S.L Gilbow's story Rebecca's Locket, from May's F&SF, is a disturbing story about one potential application of technology in coping with grief, and the emotional dilemma it creates. A nicely written short piece.

And from the same issue, another strong Robert Reed story, Reunion, in which a group of suspiciously successful seniors reunite down the track, and a curious stranger tries to understand what makes them all so special. It's typically full of Reedian menace, with a satisfying conclusion.

Clearly this looks like being Reed's year, for me, because I also really enjoyed his short piece, Character Flu, in F&SF's June issue. A story about a pandemic of fictional characters, it's a clever idea well executed.

Tokyo Rising by Lynne Hawkinson, from Strange Horizons, is a nice giant monster story, set in a Japan of mythic proportions, full of daikaiju and meteors, it works by setting the large scale against the small scale; the monumental destruction against the emotional relation of father and daughter. A nicely written story.

Also from Strange Horizons, I really enjoyed Corie Ralston's Looking for Friendship, Maybe More, a witty take on alien invasion which takes place entirely on an interenet message-board. It plays with types and satires some cliches of internet communities. A clever idea and an amusing method of telling.