2017 short fiction - misc, by which I not-so-secretly mean Beneath Ceaseless Skies

I'm always like "do I really like second-world fantasy? maybe I'll just skip Beneath Ceaseless Skies" but the answer is that I really do like second-world fantasy, I just don't want to read a) too much of it in a row or b) any of it that doesn't immediately catch my interest with a good hook. But I'm glad to have read these.

Trette's Bones, Grace Seybold. Ok, this is basically "head of Vecna" only as a serious fantasy-horror story rather than a gaming joke, but, well, that's sort of interesting, right? NOVELETTE.

The Fisherman and the Pig, Kameron Hurley. Classic ex-mercenary fantasy with a neat twist.

Red Bark and Ambergris, Kate Marshall. I think stories about perfume artists fascinate me because my own sense of smell is so limited. So alien and magical!

Two Bodies in Basting Stitch, Allison Jamieson-Lucy. Romance vs revolution. By the author of one of my favorite stories this year, who I'm nominating for the Campbell.

Carnival Nine, Caroline M. Yoachim. Beautiful story about a windup family.

I Have Been Drowned in Rain, Carrie Vaughn. Is Vaughn's specialty "stories I wish there was a whole lot more of"?

Gravity's Exile, Grace Seybold. A neat world, some good images.

2017 favorite short fiction - preliminary 2018 Hugo-nominating post

I wanted to see if I could get some initial leanings out there before the Locus list and Nebula nominees. I believe the Locus list just came out today but I haven't looked yet so technically this counts. :) I'm not quite "done" reading, so this is all subject to change, but it's where I am as of right now.

Novellas, novelettes, and short stories, behind the cut.

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the 2017 Locus List

Let's talk about the Locus list! I saw some statistics a few years ago about how well the Locus list predicts awards ballots, like, how often does something make it onto the Hugo or Nebula ballot that wasn't on the Locus list, but I haven't been able to find that again, and anyways I suppose recent data would be more interesting than years-old data and if I wanted to run these numbers I could just do it myself already. Anyways my sense is that it's pretty unlikely. So, with that in mind...

What's *not* on the Locus list

I'm *crushed* to not see Thick As Thieves. That's a major blow to my hopes of seeing it on the Norton (Nebula YA) or Lodestar (Hugo YA) ballots, or to seeing the series make the Hugo Series ballot.

I'm also surprised not to see "Small Changes Over Long Periods Of Time", the trans vampire novelette that was one of my favorite things this year! Man, I thought that was good. Alas. And sad not to see "The Birding: A Fairy Tale", which I liked better than the Strange Horizons novelette that did get on the ballot (and was the only SH story to make the ballot). "Interchange", my third prospective nominee not to make it, I may in fact throw over the side in favor of "Secret Life of Bots" or "Pan-Humanism: Hope and Pragmatics", which did. ("Pragmatics" for pragmatic reasons would amuse me.)

In short stories, no Locus love for "Watershed" or "Reap", but that's short stories for you. They will not be budged from my own list.

What *is* on the Locus list

In Other Lands! I mean, I thought it was *pretty* likely, buzz has been good, but it was a relief to see it there.

Also Proof of Concept, in the novellas. HOW.

Some numbers

Because I like numbers.

26 novellas: 4 I have recommended, 1 I have read and not recommended, and 21 I have not read (although I plan to read at least two more of those). Let's call that 15% agreement, 4% disagreement, and 81% non-overlap.

42 novelettes: 10 I have recommended, 7 I have read and not recommended, and 25 I have not read. 24% agreement, 17% disagreement, 60% non-overlap.

55 short stories: 14 I have recommended, 11 I have read and not recommended, and 30 I have not read. 25% agreement, 20% disagreement, 55% non-overlap.

Novels

I still have high hopes of reading several 2017 novels I haven't yet so I'm mostly not engaged with the question of novels at this time. I assume at some point I will talk more about novels.