Me lion, Dec 31 the conclusion.

In fond remembrance of the year nearly done, here are a few more recommendations that the madness of pre-Christmas prevented me from telling our beloved readership about...

Livia Llewellyn, "The Four Hundred Thousand," Subterranean Online Fall 2007. Cloning is a standard topic of scifi these days. What Llewellyn has in this story is close to cloning, but not quite - and the focus isn't the product but the humans involved beforehand. Just a bit heartbreaking.

Tom Doyle, "The Wizard of Macatawa," in Paradox 11. I've never read The Wizard of Oz - is that bad? At any rate, Baum lived in Macatawa, and this story indulges in a bit of hero worship, a bit of time travel, and some great characters.

I've slowly been reading The New Space Opera, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Gardner Dozois. It's a great big fat book - some of the stories, I think, really strained the definition of short story; they were certainly novellas, if not nearly chapbooks in their own rights. At any rate, I decided to pace myself in reading this, because I am an absolute sucker for space opera. I adored large chunks of this anthology, but my absolute favourites were:
Alastair Reynolds, "Minla's Flowers." I'll admit that I was biased right from the start - although half way through the book, I read this story first, because I've got a bit of a fangirl thing for Reynolds. This story is a delightful example of his ability to write sustained, cohesive narrative over large portions of time. His development of the characters was beautiful, and entirely believable; the situation is tragic but, again, all too believable.
I know she's been writing for a while, but Nancy Kress has been something of a find for me this year, and "The Art of War" has reinforced that. Looking at the idea of how humans will deal with alien contact, she suggests a surprising kind of alien and an all-too-familiar human response.
Walter Jon Williams, "Send Them Flowers," is one of the more whimsical pieces in this anthology. At heart, a romance - with a message most blokes would do well to heed - it also has an interesting perspective on how capitalism on a truly grand scale might look.

Elizabeth Bear, New Amsterdam, Subterranean Press. A novel-like book, with five short stories (more like novellas, I think), that all connect up beautifully. There will be a fuller review of this appearing soon...

Rachel Swirsky, "Heartstrung," Interzone 210. A lovely, heartbreaking story of a girl, her mother, and the decisions that are made for us.

Yes, I admit it's been odd sometimes being the fourth person in this little project, with the other three involved in map-cap enterprises like Twelfth Planet Press - and then reading what they put out. But I really do have to include some of their stories here:
Sue Isle, "The Sun People," Shiny 1. We really are obsessed with water, aren't we, in Australia? And reading this made me wonder if my fellows over in WA really do feel quite so cut off from the eastern powerhouse and portrayed here...
Trent Jamieson (again), "Cracks," Shiny 2. It's an amazing piece of writing, with great characters and a really novel approach to death.

Richard Harland, "Corpus," Dark Animus 10/11. Another alien-contact story - this time the aliens offer something that seems absolutely wonderful. But, of course, humans are always so darned suspicious...

The Worker's Paradise, edited by Russell Farr, came out at a time when Work Choices and all the accompanying blather was current; very timely. I enjoyed most of the stories - especially those by Cat Sparks, Rowena Cory Daniells, Nathan Burrage, and Dirk Flinthart. Although it's not mine, you should read the review over at ASiF!

Terry Dowling, "Swordplay," Rynemonn. Not sure I like the idea of a sentient sword, to be honest, but I did like how Tom dealt with it.

Check back here early in the new year for our list of the Year's Best, and then possibly individual lists, with all the attendant snarking I'm sure you're all looking forward to.

So we're in the final stages now.... just tidying up a few stories I've not yet mentioned.

Vandana Singh's Of Love and Other Monsters is a singly published novella (or novelette?) from Aqueduct publishing. It's the story of a young man with magical powers, and the figures around him who try to help and hinder him. The strength of the story lies in its likeable and believable central character, and the non-cliched interactions.

Logorrhea is up there among the best anthologies of the year. The anthology opens with Hal Duncan's The Chiaroscurist, to my mind the strongest of Duncan's short work that I've encountered. It's the story of a painter, painting a church wall, and his interactions with the priest, his subject and the other townspeople. This is the simplest story I've seen the author tackle, and that's precisely why it works so well. Elegant, gentle and moving.

I enjoyed Daniel Abraham's story The Cambist and Lord Iron, the story of a simple accountant who finds himself drawn into the machinations of a nasty, dangerous man, and the manner in which he deals with these events. The structure of the story is simple, and the threat is palpable. What's more, the logical and intelligent solutions are intriguing.

Tim Pratt's From Around Here presents an imaginative and original type of magic, through the eyes of a mysterious young man (of sorts), who arrives in a new neighbourhood and must attempt to discover the threat which lurks there. Pratt's writing is beautiful and his characters drew me in. It's a very human story, with a warm heart. Highly recommended.

Matthew Cheney's The Last Elegy was my other favourite from the collection. A story of literate types mooching around Paris, it centres on grief and on the difficulty of communication. The central character revisits an old relationship with an interesting twist, and must attempt to come to terms with his complicated feelings. I wasn't sure there were any genre elements in the story at all, but I have no hesitation in recommending it anyway. It's a complex and moving read.

Faraji, from Will Ludwigsen, in Weird Tales #344, is a story of a man trapped in an Africa prison and the strange fantastic person who comes to his aid. The story works largely because of the interesting backdrop but it also develops well.

Corpus, by Richard Harland, from Dark Animus #10/11, is a nice, creepy story of aliens who offer humanity their aid, and the sinister flipside to their gift. The story manages to conjure quite a nice sense of menace, and the revelation was well conceived.

I liked And Now Abideth These Three, another strong YA tale from Sherwood Smith. Published in Coyote Wild, it's a simple story about a young girl surrounded by mean girls at a party, and the things she can see that they can't. Well characterised and nicely paced, the story carried me along and was very engaging.

And that's it for 2007!

Current Music: Ben Folds - Too Late