E. Lily Yu was the recipient of the 2017 Artist Trust LaSalle Storyteller Award and the 2012 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her stories have appeared in publications ranging from McSweeney’s to Tor.com, as well as multiple best-of-the-year anthologies, and been finalists for the Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards.
■ This story precipitated, crystalline and complete, from a clear-sighted fury in August 2016. It was accepted for publication on January 31, 2017, four days after the signing of Executive Order 13769, and published in Terraform a week later. It is as close as I come to pitching a brick through a window.
Notable Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories of 2017
Selected by John Joseph Adams
Abraham, Daniel
The Mocking Tower. The Book of Swords, ed. Gardner Dozois (Bantam)
Anders, Charlie Jane
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime. Cosmic Powers, ed. John Joseph Adams (Saga)
Arimah, Lesley Nneka
What Is a Volcano? What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky (Riverhead)
Bardugo, Leigh
Ayama and the Thorn Wood. The Language of Thorns (Imprint)
Barnes, Steven
Mozart on the Kalahari. Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities, ed. Ed Finn & Joey Eschrich (Arizona State University Center for Science and the Imagination)
Barnhill, Kelly
Probably Still the Chosen One. Lightspeed Magazine, February
Bear, Elizabeth
What Someone Else Does Not Want Printed. Slate, February (special issue: The Trump Story Project, ed. Ben H. Winters)
Bigelow, Susan Jane
The Heart’s Cartography. Lightspeed Magazine, May
Brin, David, and Tobias S. Buckell
High Awareness. Overview: Stories in the Stratosphere, ed. Michael G. Bennett, Joey Eschrich, & Ed Finn (Arizona State University Center for Science and the Imagination)
Broaddus, Maurice
Ah Been Buked. The Voices of Martyrs (Rosarium)
Dance of Bones. Straight Outta Tombstone, ed. David Boop (Baen)
Vade Retro Satana. FIYAH, Spring
Cypess, Leah
On the Ship. Asimov’s Science Fiction, May–June
Fawver, Kurt
The Convexity of Our Youth. Looming Low, Volume I, ed. Justin Steele & Sam Cowan (Dim Shores)
Fowler, Karen Joy
Persephone of the Crows. Asimov’s Science Fiction, May–June
The Treasures of the Gods. Norse Mythology (Norton)
Headley, Maria Dahvana
Astronaut. Tor.com, March
The Thule Stowaway. Uncanny, January–February
Hill, Joseph Allen
Infinite Love Engine. Lightspeed Magazine, April
Howey, Hugh
Full Unemployment. Seat 14C (XPRIZE Foundation)
Machine Learning. Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Hurley, Kameron
The Fisherman and the Pig. Beneath Ceaseless Skies, September
Kanakia, Rahul
Bodythoughts. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September–October
Kayembe, Kathleen
The Faerie Tree. Lightspeed Magazine, November
Kim, Alice Sola
One Hour, Every Seven Years. McSweeney’s, no. 49
Kornher-Stace, Nicole
Last Chance. Clarkesworld Magazine, July
Kritzer, Naomi
Paradox. Uncanny, May–June
Larson, Rich
An Evening with Severyn Grimes. Asimov’s Science Fiction, July–August
You Too Shall Be Psyche. Apex Magazine, February
Liu, Ken
The Hidden Girl. The Book of Swords, ed. Gardner Dozois (Bantam)
Lynch, Scott
The Smoke of Gold Is Glory. The Book of Swords, ed. Gardner Dozois (Bantam)
Machado, Carmen Maria
Blur. Tin House, no. 72, Summer Reading
McGuire, Seanan
McHugh, Maureen
Sidewalks. Omni, Winter
Muhammad-Ali, Khaalidah
Concessions. Strange Horizons, March
Naam, Ramez, and Jason M. Hough
All Together Now. Mech: Age of Steel, ed. Tim Marquitz & Melanie Meadors (Ragnarok)
Nagata, Linda
The Martian Obelisk. Tor.com, July
Narayan, Shweta
World of the Three. Lightspeed Magazine, June
Nevala-Lee, Alec
The Proving Ground. Analog Science Fiction & Fact, January–February
Osborne, Karen
An Equal Share of the Bone. Escape Pod, November
Parypinski, Joanna
We Are Turning on a Spindle. Nightmare Magazine, October
Phetteplace, Dominica
Seven Ways to Fall in Love with an Astronaut. Analog Science Fiction & Fact, May–June
Pi, Tony
That Lingering Sweetness. Beneath Ceaseless Skies, April
Rustad, A. Merc
For Now, Sideways. Diabolical Plots, August
Samatar, Sofia
An Account of the Land of Witches. Tender: Stories (Small Beer)
Santos, Rodello
In the Shade of the Pixie Tree. Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March
Scholz, Carter
Vanguard 2.0. Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities, ed. Ed Finn & Joey Eschrich (Arizona State University Center for Science and the Imagination)
Schroeder, Karl
Eminence. Chasing Shadows: Visions of Our Coming Transparent World, ed. David Brin & Stephen W. Potts (Tor)
Shawl, Nisi
Skillingstead, Jack
The Sum of Her Expectations. Clarkesworld Magazine, October
Tanzer, Molly
Nine-Tenths of the Law. Lightspeed Magazine, January
Thomas, Sheree Renee
Aunt Dissy’s Policy Dream Book. Apex Magazine, April
Tobler, E. Catherine
Baroness. Clarkesworld Magazine, May
Tolbert, Jeremiah
The West Topeka Triangle. Lightspeed Magazine, January
Turnbull, Cadwell
Other Worlds and This One. Asimov’s Science Fiction, July–August
Vaughn, Carrie
Dead Men in Central City. Asimov’s Science Fiction, September–October
Wiggins, Troy L.
Black Like Them. Fireside Fiction, January
Wilson, Kai Ashante
The Lamentation of Their Women. Tor.com, August
Yant, Christie
Things That Creep and Bind. The Sum of Us: Tales of the Bonded and Bound, ed. Susan Forest & Lucas K. Law (Laksa Media Groups)
Visit www.hmhco.com to find all of the books in the Best American series.
About the Editors
N. K. Jemisin, guest editor, is the author of several novels, including The Fifth Season, which won the Locus and Hugo awards. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
John Joseph Adams, series editor, is the editor of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s John Joseph Adams Books imprint, as well as numerous anthologies and the magazines Lightspeed and Nightmare. He lives on the Central Coast of California.
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