Clarkesworld: Year Four

by Neil Clarke (Editor), Sean Wallace (Editor), Yoon Ha Lee (Contributor)

Since 2006, Clarkesworld Magazine has been entertaining science fiction and fantasy fans with their brand of unique science fiction and fantasy stories. Collected here are all of the stories this Hugo Award-winning magazine published during their fourth year. Included in this volume are twenty-four stories by visionary writers of short fiction, including Jay Lake, Kij Johnson, Catherynne M. Valente, Robert Reed, Lavie Tidhar, Peter Watts and more!


CONTENTS

Introduction by Neil Clarke
Between Two Dragons by Yoon Ha Lee
The Cull by Robert Reed
The Mermaids Singing Each to Each by Cat Rambo
Of Melei, of Ulthar by Gord Sellar
Night, in Dark Perfection by Richard Parks
The Grandmother-Granddaughter Conspiracy by Marissa Lingen
Brief Candle by Jason K. Chapman
All the King’s Monsters by Megan Arkenberg
Torquing Vacuum by Jay Lake
The Language of the Whirlwind by Lavie Tidhar
A Sweet Calling by Tony Pi
Alone with Gandhari by Gord Sellar
The History Within Us by Matthew Kressel
January by Becca De La Rosa
Messenger by J.M. Sidorova
A Jar of Goodwill by Tobias S. Buckell
Futures in the Memories Market by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
My Father’s Singularity by Brenda Cooper
Beach Blanket Spaceship by Sandra McDonald
The Association of the Dead by Rahul Kanakia
Spar by Kij Johnson
Paper Cradle by Stephen Gaskell
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time by Catherynne M. Valente
The Things by Peter Watts
Clarkesworld Citizens – Official Census
About Clarkesworld

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 27, 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

[Jared Millet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic bundle of stories from Clarkesworld. Having read the Year Three anthology as well (and subscribing to years five and six), Year Four feels like the tipping point where Clarkesworld became the most "literary" of the major SF short story outlets. The stories here offer some truly exciting experiments in style and setting, though once or twice at the cost of muddled storytelling. Mileage may vary with taste. (Now there's a mixed metaphor.) For me, Cat Rambo, Jay Lake, and Tobias Buckell never disappoint. My favorites, however, are two true chillers: "The Cull" by Robert Reed and "The Things" by Peter Watts.