Category Archives: Science fiction

New books I’m Looking Forward to this January

I’m toying with the idea of a doing a proper list of books I’m looking forward to in 2025, but for the moment I thought I’d start with the books that look good for this month, January.

While the book that most people are probably going to buy is the new one from romantasy phenomenon Rebecca Yarros, Onyx Storm, I’m yet to dive into that series, and other books have more immediate appeal to me.

The Orb of Coraido, Katherine Addison

The Orb of Coraido
Art by Tom Canty.

First up is one I edited. I fell for Sarah Monette’s (written as by Katherine Addison) Chronicles of Osreth when The Goblin Emperor was published, and I’ve hugely enjoyed The Cemeteries of Amalo sequence, which is why I jumped at the chance to work on a new novella, The Orb of Coraido,  that is coming from Subterranean Press. This one is set just after the initiating events of The Goblin Emperor  and is the story of an unlikely historian unraveling an academic mystery.

A Conventional BoyA Conventional Boy, Charles Stross

When I read Charlies Stross’s The Atrocity Archive when it was serialised in Spectrum back in 2001 I didn’t think I’d still be reading stories about the Laundry a quarter century later, but here we are.  Another tale of Cold War shenanigans and Lovecraftian nightmares, but this time focussed on a man who was scooped up by the Laundry for playing Dungeons & Dragons as a teen and ended up in custody until his 40s. Until he gets the chance to escape so he can visit a local gaming convention. A short novel, it has a lot of the pleasures of the Laundry Files, and is another step closer to the end of it all.

Picks & Shovels, Cory DoctorowPicks and Shovels, Cory Doctorow

There’s not a lot of discussion that I see about how much of the most enjoyable science fiction and fantasy out there is basically crime or spy fiction in an SFw setting. Cory Doctorow moved into this territory with his first Martin Hench novel, Red  Team Blues, back in 2022. The third, Picks and Shovels, is Hench’s origin story and looks like enormous fun.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix

There are several trends happening in genre at the moment, and one has been the biggest resurgence in horror since the 1980s. Alongside Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, and others, Grady Hendrix has been making a huge name for himself.  This one, which comes very highly recommended, is the latest and apparently best and comes out this week.

Death of the Author, Nnedi OkoraforDeath of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor has been a force in the field since her first work appeared nearly 25 years ago, delivering major work after major work, like Who Fears Death, the Akata Witch sequence, and Lagoon. Last year she got a lot of attention for getting a huge advance for what she described as the book she’d been waiting to write. This ambitious and exciting novel is both the story of a writer and the life they’re living, and a book within a book. I’ve not picked up a new Okorafor for a while, so I’m looking forward to this one now it’s finally coming out!

Waterblack, Alex Pheby
Art by James Nunn.

Waterblack, Alex Pheby

About four or five years ago Ian Mond alerted me to the incredible books being published by Galley Beggar Press, and particularly highlighted a remarkable new fantasy series, Cities of the Weft, being written by Alex Pheby. Rich, strange, and wildly imaginative, the series started with Mordew in 2020 and was followed by Malarkoi in 2022, and now concludes with Waterblack. If you love fantasy, if you loved Mervyn Peake, if you want something new and different, this is the one. Everything about these books is amazing, and I can’t wait to read this when it gets here.

Hammajang Luck, Makana Yamamoto

And, finally, a debut. Hammajang Luck came out in late 2024 in the UK and Australia, but is a January title in the US, so I’m sneaking it in here. Described as a Oceans 8 meets Bladerunner, it’s a heist novel set on a space station. All of the reviews are good, and I have a copy sitting on my desk to read before the month is out. This one looks like a lot of fun. and I’m looking forward to getting a chance to sit down with it when I can .

Episode 669: On the importance of books and the beginning of a new year

For our first episode of 2025, we touch upon novels we’ve been reading for the new year, including  Charles Stross’s 13th Laundry novel A Conventional Boy and Ray Nayler’s Where the Axe is Buried, as well as the frustrations of reading books on deadlines—as opposed to wallowing in them at leisure, and some non-SF writers we like.

Gary then mentions how hard it is to gain perspective on novels of the past year, and suggests looking instead at important books of the entire past quarter-century from the perspective of 2025.  We only got partway through his list, which included novels by Alastair Reynolds, Kim Stanley Robinson, Octavia Butler, M. John Harrison, Margaret Atwood, Susanna Clarke, Gene Wolfe, Cixin Liu, and Robert Charles Wilson; collections by Kelly Link, Margo Lanagan, and Jeff Ford; anthologies by Sheree R. Thomas and Gardner Dozois—the last of which leads to a discussion of the durability of space opera as a defining SF theme. Plenty of stuff to argue with this week!

Awards eligibility – 2024

2024 was a year when I edited one reprint anthology (no originals this year!, six Subterranean Press and Tordotcom novellas, thirteen short stories for Reactor and Subterranean, and acted as reviews editor for Locus for the 22nd consecutive year. As a podcaster, I co-hosted and produced a total of 28 episodes of The Coode Street Podcast.

Fiction edited in 2024

Anthologies

Novellas

Short fiction

  • “Goblins & Greatcoats”, Travis Baldree (Subterranean)
  • “The Angel’s Share”, Martin Cahill, Reactor, July 24, 2024
  • “Between Home and a House on Fire”, A. T. Greenblatt, Reactor, May 15, 2024
  • “I’m Not Disappointed Just Mad, AKA The Heaviest Couch in the Known Universe”, Daryl Gregory, “Reactor, November 20, 2024
  • “Evan: A Remainder”, Jordan Kurella, Reactor, January 31, 2024
  • “Set in Stone”, K.J. Parker, Reactor, September 4, 2024
  • “The Gulmohar of Mehranpur”, Amal Singh, Reactor, August 21, 2024
  • “Also, the Cat”, Rachel Swirsky, Reactor, January 10, 2024
  • “Unquiet at the Eastern Front”, Wole Talabi (Subterranean)
  • “Judge Dee and the Executioner of Epinal”, Lavie Tidhar, Reactor, April 17, 2024
  • “Immortal, Invisible”, Tade Thompson (Subterranean)
  • “Nine Billion Turing Tests”, Chris Willrich, Reactor, February 21, 2024
  • “I’ll Miss Myself”, John Wiswell, Reactor, July 10, 2024

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

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

A Year at Tor.com – Stories I acquired for 2023

I had a busy year over at Tor.com. Below are the twelve stories I acquired and edited for the site. My thanks to all of the authors and to everyone at Tor.com for letting me be involved in such a very special year!

The Counterworld” by James Bradley

Illustrated by Mary Haasdyk
Published February 1, 2023

A grieving mother wakes up to find all traces of her lost son have been erased as if he had never existed. Only in the hallway mirror is she able to see a glimpse of the reality she remembers having lived—the reality she wants back.

The River and the World Remade” by E. Lily Yu

Illustrated by Changyu Zou
Published March 29, 2023

When the waters rose, the people who stayed on the River learned they weathered the storms best together, but what happens when one of their own becomes curious about the Land?

Salt Water” by Eugenia Triantafyllou

Illustrated by J Yang
Published April 12, 2023

While all her friends’ fish are changing into mermaids, is 12-year-old Anissa’s fish becoming something else?

Counting Casualties” by Yoon Ha Lee

Illustrated by Julie Dillon
Published April 26, 2023

Commander Niaja vrau Erezeng is up against an enemy that doesn’t just destroy all the beings, ships, and planets in its path, but also consumes their greatest arts, somehow scratching them from existence everywhere…

The Star-Bear” by Michael Swanwick

Illustrated by Bill Mayer
Published June 7, 2023

A Russian émigré poet living in Paris is visited by a mysterious bear with an agenda…

What It Means To Be A Car” by James Patrick Kelly

Illustrated by Scott Bakal
Published July 26, 2023

An AI car is caught between its ruthless employer and the people she hurt…

The Three O’Clock Dragon” by John Wiswell

Illustrated by J Yang
Published August 23, 2023

Prosperity City’s corrupt mayor never guessed his greatest opponent would be a fire-breathing dragon and her unconventional platform…

The Job at the End of the World” by Ray Nayler

Illustrated by Keith Negley
Published August 30, 2023

A weary resilience worker should know better than anyone: no one is safe when the world is always ending…

Detonation Boulevard” by Alastair Reynolds

Illustrated by Ben Zweifel
Published July 12, 2023

In a cosmic rally race winding 12,000 kilometers across Io’s treacherous surface in just 60 hours, all while dodging the competition, fatigue, and violent lava geysers—there’s only one way Cat knows how to win: Just. Drive.

The Passing of the Dragon” by Ken Liu

Illustrated by Mary Haasdyk
Published September 13, 2023

A woman who fears she’s failing as a painter and as an artist seeks inspiration from one of her favorite poets and finds something even more wondrous, but also more impossible to capture on canvas…

FORM 8774-D” by Alex Irvine

Illustrated by Zoe van Dijk
Published September 27, 2023

It’s just business as usual at the Bureau of Metahuman, Mutant, and Occult Affairs until an employee for the government agency begins to wonder if work is following her home…

The Locked Coffin: A Judge Dee Mystery” by Lavie Tidhar

Illustrated by Red Nose Studio
Published October 25, 2023

A new Judge Dee mystery!

While visiting the mysterious castle of Maidstone for an investigation, Judge Dee and Jonathan discover the only thing more menacing than a vampire child is twin vampire children…

Awards eligibility – 2023

2023 was a year when I edited two original anthologies, two Tordocom novellas, eleven of Tor.com’s short stories, and acted as reviews editor for Locus for the 21st consecutive year. As a podcaster, I co-hosted and produced a total of 19 episodes.

Fiction edited in 2023

Anthologies

Novellas

Novelette

  • Here Instead of There, Elizabeth Bear (Communications Breakdown)
  • The Counterworld, James Bradley (Tor.com)
  • What I Remember of Oresha Moon Dragon Devshrata, P. Djèlí Clark (The Book of Witches)
  • John Hollowback and the Witch, Amal El Mohtar (The Book of Witches)
  • FORM 8774-D, Alex Irvine (Tor.com)
  • The Witch Is Not the Monster, Alaya Dawn Johnson (The Book of Witches)
  • What It Means to Be a Car, James Patrick Kelly (Tor.com)
  • Less Than, Lavanya Lakshminarayan (Communications Breakdown)
  • The Passing of the Dragon, Ken Liu (Tor.com)
  • Cuttlefish, Anil Menon (Communications Breakdown)
  • At Every Door a Ghost, Mohamed (Communications Breakdown)
  • Company Man, Shiv Ramdas (Communications Breakdown)
  • Detonation Boulevard, Alastair Reynolds (Tor.com)
  • The Luck Thief, Tade Thompson (The Book of Witches)
  • The Locked Coffin: A Judge Dee Mystery, Lavie Tidhar (Tor.com)

Short story

  • What Dreams May Come, C.L. Clark (The Book of Witches)
  • As Wayward Sisters, Hand in Hand, Indrapramit Das (The Book of Witches)
  • Noise Cancellation, S B Divya (Communications Breakdown)
  • Moral Hazard, Cory Doctorow (Communications Breakdown)
  • Orphanage of the Last Breath, Saad Hossain (The Book of Witches)
  • Catechism for Those Who Would Find Witches, Kathleen Jennings (The Book of Witches)
  • Met Swallow, Cassandra Khaw (The Book of Witches)
  • Nameless Here for Evermore, Fonda Lee (The Book of Witches)
  • The Liar, Darcie Little Badger (The Book of Witches)
    Good Spells, Ken Liu (The Book of Witches)
  • The Excommunicates, Ken Macleod (Communications Breakdown)
  • Night Riding, Usman T. Malik (The Book of Witches)
  • My City is Not A Problem, Tim Maughan (Communications Breakdown)
  • Sigh No More, Ian McDonald (Communications Breakdown)
  • Just a Nudge, Maureen McHugh (The Book of Witches)
  • So Spake the Mirrorwitch, Premee Mohammed (The Book of Witches)
  • The Job at the End of the World, Ray Nayler (Tor.com)
  • The Unexpected Excursion of the Murder Mystery Writing Witches, Garth Nix (The Book of Witches)
  • The Nine Jars of Nukulu, Tobi Ogundiran (The Book of Witches)
  • Déjà Vue, Tochi Onyebuchi (The Book of Witches)
  • The Academy of Oracular Magic, Miyuki Jane Pinckard (The Book of Witches)
  • In a Cabin, In a Wood, Kelly Robson (The Book of Witches)
  • Through The Woods, Due West, Angela Slatter (The Book of Witches)
  • Her Ravenous Waters, Andrea Stewart (The Book of Witches)
  • The Star-Bear, Michael Swanwick (Tor.com)
  • The Cost of Doing Business, Emily Teng (The Book of Witches)
  • Mask of the Nautilus, Sheree Renee Thomas (The Book of Witches)
  • Salt Water, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Tor.com)
  • The Three O’Clock Dragon, John Wiswell (Tor.com)
  • Witchfires, E. Lily Yu (The Book of Witches)
  • The River and the World Remade, E. Lily Yu (Tor.com)

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

  • Jonathan Strahan (The Book of Witches ; two Tordotcom novellas11 Tor.com stories;  Locus [reviews editor]

Best Fancast/Podcast

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