I delivered the first volume of my The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year anthology series to Jason and Jeremy at Night Shade the other day. I’m really happy with the book, and can’t wait to see it when it hits the shelves next March. Since all of the permissions are in place, I thought I’d let you all see the final table of contents:

1. How To Talk To Girls At Parties, Neil Gaiman
2. El Regalo, Peter S. Beagle
3. I, Row-Boat, Cory Doctorow
4. In The House Of The Seven Librarians, Ellen Klages
5. Another Word For Map Is Faith, Christopher Rowe
6. Under Hell, Over Heaven, Margo Lanagan
7. Incarnation Day, Walter Jon Williams
8. The Night Whiskey, Jeffrey Ford
9. A Siege Of Cranes, Benjamin Rosenbaum
10. Halfway House, Frances Hardinge
11. The Bible Repairman, Tim Powers
12. Yellow Card Man, Paolo Bacigalupi
13. Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter (Fantasy), Geoff Ryman
14. The American Dead, Jay Lake
15. The Cartesian Theater, Robert Charles Wilson
16. Journey Into The Kingdom, M Rickert
17. Eight Episodes, Robert Reed
18. The Wizards Of Perfil, Kelly Link
19. The Saffron Gatherers, Elizabeth Hand
20. D.A., Connie Willis
21. Femaville 29, Paul Di Filippo
22. Sob In The Silence, Gene Wolfe
23. The House Beyond Your Sky, Benjamin Rosenbaum
24. The Djinn’s Wife, Ian McDonald

You can, should you be so inclined, pre-order the book at Amazon.com and other reputable dealers.

Saw this news! I know it’s only brief, but it does seem like an outbreak of sanity.

I’ve been doing the Best Short Novels series with Andrew Wheeler at the SF Book Club for a while now, and it looks like I’ll be doing an original with him next year (I think – fingers crossed). He gives a brief but interesting history of SFBCs anthos here.

I thought I’d also let you see the Table of Contents for The New Space Opera, now that we’re finished (for the moment).

1. “Verthandi’s Ring,” by Ian McDonald
2. “Saving Tiamaat,” by Gwyneth Jones
3. “Hatch,” by Robert Reed
4. “Winning Peace,” by Paul J. McAuley
5. “Glory,” by Greg Egan
6. “Maelstrom,” by Kage Baker
7. “Blessed By An Angel,” by Peter F. Hamilton
8. “Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?,” by Ken Macleod
9. “The Valley of the Gardens,” by Tony Daniel
10. “Dividing the Sustain,” by James Patrick Kelly
11. “Minla’s Flowers,” by Alastair Reynolds
12. “Splinters of Glass,” by Mary Rosenblum
13. “Remembrance,” by Stephen Baxter
14. “The Emperor and the Maula,” by Robert Silverberg
15. “The Worm Turns,” by Gregory Benford
16. “Send Them Flowers,” by Walter Jon Williams
17. “Art of War,” by Nancy Kress
18. “Muse of Fire,” by Dan Simmons

The Alastair Reynolds, Robert Silverberg, and Dan Simmons stories are all major new short novels.

None of this is set in stone, but these are the conventions I’m planning on attending in 2007.

• Convergence 2 (8-11 June 2007)
• Conflux 4, Canberra (28 Sept – 1 Oct 2007)
• World Fantasy Convention 2007, Saratoga NY (1 – 4 Nov 2007)

The one I’m least likely to make is Convergence 2, but we’ll see.