The Best of Drabblecast 2016-2019

written by David Steffen

The Drabblecast is a weekly (theoretically) podcast of strange stories for strange listeners (such as yourself). It is edited, published, and hosted by Norm Sherman. In 2016-2017 it gradually fell into hiatus for a couple years until a big relaunch plan with a Kickstarter to help keep it going. It’s very exciting that the podcast is going again and I hope it goes well. This list covers the years of 2016-2019, which includes stories both before and after the hiatus.

I don’t consider my own stories for these lists, but I did want to mention that two of my own stories have been published in Drabblecast in that time: “I Will Remain” (narrated by Nick Camm) and “We Do Not Speak of the Not Speaking” (narrated by Norm Sherman).

I do consider stories that I previously published on Diabolical Plots, but add an extra story to the list so that it doesn’t bump one off the list.

Stories eligible for Hugo and Nebula awards for this year are marked with an asterisk (*).

The List

1. “The Best Scarlet Ceremony Ever!” by Shaenon K. Garrity*
An original story commissioned for Lovecraft month, advertised as Sweet Valley High meets Lovecraft.

2. “Giraffe Cyborg Cleans House!” by Matthew Sanborn Smithread
One of the most ungainly household cyborgs really just wants to help however it can, but life isn’t easy for a household giraffe cyborg.

3. “Necessary Cuts” by Bryan Miller*
Another original story for Lovecraft Month, this one about copyediting a Lovecraft style book of madness.

4. “Beauty Tips for the Apocalypse” by Karen Heuler*
An original story for Women and Aliens Month, which is exactly what it sounds like.

5. “Night of the Living POTUS” by Adam-Troy Castro
Whenever a new President is sworn in, on the first night of his Presidency he has to face off against the resurrected vicious versions of every POTUS that preceded them.

6. “The Translator” by Eboni J. Dunbar*
Being a translator for aliens is much more than simply learning a language.

Honorable Mentions

“1977” by Carrie Vaughn

“Loving Armageddon” by Amanda C. Davis

The Best of Nightmare Magazine Podcast 2017-2018

written by David Steffen

Nightmare Magazine is the horror sister magazine of Lightspeed Magazine, published/edited by John Joseph Adams, with Wendy Wagner as senior editor, and their podcast produced by the excellent Skyboat Media. The podcast publishes about half of the stories they publish in text. They didn’t publish enough stories in 2017 for a list, so this list covers both 2017 and 2018. They published 47 stories between the two years.

The stories eligible for the upcoming Hugo and Nebula award seasons are marked with an asterisk (*).

The List

1.“Dead Air” by Nino Cipri**
Particularly good narration on this one, presented as a series of recordings from a project where a woman records interviews with people she’s slept with.

2.“The Island of Beasts” by Carrie Vaughn*
What happens when werewolves are captured and confined to an island together.

3.“Kylie Land” by Caspian Gray*
An awkward kid befriends a kid with powers.

4.“House of Small Spiders” by Weston Ochse**
It takes a particular set of events for a house to have a soul.

5.“The Ten Things She Said While Dying: An Annotation” by Adam-Troy Castro*
A pedantic retelling of a gruesome death as told by the demon who caused it by entering our dimension.

Honorable Mentions

“Promises of Spring” by Caspian Gray

“A Mother’s Love Never Ends” by Halli Villegas

Award Recommendations 2018

written by David Steffen

Here are some recommendations for selected Hugo and Nebula categories. (Note that I’ve listed them in alphabetical order, rather than order of preference, and have listed more than the 5 ballot options when possible). I don’t think I’ve read any eligible novels this year, so that category is not represented.

Best Novella

“Umbernight” by Carolyn Ives Gillman, in Clarkesworld Magazine

Best Novelette

“A Love Story Written On Water” by Ashok K. Banker, in Lightspeed Magazine

“A World To Die For” by Tobias S. Buckell, in Clarkesworld Magazine

“The Last To Matter” by Adam-Troy Castro, in Lightspeed Magazine

“Dead Air” by Nino Cipri, in Nightmare Magazine

“Hapthorn’s Last Case” by Matthew Hughes, in Lightspeed Magazine

“The Fortunate Death of Jonathan Sandelson” by Margaret Killjoy, in Strange Horizons

“To Fly Like a Fallen Angel” by Qi Yue, translated by Elizabeth Hanlon, in Clarkesworld Magazine

“House of Small Spiders” by Weston Ochse, in Nightmare Magazine

“Thirty-Three Percent Joe” by Suzanne Palmer, in Clarkesworld Magazine

“Master Zhao: An Ordinary Time Traveler” by Zhang Ran, translated by Andy Dudak

Best Short Story

“After Midnight at the ZapStop” by Matthew Claxton, in Escape Pod

“A Scrimshaw of Smeerps” by Shannon Fay, in Toasted Cake

“Variations on a Theme From Turandot“ by Ada Hoffman, in Strange Horizons

“Secrets and Things We Don’t Say Out Loud” by José Pablo Iriarte, in Cast of Wonders

“Octo-Heist in Progress” by Rich Larson, in Clarkesworld Magazine

“Hosting the Solstice” by Tim Pratt, in PodCastle

“Marshmallows” by D.A. Xiaolin Spires, in Clarkesworld Magazine

“The Death Knight, the Dragon, and the Damsel” by Melion Traverse, in Cast of Wonders

“Some Personal Arguments in Support of the BetterYou (Based on Early Interactions)” by Debbie Urbanski, in Strange Horizons

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form / Ray Bradbury Award

Ant-Man and the Wasp

The Incredibles 2

Kevin (Probably) Saves the World

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, for Nintendo Switch

A Wrinkle In Time

The Best of Lightspeed Magazine Podcast 2018

written by David Steffen

Lightspeed Magazine is the award-nominated science fiction magazine edited by John Joseph Adams, and their podcast is produced by the excellent Skyboat Media. They publish about half of the stories they publish in text. They published about 49stories in 2017.

The stories eligible for the upcoming Hugo award season are marked with an asterisk (*), with novelettes eligible for the season marked with a double asterisk (**).

The List

1.“Under the Sea of Stars” by Seanan McGuire*
The tale of an expedition to find the truth about a family legacy.

2.“The Quiltbag” by Ashok K. Banker*
The sort of story where you’re trying to figure out what’s going on until the end.

3.“The Streets of Babel” by Adam-Troy Castro*
Cities roam the wilderness scooping up outcasts and incorporating them into themselves.

4.“Hapthorn’s Last Case” by Matthew Hughes**
Another in the Kaslo Chronicles series, this one a mystery story.

5.“A Love Story Written on Water” by Ashok K. Banker**
A tale of immortal beings sent to be born into humans bodies in the mortal world.

Honorable Mentions

“From the Root” by Emma Törzs*

“The Last To Matter” by Adam-Troy Castro**

“What is Eve?” by Will McIntosh

The Best of Lightspeed Podcast 2013+

written by David Steffen

My last list for this podcast was actually a combined list of The Best of Lightspeed and Fantasy podcasts, since both were under the editorship of John Joseph Adams and then the two magazines were consolidated into one. The consolidation is still called Lightspeed and publishes four stories on their podcast every month, two of them SF and two of them fantasy (there are more on the site in text, but those are not part of this list). Both Lightspeed and JJA continue to be popular as they have been for years, garnering award nominations. I expect it will only be a matter of time until Lightspeed wins some of those.

John Joseph Adams continues to edit the magazine, and the stories are good as ever. Cutting down the great stories to just a few was a brutal process.

The List

1. The Battle of York by James Stoddard
How best to describe this. It is a myth written about the history of the USA based on half-heard fragments and scraps of memory by a person in the future after earthquakes have destroyed all the landmarks and EM has destroyed all the electronic records. It is over-the-top, bizarre, hilarious, yet tells a compelling story amongst it all. You’ve really got to read it just to see how it was done.

2. The Boy and the Box by Adam-Troy Castro
A boy has a box into which he has put the world. A good extension of the age-old “children would be scary if they had absolute power.”

3. Breathless in the Deep by Cory Skerry
Good action story about a pearl diver in a world where there is magic based around kraken ink.

4. A Fine Show on the Abyssal Plain by Karen Tidbeck
Another one that’s hard to explain. Very metafiction. Just read it.

5. Invisible Planets by Hao Jingfang
On the surface it’s a story describing fanciful and imaginative fantasy planets, but the format is used to work well into a broader story.

6. HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! by Keffy R.M. Kehrli
Written as a Kickstarter campaign to fund a world takeover by a mad scientist, with everything you can imagine like stretch goals, donation levels with appropriate rewards, reasons why you should fund, interaction with the Kickstarter userbase. Very fun!

7. Alive, Alive Oh by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
One of the more heartfelt stories I’ve read this year about a woman and her daughter on an off-Earth colony, and the reminiscences the woman has with her daughter about their old home.

Honorable Mentions

Division of Labor by Benjamin Roy Lambert

Ragged Claws by Lisa Tuttle

Get a Grip by Paul Park

2014 Hugo Noms!

written by David Steffen

It’s award season again! If you’re eligible to vote for the Hugos, you have until the end of March to decide on your picks. I wanted to share my picks, as I always do, in plenty of time so that if anyone wants to investigate my choices to see for themselves they’ll have plenty of time.

Quite a few of the categories I don’t have anything to nominate because I don’t seek out entries in them, so I left those out. And for any category that I have eligible work I mentioned them alongside my own picks.

The entries in each category are listed in no particular order.

Best Novel

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Premier novel by Leckie. Great premise, difficult point of view, great space opera. I reviewed it here.

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
The 14th and final book of Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time series.

Best Novelette

Monday’s Monk by Jason Sanford (Asimov’s)

Best Short Story

The Promise of Space by James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld)

The Murmurous Paleoscope by Dixon Chance (Three-Lobed Burning Eye)

HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! by Keffy R.M. Kehrli (Lightspeed)

Hollow as the World by Ferrett Steinmetz (Drabblecast)

The Boy and the Box by Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed)

For Your Consideration:
I Will Remain in After Death Anthology
Could They But Speak at Perihelion
Reckoning at Stupefying Stories
Meat at Pseudopod
Coin Op at Daily Science Fiction
Escalation at Imaginaire

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)

Ender’s Game

Warm Bodies

Game of Thrones Season 3

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)

The Rains of Castamere (Game of Thrones)

And Now His Watch Has Ended (Game of Thrones)

Walk of Punishment (Game of Thrones)

Second Sons (Game of Thrones)

Valar Doheris (Game of Thrones)

Best Editor (Short Form)

Neil Clarke (of Clarkesworld)

John Joseph Adams (of Lightspeed, Nightmare, and anthologies)

Tina Connolly (of Toasted Cake)

Norm Sherman (of Drabblecast and Escape Pod)

Shawn Garrett (of Pseudopod)

Best Semiprozine

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Daily Science Fiction

Lightspeed

Escape Pod

Drabblecast

Best Fanzine

SF Signal

My work for you to consider:
Diabolical PlotsI do consider Diabolical Plots a zine. Consider, too, that this was the first year Diabolical Plots also provide the Submission Grinder. The Submission Grinder itself doesn’t fit any of the categories, I think, but Diabolical Plots does.

Best Fancast

Best Fan Writer

Ken Liu

Ferrett Steinmetz

Juliette Wade

Cat Rambo

Anne Ivy

For your consideration:

David Steffen
Frank Dutkiewicz
Carl Slaughter