It’s really only just beginning to wend it’s way through production, but all the signs are there that Best Short Novels: 2006 is going to be a reality before too long. My editor Andy Wheeler just emailed me the very cool looking cover for the book, which you can see here.

The contents of the book include:

• “Human Readable”, Cory Doctorow
• “Fishin’ With Grandma Matchie”, Steven Erikson
• “The Gist Hunter”, Matthew Hughes
• “Magic For Beginners”, Kelly Link
• “The Policeman’s Daughter”, Wil McCarthy
• “The Little Goddess”, Ian McDonald
• “Audubon In Atlantis”, Harry Turtledove
• “Inside Job”, Connie Willis
• mysterious ninth story

The best way to get a copy of the book, along with the mysterious ninth story, is by joining the SF Book Club. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t hesitate to do so, if I but could.

You can see a large copy of the cover by clicking on the image on the right. You can see a copy of Les Edward’s original image by clicking here.

I’ve been pondering science fiction a lot, this past couple weeks, and year’s best anthologies particularly. I’ve been asking myself questions like ‘what makes a good year’s best’, ‘what should go into one’, ‘how long should it be’, ‘as year’s bests have gotten longer, has the overall quality of the books increased, decreased or stayed the same’. As I’ve been pondering, I’ve been searching through all kinds of bibliographic listings, just to see what’s there. I was surprised to see Orson Welles had written an introduction for a year’s best, and even more surprised that he’d edited an SF anthology. What I didn’t expect to stumble across, though, was information on Bleiler and Dikty’s Years Best Science Fiction Novels series. Between 1952 and 1955 these two veteran anthologists compiled what I now suspect was the first ever ‘year’s best novellas’ anthology series. I was really surprised. I’d thought the Terry Carr series was the first ‘best novellas’ series, but live and learn. Bleiler and Dikty edited five volumes of Years Best Science Fiction Novels. I’m headed to Oakland again later this year, and I expect I’ll be burying myself in CHARLES’s basement for a day or so, pouring over what they did and how they did it. Always, always something more to learn.

I’ve not seen a formal announcement anywhere yet, but my Locus colleague Rich Horton is to edit two new year’s best anthologies, Fantasy: The Best of the Year, and Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, which are due out later this year, and I couldn’t be happier for him. When Karen Haber decided to step down as co-editor of the books I was editing for iBooks, Rich was the one person I considered asking to be co-editor, so I think the decision to give him his own gig is a terrific one. I’ve been following his virtual best of lists for the last few years and, while I don’t always agree with his choices, I can always understand and respect them. I think he’s going to do a great job, and will add a valuable new perspective to the field.

Well, this has been a mixed kind of week. Saw the doctor on Monday, who told me that I was way too overweight, had hypertension, and needed to do something about it fast. in response, I’ve started trying to exercise every day, and to make other changes in my lifestyle. It’s of course way too early to say that this means anything, but I’m definitely intending to make this stick and make the necessary changes.

As if recognising my awareness of having high blood pressure for the first time, life then began to present a number of circumstances that led to increased blood pressure. All was well at the day job, but one or two bumpy things happened with the non-day job work. For the most part, they’re all smoothed out and okay, but it was fun. The one thing I’ve learned, again, is always trust your instincts and always head for the higher ground. This is both smart and the right thing do to.

With all of that in mind, I also thought I’d bring you all up to date on the anthology situation. While I can’t announce anything today, things look good for the future of the year’s best SF and year’s best fantasy anthology series. I’ve reached a verbal agreement with the publishers, and, while the details are being sorted out, we’re preparing a for-real announcement to come out soon-ish. In terms of the iBooks volumes, there’s still nothing definitive to say. Obviously they won’t be coming out from iBooks, but there’s some very slight chance other options might work out. I’ll let you all know, should there be any news.

Have you ever been to Ambergris? Described, and believe me I quote, as “Funny, bawdy, profane, tragic, and sometimes heartbreaking” Jeff Vandermeer’s City of Saints and Madmen is a mosaic novel, a shattered mirror of story, myth and mystery the kind of which you rarely stumble across. In all honesty it’s the kind of book that shouldn’t work. It should be terrible. It’s not. It’s actually strange and rich and wonderful. It’s just been published by Bantam in a cool new edition, which you should definitely check out. And, if that dip into the heady whirlpool of Amergris enchants and beguiles, get ready for Shriek: An Afterword which follows in August.