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Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016 Edition
A collection of some of the best original science fiction and fantasy short fiction published on Tor.com in 2016. Includes stories by Charlie Jane Anders, Nina Allan, Tara Isabella Burton, Monica Byrne, Rebecca Campbell, P. Djèlí Clark, Indrapramit Das, Alix E. Harrow, N. K. Jemisin, Margaret Killjoy, Cixin Liu, Melissa Marr, David Nickle, Laurie Penny, Daniel Polansky, Lettie Prell, Delia Sherman, Angela Slatter, Caighlan Smith, Lavie Tidhar, Rajnar Vajra, Genevieve Valentine, Carrie Vaughn, and Alyssa Wong.
667 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 10, 2017
262 people are currently reading
766 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Datlow
272books1,831followersEllen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.
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September 22, 20179/21/17 - This monster is currently FREE:
June 9, 2019
For me, Ellen Datlow is one of the finest anthologists around, so it should be no surprise that this is a superb collection of fiction. If there is any surprise at all, it is perhaps that she could only pick from short fiction published by tor.com the previous year, but I think that the quality of the volume says a great deal about the quality of the work on Tor.
There's not a single story on here that i would consider poor - the vast majority I scored 4- or 5- stars and, for those I didn't, it was more that they were simply not my type of thing. For instance, there were a couple that I thought more vignettes for sketches, not fleshed out enough to be trues stories, but I know that is something of a personal taste issue.
The real joy of this collection, though, is that it has introduced me to so many authors I may otherwise never have come across but are now no-questions-asked purchases. I can't wait to get to the other tor.com "some of the best" volumes.
I've reviewed the tales individually as I've gone along, so will just give the ratings here.
Clover by Charlie Jane Anders - 5/5
The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allen - 4/5
The Destroyer by Tara Isabella Burton 4/5
Traumphysik by Monica Byrne 2/5
The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell - 4/5
Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard 3/5
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 5/5
Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das 5/5
Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half Savage by Alix E. Harrow 5/5
The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin 5/5
Everything that isn't winter by Margaret Killjoy 4/5/
The Weight of Memories by Cixin Liu 3/5
The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr 4/5
The Caretakers by David Nickle 3/5
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny 4/5
meat+drink by Daniel Polansky 3/5
The Three Lines of Sonata James by Lettie Prell 4/5
The Great Detective by Delia Sherman 3/5
Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter 4/5
The Weather by Caughlan Smith 3/5
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar 5/5
Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra 5/5
La beaute sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine 5/5
That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn 5/5
A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong 5/5
There's not a single story on here that i would consider poor - the vast majority I scored 4- or 5- stars and, for those I didn't, it was more that they were simply not my type of thing. For instance, there were a couple that I thought more vignettes for sketches, not fleshed out enough to be trues stories, but I know that is something of a personal taste issue.
The real joy of this collection, though, is that it has introduced me to so many authors I may otherwise never have come across but are now no-questions-asked purchases. I can't wait to get to the other tor.com "some of the best" volumes.
I've reviewed the tales individually as I've gone along, so will just give the ratings here.
Clover by Charlie Jane Anders - 5/5
The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allen - 4/5
The Destroyer by Tara Isabella Burton 4/5
Traumphysik by Monica Byrne 2/5
The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell - 4/5
Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard 3/5
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 5/5
Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das 5/5
Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half Savage by Alix E. Harrow 5/5
The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin 5/5
Everything that isn't winter by Margaret Killjoy 4/5/
The Weight of Memories by Cixin Liu 3/5
The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr 4/5
The Caretakers by David Nickle 3/5
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny 4/5
meat+drink by Daniel Polansky 3/5
The Three Lines of Sonata James by Lettie Prell 4/5
The Great Detective by Delia Sherman 3/5
Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter 4/5
The Weather by Caughlan Smith 3/5
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar 5/5
Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra 5/5
La beaute sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine 5/5
That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn 5/5
A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong 5/5
August 18, 2017
Tor.com has been difficult, they never seem to approve my requests on Netgalley. And yet, every so often I come across a tor.com original freebie, which are quite good, so when I found an entire collection of them for free, it was pretty exciting. First of all, this is a huge collection, 667 pages, good thing it's digital or it would have been a real wrist twister. Second of all, it's actually very good. Not perfectly even, few collection are, particularly so voluminous, but it ranges from good to very good with a few real stand outs. The first three stories really drew me in and from there on it was quality throughout. Ranging from (primarily) scifi to scary to fantasy, these are all conceptually interesting and very well written stories. Most of the authors were new to me. Weirdly (no idea if this is intentional) most were female. In fact one of the few male contributions was a story I really enjoyed about a future of transplanted consciousness and its social ramifications, and then the author had to go and screw it up with the cheapest trick in the book...it was all a dream. But that aside, this is a very nice collection, well worth the time and it took a while, 3 days of extended sittings, to get through. Great way to discover new genre writers and certainly sets a most ambitious auspicious sort of standard for tor.com. Recommended.
October 3, 2024
This anthology is simply an alphabetical-by-author packing together of individually released Tor.com science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories into a single download. The 25 stories included make up over 40% of Tor.com’s story catalog for the year. And according to goodreads, that’s the equivalent of 667 pages. I found the story quality hit or miss, and with no unifying theme or progression to the anthology, but you can’t beat the price � free. Many of these stories are written by past award winners � and its contents include one 2017 Nebula nominee, and four 2017 Hugo nominees (which I have noted in the list below). Best stories, in my opinion, were “Auto-Biography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage�, “The Three Lives of Sonata James�, “Her Scales Shine Like Music�, and “That Game We Played During the War�. I had this book in progress for almost 4 months while I also read other things, so apologize if my comments on particular stories seem meager. I did, however, record my * through ratings as I went.
"Clover�, by Charlie Jane Andrews ***
“The Art of Space Travel�, by Nina Allen **** A poignant story of a girl growing up in the shadow of greatness. It was nominated for 2017 Hugo novelette. (winner tbd)
"The Destroyer, by Tara Isabella Burton ***
“Traumphysik�, by Monica Byrne **
“The High Lonesome Frontier�, by Rebecca Campbell ***
"Lullaby for a Lost World�, by Aliette de Bodard ***
“A Dead Djinn in Cairo�, by P. Djeli Clark ***
"Breaking Water�, by Indrapramit Das ****
“Auto-Biography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage�, by Alix E. Harrow
"The City Born Great�, by N.K. Jemisin ** In my opinion, stories about future street kids have been overworked, but it must remain popular as this story was nominated for 2017 Hugo short story (winner tbd).
“Everything That Isn't Winter�, by Margaret Killjoy ** In my opinion, druid stories have also been overworked.
“The Weight of Memories�, by Cixin Liu ****
“The Maiden Thief�, by Melissa Marr ***
“The Caretakers", by David Nickle ** In this story, some people are beholden to Miss Erish for no reason I can discern.
"Your Orisons may be Recording", by Laurie Penny *** I found the portrayal of an angel and a demon in a call center to be a clever idea.
“meat+drink", by Daniel Polansky ** Oh lord. Not another teenage girl vampire.
“The Three Lives of Sonata James�, by Lettie Prell How will one expend one’s limited opportunities for near immortality?
“The Great Detective, by Delia Sherman ***
“Finnegan's Field, by Angela Slatter ****
“The Weather, by Caighlan Smith ***
"Terminal" by Lavie Tidhar ***
“Her Scales Shine Like Music�, by Rajnar Vajra Inventive first contact story.
“La Beaute Sans Vertu�, by Genevieve Valentine **
“That Game We Played During the War�, by Carrie Vaughn A touching story that turns on how a chess game between a telepath and non-telepath could be played. It has been nominated for 2017 Hugo short story (winner tbd).
“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers�, by Alyssa Wong *** I found the inevitability of a sister’s death in all parallel worlds to be depressing, and am not sure what the point is. But this is well-styled writing, and it was nominated for 2017 Nebula short story (did not win) and also was nominated for 2017 Hugo short story (winner tbd)
"Clover�, by Charlie Jane Andrews ***
“The Art of Space Travel�, by Nina Allen **** A poignant story of a girl growing up in the shadow of greatness. It was nominated for 2017 Hugo novelette. (winner tbd)
"The Destroyer, by Tara Isabella Burton ***
“Traumphysik�, by Monica Byrne **
“The High Lonesome Frontier�, by Rebecca Campbell ***
"Lullaby for a Lost World�, by Aliette de Bodard ***
“A Dead Djinn in Cairo�, by P. Djeli Clark ***
"Breaking Water�, by Indrapramit Das ****
“Auto-Biography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage�, by Alix E. Harrow
"The City Born Great�, by N.K. Jemisin ** In my opinion, stories about future street kids have been overworked, but it must remain popular as this story was nominated for 2017 Hugo short story (winner tbd).
“Everything That Isn't Winter�, by Margaret Killjoy ** In my opinion, druid stories have also been overworked.
“The Weight of Memories�, by Cixin Liu ****
“The Maiden Thief�, by Melissa Marr ***
“The Caretakers", by David Nickle ** In this story, some people are beholden to Miss Erish for no reason I can discern.
"Your Orisons may be Recording", by Laurie Penny *** I found the portrayal of an angel and a demon in a call center to be a clever idea.
“meat+drink", by Daniel Polansky ** Oh lord. Not another teenage girl vampire.
“The Three Lives of Sonata James�, by Lettie Prell How will one expend one’s limited opportunities for near immortality?
“The Great Detective, by Delia Sherman ***
“Finnegan's Field, by Angela Slatter ****
“The Weather, by Caighlan Smith ***
"Terminal" by Lavie Tidhar ***
“Her Scales Shine Like Music�, by Rajnar Vajra Inventive first contact story.
“La Beaute Sans Vertu�, by Genevieve Valentine **
“That Game We Played During the War�, by Carrie Vaughn A touching story that turns on how a chess game between a telepath and non-telepath could be played. It has been nominated for 2017 Hugo short story (winner tbd).
“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers�, by Alyssa Wong *** I found the inevitability of a sister’s death in all parallel worlds to be depressing, and am not sure what the point is. But this is well-styled writing, and it was nominated for 2017 Nebula short story (did not win) and also was nominated for 2017 Hugo short story (winner tbd)
June 22, 2017
It's not quite true to say that the price (free) is the best thing about this collection, but sometimes it felt like it. With 25 stories to choose from, it's pretty much inevitable that there are going to be misses as well as hits, but for me the scale was way too loaded in favour of the former, with several stories that I'd only give one star to if I was rating them individually: "Traumphysik" by Monica Byrne, "The Caretakers" by David Nickle, "meat + drink" by Daniel Polansky, and "The Great Detective" by Delia Sherman to name just a few. Amongst the more solid efforts, many seemed to be either stabs at novels yet to be fleshed out ("A Dead Djinn in Cairo" by P. Djeli Clark, for example, and "The Three Lives of Sonata James" by Lettie Prell), or openings that ended before they could go anywhere, like "Terminal" by Lavie Tidhar, or "Her Scales Shine Like Music" by Rajnar Vajra, which was really good - until it just stopped. Too few stories that felt complete in their own right, with "The Art of Space Travel" by Nina Allan and "Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage" by Alix E. Harrow amongst the honorable exceptions. Overall, two stars: it was OK.
tbr-sffh-and-r
December 16, 2022 ★★★★�
Want to read
January 12, 2017. Just takes an email address.
August 29, 2018
My 3 favorite stories from this collection would have to be:
by Monica Byrne ★★★★� (5/5)
by Rajnar Vajra ★★★★� (5/5)
by Carrie Vaughn ★★★★� (5/5)
And the least favorite ones are:
by Angela Slatter ★☆☆☆� (1/5)
by Alyssa Wong ★★☆☆� (2/5)
by Delia Sherman ★★☆☆� (2/5)
Ratings for other stories in the collection are as follows:
by Lettie Prell ★★★★� (5/5)
by P. Djeli Clark ★★★★� (5/5)
by Margaret Killjoy ★★★★� (5/5)
by Cixin Liu ★★★★� (4/5)
by Tara Isabella Burton ★★★★� (4/5)
by N. K. Jemisin ★★★★� (4/5)
by Aliette de Bodard ★★★★� (4/5)
by Caighlan Smith ★★★★� (4/5)
by Indrapramit Das ★★★★� (4/5)
by Laurie Penny ★★★★� (4/5)
by David Nickle ★★★★� (4/5)
by Lavie Tidhar ★★★★� (4/5)
by Alix E. Harrow ★★★★� (4/5)
by Daniel Polansky ★★★★� (4/5)
by Charlie Jane Anders ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Rebecca Campbell ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Nina Allan ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Melissa Marr ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Genevieve Valentine ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Monica Byrne ★★★★� (5/5)
by Rajnar Vajra ★★★★� (5/5)
by Carrie Vaughn ★★★★� (5/5)
And the least favorite ones are:
by Angela Slatter ★☆☆☆� (1/5)
by Alyssa Wong ★★☆☆� (2/5)
by Delia Sherman ★★☆☆� (2/5)
Ratings for other stories in the collection are as follows:
by Lettie Prell ★★★★� (5/5)
by P. Djeli Clark ★★★★� (5/5)
by Margaret Killjoy ★★★★� (5/5)
by Cixin Liu ★★★★� (4/5)
by Tara Isabella Burton ★★★★� (4/5)
by N. K. Jemisin ★★★★� (4/5)
by Aliette de Bodard ★★★★� (4/5)
by Caighlan Smith ★★★★� (4/5)
by Indrapramit Das ★★★★� (4/5)
by Laurie Penny ★★★★� (4/5)
by David Nickle ★★★★� (4/5)
by Lavie Tidhar ★★★★� (4/5)
by Alix E. Harrow ★★★★� (4/5)
by Daniel Polansky ★★★★� (4/5)
by Charlie Jane Anders ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Rebecca Campbell ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Nina Allan ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Melissa Marr ★★★☆� (3/5)
by Genevieve Valentine ★★★☆� (3/5)
February 19, 2017
Favourite things about this collection. (1) None of the stories are one thing. They all have layers. (2) They come from all around the world and show-case a wide range of sensibilities and perspectives.
Perfect for me
"The Game We Played During the War" by Carrie Vaughn - The war is over.
Enjoyable, worked for me
"Clover" by Charlie Jane Anders - Anwar and Joe's cats keep being delivered to their door. Interesting fantasy tale woven into a crumbling future.
"The Art of Space Travel" by Nina Allen - Another tale of the future which weaves the personal life of a hotel worker, her ailing mother and her manager amongst humanity's attempt to reach the stars.
"The Destroyer" by Tara Isabella Burton - An alternative future where the Roman Empire never crumbled and the researcher who ended that world, instead of ours, as told by her daughter who is part-experiment.
* "Traumphysik" by Monica Byrne - A haunting story of a talented woman scientist stuck in the middle of nowhere seeking the science of dreams.
* "Lullaby for a Lost World" by Aliette de Bodard - Another crumbling world where a small corner is preserved with dark magic.
"A Dead Djinn in Cairo" by P. Djeli Clark - Fun mystery set against a vibrant alternative history.
* "Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage" by Alix E. Harrow - Exquisite tale that sets the early stories of America in an utterly different light.
"The City Born Great" by N.K. Jemisin - Who is the mid-wife when a city is born?
"Everything that isn't Winter" by Margaret Killjoy - The story of a town at the end of the world.
** "The Maiden Thief" by Melissa Marr - When girls keep disappearing, someone has to work out why. A gorgeous fairy tale turned on its head.
"Yours Orisons May Be Recorded" by Laurie Penny - A sweet take on call centres.
"meat + drink" by Daniel Polansky - A stylistic take on the darkness of the undead.
* "The Three Lives of Sonata James" by Lettie Prell - Sonata decides she will only have 3 incarnations in a world where an infinity is opening up.
"The Great Detective" by Delia Sherman - A steampunk origin story for Sherlock Holmes.
* "Finnegan's Field" by Angela Slatter - A dark take on the legends which follow the Irish into the new world.
"The Weather" by Caighlan Smith - What is the weather? Loved the retrospective on our current world.
"Terminal" by Lavie Tidhar - Poignant tale of those willing to throw themselves into the stars.
"Her Scales Shine Like Music" by Rajnar Vajra - A woman is left behind to guard a commercial stake and discovers something much more valuable.
Fine, but didn't speak to me
"The High Lonesome Frontier" by Rebecca Campbell - A story of a song, but I find stories about music seldom resonate with me.
"Breaking Water" by Indrapramit Das - An odd story of the dead returning to life.
"The Weight of Memories" by Cixiu Liu, translated by Ken Liu - An exploration of why human children can't carry the memories of their parents.
"The Caretakers" by David Nickle - My best part of this was the descriptions of snow. Made me so nostalgic.
"La beaute sans vertu" by Genevieve Valentine - A dark take on the evolution of fashion.
"A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers" by Alyssa Wong.
Not my cup of tea
Perfect for me
"The Game We Played During the War" by Carrie Vaughn - The war is over.
Enjoyable, worked for me
"Clover" by Charlie Jane Anders - Anwar and Joe's cats keep being delivered to their door. Interesting fantasy tale woven into a crumbling future.
"The Art of Space Travel" by Nina Allen - Another tale of the future which weaves the personal life of a hotel worker, her ailing mother and her manager amongst humanity's attempt to reach the stars.
"The Destroyer" by Tara Isabella Burton - An alternative future where the Roman Empire never crumbled and the researcher who ended that world, instead of ours, as told by her daughter who is part-experiment.
* "Traumphysik" by Monica Byrne - A haunting story of a talented woman scientist stuck in the middle of nowhere seeking the science of dreams.
* "Lullaby for a Lost World" by Aliette de Bodard - Another crumbling world where a small corner is preserved with dark magic.
"A Dead Djinn in Cairo" by P. Djeli Clark - Fun mystery set against a vibrant alternative history.
* "Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage" by Alix E. Harrow - Exquisite tale that sets the early stories of America in an utterly different light.
"The City Born Great" by N.K. Jemisin - Who is the mid-wife when a city is born?
"Everything that isn't Winter" by Margaret Killjoy - The story of a town at the end of the world.
** "The Maiden Thief" by Melissa Marr - When girls keep disappearing, someone has to work out why. A gorgeous fairy tale turned on its head.
"Yours Orisons May Be Recorded" by Laurie Penny - A sweet take on call centres.
"meat + drink" by Daniel Polansky - A stylistic take on the darkness of the undead.
* "The Three Lives of Sonata James" by Lettie Prell - Sonata decides she will only have 3 incarnations in a world where an infinity is opening up.
"The Great Detective" by Delia Sherman - A steampunk origin story for Sherlock Holmes.
* "Finnegan's Field" by Angela Slatter - A dark take on the legends which follow the Irish into the new world.
"The Weather" by Caighlan Smith - What is the weather? Loved the retrospective on our current world.
"Terminal" by Lavie Tidhar - Poignant tale of those willing to throw themselves into the stars.
"Her Scales Shine Like Music" by Rajnar Vajra - A woman is left behind to guard a commercial stake and discovers something much more valuable.
Fine, but didn't speak to me
"The High Lonesome Frontier" by Rebecca Campbell - A story of a song, but I find stories about music seldom resonate with me.
"Breaking Water" by Indrapramit Das - An odd story of the dead returning to life.
"The Weight of Memories" by Cixiu Liu, translated by Ken Liu - An exploration of why human children can't carry the memories of their parents.
"The Caretakers" by David Nickle - My best part of this was the descriptions of snow. Made me so nostalgic.
"La beaute sans vertu" by Genevieve Valentine - A dark take on the evolution of fashion.
"A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers" by Alyssa Wong.
Not my cup of tea
May 20, 2018
I'm not even sure
I could recommend it enough. Between the true diversity of the authors and the magic they bring to the stories, this is the best free ebook I've ever gotten. If you don't love at least half this book, I'd be shocked.
I could recommend it enough. Between the true diversity of the authors and the magic they bring to the stories, this is the best free ebook I've ever gotten. If you don't love at least half this book, I'd be shocked.
February 26, 2021
One of my favorite things about Tor.com is that they regularly publish original short stories on their site, and then bind up the year's stories in an e-book anthology. This one is from 2016.
And like any anthology, the stories are hit or miss with the reader. I'm not a big fan of the horror ones generally, but others may find those to be the best of this bunch. There's a wide enough range of stories that there's something for everyone.
These are the ones I know I will come back to again and again to reread and savor (and just know my summary isn't really doing some of these stories justice):
by - hotel housekeeper getting ready for Mars astronauts' pre-launch arrival while also dealing with her mother's dementia
by - 1910s alternate universe murder mystery
by - a collective in the mountains of Washington try to repel an invasion
by - a young girl tries to solve the yearly mystery of young women being kidnapped from the village
by - Customer service for prayers
by - a young woman decides to limit her life to her regular life plus 2 iterations, instead of the endless iterations others plan on.
by - steampunk Sherlock Holmes' origin story
by - dying or desperate people are given a one-way opportunity to go to Mars
by - stranded astronaut meets the other creature on the planet
by - after the war, two soliders from opposing sides play a game of chess
All of the stories are available individually online at tor.com:
And like any anthology, the stories are hit or miss with the reader. I'm not a big fan of the horror ones generally, but others may find those to be the best of this bunch. There's a wide enough range of stories that there's something for everyone.
These are the ones I know I will come back to again and again to reread and savor (and just know my summary isn't really doing some of these stories justice):
by - hotel housekeeper getting ready for Mars astronauts' pre-launch arrival while also dealing with her mother's dementia
by - 1910s alternate universe murder mystery
by - a collective in the mountains of Washington try to repel an invasion
by - a young girl tries to solve the yearly mystery of young women being kidnapped from the village
by - Customer service for prayers
by - a young woman decides to limit her life to her regular life plus 2 iterations, instead of the endless iterations others plan on.
by - steampunk Sherlock Holmes' origin story
by - dying or desperate people are given a one-way opportunity to go to Mars
by - stranded astronaut meets the other creature on the planet
by - after the war, two soliders from opposing sides play a game of chess
All of the stories are available individually online at tor.com:
April 28, 2021
As anthologies go, this was a pretty middle ground one as I found most of the stories readable. Some I really liked, others just went completely over my head wit their utter incomprehensible weirdness, and a few I regret spending my time reading because I had to start them to find out what they were about rather than being given a heads-up because...
A few are, infuriatingly, related to series/other published works and this isn't made clear anywhere. Also including the blurb for the story before it starts would be helpful a) to save time - if a story ain't your cuppa because you aren't into a certain genre/theme/level of Lovecraftian weirdness it'd be good to know early on, and b) you could specify that it was an off-shoot a ruddy series so it'd make sense only if you knew that particular series! (Sorry, massive hairy bugbear of mine that ruined a fair few of these for me).
My favorites were:
-The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allen (more emotional family piece with a space theme than sci-fi)
-Yours Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny (angels and demons run a call center for answering prayers while struggling with their own issues)
-The Three Lives of Sonata James by Lettie Prell (Ghost in the Shell style musings on being human and connecting with others delivered with emotional flair)
-Everything that isn't winter by Margaret Killjoy (love, loss and dystopian action in a drug-growing commune)
-The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr (gothic dark weird child-snatching)
-That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn (clever sci-fi about telepathy, chess, the art of randomness, and how war can just be... another mundane thing to be endured)
Also to note: typos. Not a lot, and not every story, but still I had a higher bar set for a publishing site's release. Sigh. But unlike many anthologies, the editing was consistent and they all had neat covers. Found me a few authors to keep an eye on.
A few are, infuriatingly, related to series/other published works and this isn't made clear anywhere. Also including the blurb for the story before it starts would be helpful a) to save time - if a story ain't your cuppa because you aren't into a certain genre/theme/level of Lovecraftian weirdness it'd be good to know early on, and b) you could specify that it was an off-shoot a ruddy series so it'd make sense only if you knew that particular series! (Sorry, massive hairy bugbear of mine that ruined a fair few of these for me).
My favorites were:
-The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allen (more emotional family piece with a space theme than sci-fi)
-Yours Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny (angels and demons run a call center for answering prayers while struggling with their own issues)
-The Three Lives of Sonata James by Lettie Prell (Ghost in the Shell style musings on being human and connecting with others delivered with emotional flair)
-Everything that isn't winter by Margaret Killjoy (love, loss and dystopian action in a drug-growing commune)
-The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr (gothic dark weird child-snatching)
-That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn (clever sci-fi about telepathy, chess, the art of randomness, and how war can just be... another mundane thing to be endured)
Also to note: typos. Not a lot, and not every story, but still I had a higher bar set for a publishing site's release. Sigh. But unlike many anthologies, the editing was consistent and they all had neat covers. Found me a few authors to keep an eye on.
April 13, 2020
...
Clover by Charlie Jane Anders 3 �
The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan 2 �
The Destroyer by Tara Isabella Burton 4 �
Traumphysik by Monica Byrne 3 �
The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell 4 �
Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard 4 �
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 5 �
Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das 3 �
Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage by Alix E. Harrow 5 �
The City Born Great by N. K. Jemisin 5 �
Everything That Isn't Winter by Margaret Killjoy 3 �
The Weight of Memories by Cixin Liu 5 �
The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr 4 �
The Caretakers by David Nickle 2 �
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny 4 �
meat+drink by Daniel Polansky 3 �
The Three Lives of Sonata James by Lettie Prell 3 �
The Great Detective by Delia Sherman 2 �
Finnegan’s Field by Angela Slatter 4 �
The Weather by Caighlan Smith 2 �
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar 4 �
Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra 4 �
La Beauté sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine 2 �
That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn 4 �
A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong 2 �
Clover by Charlie Jane Anders 3 �
The Art of Space Travel by Nina Allan 2 �
The Destroyer by Tara Isabella Burton 4 �
Traumphysik by Monica Byrne 3 �
The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell 4 �
Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard 4 �
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 5 �
Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das 3 �
Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage by Alix E. Harrow 5 �
The City Born Great by N. K. Jemisin 5 �
Everything That Isn't Winter by Margaret Killjoy 3 �
The Weight of Memories by Cixin Liu 5 �
The Maiden Thief by Melissa Marr 4 �
The Caretakers by David Nickle 2 �
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny 4 �
meat+drink by Daniel Polansky 3 �
The Three Lives of Sonata James by Lettie Prell 3 �
The Great Detective by Delia Sherman 2 �
Finnegan’s Field by Angela Slatter 4 �
The Weather by Caighlan Smith 2 �
Terminal by Lavie Tidhar 4 �
Her Scales Shine Like Music by Rajnar Vajra 4 �
La Beauté sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine 2 �
That Game We Played During the War by Carrie Vaughn 4 �
A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong 2 �
February 3, 2025
TW: Many of Storygraph’s content warnings listings would be applicable to some extent or other. I have reviewed each story separately if you have concerns. If you have particular content you need to avoid there is still many stories to enjoy in this collection.
The first story was Clover by Charlie Jane Anders which I had read twice before. I love it more each time I read it. My new favourite author is now Alix E Harrow whose Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half Savage was brilliant. If we rated 10j out of 10 it would be a 10.
my lowest rated stories were Breaking Water, La Beaute (sp!) sans vert, The Caretaker, and meat + drink, which I gave 3 stars to each. La Beaute (sp!) sans vert was the most meh for me. Which is to say it was worth the read, I just didn’t vibe with it as much as other stories. I am not much of a horror vampire reader so meat + drink was out of my normal genre.
Your Orisons May be Recorded is the funniest story of the collection. The Maiden Thief the most disturbing and if you have triggers this is the one you will want to check content warnings for.
My average star rating for the 25 stories in this collection was 4.44 each so I’m bumping up to 5 for the GoodReads rating.
Thank you to Tordotcom for making this collection available for free digitally. Twenty sixteen was a very good year for Tor.
The first story was Clover by Charlie Jane Anders which I had read twice before. I love it more each time I read it. My new favourite author is now Alix E Harrow whose Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half Savage was brilliant. If we rated 10j out of 10 it would be a 10.
my lowest rated stories were Breaking Water, La Beaute (sp!) sans vert, The Caretaker, and meat + drink, which I gave 3 stars to each. La Beaute (sp!) sans vert was the most meh for me. Which is to say it was worth the read, I just didn’t vibe with it as much as other stories. I am not much of a horror vampire reader so meat + drink was out of my normal genre.
Your Orisons May be Recorded is the funniest story of the collection. The Maiden Thief the most disturbing and if you have triggers this is the one you will want to check content warnings for.
My average star rating for the 25 stories in this collection was 4.44 each so I’m bumping up to 5 for the GoodReads rating.
Thank you to Tordotcom for making this collection available for free digitally. Twenty sixteen was a very good year for Tor.
May 16, 2025
Some of these stories are fantasy, while others are speculative fiction, science fiction, dystopian, horror or reworkings of literature. There is a wide variety of genres and emphases in this anthology.
Some of my favourites were Melissa Marr's "The Maiden Thief," a clever retelling of a well known folk tale, and Delia Sherman's humorous remodelling of Sherlock Holmes in "The Great Detective" to include mechanical hansoms, Welsh ghosts and lady sleuths.
Some of the horror pieces were really dark, especially "meat+drink" by Daniel Polansky and "Finnegan's Field" by Angela Slatter. (I remember reading the latter as a short single.)
Some of my favourites were Melissa Marr's "The Maiden Thief," a clever retelling of a well known folk tale, and Delia Sherman's humorous remodelling of Sherlock Holmes in "The Great Detective" to include mechanical hansoms, Welsh ghosts and lady sleuths.
Some of the horror pieces were really dark, especially "meat+drink" by Daniel Polansky and "Finnegan's Field" by Angela Slatter. (I remember reading the latter as a short single.)
December 13, 2022
When I first began this collection, I honestly wasn't sure that I would finish it. As is the nature of all story collections, even those by a singular author, but more so when the anthology is composed of works by a variety of authors, there are stories that keep you riveted & stories that, well, don't. I'm so glad that I stuck with it. The good stories in this collection were amazing. I would sit, breathless from racing through the pages, from holding my breath & just long for more of the world that I had been given a glimpse of.
February 23, 2025
This is a really good idea. Kind of like a tasting plate of authors that are likely new to many readers. Some of these I wrote down to look for their full length works. Some of them were not for me but I still enjoyed how original and creative each piece is. Not all anthologies of sort stories please this much but these really were well chosen. "Some of the best" they call it and they really are head and shoulders above most.
2016 was a long time ago I should look at some more recent ones too.
2016 was a long time ago I should look at some more recent ones too.
September 19, 2020
A very satisfying read. It runs the gamut - sci fi, fantasy, horror, alternate history. Some of the short stories are very clever and some of them are very dark. Almost all of them are excellent.
This is a well-curated collection with a diverse list of authors. I’ll be reading more from them and more of these anthologies. Well done Tor!
This is a well-curated collection with a diverse list of authors. I’ll be reading more from them and more of these anthologies. Well done Tor!
October 3, 2022
It took me nearly a year to read this entire collection because I spent entire months not reading it at all. Some stories I really enjoyed, while others felt too short or didn’t interest me as much. All in all, the whole thing felt a little long and it was hard for me to push through it. Because I still really enjoyed some stories, think this book was overall okay.
October 24, 2018
I found myself drawn into each new story like it was an oasis in the desert. Each story had poignant moments that made me laugh, think and even brood. I loved all of them. They are the best for a reason!
March 27, 2019
Excellent
Tor consistently delights me with most of their fiction. This was another excellent collection. Ninety five percent of the stories were great with just one or two lackluster and overly troped selections.
Tor consistently delights me with most of their fiction. This was another excellent collection. Ninety five percent of the stories were great with just one or two lackluster and overly troped selections.
September 19, 2021
Recent Reads: Some Of The Best From Tor.com 2016. Another collection of short fiction from the Tor web site; horror, fantasy, SF, and mixes of all the above. A fine sampling of a year in genre fiction, from authors at the beginnings of careers to familiar names.
March 4, 2023
Fair craft, just not for me
Even with a couple of yarns by authors from whom I have liked previous stories, I just can't get into these.
Don't know if it's just changed times, or what.
Even with a couple of yarns by authors from whom I have liked previous stories, I just can't get into these.
Don't know if it's just changed times, or what.
June 9, 2017
Four Hugo nominees, and a few others that wouldn't be out of place on the ballot. Not a single weak story. Excellent from beginning to end.
July 1, 2021
A good chunk of these stories don't really go anywhere, but the prose itself is terrific in each instance. A Dead Djinn in Cairo is the absolute standout.
July 23, 2021
Excellent
A fine read. Some are hard to follow but on the whole sort out fairly easily. All in all I am ready for another!
A fine read. Some are hard to follow but on the whole sort out fairly easily. All in all I am ready for another!
Read
November 16, 2021surprisingly ordinary collection of mundane science fiction filled to the brim with on-trend themes.
February 24, 2022
Tor
Entertaining stories from Tor. Over all very good. Some stories appealed to me more than others. My favorite was A Dead Djinn In Cairo.
Entertaining stories from Tor. Over all very good. Some stories appealed to me more than others. My favorite was A Dead Djinn In Cairo.
September 30, 2022
A very strong anthology
December 17, 2022
Multitude of science fiction stories, with different styles, guaranteeing that you'll like some more than others, understand some more than others
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