Tangent Online

Tangent Online 2013 Recommended Reading List

As with previous years, this list is not meant as comprehensive, there being several items we were not able to acquire and there are always the few stray stories published in non-traditional venues which we did not see. As was the case last year we narrowed our focus (with rare exception) to those stories published in professionally paying markets as defined by SFWA (5c/wd.). While SFWA has changed its pro-market requirements for 2014 to 6c/wd. we will continue to cover those markets paying the former rate of 5c/wd.

As is our custom, there are four sections to each length category. Those making the list in the short story, novelette, and novella lengths but having no stars, and those with either one, two, or three stars, according to how well the reviewer or reviewers valued a particular story. Quite often you will see more than a single reviewer's initials following a given entry. We have placed the story in the category receiving the most stars. Thus, it is possible that while one reviewer placed a story on the list without any stars, another also placed it on the list but with one or more stars, thus elevating that story to the higher ranking. Where there are more than one reviewer's initials following a story recommendation, they appear in no particular order, thus making it impossible to determine which of the reviewers provided this higher ranking. Conversely, it is also possible that each reviewer held the same opinion of any given story.

There are 421 stories on this year's list: 303 short stories, 100 novelettes, and 18 novellas, up 165 from last year's total of 256. I suspect a fair measure of this substantial increase is due to our having seen many more original anthologies this year than last. If a story is placed in the wrong length category, please let us know and we'll be happy to correct the oversight. Reviewers are free to place stories on this list from any of their reading during the year, and are not restricted to those venues covered here, nor to publications they have personally reviewed.

If you would like to review for Tangent Online, knowledge of the SF/F/H genres is a must, and reviewing experience is highly preferred. You may contact the editor here. Please note that Tangent Online is a fanzine (and is eligible for Hugo award consideration in the fanzine category) and does not pay its contributors.

(Cover above for the January 2013 Asimov's SF by Michael Whelan.)

Reviewer names and initials

James Aquilone (JA), Cyd Athens (CA), Stevie Barry/Stevie McMichael (SB or SM), Bob Blough (BB), Colleen Chen (CC), Lillian Csernica (LC), Joseph Giddings (JG), Richard E. D. Jones (RJ), Barbara Melville, (BM),  Jared L. Mills (JM), Matthew Nadelhaft (MN), Michelle Ristuccia (MR), Chuck Rothman (CR), Kris Rudin (KR), John Sulyok (JS), Dave Truesdale (DT), Louis West (LW), Daniel Woods (DW).

I wish to thank the reviewers for the time and energy they have devoted to reading and reviewing this year's offerings. Without them, no Tangent Online and no Recommended Reading List; they're the ones who make it all work. Congratulations and thanks are also due these reviewers, those who sent material for review, and our readership for helping to celebrate Tangent's 20th anniversary in 2013, our first print issue sporting a cover date of July/August 1993. It's been a wild ride over the past 20 years and we look forward to many more. Thank you all -- current and past reviewers, and everyone else who has given of their time and energy to write columns, articles, Author Profiles; interviewees, artists, or those who (while we were a pint magazine) contributed their thoughts to the letter column and thus helped to make it a watering hole for lively discussion.

Short Stories

"When We Were Heroes" by Daniel Abraham (Tor.com, 1-16/13) SF (DT)

"Among Us" by Robert Reed (F&SF, 1-2/13) SF (DT)

"A Haunting in Love City" by Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF, 1-2/13) H (DT)

"Tooth and Claw" by David Loel (Albedo One #43, Spring 2013) SF (CR)

"Where the Sun Shines Brightly" by David Gullen (Albedo One #43, Spring 2013) SF (CR)

“The New Guys Always Work Overtime” by David Erik Nelson (Asimov’s, 2/13) SF (CC)

"The Last Dignity of Man" by Marjorie M. Liu, (The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, 2/13) SF (CR)

“Blood and Stardust” by Laird Barron (The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, 2/13) SF (DT)

“The Food Taster's Boy” by Ben H. Winters (The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, 2/13) SF (DT)

“Not With You, But With You” by Miri Kim (Futuredaze, 2/13) SF (BM)

“Winning Veronica's Heart” by Ian Creasey (IGMS #32, 2/13) F (MR)

“Shall Inherit” by James Lovegrove (Solaris Rising 2, 3/13) SF (DT)

“The Time Gun” by Nick Harkaway (Solaris Rising 2, 3/13) SF (DT)

“Ticking” by Allen Steele (Solaris Rising 2, 3/13) SF (DT)

“Far Distant Suns” by Norman Spinrad (Solaris Rising 2, 3/13) SF (DT)

“No Time At All” by John L. French (Fantastic Futures 13, 3/13) SF (DT)

“Goodbye Grey Sky, Hello Blue” by KT Pinto (Fantastic Futures 13, 3/13) SF (DT)

“Man in the Woods” by Stuart Jaffe (Fantastic Futures 13, 3/13) SF (DT)

“The Sign in the Moonlight” by David Tallerman (Nightmare #6, 3/13) H (CC)

“It’s the End of the World as We Know it, and We Feel Fine” by Harry Turtledove (Analog, 3/13) SF (LW)

“The Snack” by Bud Sparhawk (Analog, 3/13) SF (LW)

“The Last Clone” by Brad Aiken (Analog, 4/13) SF (LW)

“Trap-Weed” by Gemma Files (Clockwork Phoenix 4, 7/13) F (DT)

“Icicle” by Yukimi Ogawa (Clockwork Phoenix 4, 7/13) F (DT)

“Beach Bum and the Drowned Girl” by Richard Parks (Clockwork Phoenix 4, 7/13) F (DT, LW)

“The Old Woman with No Teeth” by Patricia Russo (Clockwork Phoenix 4, 7/13) F (LW)

“The History of Soul 2065” by Barbara Krasnoff (Clockwork Phoenix 4, 7/13) F (LW)

“Through Your Eyes” by Linda Nagata (Asimov’s, 4-5/13) SF (BB)

“Distant Like the Stars” by Leah Cypress (Asimov’s, 4-5/13) SF (BB)

“Jack of Coins” by Christopher Rowe (Tor.com, 5/13) SF (LW)

“We Have Always Lived on Mars” by Cecil Castellucci (Tor.com, 5/13) SF (LW)

“Soulcatcher” by James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld #80, 5/13) SF/H (DT)

“(R+D)/I=M” by E. Catherine Tobler (Clarkesworld #80, 5/13) SF (DT)

“Centipede Heartbeat” by Caspian Gray (Nightmare #8, 5/13) H (MN)

“Doll Re Mi” by Tanith Lee (Nightmare #8, 5/13) H (MN)

“The Clockwork Trollop” by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #120, 5-2/13) F (MN)

“The High King Dreaming” by Daniel Abraham (Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy, 5/13) F (DT)

“The Mood Room” by Paul Di Filippo (F&SF, 5-6/13) SF (DT)

“Kernel” by Sean Monaghan (Aurealis #61, 6/13) SF (MN)

“Free-Fall” by Graham Templeton (Clarkesworld #81, 6/13) SF (BM)

“A Six-Penny Crossing” by Don Allmon (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #123, 6-13/13) F (DT, LW)

“Jinki and the Paradox” by Sathya Stone (Strange Horizons, 6-3/13) SF (DT)

“One” by Nancy Kress (Tor.com, 7/13) SF (JLM)

“Homecoming” by Susan Palwick (Tor.com, 7/13) F (JLM)

“The Plague” by Ken Liu (Tor.com, 7/13) SF (JLM)

“They Called Him Monster” by Anaea Lay (Nightmare #10, 7/13) H (LC)

"I am Moonflower" by Nicole Cushing (Weird Tales #361, Summer 2013) F (LC)

“Master Belladino’s Mask” by Marina J. Lostetter (Writers of the Future XXIX, 7/13) F (DT)

“The Men Who Loved The Sun” by Hannah Adcock (Penumbra #22, 7/13) F (SB)

"A Quiet Little Town in Northern Minnesota" by K. C. Ball (Analog, 7-8/13) SF (CR)

"Ready, Set" by Mary Lou Klecha (Analog, 7-8/13) SF (CR)

“The Heartsmith’s Daughters” by Harry R. Campion (F&SF, 7-8/13) F (CC, DT)

"Just as Good" by Jacob A. Boyd (Interzone, 7-8/13) SF (CR)

"The Butcher, the Baker, the Candle-stick Maker" by Ennis Drake (Tales of Jack the Ripper, 8/13) H (LC)

"The Truffle Pig" by T. E. Grau (Tales of Jack the Ripper, 8/13) H (LC)

“The Lunar Labyrinth” by Neil Gaiman (Shadows of the New Sun, Stories in Honor of Gene Wolfe, 8/13) H (DT)

“A Touch of Rosemary” by Timothy Zahn (Shadows of the New Sun, Stories in Honor of Gene Wolfe, 8/13) F (DT)

“...And Other Stories” by Nancy Kress (Shadows of the New Sun, Stories in Honor of Gene Wolfe, 8/13) F (DT)

“In the Shadow of the Gate” by William C. Dietz (Shadows of the New Sun, Stories in Honor of Gene Wolfe, 8/13) F (DT)

“Shepherds” by Greg Kurzawa (Clarkesworld #83, 8/13) F (BB)

“Breathless in the Deep” by Cory Skerry (Lightspeed #39, 8/13) F (LW)

“Cayos in the Stream” by Harry Turtledove (Tor.com, 8/13) SF (LW)

“Din Ba Din” by Kate MacLeod (Strange Horizons, 8-12/13) F (DW)

“A Plant (Whose Name is Destroyed)” by Seth Dickinson (Strange Horizons, 8-19/13) SF (DW)

“Insistence of Vision” by David Brin (Twelve Tomorrows, 8/13) SF (DT)

“The Cyborg and the Cemetery” by Nancy Fulda (Twelve Tomorrows, 8/13) SF (DT)

“Firebrand” by Peter Watts (Twelve Tomorrows, 8/13) SF (DT)

“Transitional Forms” by Paul McCauley (Twelve Tomorrows, 8/13) SF (DT)

“What We Ourselves Are Not” by Leah Cypress (Asimov’s, 9/13) SF (BB)

“The Schrödinger War” by D. Thomas Minton (Lightspeed #40, 9/13) SF (MR)

“Half as Old as Time” by Rob Chilson (F&SF, 9-10/13) F (DT)

“Someone Like You” by Margaret Ronald (Apex Magazine #52, 9/13) SF (MN)

“The Boy Who Loved Death” by Hal Duncan (Apex Magazine #52, 9/13) SF (MN)

“Bugs” by Rob Collins (Analog, 11/13) SF (LW)

“The Promise of Space” by James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld #84, 9/13) SF (MN)

“You Have to Follow the Rules” by Ada Hoffmann (Strange Horizons, 9-9/13) SF (CA)

“Out of Scarlight” by Liz Williams (Old Mars, 10/13) F (DT)

“Ramesses on the Frontier” by Paul Cornell (Tor.com, 10/13) F (LW)

“Event Horizon” by Sunny Moraine (Strange Horizons, 10-21/13) H (MN)

“Grey in the Gauge of His Storm” by Damien Angelica Walters (Apex Magazine #53, 10/13) SF (MN)

“Never Dreaming (In Four Burns)” by Seth Dickinson (Clarkesworld #86, 11/13) SF (KR)

“Sing, Pilgrim!” by James Patrick Kelly (F&SF, 11-12/13) F (CC)

"At the Old Folks' Home at the End of the World" by John P. Murphy (IGMS, 11-12/13)F (CR)

“Why Don’t You Ask the Doomsday Machine?” by Elliott Essex (Strange Horizons, 12-2/13) SF (LW)

“The Correspondence Between the Governess and the Attic” by Siobhan Carroll (Lightspeed #43, 12/13) F (LW)

“Invisible Planets” by Hao Jingfang (Lightspeed #43, 12/13) SF (LW)

Short Stories One Star

“Form and Void” by Elizabeth Bear (Fireside #3, Winter 2012/13) SF* (LW)

“The Driver” by S.S. Chapman (Penumbra #16, 1/13) SF* (LW)

“The Slide” by Davyne DeSye (Penumbra #16, 1/13) SF* (LW)

“Night Train to Paris” by David Gerrold (F&SF, 1-2/13) H* (LW)

“A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel” by Ken Liu (F&SF, 1-2/13) SF* (LW)

"Inventory" by Carmen Maria Machado (Strange Horizons, 1-14/13) SF* (JM)

"Snowball the Rabbit Was Dead" by Angeli Primlani (Menial: Skilled Labor in Science Fiction, 1/13) SF* (CR)

"Leviathan" by Jasmine M. Templet (Menial: Skilled Labor in Science Fiction, 1/13) SF* (CR)

"All in a Day's Work" by Margaret M. Gilma (Menial: Skilled Labor in Science Fiction, 1/13) SF* (CR)

"The Belt" by Kevin Bennett (Menial: Skilled Labor in Science Fiction, 1/13) SF* (CR)

"Death in Life Songs" by Joe L. Murr (Albedo One #43, Spring 2013) SF* (CR)

"Live Arcade" by Erik Amundsen (Strange Horizons, 2-4/13) SF* (MR)

“The Crimson Kestrel” by Leslianne Wilder (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #114, 2-7/13) F* (MR)

"Sate My Thirst with Ink and Blood" by Adam Callaway (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #115, 2-21/13) F* (CR)

“Outbound from Put-in-Bay” by M. Bennardo (Asimov’s, 2/13) SF* (CC)

“Father of the Groom” by Harry Turtledove (The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, 2/13) SF* (DT, CR)

"Laughter at the Academy" by Seanan McGuire (The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, 2/13) SF* (CR)

"Letter to the Editor" by David D. Levine (The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, 2/13) SF* (CR)

“Rocks Fall” by Naomi Novik (The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, 2/13) SF* (DT, CR)

“Another Prison” by Rahul Kanakia (Futuredaze, 2/13) SF* (BM)