2014 Campbellian Anthology

by M. David Blake (Editor, Introduction), Ania Ahlborn (Contributor), Alisa Alering (Contributor)

Various authors collected. 111 New writers and over 860,000 words in the span of 20 novel excepts, 15 novelettes, 113 short stories, 26 pieces of flash fiction and a poem.

Table of contents

Notes: Lengths for each story are noted according to the following criteria:

Flash: Under ~1,000 words
Short Story: 1,000–7,500 words
Novelette: 7,500–17,500 words
Novella: 17,500–40,000 words
Novel: Over 40,000 words

Stories noted with “••••” were originally published in 2013, and may also be eligible for awards in their respective categories during the 2014 season.

Introduction by M. David Blake
Here We Go Again (or: wait, are we still here?)

Ania Ahlborn
Novel: Seed (excerpt)

Alisa Alering
Short Story: “The Wanderer King” ••••

Laurel Amberdine
Flash: “Airship Hope” ••••

Athena Andreadis
Short Story: “The Wind Harp” ••••

Stewart C Baker
Short Story: “Behind the First Years” ••••
Short Story: “Raising Words” ••••

Jeffrey A. Ballard
Short Story: “The Highlight of a Life” ••••

James Bambury
Short Story: “Thirteen Generations”

Mark T. Barnes
Novel: The Garden of Stones (excerpt) ••••
Novel: The Obsidian Heart (excerpt) ••••

Kelsey Ann Barrett
Short Story: “My Teacher, My Enemy”

Erik Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland, and Cooper Moo
Novel: The Mongoliad: Book One (excerpt)

Brooke Bolander
Short Story: “Her Words Like Hunting Vixens Spring”
Short Story: “Sun Dogs”
Short Story: “The Beasts of the Earth, the Madness of Men” ••••

Lisa Bolekaja
Short Story: “The Saltwater African” ••••

Dawn Bonanno
Flash: “How Cherry Coke Saved My Life” ••••

Oliver Buckram
Flash: “The Running of the Robots”
Flash: “Un Opera nello Spazio (A Space Opera)” ••••
Flash: “Half a Conversation, Overheard While Inside an Enormous Sentient Slug” ••••

O.J. Cade
Short Story: “Longfin’s Daughters” ••••
Short Story: “The Mythology of Salt” ••••

Jennifer Campbell-Hicks
Flash: “30 Pounds of Human Tissue”
Short Story: “Catch a Fallen Star” ••••

David Carani
Short Story: “The Paradise Aperture”

A.G. Carpenter
Short Story: “Insomnia”
Short Story: “In the Cool of the Day” ••••

Vajra Chandrasekera
Short Story: “Pockets Full of Stones” ••••
Short Story: “The Jackal’s Wedding” ••••

Anne Charnock
Novel: A Calculated Life (excerpt) ••••

Adam Christopher
Novel: Empire State (excerpt)
Novel: Seven Wonders (excerpt)

John Chu
Short Story: “Incomplete Proofs”

Evan Currie
Novel: Odyssey One: The Heart of Matter (excerpt)

Jonas David
Short Story: “Deathday” ••••
Short Story: “Three Seconds” ••••

Robert Dawson
Flash: “The Widow”
Short Story: “The Fifth Postulate” ••••
Short Story: “Soldier’s Return” ••••

Evan Dicken
Short Story: “Paradise Left” ••••

Ariel Djanikian
Novel: The Office of Mercy (excerpt) ••••

Lara Elena Donnelly
Short Story: “The Witches of Athens” ••••

Robin Wyatt Dunn
Short Story: “L.A. Actors” ••••
Short Story: “Inside the Crown” ••••

Haris A. Durrani
Novelette: “Tethered” ••••

Sean Eads
Short Story: “The Seer” ••••

Bill Ferris
Short Story: “Athlete’s Foot” ••••

Max Gladstone
Short Story: “Drona’s Death” ••••

Tina Gower
Novelette: “Twelve Seconds” ••••
Short Story: “Today I Am Nobody” ••••

A. T. Greenblatt
Short Story: “Tell Them of the Sky” ••••
Flash: “Letters from Within” ••••

Shane Halbach
Short Story: “My Heart Is a Quadratic Equation”

Kate Heartfield
Short Story: “Word for Word” ••••
Short Story: “For Sale by Owner” ••••
Short Story: “A Pair of Ragged Claws” ••••

Ken Hinckley
Short Story: “The Ostracons of Europa” ••••
Short Story: “The Totem of Curtained Minds” ••••

Michael Hodges
Short Story: “Fletcher’s Mountains” ••••
Flash: “Hydra” ••••
Short Story: “Seven Fish for Sarah”

Ada Hoffmann
Flash: “Feasting Alone” ••••
Short Story: “Blue Fever” ••••
Short Story: “And All the Fathomless Crowds” ••••

Tory Hoke
Short Story: “The Baby Mimic” ••••
Short Story: “The Demeter Gyro Disaster” ••••
Short Story: “Shaka Bars” ••••

Louise Hughes
Short Story: “Over the Waves”

Alexis A. Hunter
Short Story: “Midnight Hour”
Flash: “A Reason to Linger”

M. K. Hutchins
Short Story: “Blank Faces”

Jess Hyslop
Flash: “The Sandman’s Dreams” ••••
Short Story: “Triolet” ••••

José Iriarte
Short Story: “Yuca And Dominoes” ••••
Novelette: “Cabrón” ••••

Paul Antony Jones
Novel: Extinction Point (excerpt)

Sharon Joss
Short Story: “Love in the Time of Dust and Venom” ••••

A. R. Kahler
Novel: The Immortal Circus (excerpt)

Joy Kennedy-O’Neill
Novelette: “Aftermath”

Daniel M. Kimmel
Novel: Shh! It’s a Secret: a novel about Aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender’s Guide (excerpt) ••••

Marko Kloos
Novel: Terms of Enlistment (excerpt) ••••

Francis Knight
Novel: Fade to Black (excerpt) ••••

Samantha Kymmell-Harvey
Short Story: “Cadence” ••••

Henry Lien
Short Story: “Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters” ••••
Short Story: “Supplemental Declaration of Henry Lien” ••••

Hunter Liguore
Short Story: “Area 54” ••••

Stant Litore
Novel: The Zombie Bible: No Lasting Burial (excerpt) ••••

Marina J. Lostetter
Short Story: “Sojourn for Ephah”
Short Story: “Master Belladino’s Mask” ••••
Short Story: “The Prayer Ladder” ••••

Sean F. Lynch
Short Story: “The Cave” ••••

Jodi McIsaac
Novel: Through the Door (excerpt)

Alena McNamara
Short Story: “As Large as Alone” ••••

Carmen Maria Machado
Short Story: “Inventory” ••••
Novelette: “Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order SVU” ••••
Short Story: “We Were Never Alone in Space” ••••

Marshall Ryan Maresca
Short Story: “Jump the Black” ••••

Helen Marshall
Short Story: “The Hanging Game” ••••
Short Story: “I’m the Lady of Good Times, She Said” ••••
Short Story: “The Slipway Grey” ••••

Michael J. Martinez
Novel: The Daedalus Incident (excerpt) ••••

Kate Maruyama
Novel: Harrowgate (excerpt) ••••

Samuel Marzioli
Short Story: “A House in the Woods” ••••
Short Story: “Midnight Visitors” ••••
Short Story: “Burning Men” ••••

Michael Matheson
Short Story: “The Many Lives of the Xun Long” ••••
Short Story: “Weary, Bone Deep” ••••
Short Story: “The Last Summer” ••••

Rich Matrunick
Short Story: “Barren Sky” ••••

Tim Maughan
Novelette: “Limited Edition”
Short Story: “Zero Hours” ••••
Short Story: “Collision Detection” ••••

Clint Morey
Novel: The Outer Rims (excerpt) ••••

John P. Murphy
Flash: “Tumbleweeds and Indelicate Questions” ••••
Flash: “At the Old Folks Home at the End of the World” ••••

E.C. Myers
Novel: Fair Coin (excerpt)

Ramez Naam
Novel: Nexus (excerpt) ••••

Chrome Oxide
Short Story: “Cop for a Day” ••••

Shannon Peavey
Novelette: “Scavengers” ••••
Short Story: “Ghosts in the Walls” ••••

Gary B. Phillips
Short Story: “The Lady Electric” ••••
Flash: “Enteral Feeding” ••••

Trina Marie Phillips
Novelette: “The War of Peace” ••••

Sarah Pinsker
Novelette: “In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind” ••••

Jay Posey
Novel: Three (excerpt) ••••

Richard Ellis Preston, Jr.
Novel: The Chronicles of the Pneumatic Zeppelin: Romulus Buckle & the City of the Founders (excerpt) ••••

Lissa Price
Novel: Starters (excerpt)
Short Story: “Portrait of a Spore”

Dan Rabarts
Short Story: “Waking the Taniwha” ••••
Short Story: “The Crooked Mile” ••••

Adam Rakunas
Novelette: “Oh Give Me a Home” ••••

Melanie Rees
Flash: “Seven Sins”
Short Story: “Virtually Human”
Short Story: “The Dragon”

Christopher Reynaga
Novelette: “The Grande Complication” ••••
Novelette: “Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree” ••••

Anthony Ryan
Novel: Blood Song: A Raven’s Shadow Novel (excerpt)

Carlie St. George
Short Story: “This Villain You Must Create” ••••

Marcus Sakey
Novel: Brilliance (excerpt) ••••

Sofia Samatar
Novel: A Stranger in Olondria (Being the Complete Memoirs of the Mystic, Jevick of Tyom) (excerpt) ••••
Short Story: “Honey Bear”
Short Story: “Selkie Stories Are for Losers” ••••

Holly Schofield
Short Story: “Graveyard Shift” ••••
Short Story: “Hurry Up and Wait” ••••

Erik B. Scott
Flash: “The Exterminator” ••••

Jason Sheehan
Novel: A Private Little War (excerpt) ••••

Frances Silversmith
Short Story: “Online War” ••••
Flash: “Finally Free” ••••
Flash: “Were” ••••

Jeremy Sim
Short Story: “Fleep” ••••
Short Story: “Addressing the Manticore” ••••
Short Story: “Skybreak” ••••

Stephen Sottong
Novelette: “Planetary Scouts” ••••
Flash: “Friends” ••••

Benjanun Sriduangkaew
Short Story: “Annex” ••••
Short Story: “Vector” ••••
Short Story: “Paya-nak” ••••

John E. O. Stevens
Short Story: “The Scorn of the Peregrinator”

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
Short Story: “The Wanderers” ••••
Short Story: “The Siren” ••••
Poem: “The Ferryman” ••••

Tim Susman
Short Story: “Erzulie Dantor”
Flash: “Diamonds Are Forever” ••••
Flash: “Goldeneye” ••••

Bogi Takács
Short Story: “Recordings of a More Personal Nature” ••••
Flash: “The Tiny English-Hungarian Phrasebook for Visiting Extraterrestrials” ••••
Short Story: “Mouse Choirs of the Old Mátra” ••••

Grace Tang
Flash: “Ghost in the Machine”
Flash: “White Lies”
Flash: “Man’s Best Friend”

Brian Trent
Short Story: “Sparg” ••••
Short Story: “War Hero” ••••
Short Story: “The Nightmare Lights of Mars” ••••

Sabrina Vourvoulias
Short Story: “Collateral Memory” ••••

Gerald Warfield
Novelette: “Spores of the Volcano” ••••
Short Story: “Pageant for a Crazy Man” ••••

Darusha Wehm
Short Story: “The Care and Feeding of Mammalian Bipeds, V. 2.1”
Short Story: “Modern Love”
Short Story: “I Open My Eyes”

Django Wexler
Novelette: “The Penitent Damned” ••••
Novel: The Thousand Names (excerpt) ••••

John Zaharick
Short Story: “Dysmorphic” ••••
Short Story: “Ghost Gardening” ••••
Short Story: “After the Kaiju Attack” ••••

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

2470 pages, ebook

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[Kalin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology offered me a much needed panorama of up-and-coming writers in the fields of the fantastic. Kudos to M. David Blake for compiling such a gargantuan book with so few errors: as a fellow anthologist, I am awed.

I've listed the authors I may try more of or will watch for here:

https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...

- - -

Update 2014-08-18: Congratulations to Sofia Samatar and Benjanun Sriduangkaew on their results in the 2014 John W. Campbell Award.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy moley! This one took me five years to finish. Admittedly I was just reading for a couple of hours at a time every few months, then realized I was at the 80% mark so went at it steadily for the last two weeks to finish.

The primary virtues of this collection are size and variety. There were a lot of authors eligible for the Campbell Prize in 2014, and most of them agreed to have a sample in here.

Unfortunately, due to how long it took me to finish, the vast majority of the stories have faded from my memory, so I'm not going to do a comprehensive review. I will say that the format was least kind to novels. In several cases, the early chapters presented were background, and I could tell the excerpt cut off just before what should have been the exciting part.

Still, this was a good snapshot of the state of speculative fiction in 2014, and recommended for anyone with time on their hands.

[Alytha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that my updates about this one have been a bit snarky, which is not an accurate description of the general content of this collection. There's really good stuff in here, and I have discovered a couple of authors whose stuff I'm going to keep an eye on from now on.
(Mark T. Barnes, Oliver Buckram, O.J. Cade, Vajra Chandrasekera, Christopher Reynaga, Sofia Samatar, Laurel Amberdine, Athena Andreadis, Bogi Takács, Brian Trent...)

Apart from those, there's lots of decent stuff, not terribly exciting, but solid.

There's a couple of stories, which in my humblest of opinions don't belong into this book because they're not genre at all, like the one about a colony of Cuban ex-pats, and the one about a gang of rednecks lynching a deaf guy.

And then, there's the stinkers. How on Earth did some of this stuff get commercially published? Non-honorable mention goes to Michael Hodges, Paul Antony Jones, Haris A. Durrani, Benjanun Sriduangkaew...

Probably the biggest book I've ever read in one piece...I think it might be easier to digest if it contained more short pieces instead of novel excerpts. Although I did find a series of novels that I absolutely have to get.

[Emma Sea]

38252 locations of sci-fi goodness, and it's free, peoples!!!

Download links here.

[Harald Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly massive collection of short stories, and as I got it for free a really good bargain. Take my advice and skip the self-published stories, as they illustrate just what a good editor is worth...

[Spellbind Consensus]

The *2014 Campbellian Anthology* is an extensive, curated collection of science fiction and fantasy works written by authors eligible for the **John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer** (now known as the Astounding Award). Compiled and edited by **M. David Blake**, this anthology serves as both a **literary showcase and a pre-reading resource** for fans and voters seeking to explore the breadth of emerging voices in speculative fiction for that year.

---

### **Core Purpose**

The anthology was designed to provide **free, centralized access** to the fiction of new and eligible writers under consideration for the Campbell Award in 2014. It serves as a valuable tool for readers, reviewers, and award voters to fairly evaluate a wide range of talent and storytelling approaches.

---

### **Key Features**

1. **Massive Scope**

* Contains works by **111 authors**, making it a significantly larger compilation than the 2013 edition.
* Includes **nearly one million words** of fiction, from flash pieces to novellas.
* Represents a wide array of styles, subgenres, and narrative voices.

2. **Award Eligibility Focus**

* All included authors were in either their **first or second year of Campbell Award eligibility** in 2014.
* Many contributors would go on to become prominent figures in science fiction and fantasy.

3. **Diverse Content**

* Features **short stories, novelettes, and novel excerpts**, originally published in respected genre magazines, anthologies, and online platforms.
* Themes span from space opera, cyberpunk, and fantasy realism to horror, post-apocalypse, and slipstream fiction.

4. **Notable Contributors**

* Includes early work from future award-winning authors such as **Sofia Samatar, Carmen Maria Machado, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, Max Gladstone**, and **Helene Wecker**.
* Demonstrates the early creative range and thematic interests of writers who would later help define the genre.

5. **Free and Community-Driven**

* Released as a **free digital download**, underscoring its purpose as a community resource rather than a commercial product.
* Encourages equitable access for all readers, helping democratize participation in the awards process.

---

### **Themes and Value**

* **Discovery**: The anthology functions as a literary discovery tool, revealing new talent and unpolished brilliance.
* **Diversity**: Showcases an increasingly global and inclusive generation of SFF writers.
* **Craft and Experimentation**: Offers insight into how writers hone their voice in their early years, experimenting with form, voice, and subject matter.

---

### **Core Takeaways**

* The *2014 Campbellian Anthology* is a **literary time capsule**, capturing the voices and visions of a rising generation of speculative fiction writers.
* Its value lies not only in its size, but in its ability to **connect readers with authors at the start of their careers**, many of whom have since become genre-defining voices.
* It is a celebration of speculative storytelling in its many forms—and of the community that supports, promotes, and reads it.

[R. E. Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous calendar years.

This massive anthology attempts to gather together all the works eligible for the award in 2014. Of course, not every potentially eligible author could be contacted and give permission to republish in time. But the result was 29 novel excerpts, 15 novelettes, 113 short stories, 26 flash fiction pieces, and one poem, by 111 writers, and totaling 860,000 words.

Inevitably, with such a massive tome, there are a fair number of typos—authors do not always have the final published form of stories available in electronic form, and there is simply too much material for even a modest level of proof-reading, especially considering the price (free). It took me more than ten weeks to read, and I probably skipped a third of the stories (I'm more interested in the science fiction end of the spectrum, and some stories just didn't grab me).

There were many awesome stories in this collection. Some I had read before, and enjoyed reading again, but many were new to me. I've added several of the novels to my TBR list. I'm tempted to list all my favourites, but there are just too many, and no doubt your list would be different anyway.

If you're a fan of SF&F, and you haven't already grabbed this anthology, I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed. Contrary to some articles I've read, the science fiction scene seems to be flourishing.

You can find it at Stupefying Stories:

http://stupefyingstories.blogspot.ca/

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a whole year to finish this, but I only read it very intermittently, and had to stop frequently and seek out some of the novels excerpted. Only one story was truly terrible (Cop for a Day by Chrome Oxide, which is like a 12 year old boy jerking it to Ayn Rand; pass) and it introduced me to the works of Marko Kloos who is FANTASTIC. Also can't beat the low, low price of free for all this material. I don't know if you can still get it for nothing, but it's worth checking out before it disappears as the 2013 edition seems to have done (only found that on an internet archive after extensive sleuthing).

Bring on 2015!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just have to admit this thing is too large for my attention span and free time right now. Maybe someday, but I doubt it. This is a daunting thing. Kudos to the folks who put this together and I wish I could give it the time it deserves.

Even with this, I unabashedly skipped novel excerpts and I required that short fiction grab me by the throat. Gotta be brutal with 800,000 words in this thing. The Saltwater African was the first story in this collection that gut-punched me. Great stuff there.

[Charl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This thing should count as at least five books in the reading challenge! Over a hundred authors, many of them with multiple works.

Truly a wealth of excellent SF, running the full gamut. Like any good collection, something for everyone, and given its size, lots of something for everyone.

There were very, very few pieces that I skipped.

If you want to read the best of the up and coming, read this book.

Just don't expect to read it quickly.

[Sara Zaske · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great free read for sci-fi lovers. I skipped around in it, reading mostly the short stories, some which were awesome -- see especially "Selkie stories are for Losers" and "Her words like hunting Vixens in the Spring" I didn't finish the whole anthology -but still worth it. Did I mention it's free?

[Greyweather]

Ania Ahlborn - Novel excerpt: Seed - Liked. Seems like it might be a good horror novel.

Alisa Alering - Short Story: “The Wanderer King” - Neutral.

Laurel Amberdine - Flash: “Airship Hope” - Liked.

Athena Andreadis - Short Story: “The Wind Harp” - Neutral.

[Amy Peavy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel I have to rate this as five stars simply for the sheer volume of stories collected in this volume. I didn't like all of them, but I did like a majority of them. And those that I didn't like I at least enjoyed the idea behind them. I cannot wait until next year's collection. Thank you!

[Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible! I didn't love every entry but every single one brought something to the table. I now have dozens - dozens! - of new authors I MUST now read more by. I very much appreciated the links to their web sites. Wonderful.