Clarkesworld: Year Three

by Neil Clarke (Editor), Sean Wallace (Editor)

Selected from the Hugo award-winning Clarkesworld Magazine, this anthology collects the work of twenty-seven visionary writers of short fiction, including such World Fantasy, Philip K. Dick, Tiptree, Hugo, and Campbell Award winners and finalists as Jay Lake, Nnedi Okorafor, Robert Reed, Sarah Monette, Mike Resnick, Lavie Tidhar, N.K. Jemisin and Catherynne M. Valente.

Includes all of the fiction published during the magazine's third year.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2013

About the author

Neil Clarke is best known as the editor and publisher of the Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winning Clarkesworld Magazine. Launched in October 2006, the online magazine has been a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine four times (winning three times), the World Fantasy Award four times (winning once), and the British Fantasy Award once (winning once). Neil is also a ten-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form (winning once in 2022), three-time winner of the Chesley Award for Best Art Director, and a recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award. In the fifteen years since Clarkesworld Magazine launched, numerous stories that he has published have been nominated for or won the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Locus, BSFA, Shirley Jackson, WSFA Small Press, and Stoker Awards.

Additionally, Neil edits  Forever —a digital-only, reprint science fiction magazine he launched in 2015. His anthologies include: Upgraded, Galactic Empires, Touchable Unreality, More Human than Human, The Final Frontier, Not One of Us,  The Eagle has Landed, , and the Best Science Fiction of the Year series. His next anthology, The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Seven will published in early 2023.

He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of short stories

Crossword by Sean Wallace is a good collection of short stories. Caladin and Teaching Bigfoot to Read were my two favorites. I think most of the stories were 4 stars with an occasional 3 and 5 star thrown in. Love the cover. Enjoyed the book. Haven't read the other books but may have to look them up now.

[Jared Millet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Clarkesworld Magazine. I was a regular subscriber for several years until I got too far behind in reading the monthly issues. As part of the subscription I got free ebooks of two of their annual collections. Dipping back into them now really brings back what I loved about the magazine.

Clarkesworld is probably the most "literary" of the online SF publications, hearkening back to the feel of the 70s New Wave but updated for the 21st Century. Occasionally that literary bent makes a story or two hard to get into, but the magazine also introduced me to many writers (N.K. Jemison for one) who have become the New Giants of the field.

In Clarkesworld Year Three, my favorites have to be "The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew" by Catherynne Valente (which would later be expanded into the novel Radiance - I think it was stronger as a short) and "Placa del Fuego" by the ever-reliable Tobias Buckell.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - the stories in the first half were a bit too esoteric for my tastes but the stories in the second half I loved.

[Tamás Fábián · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very wide variety of stories, just a few that didn't work, but overall very quality collection.

[Mark Nuhfer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm trying to decide between 3 stars "Liked it" and 4 stars "really liked it."

I always have trouble starring anthologies. Usually there are some great stories, some that I don't enjoy very much, several that are entertaining.

I finished this yesterday. I don't think I can recall a specific story though. Let me think.....still nope. But I clearly remember thinking I enjoyed almost all of them. So I give it 3 stars rather than 4, but I recommend it. I usually like stories from Clarkesworld. They are often just a little bit different.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best collections from a magazine/ezine I've read. I'll definitely start reading more of their fiction.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable science fictions stories. At least two that should be turned into books or even series.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing conventional about any of these stories, sometimes to the point of being unintelligible. But some of the stories are speciaj.

[Jakob Hessius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some were good, others not so much! Just what could be expected.