Our Favorite Short Fiction of 2022
Jan. 17th, 2023 09:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ladybusinessWe are lucky to live in an era where tons of amazing short SFF is being published. Today’s short fiction is astonishingly diverse and creative. However short fiction rarely gets the same amount of attention as longer works. So we wanted to highlight our favorite short SFF from 2022. For this post we are considering anything that would qualify as a Novella, Novette or Short Story for the Hugo awards (40k words or less). And we will also discuss our favorite collections and anthologies from last year.
One of my struggles over the last few years in reading short fiction is that I’ve lost the ability to read things on screens. However this year I’ve been supporting a few of my favorite zines by subscribing or buying the occasional issue and that's meant I have been able to read them on my ereader. For some reason that’s a lot easier for me.
”Michigan Seems Like a Dream to Me Now”
by Marissa Lingen (880 words) — This story about a mother on a generation ship telling her child about the world she grew up in made me cry.
Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growthed Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin — Loved this collection of plant themed queer SFF. I especially appreciated that many of these stories are about intergenerational relationships, and seeing all the different ways the authors used the plant theme was a lot of fun!
”Wok Hei St” by Guan Un (4311 words) — This was a fun non-linear story about a cooking show heist to steal back a stolen wok.
“Bonsai Starships” by Yoon Ha Lee (4139 words) — I love the idea of bonsai starships! And I really liked this story about learning that the world is more complicated than you thought.
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo(Novella) —This the third novella in Vo’s Singing Hills series all of which feature the wandering cleric, Chih, and their bird-like companion, Almost Brilliant. In this one they travel with skilled martial artists, which as a wuxia fan I was very excited about. And Riverlands did not disappoint! I loved it! The layered stories from different points of view were great. Also the fight scenes in this feel swooshy like all my favorite wuxia dramas!
”Sword of Bone, Halls of Thorns” by Aliette de Bodard (3450 words) — I loved the way the worldbuilding in this, it's so evocative: magical thorns that grow around the houses of traitors, a sword made of the wielder’s finger bone! This goes very well with a story about trying to fix past mistakes.
I must confess that I've never been much of a short fiction reader. With a few exceptions, I'd almost always rather sink into a longer story. So it should be no surprise that I tend to favor novellas. My favorite of the year:
”The Bruising of Qilwa” by Naseem Jamnia (Just under 40k words) — This story was strongly recommended by Annalee Newitz during a Worldcon panel on ancient cities, and I bought it from the dealer's room before the end of the week. It was an engaging tale about the long-running wages of colonialism with wonderful and heartbreaking characters, and there are hints that the author was inspired by the depiction of mages Dragon Age (especially DA2). I have no doubt that Jamnia will be in the Hugo conversation this year, and it is very deserved.
My 2022 was filled with re-reading—a noble and worthy pursuit when life feels like it's on fire—and also featured short fiction. Years ago, we were all introduced to Murderbot in All Systems Red by Martha Wells. After the year I had (which resulted in my library being defunded by fascists mad about a Pride display), the original takeaway I had about the series resonated anew:
I re-read All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, and Fugitive Telemetry, many of them multiple times. I re-read them at the beginning of year (almost a tradition), mid-year (post primary election season), and end of year (election stress and packing for a move). Every second was worth it. I love Murderbot and all its friends.
The only other short fiction I read was a re-read of A Psalm for the Wild Built so I could finally read A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers. The second novella follows the first in a way that opens the world Chambers built up instead of how the previous book closed it off so Dex could try a journey or two of self-discovery. These books simply feel kind, and they are very soft philosophy, which challenges you to think about the world a little differently without asking you to get off the metaphorical couch or put on hard pants. These are soft-pants-only books.
That was my short fiction adventure for 2022: short, but still rewarding.
Anna
One of my struggles over the last few years in reading short fiction is that I’ve lost the ability to read things on screens. However this year I’ve been supporting a few of my favorite zines by subscribing or buying the occasional issue and that's meant I have been able to read them on my ereader. For some reason that’s a lot easier for me.
”Michigan Seems Like a Dream to Me Now”
by Marissa Lingen (880 words) — This story about a mother on a generation ship telling her child about the world she grew up in made me cry.
Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growthed Isabela Oliveira and Jed Sabin — Loved this collection of plant themed queer SFF. I especially appreciated that many of these stories are about intergenerational relationships, and seeing all the different ways the authors used the plant theme was a lot of fun!
”Wok Hei St” by Guan Un (4311 words) — This was a fun non-linear story about a cooking show heist to steal back a stolen wok.
“Bonsai Starships” by Yoon Ha Lee (4139 words) — I love the idea of bonsai starships! And I really liked this story about learning that the world is more complicated than you thought.
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo(Novella) —This the third novella in Vo’s Singing Hills series all of which feature the wandering cleric, Chih, and their bird-like companion, Almost Brilliant. In this one they travel with skilled martial artists, which as a wuxia fan I was very excited about. And Riverlands did not disappoint! I loved it! The layered stories from different points of view were great. Also the fight scenes in this feel swooshy like all my favorite wuxia dramas!
”Sword of Bone, Halls of Thorns” by Aliette de Bodard (3450 words) — I loved the way the worldbuilding in this, it's so evocative: magical thorns that grow around the houses of traitors, a sword made of the wielder’s finger bone! This goes very well with a story about trying to fix past mistakes.
KJ
I must confess that I've never been much of a short fiction reader. With a few exceptions, I'd almost always rather sink into a longer story. So it should be no surprise that I tend to favor novellas. My favorite of the year:
”The Bruising of Qilwa” by Naseem Jamnia (Just under 40k words) — This story was strongly recommended by Annalee Newitz during a Worldcon panel on ancient cities, and I bought it from the dealer's room before the end of the week. It was an engaging tale about the long-running wages of colonialism with wonderful and heartbreaking characters, and there are hints that the author was inspired by the depiction of mages Dragon Age (especially DA2). I have no doubt that Jamnia will be in the Hugo conversation this year, and it is very deserved.
Renay
My 2022 was filled with re-reading—a noble and worthy pursuit when life feels like it's on fire—and also featured short fiction. Years ago, we were all introduced to Murderbot in All Systems Red by Martha Wells. After the year I had (which resulted in my library being defunded by fascists mad about a Pride display), the original takeaway I had about the series resonated anew:
The media isn't just a cute quirk of an entertainment addicted security robot, but instead an example of how watching visual media can change how you approach the world, other people, and develop empathy for everyone around you even if you disagree with them. As the marginalized have been saying forever now: the media we watch matters.
I re-read All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, and Fugitive Telemetry, many of them multiple times. I re-read them at the beginning of year (almost a tradition), mid-year (post primary election season), and end of year (election stress and packing for a move). Every second was worth it. I love Murderbot and all its friends.
The only other short fiction I read was a re-read of A Psalm for the Wild Built so I could finally read A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers. The second novella follows the first in a way that opens the world Chambers built up instead of how the previous book closed it off so Dex could try a journey or two of self-discovery. These books simply feel kind, and they are very soft philosophy, which challenges you to think about the world a little differently without asking you to get off the metaphorical couch or put on hard pants. These are soft-pants-only books.
That was my short fiction adventure for 2022: short, but still rewarding.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-19 04:56 am (UTC)I love your take on Murderbot's media and agree completely. Media teaches us about other people! It's especially relevant for me as an autistic person — I was pretty overwhelmed by people when I was young, and a lot of what I know how people think and feel I learned from books and tv. I see a lot of that same needing-distance-but-being-interested-by-humans in Murderbot!
"Michigan Seems Like A Dream Now" made me cry, too. Whoah. Thank you for linking it. ♥ I have read a lot of post-Earth, living-among-the-stars fiction but never encountered a piece with quite this kind of unique wistfulness. I feel like it subtly translates the solastalgia that we feel now, in the 21st century, into a fictional form that we can look at from the outside.