute sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine 5/5

That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn 5/5

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong 5/5
show less
Fair craft, just not for me

Even with a couple of yarns by authors from whom I have liked previous stories, I just can't get into these.
Don't know if it's just changed times, or what.
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar
Thousands people ridding small cheap one-man space vehicles called "jalopies", waves of them, destine to "Terminal Beach" on Mars. It's an one-way trip, without telling they would arrive there alive. During flight, the swarm communicates, within and relayed back behind.
This story of those crusaders is foremost juggles of strong personal emotions, beautifully felt. They are grandpa-to-be who desires to go in space, lady who faces fatal cancer, nurse whose job gradually kindles her purposeless life. The trick Tidhar plays here? sudden switch of voices and use of poetic language.
Feb 6, 2017Chinese, traditional

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194+ Works 28,101 Members
Ellen Datlow is the editor of science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies. She was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981-1998. Then she was the editor of the webzine Event Horizon: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror from September 1998-December 1999. She has won the World Fantasy Award seven times, the Bram Stoker show more Award twice with her co-editors and the Hugo Award for Best Editor in 2002 and 2005. She currently lives in New York City and edits fiction for Scifi.com. In 2011 she was given the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association.She is a long time trustee of the Horror Writers Association. She has been the co-host of the Fantastic Fiction reading series at the KGB Bar since 2000, a series which features luminaries and up-and-comers in speculative fiction. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Allan, Nina (Contributor)
Anders, Charlie Jane (Contributor)
Burton, Tara Isabella (Contributor)
Byrne, Monica (Contributor)
Cai, Rovina (Illustrator)
Campbell, Rebecca (Contributor)
Clark, P. Djèlí (Contributor)
Das, Indrapramit (Contributor)
de Bodard, Aliette (Contributor)
Harrow, Alix E. (Contributor)
Jemisin, N. K. (Contributor)
Killjoy, Margaret (Contributor)
Liu, Cixin (Contributor)
Marr, Melissa (Contributor)
Nickle, David (Contributor)
Penny, Laurie (Contributor)
Polansky, Daniel (Contributor)
Prell, Lettie (Contributor)
Sherman, Delia (Contributor)
Shimizu, Yuko (Cover artist)
Slatter, Angela (Contributor)
Smith, Caighlan (Contributor)
Tidhar, Lavie (Contributor)
Vajra, Rajnar (Contributor)
Valentine, Genevieve (Contributor)
Vaughn, Carrie (Contributor)
Wong, Alyssa (Contributor)

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Canonical title
Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016 Edition
Alternate titles
Clover (by Charlie Jane Anders) (by Charlie Jane Anders); The Art of Space Travel (by Nina Allen) (by Nina Allen); The Destroyer (by Tara Isabella Burton) (by Tara Isabella Burton); Traumphysik (by Monica Byrne) (by Monica Byrne); Lullaby for a Lost World (by Aliette de Bodard) (by Aliette de Bodard); A Dead Djinn in Cairo (by P. Djeli Clark) (by P. Djeli Clark) (show all 25); Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage (by Alix E. Harrow) (by Alix E. Harrow); The City Born Great (by N.K. Jemisin) (by N.K. Jemisin); Everything That Isn't Winter (by Margaret Killjoy) (by Margaret Killjoy); The Maiden Thief (by Melissa Marr) (by Melissa Marr); Your Orisons May Be Recorded (by Laurie Penny) (by Laurie Penny); meat + drink (by Daniel Polansky) (by Daniel Polansky); The Three Lives of Sonata James (by Lettie Prell) (by Lettie Prell); Breaking Water (by Indrapramit Das) (by Indrapramit Das); The High Lonesome Frontier (by Rebecca Campbell) (by Rebecca Campbell); The Weight of Memories (by Cixiu Liu) (by Cixiu Liu); The Caretakers (by David Nickle) (by David Nickle); La beaute sans vertu (by Genevieve Valentine) (by Genevieve Valentine); A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers (by Alyssa Wong) (by Alyssa Wong); Her Scales Shine Like Music by (Rajnar Vajra) (Rajnar Vajra); Terminal (by Lavie Tidhar) (by Lavie Tidhar); The Weather (by Caighlan Smith) (by Caighlan Smith); The Great Detective (by Delia Sherman) (by Delia Sherman); Finnegan's Field (by Angela Slater) (by Angela Slater); The Game We Played During the War (by Carrie Vaughn) (by Carrie Vaughn)
Original publication date
2017-01-10
Original language
English

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Science Fiction, Horror
DDC/MDS
808.83Literature & rhetoricLiterature, rhetoric & criticismRhetoric and collections of literary texts from more than two literaturesCollections of literary texts from more than two literaturesCollections of fiction
BISAC

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198,792
Reviews
5
Rating
½ (3.48)
Languages
English
Media
Ebook
ISBNs
1
ASINs
1