The best american scienc.., p.1
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024, page 1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Foreword
Introduction: Plato and the Planogram
How It Unfolds by James S. A. Corey
Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse
Zeta-Epsilon by Isabel J. Kim
Bari and the Resurrection Flower by Hana Lee
Window Boy by Thomas Ha
Disassembling Light by Kel Coleman
The Long Game by Ann Leckie
John Hollowback and the Witch by Amal El-Mohtar
Calypso’s Guest by Andrew Sean Greer
The Blade and the Bloodwright by Sloane Leong
Form 8774-D by Alex Irvine
Resurrection Highway by A. R. Capetta
The Four Last Things by Christopher Rowe
Ankle Snatcher by Grady Hendrix
Emotional Resonance by V. M. Ayala
Bruised-Eye Dusk by Jonathan Louis Duckworth
Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont by P. A. Cornell
How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub by P. Djèlí Clark
Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse
If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak by Sam J. Miller
Contributors’ Notes
Other Notable Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2023
About the Editors
Guest Editors of The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy
About Mariner Books
Copyright
About the Publisher
Foreword
Welcome to year ten of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy! This volume presents the best science fiction and fantasy (SF/F) short stories published during the 2023 calendar year as selected by myself and guest editor Hugh Howey.
About This Year’s Guest Editor
#1 New York Times bestselling author Hugh Howey took the publishing world by storm in 2011 with the publication of Wool, which was originally self-published (or indie-published, as we’d say now) on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform as five novellas—and later was collectively republished as the Wool Omnibus. Over the next couple of years, Wool became such a phenomenon that coverage of it appeared everywhere from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to Forbes—not about the book itself but about the incredible success story of the book’s publication. But everyone loved the book too, readers and critics alike. If you somehow hadn’t heard about any of that, you might know Hugh’s work from the hit Apple+ show Silo, which is an adaptation of Wool and the whole Silo series (which includes Shift and Dust). There’s also a TV show based on his deep-space science fiction novel Beacon 23 currently airing on MGM+, and other novels of his—such as the incredible Sand—are also in development for adaptation.
Although Hugh’s first big success was Wool, before that he published four books in the young adult Bern Saga, starting with Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, and the “I’d shelve it in the science fiction/fantasy section, but is also kind of a YA novel” novel Half Way Home. (Hugh has something to say too about where books are shelved in his introduction that follows.) Other books include I, Zombie; The Shell Collector; and a collection of his short fiction, Machine Learning. His latest books are the Sand sequel Across the Sand and The Balloon Hunter.
Hugh and I hit it off when we met at the 70th annual Worldcon in Chicago in 2012, and afterward we ended up co-editing The Apocalypse Triptych anthology series and then several years later (with Christie Yant) edited The Dystopia Triptych; then—with Christie and screenwriter Gary Whitta (Rogue One, The Book of Eli)—Hugh edited Resist: Tales from a Future Worth Fighting Against.
Aside from writing, Hugh has worked as a bookseller, a computer-repair technician, a roofer, a yacht captain, and for a long time he lived on a catamaran on which he sailed across the world . . . alone. He also was at Ground Zero in New York on 9/11 and had been inside the World Trade Center the night before; many of the autobiographical details of that experience were depicted in his absolutely astonishing short story “Peace in Amber.” If you’d like to learn more about Hugh, I highly recommend the “Who I Am” page on his website (hughhowey.com/who-i-am), which is perhaps the best “behind the page” author bio I’ve ever seen—and, honestly, just a damn fine piece of writing.
Selection Criteria and Process
The stories chosen for this anthology were originally published between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023. The technical criteria for consideration are (1) original publication in a nationally distributed North American publication (i.e., periodicals, collections, or anthologies, in print, online, or ebook); (2) publication in English by writers who are North American, or who have made North America their home; (3) publication as text (audiobook, podcast, dramatized, interactive, and other forms of fiction are not considered); (4) original publication as short fiction (excerpts of novels are not knowingly considered); (5) story length of 17,499 words or less; (6) at least loosely categorized as science fiction or fantasy; (7) publication by someone other than the author (i.e., self-published works are not eligible); and (8) publication as an original work of the author (i.e., not part of a media tie-in/licensed fiction program).
As series editor, I attempted to read everything I could find that meets the above selection criteria. After doing all of my reading, I created a list of what I felt were the top eighty stories (forty science fiction and forty fantasy) published in the genre. Those eighty stories—hereinafter referred to as the “Top 80”—were sent to the guest editor, who read them and then chose the best twenty (ten science fiction, ten fantasy) for inclusion in the anthology. The guest editor reads all of the stories anonymously—with no bylines attached to them, nor any information about where the story originally appeared.
The guest editor’s top twenty selections appear in this volume; the remaining sixty stories that did not make it into the anthology are listed in the back of this book as “Other Notable Stories of 2023.”
2023 Selections
One author this year performed the very rare feat of having not one, but two stories selected for inclusion in the anthology: Rebecca Roanhorse, with her stories “Falling Bodies” and “Eye & Tooth.” Five authors selected for this volume previously appeared in BASFF: P. Djèlí Clark (2), Kel Coleman (1), Isabel J. Kim (1), Sam J. Miller (3), and Rebecca Roanhorse (1). Thus, V. M. Ayala, A. R. Capetta, James S. A. Corey, P. A. Cornell, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, Amal El-Mohtar, Andrew Sean Greer, Thomas Ha, Grady Hendrix, Alex Irvine, Ann Leckie, Hana Lee, Sloane Leong, and Christopher Rowe are all appearing in BASFF for the first time.
The selections were chosen from fifteen different publications: Beneath Ceaseless Skies (2), Clarkesworld (2), Fantasy Magazine (2), The Far Reaches from Amazon Original Stories (3), and the following, which all had one selection each: Asimov’s; The Book of Witches edited by Jonathan Strahan; Creature Feature from Amazon Original Stories; The Dark; Escape Pod; Lightspeed; Out There Screaming edited by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams; Reactor (formerly Tor.com); The Sunday Morning Transport; Uncanny; and one single-story digital chapbook from Amazon Original Stories.
Several of our selections this year were winners of (or finalists for) some of the field’s awards*: “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark (Locus winner, Hugo finalist); “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont” by P. A. Cornell (Nebula and Aurora finalist); “John Hollowback and the Witch” by Amal El-Mohtar (Locus finalist); “Window Boy” by Thomas Ha (Locus and Nebula finalist); and “If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak” by Sam J. Miller (Stoker finalist).
2023 Top 80
In order to select the Top 80 stories published in the SF/F genres in 2023, I considered several thousand stories from a wide array of anthologies, collections, and magazines.
The Top 80 this year were drawn from thirty-two different publications: seventeen periodicals, twelve anthologies, two single-story chapbooks, and one single-author collection.
Tochi Onyebuchi had the most stories in the Top 80 this year, with three; several authors were tied for second most, with two each: Violet Allen, P. Djèlí Clark, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, Andrea Kriz, Yoon Ha Lee, Sam J. Miller, Nnedi Okorafor, Malka Older, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Daniel H. Wilson. Overall, seventy-one different authors are represented in the Top 80.
In addition to the selections that were nominated for awards, several Notable Stories were winners of (or finalists for) various awards as well: “A Soul in the World” by Charlie Jane Anders (Locus finalist); “What I Remember of Oresha Moon Dragon Devshrata” by P. Djèlí Clark (Locus finalist); “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200” by R. S. A. Garcia (Nebula winner); “The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World” by Nalo Hopkinson (Aurora finalist); “Reckless Eyeballing” by N. K. Jemisin (Locus finalist); “I Am AI” by Ai Jiang (Aurora, Hugo, Locus, and Nebula finalist); “The Sound of Children Screaming” by Rachael K. Jones (Hugo, Locus, Nebula, and Stoker finalist); “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (Nebula winner, Hugo and Locus finalist); “Prince Hat Underground” by Kelly Link (Locus finalist); and “Stones” by Nnedi Okorafor (Locus finalist).
Outside of my Top 80, I had around one hundred additional stories this year that were in the running, and the difference in quality between the stories on the inside and the ones on the outside looking in was often imperceptible—thus the choice came down to pure editorial instinct.
Anthologies
The following anthologies h
Other anthologies that published fine work in 2023 that didn’t manage to crack the Top 80 include: Adventures in Bodily Autonomy edited by Raven Belasco; Christmas and Other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow; Dark Matter Presents: Human Monsters edited by Sadie Hartmann and Ashley Saywers; Dark Matter Presents: Monstrous Futures edited by Alex Woodroe; The Digital Aesthete edited by Alex Shvartsman; Fourteen Days edited by Margaret Atwood; The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny edited by Jonathan Maberry; Jewish Futures edited by Michael A. Burstein; Mermaids Never Drown edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker; Mothersound edited by Wole Talabi; Never Too Old to Save the World edited by Addie J. King and Alana Joli Abbott; Never Wake edited by Kenneth W. Cain and Tim Meyer; Never Whistle at Night edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.; The Reinvented Detective edited by Cat Rambo and Jennifer Brozek; Rosalind’s Siblings edited by Bogi Takács; and Swords in the Shadows edited by Cullen Bunn.
Collections
Only one collection had a story in the Top 80 this year: White Cat, Black Dog * by Kelly Link. But naturally, many other collections were published in 2023 that contained fine work. All of the following were released in 2023 and meet the broad “American” focus of this book; some contained only reprints, but I’m including them here anyway as part of my overview of the year: Old Babes in the Wood by Margaret Atwood; I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here With You by Julianna Baggott, Monstrous Alterations by Christopher Barzak; Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias S. Buckell; The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due; Blood from the Air * by Gemma Files; The Collected Enchantments by Theodora Goss; The Last Catastrophe by Allegra Hyde; The Privilege of the Happy Ending by Kij Johnson; The Secrets of Insects by Richard Kadrey; The World Wasn’t Ready for You: Stories by Justin C. Key; Thirteen Plus-1 Lovecraftian Narratives by Nancy Kilpatrick; No One Dies from Love by Robert Levy; Uranians by Theodore McCombs; No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories by Premee Mohamed; Jackal, Jackal by Tobi Ogundiran; Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo; Lost Places by Sarah Pinsker; Who Lost, I Found: Stories by Eden Royce; The Whole Mess and Other Stories by Jack Skillingstead; The Beast You Are by Paul Tremblay; and Jewel Box: Stories by E. Lily Yu.
Periodicals
Lightspeed* had the most stories in the Top 80 (7); followed by Clarkesworld* (5); Uncanny** (5); Beneath Ceaseless Skies* (4); The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (4); Reactor* (4); Asimov’s* (3); The Sunday Morning Transport* (3); Fantasy Magazine* (2); McSweeney’s (2); and the following all had one each: Bourbon Penn; Cast of Wonders; Escape Pod*; FIYAH; Nightmare; PseudoPod; and The Dark.* Periodicals marked with an asterisk had stories selected for inclusion in this volume. The Sunday Morning Transport, Escape Pod, and The Dark all had stories selected for inclusion for the first time.
Appearing in the Top 80 for the first time are Bourbon Penn, Cast of Wonders, and PseudoPod. The following magazines didn’t have any material in the Top 80 this year but did publish stories that I had under serious consideration: Analog; Apex Magazine; Apparition Lit; Baffling Magazine; The Kenyon Review; khōréō; Vastarien; and Weird Horror.
Debuting in 2023 were the flash fiction–only publication Small Wonders; the “no plot, just vibes” magazine Tales & Feathers; the relationships-oriented Heartlines Spec; and New Edge Sword & Sorcery, which does what it says on the tin. Permanently closing were Fantasy Magazine and Cossmass Infinities (which wasn’t eligible for BASFF, but a notable closure), and ceasing magazine publication and shifting to an anthology series format were Dark Matter and Galaxy’s Edge; Future Science Fiction Digest is also shifting to an anthology series format, but they plan to release the stories from their anthologies online over the course of several months. The long-running Daily Science Fiction also went on indefinite hiatus.
Given the announcement last year that a Certain Online Bookstore named after a rainforest discontinued their ebook periodicals program, this year’s death toll was surprisingly small. That said, it seems likely more disruptions to the short fiction ecosystem are still to come, and I’ll say again that short-fiction magazines need your support now more than ever. Subscribe, post reviews, spread the word—it all helps and can make a difference.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my assistant series editor Christopher Cevasco and to in-house BASFF-wrangler Nicole Angeloro for all their hard work behind the scenes. Special shout-out to David Steffen of The Submission Grinder writer’s market database, who helps me stay apprised of market openings and closures. And, as always, I extend my eternal gratitude to the authors who write short fiction (and those who continue to write short fiction even when they have successful novel careers)—and to everyone who reads, appreciates, and tells people about great short fiction; there are too few of us and too many of those out there who are readers but don’t even really know short stories exist.
Submissions for Next Year’s Volume
Editors, writers, and publishers who would like their work considered for next year’s edition (the best of 2024), please visit johnjosephadams.com/best-american for instructions on how to submit material for consideration.
—John Joseph Adams
Introduction: Plato and the Planogram
I’ve been a book nut since my mom introduced me to a certain cat in a hat. In school, I got in trouble for ignoring my teachers by reading under my desk. My parents often told me to put my reading away at the dinner table, and the back pocket of my jeans was invariably stretched out in the shape of a mass-market paperback. Hell, I’d even read while walking down the street. Trailing behind my brother and sister, I’d slam into lampposts and trash cans. I’m not kidding.
In college, I tried to support my reading habit by getting a job in a Barnes & Noble, lured in by the smell of fresh pulp and that juicy employee discount. It was a brand-new store in North Charleston, South Carolina, just a huge space full of empty shelves. A week before opening, a tractor trailer backed up and disgorged pallet after pallet piled high with unopened boxes of fresh books.
My first job as a young bookseller was to fill those empty shelves before the grand opening. Amazingly, there was a dedicated place for every single book. This was my introduction to “planograms,” an industry term for a detailed schematic showing where each book should be placed on every table and shelf. Almost immediately, I saw how often this plan defied logic and common sense.
Horror had its own section, but Frankenstein belonged in general fiction. Science fiction and fantasy were lumped together, but Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1984, and anything by Michael Crichton could also be found in general fiction. So was Stephen King. And Kurt Vonnegut. In the years ahead, I would spend a considerable amount of my workday guiding a confused shopper away from the logical place they started their search to some other spot in the bookstore.
The Time Machine? That’s in the classics. War of the Worlds too. They get shelved with The Odyssey, when it would perhaps make sense to shelve The Odyssey in fantasy.
It didn’t take long for me to see nefarious purposes behind these planograms. Folks who love Literature with a capital L seemed to be protecting their disdain for science fiction and fantasy by removing anything from those sections that had merit or gained wide appeal with the masses. This explained why major bestsellers like King, Shelley, and Vonnegut went in the general fiction section. And classics that everyone was familiar with were taken out of the SF/F realm as well. If your premise was that these nerdy genres didn’t matter, an easy way to prove the point was to rob science fiction and fantasy of the works you think matter.
