“Fields of Gold”, by Rachel Swirsky, is nominated for a Nebula this year. This story gets at the heart of fantasy: nostalgia for the losses and misses of a life. Lyrical, funny, beautiful. The ending does what Swirksky does best: just when you think it’s winding down, it lifts you up and takes you somewhere wondrous.
reading
… and Other Stories From 2011
In case you’re catching up on your 2011 short fiction reading, here’s a list of stories I thought were noteworthy.
In it, I also talk about Nebula nominees: “Movement,” by Nancy Fulda, “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees”, by E. Lily Yu, “Her Husband’s Hands,” by Adam-Troy Castro, and “Ray of Light”, by Brad Torgersen.
Six Months, Three Days
“Six Months, Three Days” by Charlie Jane Anders is an amazing, funny, sad, super cool story about a man who sees the future and a woman who sees futures. Beautiful. Totally awesome that it’s up for a Nebula. Go read it now.
“Awesome Scifi”
I’ve said before that I think of the quintessential Clarkesworld style as “awesome scifi.” Helena Bell’s “All the Young Kirks and Their Good Intentions” in the current issue is a great example.
All the young Kirks in Riverside are in love with Jamie. She wears tight green skirts and impractical shoes. When she crosses and uncrosses her legs all the Kirks, even the girls, turn their heads ever so slightly to watch. Jamie does not have a boyfriend as none of the Kirks are so bold as to admit their feelings to another.
Gorgeous, isn’t it? It pulls you right in and makes you want to follow along even if you aren’t sure what’s going on.
Bell’s bio says that she’s a poet. I bet that’s true of a lot of Clarkesworld authors. Xia Jia, whose story I translated for this issue, is another Clarkesworld author who writes scifi poetically.
Update 2/3/2012: the other stoy in the issue, Mari Ness’s “And the Hollow Space Inside,” is beautiful and haunting. I like this one even more than her Clarkesworld story from last year, which was lovely. I can’t say much about it without giving away the point, so you should go read it yourself. This whole issue is really good.
Recognizing Gabe
“Recognizing Gabe: un cuento de hadas”, by Alberto Yáñez, is just the kind of story that I associate with Strange Horizons. A fairy tale about gender, It’s beautiful both in the idea and the execution. (And now I wish I had come up with something this cool…)
Canto MCML
“Canto MCML,” by Lewis Shiner, F&SF, Jan/Feb 2012 — a short short at 1200 words, this is among the best flash pieces I’ve read. What I admire the most is the craft: the details are chosen to convey just as much as you need to know, and no more. There’s much I can learn from Shiner. Highly recommended.