Readers
Rich Horton's Market Summaries:
Summary: Sci Fiction, 2004
Sci Fiction, published about 408,000 words of new fiction in 2004, a fairly high total for them. There were 3 novellas, 20 novelettes, and 19 short stories, a total of 42 stories. None of the short stories were under 3000 words, so no short-shorts.
Novellas
None of the three novellas really stood out for me. All three are decent stories with interesting ideas, but none caught fire, none seems special. I'd probably rank "The Three Unknowns" (March 3 through March 17), Severna Park's story of academic rivalry and anomalous discoveries on Mars and Alpha Centauri, the highest.
Novelettes
The novelettes are another matter. I was very impressed with this year's set at Sci Fiction.
The standout was a remarkable story by Christopher Rowe, "The Voluntary State" (May 5), a strange and wonderful piece mixing bioengineering, exotic politics, and a decidedly unexpected future Tennessee.
Other striking novelettes: Walter Jon Williams's "The Tang Dynasty Underwater Pyramid" (August 4) is a very fun caper story mixing Andean folk music, water ballet, action, humor, plenty of double-crosses. Michaela Roessner's "Inside Outside" (January 21) is another wacky story, mixing miniature golf and very advanced physics to delightful effect. Alex Irvine's "Volunteers" (July 28)is a dark piece set on another planet where the colonists are psychotically trying to reprise the 1950s. Sean Klein's "Five Guys Named Moe" (February 25) is Alternate History about how rock and roll and Cuba mixed at the right time and saved the world, more or less. Robert Reed's "The Dragons of Summer Gulch" (December 1) concerns a prospector who comes across a perfectly preserved set of dragon eggs -- very valuable, in more ways than one, and to more groups than one. And Daniel Abraham's "Leviathan Wept" (July 7) concerns an anti-terrorist group and the ways in which they can become like the enemy.
There were also strong novelettes this year from John Grant, Pat Murphy, Kim Newman, and Elizabeth Bear.
Short Stories
There were also a number of fine short stories this year. My favorite was probably Kit Reed's "Family Bed" (May 12), a really effectively icky story about a family who lives their life in the media spotlight, as an example of togetherness, including sleeping in the same bed. I also liked James Blaylock's "Hula Ville" (November 10), about an unusual discovery in the California desert, and the decayed tourist trap that prompts the discovery; and John Kessel's "The Baum Plan for Financial Independence" (March 24), in which a girl wearing red shoes lures a small time crook to -- well, to a wonderful city.
The remarkable Carol Emshwiller published three related stories, about various members of what appear to be a couple of human-like winged species -- some who can fly, some glide, some for whom the wings are just ornaments. The stories are moving portrayals of individuals who are just plain different from humans, but believable. These are "On Display Among the Lesser" (April 14), "Gliders Though They Be" (June 2), and "All of Us Can Almost ..." (November 3).
Finally, I should also mention good work by Richard Butner, James Patrick Kelly, Howard Waldrop, and Terry Dowling.
Stats
The average story lengths: Novella: 22000, Novelette: 12000, and Short Story: 5200. (Reflecting a total of some 66,000 words of Novella, 241,000 of Novelette, and 101,000 of Short Story.)
