Short & Sweet: 2017 Favorites
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ladybusinessWell, 2017 was a shitty year in a lot of ways, but in terms of short fiction it was pretty good for me. I read many excellent fiction of all lengths. There are still more short stories being published than novelettes and novellas, but the latter two are catching up, especially with the Book Smugglers novella line debuting this year and Tor.com continuing to put out a ton of novellas. I’m also seeing online magazines being more and more willing and able to print longer works.
As always, I didn’t read anything close to all the short fiction published this year. But I did come up with a scheme to help keep myself from getting too behind. In the past I’ve tried to read a short story a day and I’ve never been able to keep that up. Instead, starting in 2017 I’ve been setting myself a monthly goal to read at least 12 pieces of short fiction. This is a lot less than a story a day but a lot more do-able and helps me keep up with what I’ve bookmarked to read rather than letting everything pile up until it's overwhelming. I’ve also been working on not finishing stories that I’m not enjoying and not reading things that are too grim for my tastes. I think I’ve improved on both of those counts.
I’ve noticed some themes and trends in the short fiction I’ve been reading. My personal tastes tend towards domestic short fiction. I love stories with cooking, farming, and just plain daily living, so you’ll find stories with those themes in this list. These types of stories seemed easier to find this year, but maybe I’ve just gotten really good at honing in on them.
Another theme I’m seeing a lot is robots and AI, especially fiction from the viewpoint of an AI character. I’ve been seeing this trend in more longer works, too, and I think it's great; I love seeing so many takes on what being a robot might be like.
Another great trend I’m seeing is more marginalized characters and greater diversity of such. Short fiction has always been one of the more diverse corners of SFF and that diversity has only gotten wider and deeper over time. This year's list features stories about non-binary characters, characters with a variety of disabilities, queer characters, and characters of many ethnicities. Many of these are #ownvoices stories.
And now on to my favorite stories of 2017! I’ve listed these by Hugo Award categories for the convenience of nominating for the awards.
Awarded for science fiction or fantasy story of less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) words.
“Light, Like a Candle Flame” by Iona Sharma — This story manges to take a slightly icky and boring bit of urban planning—whether to build a sewage plant anywhere — and make it both interesting and thematically central.
“Microbiota and the Masses: A Love Story” by S.B. Divya — This is a sweet story that features microbiology and ecological remediation. It is also a cute love story.
“And In Our Daughters, We Find a Voice” by Cassandra Khaw — Creepy dark re-telling of The Little Mermaid. I love how this version takes on voices and power. (Content note: a human character with ambiguous gender traits is referred to as "it".)
“Sun, Moon, Dust” by Ursula Vernon — I was never going to not love a story whose main character thinks that feeding people is the highest possible calling. The way this story reflects on being a warrior vs. being a farmer was amazing. This is a quiet story with lots potato growing and a magic sword.
“Packing” by T. Kingfisher — This story begins "Today is not the day I wanted to do this, but we aren’t always given choices. It’s time to pack for the new seasons." It made me cry. If you are an environmentalist it might make you cry too. It's about climate change and everything we have to lose.
“Owl vs. The Neighborhood Watch” by Darcie Little Badger — I liked that this story used Apache mythology which I know very little about, but I learned a little bit about by reading this story. I also liked it as a story about now neighborhoods function (or don't) to create community. (Content note: depression.)
“The Influence of the Iron Range” by Marissa Lingen — This historical fantasy discuses free and fair elections and who gets to vote. The main character has a lot to work through while also trying to do a difficult job. (Content note: elections.)
“A Recipe for Magic” by Kat Howard & Fran Wilde — A story with baking and found family. Very sweet. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of fantastical baked goods.
“Fandom for Robots” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad — This is an adorable and sweet story about a robot getting involved in fandom. This has been getting a lot of attention, and for a good reason.
“The Şiret Mask” by Marie Brennan — A fun twisty heist story. It's got interesting social world building, and plays with the readers expectations in fun ways.
“A Wound Like an Unplowed Field” by Max Wynne — I enjoyed the nifty plant-based magic in this story, as well as the slow building up of trust between two prickly people.
“How to Survive an Epic Journey” by Tansy Rayner Roberts — A retelling of the Golden Fleece myth from Atalanta's view point. I love how this re-centers women's stories and does interesting things with conflicting classical sources.
Awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of between seven thousand five hundred (7,500) and seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) words.
“Extracurricular Activities” by Yoon Ha Lee — Background about one of the character from Ninefox Gambit. I liked getting this peek at the character long before the event of the novel, but also think the story would stand alone. This story features a very alive mother who sends her son strange food items in the mail, plus lot of high tech sneaking around.
“Rain Ship” by Chi Hui, translated by Andy Dudak — This is part of Clarkeworld's Chinese SF in translation project. I really liked the way the author used a bunch of different world building techniques all at once. There is incluing, and also footnotes with info dumps. Which sounds like it wouldn't work, but did for me. I have a few quibbles about evolutionary biology, but the rest of the story drew me in enough that it wasn't a big deal. (Content note: infanticide, harm to older children.)
“Avi Cantor Has Six Months To Live” by Sacha Lamb — This story featuring a romance between two trans boys is super cute! Avi, the title character, is Jewish, and I liked how he struggled with not being able to do all the Jewish things he wanted. I really identified with that aspect. I also liked how it the story dealt with different kinds of families, some of which were happy.
“Angel of the Blockade” by Alex Wells — A fun take on the outcast with a heart of gold trope. Also about acceptance and family. The main character is blind and has a robot assistant.
“The Secret Life of Bots” by Suzanne Palmer — A fun story about a scrappy little robot that has very firm instructions to stay on task and not improvise—of course things don’t go to plan. I enjoyed the many bots in this story—small robots assigned to tasks around the ship—and I loved that the bots have their own social life.
“Pan-Humanism: Hope and Pragmatics” by Jess Barber and Sara Saab — This story is just so beautiful. It's a domestic science fiction about people who live in a world where climate change has made things very unpleasant. But its not dystopian because people still care about each other. I loved these characters so much: how they cared about each other and how they worked hard to improve their world.
“Waiting on a Bright Moon” by JY Yang — This is such an interesting world! There are both magic and space travel. The main character is an ansible who uses magic to connect her planet with the home planet. I like how this story addresses the complex and messy nature of revolution. I hope Yang writes more in this setting. (Content note: queer characters with queer tragedy in their pasts.)
Awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of between seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) and forty thousand (40,000) words. A lot of these aren’t free but some libraries carry them so be sure to check your local one.
Girl Reporter by Tansy Rayner Roberts — This the third installment of Roberts' superhero series but works as a stand alone story. I loved the wisecracking (and bisexual) main character who runs a superhero YouTube Chanel and whose mother is an ace reporter. There were many fun over the top superhero parts but also some really touching family relationships in this.
Lightning in the Blood by Marie Brennan — In this second installment of the Ree Varekai series, Brennan deepens the magical mysteries of the first book while expanding the scope of the world with new nations and peoples.
“A Portrait of the Desert in Personages of Power” by Rose Lemberg: Part I & Part II | Audio — Some very beautiful writing, interesting characters and cool world building. It definitely nice to learn more about how magic works in the Birdverse. Also, the main character is non-binary so worth checking out if you are looking for more representation. (Content note: sadomasochism.)
The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold — This is the latest Penric novella and my favorite in the series so. (You could start here—the plot would make sense—but if you want the character arcs I’d recommend starting at the beginning. If you’d like to check out this series, a better place to start is probably Penric and the Fox, which also came out in 2017.) It's got a heist, family members looking out for each other, and lots and lots of feelings. A very satisfying conclusion to an emotional arc that started several volumes ago. It was worth the wait.
Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis — This was just completely charming! It's a regency-ish fantasy novella with a main character who wants to defy her society's gender roles, a house party, a sweet romance, some queer characters, and devious elves. I had so much fun reading this. I liked that in this world only women are politicats. This another story featuring strong family ties and friendship between women.
That’s everything! I hope this list is helpful and that you find something here that you love. How was your 2017 short fiction reading? Did you love anything I didn’t include? Please share recommendations in the comments.
As always, I didn’t read anything close to all the short fiction published this year. But I did come up with a scheme to help keep myself from getting too behind. In the past I’ve tried to read a short story a day and I’ve never been able to keep that up. Instead, starting in 2017 I’ve been setting myself a monthly goal to read at least 12 pieces of short fiction. This is a lot less than a story a day but a lot more do-able and helps me keep up with what I’ve bookmarked to read rather than letting everything pile up until it's overwhelming. I’ve also been working on not finishing stories that I’m not enjoying and not reading things that are too grim for my tastes. I think I’ve improved on both of those counts.
I’ve noticed some themes and trends in the short fiction I’ve been reading. My personal tastes tend towards domestic short fiction. I love stories with cooking, farming, and just plain daily living, so you’ll find stories with those themes in this list. These types of stories seemed easier to find this year, but maybe I’ve just gotten really good at honing in on them.
Another theme I’m seeing a lot is robots and AI, especially fiction from the viewpoint of an AI character. I’ve been seeing this trend in more longer works, too, and I think it's great; I love seeing so many takes on what being a robot might be like.
Another great trend I’m seeing is more marginalized characters and greater diversity of such. Short fiction has always been one of the more diverse corners of SFF and that diversity has only gotten wider and deeper over time. This year's list features stories about non-binary characters, characters with a variety of disabilities, queer characters, and characters of many ethnicities. Many of these are #ownvoices stories.
And now on to my favorite stories of 2017! I’ve listed these by Hugo Award categories for the convenience of nominating for the awards.
Short Stories
Awarded for science fiction or fantasy story of less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) words.
“Light, Like a Candle Flame” by Iona Sharma — This story manges to take a slightly icky and boring bit of urban planning—whether to build a sewage plant anywhere — and make it both interesting and thematically central.
“Microbiota and the Masses: A Love Story” by S.B. Divya — This is a sweet story that features microbiology and ecological remediation. It is also a cute love story.
“And In Our Daughters, We Find a Voice” by Cassandra Khaw — Creepy dark re-telling of The Little Mermaid. I love how this version takes on voices and power. (Content note: a human character with ambiguous gender traits is referred to as "it".)
“Sun, Moon, Dust” by Ursula Vernon — I was never going to not love a story whose main character thinks that feeding people is the highest possible calling. The way this story reflects on being a warrior vs. being a farmer was amazing. This is a quiet story with lots potato growing and a magic sword.
“Packing” by T. Kingfisher — This story begins "Today is not the day I wanted to do this, but we aren’t always given choices. It’s time to pack for the new seasons." It made me cry. If you are an environmentalist it might make you cry too. It's about climate change and everything we have to lose.
“Owl vs. The Neighborhood Watch” by Darcie Little Badger — I liked that this story used Apache mythology which I know very little about, but I learned a little bit about by reading this story. I also liked it as a story about now neighborhoods function (or don't) to create community. (Content note: depression.)
“The Influence of the Iron Range” by Marissa Lingen — This historical fantasy discuses free and fair elections and who gets to vote. The main character has a lot to work through while also trying to do a difficult job. (Content note: elections.)
“A Recipe for Magic” by Kat Howard & Fran Wilde — A story with baking and found family. Very sweet. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of fantastical baked goods.
“Fandom for Robots” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad — This is an adorable and sweet story about a robot getting involved in fandom. This has been getting a lot of attention, and for a good reason.
“The Şiret Mask” by Marie Brennan — A fun twisty heist story. It's got interesting social world building, and plays with the readers expectations in fun ways.
“A Wound Like an Unplowed Field” by Max Wynne — I enjoyed the nifty plant-based magic in this story, as well as the slow building up of trust between two prickly people.
“How to Survive an Epic Journey” by Tansy Rayner Roberts — A retelling of the Golden Fleece myth from Atalanta's view point. I love how this re-centers women's stories and does interesting things with conflicting classical sources.
Novelettes
Awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of between seven thousand five hundred (7,500) and seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) words.
“Extracurricular Activities” by Yoon Ha Lee — Background about one of the character from Ninefox Gambit. I liked getting this peek at the character long before the event of the novel, but also think the story would stand alone. This story features a very alive mother who sends her son strange food items in the mail, plus lot of high tech sneaking around.
“Rain Ship” by Chi Hui, translated by Andy Dudak — This is part of Clarkeworld's Chinese SF in translation project. I really liked the way the author used a bunch of different world building techniques all at once. There is incluing, and also footnotes with info dumps. Which sounds like it wouldn't work, but did for me. I have a few quibbles about evolutionary biology, but the rest of the story drew me in enough that it wasn't a big deal. (Content note: infanticide, harm to older children.)
“Avi Cantor Has Six Months To Live” by Sacha Lamb — This story featuring a romance between two trans boys is super cute! Avi, the title character, is Jewish, and I liked how he struggled with not being able to do all the Jewish things he wanted. I really identified with that aspect. I also liked how it the story dealt with different kinds of families, some of which were happy.
“Angel of the Blockade” by Alex Wells — A fun take on the outcast with a heart of gold trope. Also about acceptance and family. The main character is blind and has a robot assistant.
“The Secret Life of Bots” by Suzanne Palmer — A fun story about a scrappy little robot that has very firm instructions to stay on task and not improvise—of course things don’t go to plan. I enjoyed the many bots in this story—small robots assigned to tasks around the ship—and I loved that the bots have their own social life.
“Pan-Humanism: Hope and Pragmatics” by Jess Barber and Sara Saab — This story is just so beautiful. It's a domestic science fiction about people who live in a world where climate change has made things very unpleasant. But its not dystopian because people still care about each other. I loved these characters so much: how they cared about each other and how they worked hard to improve their world.
“Waiting on a Bright Moon” by JY Yang — This is such an interesting world! There are both magic and space travel. The main character is an ansible who uses magic to connect her planet with the home planet. I like how this story addresses the complex and messy nature of revolution. I hope Yang writes more in this setting. (Content note: queer characters with queer tragedy in their pasts.)
Novellas
Awarded for a science fiction or fantasy story of between seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) and forty thousand (40,000) words. A lot of these aren’t free but some libraries carry them so be sure to check your local one.
Girl Reporter by Tansy Rayner Roberts — This the third installment of Roberts' superhero series but works as a stand alone story. I loved the wisecracking (and bisexual) main character who runs a superhero YouTube Chanel and whose mother is an ace reporter. There were many fun over the top superhero parts but also some really touching family relationships in this.
Lightning in the Blood by Marie Brennan — In this second installment of the Ree Varekai series, Brennan deepens the magical mysteries of the first book while expanding the scope of the world with new nations and peoples.
“A Portrait of the Desert in Personages of Power” by Rose Lemberg: Part I & Part II | Audio — Some very beautiful writing, interesting characters and cool world building. It definitely nice to learn more about how magic works in the Birdverse. Also, the main character is non-binary so worth checking out if you are looking for more representation. (Content note: sadomasochism.)
The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold — This is the latest Penric novella and my favorite in the series so. (You could start here—the plot would make sense—but if you want the character arcs I’d recommend starting at the beginning. If you’d like to check out this series, a better place to start is probably Penric and the Fox, which also came out in 2017.) It's got a heist, family members looking out for each other, and lots and lots of feelings. A very satisfying conclusion to an emotional arc that started several volumes ago. It was worth the wait.
Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis — This was just completely charming! It's a regency-ish fantasy novella with a main character who wants to defy her society's gender roles, a house party, a sweet romance, some queer characters, and devious elves. I had so much fun reading this. I liked that in this world only women are politicats. This another story featuring strong family ties and friendship between women.
That’s everything! I hope this list is helpful and that you find something here that you love. How was your 2017 short fiction reading? Did you love anything I didn’t include? Please share recommendations in the comments.
forestofglory.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-01 05:23 pm (UTC)Queer main character:
“Light, Like a Candle Flame” by Iona Sharma
“Waiting on a Bright Moon” by JY Yang
“Extracurricular Activities” by Yoon Ha Lee
“Avi Cantor Has Six Months To Live” by Sacha Lamb
“Pan-Humanism: Hope and Pragmatics” by Jess Barber and Sara Saab
Girl Reporter by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Queer Secondary Characters (but not main):
Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis