All posts by Jonathan Strahan

Awards Eligibility – 2015

Awards season is once again  moving into full swing, with nominations now open for the Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards and World Fantasy Awards.

Having been fairly busy during 2015, I’ve been fortunate enough to help publish a number of what I think are really excellent works of fiction that I think are worthy of your consideration. It was a year when I edited or co-edited new novellas for Tor.com, a collection of Jack Vance fiction (Grand Crusades, the final book in the series of Vance reprints), two anthologies (see below),  appeared on and produced than 48 episodes of The Coode Street Podcast episodes, and acted as reviews editor for Locus.

The anthologies, of which I’m very proud, are:

Meeting Infinity (Solaris)
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine (Solaris)
As a guide, fiction in Reach for Infinity is science fiction, in Fearsome Magics is fantasy/dark fantasy, and in Subterranean Magazine is mixed.

Fiction edited in 2015

Short story

  • Memento Mori, Madeline Ashby (Meeting Infinity)
  • Aspects, Gregory Benford (Meeting Infinity)
  • Rates of Change, James S.A. Corey (Meeting Infinity)
  • In Blue Lily’s Wake, Aliette de Bodard (Meeting Infinity)
  • Body Politic, Kameron Hurley (Meeting Infinity)
  • Drones, Simon Ings (Meeting Infinity)
  • Emergence, Gwyneth Jones (Meeting Infinity)
  • Cocoons, Nancy Kress (Meeting Infinity)
  • The Cold Inequalities, Yoon Ha Lee (Meeting Infinity)
  • The Falls, Ian McDonald (Meeting Infinity)
  • Exile from Extinction, Ramez Naam (Meeting Infinity)
  • Outsider, An Owomoyela (Meeting Infinity)
  • Desert Lexicon, Benjanun Sriduangkaew (Meeting Infinity)
  • Pictures from the Resurrection, Bruce Sterling (Meeting Infinity)
  • All the Wrong Places, Sean Williams (Meeting Infinity)

Novelette

  • My Last Bringback, John Barnes (Meeting Infinity)

Novella

  • The Last Witness, K.J. Parker (Tor.com)

Editor, Short-Form (Hugos)/Professional Achievement (WFA)

  • Jonathan Strahan (Meeting Infinity, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine, Locus [reviews editor], Grand Crusades)

Best Fancast

I hope you’ll consider supporting the talented people that I’ve worked with during the year.

Call for stories: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Vol. 11

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Vol 10
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Vol 10

I edit The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year anthology series for Solaris Books. The tenth volume in the series will be published in May 2016, and the eleventh will appear in May 2017.

I am currently reading for the 2016 volume, and am looking for stories from all branches of science fiction and fantasy: space opera to cyberpunk, fairy tales to the slipstream, or anything else that might qualify. If in doubt, please send it.

Eligibility

This is a reprint anthology. Stories must have been published between 1 January and 31 December 2016 to be considered.

Deadline

The submission deadline for this year’s book is:

 1 November 2016

Anything sent after this deadline will reach me too late. If a magazine, anthology, or collection you are in or you edit is coming out before 31 December 2016 please send galleys or manuscripts so that I can consider the stories in time.

Publication date

The eleventh volume of the series is tentatively scheduled for publication in May 2017.

Format

Where possible, I prefer to receive book-length works in print, but this is optional.  Books, stories etc can be sent to me via email. I prefer ePub, .mobi, .rtf or .doc files. PDFs are acceptable but not preferred. I strongly suggest that authors check with their publishers that they are sending review copies out to me, as I don’t have the resources to follow-up every publisher to get material.

Postal address

When sending material please put “Best SF/F of the Year” on the envelope.

Jonathan Strahan
P.O. Box 544
Mt Lawley, WA 6929
Australia

Email submissions, recommendations, or information on publications can be sent to me via email at:

jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com

For publishers

  • I am eager to consider work you are publishing. If you produce a magazine, chapbook, collection or anthology with any original stories in it please let me know. I am happy to accept email submissions. The most important thing is to make sure that I get to consider the best science fiction and fantasy published during 2016.
  • If you are publishing online please email copies of stories to jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com as early as possible. This is particularly important for stories published between October and December which may otherwise be overlooked.

For writers

  • I do not need to receive manuscripts from authors of stories from venues that it’s likely I already receive regularly (I get Analog, Asimov’s, F&SF, Interzone, Black Static, Postscripts etc, but not many of the smaller ‘zines and publications).
  • Please do not send an SASE. This is not a submission, and I’m unable to return manuscripts or respond directly to stories sent to me.
  • If I am considering your story for inclusion in  The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, I will be acquiring non-exclusive World anthology rights in English and foreign languages in print, audio and ebook.

Episode 265: David Hartwell and the beginning of 2016


For our first podcast recorded in 2016, beginning our sixth year, we discuss the remarkable career of David G. Hartwell, the role of editors in shaping science fiction, the forthcoming Hugo Awards nominations and MidAmericon, the World Fantasy Convention, and the significance of science fiction of the the 1980s—both as it appeared then and as it appears to us now.

We spoke to David Hartwell for Episode 158. 

THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OF THE YEAR: VOL 10 – TOC REVEALED

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Vol 10
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Vol 10

I think this is as late as I’ve ever done this, but here we go! I have the all-clear, so without further ado, here’s the table of contents (in alpha order) for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Vol 10.

As I said last year, while there are one or two stories that got away, and while if I had a smidgeon more room I might have opted for a novella in one spot, I’m basically very happy with this list.

  1. “City of Ash”, Paolo Bacigalupi
  2. “The Heart’s Filthy Lesson”, Elizabeth Bear
  3. “The Machine Starts”, Greg Bear
  4. “The Winter Wraith”, Jeffrey Ford
  5. “Black Dog”, Neil Gaiman
  6. “Jamaica Ginger”, Nalo Hopkinson & Nisi Shawl
  7. “Drones”, Simon Ings
  8. “Emergence”, Gwyneth Jones
  9. “Dancy vs. the Pterosaur”, Caitlin R. Kiernan
  10. “Another Word for World”, Anne Leckie
  11. “The Game of Smash and Recovery”, Kelly Link
  12. “The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn”, Usman T. Mailk
  13. “Botanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts by Ida Countess Rathangan”, Ian McDonald
  14. “Little Sisters”, Vonda McIntyre
  15. “Calved”, Sam J. Miller
  16. “Ghosts of Home”, Sam J. Miller
  17. “The Deepwater Bride”, Tamsyn Muir
  18. “The Empress in Her Glory”, Robert Reed
  19. “A Murmuration”, Alastair Reynolds
  20. “Oral Argument”, Kim Stanley Robinson
  21. “Water of Versailles”, Kelly Robson
  22. “Capitalism in the 22nd Century”, Geoff Ryman
  23. “The Karen Joy Fowler Book Club”, Nike Sulway
  24. “The Lily and the Horn”, Catherynne Valente
  25. “Blood, Ash, Braids”, Genevieve Valentine
  26. “Kaiju maximus®: ‘So Various, So Beautiful, So New’”, Kai Ashante Wilson
  27. “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers”, Alyssa Wong

The striking cover art, inspired by an Ian McDonald story, is by Domenic Harman.  The book is available to pre-order in all of the usual places, so please do!

Finally, I am hard at work on finishing the manuscript for the book, but I can announce I’m reading for the 2017 volume.

 

Episode 264: Glen Cook and Steven Erikson

Continuing the series of podcasts we recorded in Saratoga Springs at the World Fantasy Convention, we sat down with distinguished fantasy writers Glen Cook and Steven Erikson, discussing the genesis of Cook’s influential Black Company and Dread Empire series and other novels, and Erikson’s hugely popular Malazan Book of the Fallen. In addition to their approaches to character and world-building, they offer insights into how Steve’s background in archaeology influenced his work, and what it was like for Glen to live with Fritz Leiber many years ago.

Our thanks to Glen and Steve for making time in their busy schedules as guests of honour at WFC2015 to sit down and talk to us for the podcast. As always, we hope you enjoy the episode.