The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 24 Read online

  Gardner Dozois edited Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine for twenty years. He has won the Hugo Award for Best Editor fifteen times and has also received numerous Nebula Awards. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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  Constable & Robinson Ltd

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  First published in the US as

  The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-eighth Annual Collection,

  by St Martin’s Griffin, a division of St Martin’s Press, 2011

  First published in the UK by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2011

  Copyright © Gardner Dozois, 2011 (unless otherwise stated)

  The right of Gardner Dozois to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in

  Publication Data is available from the British Library

  ISBN: 978-1-84901-373-4

  eISBN: 978-1-84901-769-5

  Printed and bound in the UK

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  CONTENTS

  Permissions

  Acknowledgments

  Summation: 2010

  A HISTORY OF TERRAFORMING • Robert Reed

  THE SPONTANEOUS KNOTTING OF AN AGITATED STRING • Lavie Tidhar

  THE EMPEROR OF MARS • Allen M. Steele

  THE THINGS • Peter Watts

  THE SULTAN OF THE CLOUDS • Geoffrey A. Landis

  THE BOOKS • Kage Baker

  RE-CROSSING THE STYX • Ian R. MacLeod

  AND MINISTERS OF GRACE • Tad Williams

  MAMMOTHS OF THE GREAT PLAINS • Eleanor Arnason

  SLEEPING DOGS • Joe Haldeman

  JACKIE’S BOY • Steven Popkes

  FLYING IN THE FACE OF GOD • Nina Allan

  CHICKEN LITTLE • Cory Doctorow

  FLOWER, MERCY, NEEDLE, CHAIN • Yoon Ha Lee

  RETURN TO TITAN • Stephen Baxter

  UNDER THE MOONS OF VENUS • Damien Broderick

  SEVEN YEARS FROM HOME • Naomi Novik

  THE PEACOCK CLOAK • Chris Beckett

  AMARYLLIS • Carrie Vaughn

  SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD • David Moles

  AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN • Rachel Swirsky

  ELEGY FOR A YOUNG ELK • Hannu Rajaniemi

  LIBERTARIAN RUSSIA • Michael Swanwick

  THE NIGHT TRAIN • Lavie Tidhar

  MY FATHER’S SINGULARITY • Brenda Cooper

  THE STARSHIP MECHANIC • Jay Lake and Ken Scholes

  SLEEPOVER • Alastair Reynolds

  THE TASTE OF NIGHT • Pat Cadigan

  BLIND CAT DANCE • Alexander Jablokov

  THE SHIPMAKER • Aliette de Bodard

  IN-FALL • Ted Kosmatka

  CHIMBWI • Jim Hawkins

  DEAD MAN’S RUN • Robert Reed

  Honorable Mentions: 2010

  PERMISSIONS

  “A History of Terraforming,” by Robert Reed. Copyright © 2010 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, July 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Spontaneous Knotting of an Agitated String,” by Lavie Tidhar. Copyright © 2010 by Lavie Tidhar. First published electronically in Fantasy Magazine, May 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Emperor of Mars,” by Allen M. Steele. Copyright © 2010 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Things,” by Peter Watts. Copyright © 2010 by Peter Watts. First published electronically on Clarkesworld, January 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Sultan of the Clouds,” by Geoffrey A. Landis. Copyright © 2010 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, September 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Books,” by Kage Baker. Copyright © 2010 by Kage Baker. First published in The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF (Robinson), edited by Mike Ashley. Reprinted by permission of the author’s Estate and the author’s agent, Linn Prentis.

  “Re-crossing the Styx,” by Ian R. MacLeod. Copyright © 2010 by Spilogale, Inc. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “And Ministers of Grace,” by Tad Williams. Copyright © 2010 by Tad Williams. First published in Warriors (Tor), edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Mammoths of the Great Plains,” by Eleanor Arnason. Copyright © 2010 by Eleanor Arnason. First published in Mammoths of the Great Plains (PM Press). Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Sleeping Dogs,” by Joe Haldeman. Copyright © 2010 by Joe Haldeman. First published in Gateways (Tor), edited by Elizabeth A. Hull. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Jackie’s Boy,” by Steven Popkes. Copyright © 2010 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, April/May 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Flying in the Face of God,” by Nina Allan. Copyright © 2010 by Interzone. First published in Interzone 227. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Chicken Little,” by Cory Doctorow. First published in Gateways (Tor), edited by Elizabeth A. Hull. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain,” by Yoon Ha Lee. First published electronically in Lightspeed, September 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.
r />   “Return to Titan,” by Stephen Baxter. Copyright © 2010 by Stephen Baxter. First published in Godlike Machines (Science Fiction Book Club), edited by Jonathan Strahan. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Under the Moons of Venus,” by Damien Broderick. First published electronically in Subterranean, Spring 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Seven Years from Home,” by Naomi Novik. Copyright © 2010 by Naomi Novik. First published in Warriors (Tor), edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Peacock Cloak,” by Chris Beckett. Copyright © 2010 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Amaryllis,” by Carrie Vaughn. Copyright © 2010 by Carrie Vaughn. First published electronically in Lightspeed, June 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Seven Cities of Gold,” by David Moles. Copyright © 2010 by David Moles. First published in Seven Cities of Gold (PS Publishing). Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Again and Again and Again,” by Rachel Swirsky. Copyright © 2010 by Interzone. First published in Interzone 226. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Elegy for a Young Elk,” by Hannu Rajaniemi. Copyright © 2010 by Hannu Rajaniemi. First published electronically in Subterranean, Spring 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Libertarian Russia,” by Michael Swanwick. Copyright © 2010 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, December 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Night Train,” by Lavie Tidhar. Copyright © 2010 by Lavie Tidhar. First published electronically in Strange Horizons, June 14, 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “My Father’s Singularity,” by Brenda Cooper. Copyright © 2010 by Brenda Cooper. First published electronically in Clarkesworld, June 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Starship Mechanic,” by Jay Lake and Ken Scholes. Copyright © 2010 by Jay Lake and Ken Scholes. First published electronically in Tor.com. Reprinted by permission of the authors.

  “Sleepover,” by Alastair Reynolds. Copyright © 2010 by Alastair Reynolds. First published in The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF (Robinson), edited by Mike Ashley. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Taste of Night,” by Pat Cadigan. Copyright © 2010 by Pat Cadigan. First published in Is Anybody Out There? (DAW), edited by Nick Gevers and Marty Halpern. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Blind Cat Dance,” by Alexander Jablokov. Copyright © 2010 by Dell Magazines. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Shipmaker,” by Aliette de Bodard. Copyright © 2010 by Interzone. First published in Interzone 231. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “In-fall,” by Ted Kosmatka. Copyright © 2010 by Ted Kosmatka. First published electronically in Lightspeed, December 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Chimbwi,” by Jim Hawkins. Copyright © 2010 by Interzone. First published in Interzone 227. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Dead Man’s Run,” by Robert Reed. Copyright © 2010 by Spilogale, Inc. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2010. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The editor would like to thank the following people for their help and support: Susan Casper, Jonathan Strahan, Gordon Van Gelder, Ellen Datlow, Sean Wallace, Peter Crowther, Nicolas Gevers, William Shaffer, Ian Whates, Andy Cox, Paula Guran, Dario Ciriello, Jay Lake, Lavie Tidhar, Robert Wexler, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Torie Atkinson, Eric T. Reynolds, George Mann, Jennifer Brehl, Peter Tennant, Susan Marie Groppi, Karen Meisner, John Joseph Adams, Wendy S. Delmater, Jed Hartman, Rich Horton, Mark R. Kelly, Andrew Wilson, Damien Broderick, Lou Anders, Patrick Swenson, Sheila Williams, Brian Bieniowski, Trevor Quachri, Robert T. Wexler, Michael Swanwick, Stephen Baxter, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Ted Kosmatka, Cory Doctorow, Charles Ardai, Naomi Novik, Tad Williams, Deborah Beale, Otto Penzler, Jenny Blackford, Joe Haldeman, Elizabeth A. Hull, Jim Frenkel, Geoffrey A. Landis, Eleanor Arnason, L. Timmel Duchamp, Ian R. MacLeod, Hannu Rajaniemi, Allen Steele, John Jarrold, Yoon Ha Lee, David Moles, Jim Hawkins, Carrie Vaughn, Chris Beckett, Nina Allan, Ken Scholes, Alex Jablokov, James Patrick Kelly, Linn Prentis, Pat Cadigan, Liz Gorinsky, Mike Resnick, Aliette de Bodard, Rachel Swirsky, Brenda Cooper, David Rivera, Leo Korogodski, Ian Tregillis, Felicity Shoulders, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Gord Sellar, Stephen Popkes, Eric Choi, Damien Broderick, Peter Watts, Alastair Reynolds, Robert Reed, Maureen McHugh, David Hartwell, Ginjer Buchanan, Susan Allison, Shawna McCarthy, Kelly Link, Gavin Grant, John Klima, John O’Neill, Charles Tan, Rodger Turner, Tyree Campbell, Stuart Mayne, John Kenny, Edmund Schubert, Tehani Wessely, Tehani Croft, Karl Johanson, Sally Beasley, Tony Lee, Joe Vas, John Pickrell, Ian Redman, Anne Zanoni, Kaolin Fire, Ralph Benko, Paul Graham Raven, Nick Wood, Mike Allen, Jason Sizemore, Karl Johanson, Sue Miller, David Lee Summers, Christopher M. Cevasco, Tyree Campbell, Andrew Hook, Vaughne Lee Hansen, Mark Watson, Sarah Lumnah, and special thanks to my own editor, Marc Resnick.

  Thanks are also due to the late, lamented Charles N. Brown, and to all his staff, whose magazine Locus (Locus Publications, P. O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661. $60 in the United States for a one-year subscription [twelve issues] via second class; credit card orders 510-339-9198) was used as an invaluable reference source throughout the summation; Locus Online (www.locusmag.com), edited by Mark R. Kelly, has also become a key reference source.

  SUMMATION: 2010

  The big story in 2010 was the explosion in e-book sales, something that some industry commentators have seen coming for a long time now, but which has come to a boil faster and more extensively than almost anybody predicted that it would.

  This market started to accelerate in 2007, with the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle, the first portable e-book reader, but the lid really blew off this year when Amazon lowered the purchase price for the Kindle down to $139, with the introduction of competing devices such as Apple’s iPad and Barnes & Noble’s NOOK, and with the founding of “online bookstores” by Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Google where products for these devices can be purchased. Amazon has announced that the third-generation Kindle is the bestselling product in its history, having sold “millions” (no exact figures are available) in 2010 alone, and the NOOK is similarly Barnes & Noble’s biggest seller in its forty-year history; Apple’s iPad – which has other functions, so it is technically a touch screen media tablet rather than an e-reader, but you can still read e-books on it, and that’s probably a fairly common use for it – sold 3.27 million units in its first three months after its April 2010 release, and is projected to hit 28 million units sold in 2011. According to a survey of more than 6,000 book shoppers carried out by Codex Group, 21 percent of them now own e-readers or tablet computers.

  And, of course, all these people who now own e-readers or tablet computers now want something to read on them.

  According to Amazon, e-books are now outselling both hardcover and paperback print books – they’re selling three times as many e-books as hardcovers, 180 of them for every 100 hardcovers sold, and selling 115 e-books for every 100 paperbacks sold. The Association of American Publishers estimates that from January to August of 2010, the sales of e-books were up from $166.9 million in 2009 to $441 million in 2010, an increase of 164.4 percent, which means that e-books now account for 10 percent of all consumer book sales in the United States, up from 3.31 percent in 2009. And these figures were from before the Christmas rush, which saw millions of Kindles, NOOKs, and iPads bought as Christmas presents, with the attendant purchase of e-books to read on them – Barnes & Noble alone reports nearly one million e-books purchased and downloaded just on Christmas Day. At the same time, the AAP report for October shows sales of print books down at $721 million, a 0.9 percent drop from October the year before,
and the U.S. Census Bureau preliminary report for October shows bookstore sales of $1.0 billion, down 2.5 percent from October 2009; year-to-date sales were also down 2.5 percent, to $13.3 billion. When comparing print and e-book sales for the first three-quarters of 2010, AAP figures show print trade sales from the five major categories down 7.5 percent, while e-book sales rose 188.4 percent for the same period.

  All this has prompted some commentators to predict a publishing apocalypse, where print books go out of existence altogether, physical brick-and-mortar bookstores become extinct, and even the publishing companies themselves die, since now that authors can put e-books together themselves and sell them on online bookstores, they have no need of publishers anymore.

  I don’t think that this is likely to happen. Although it’s clear that e-books are cannibalizing the print book market to some extent, with some consumers opting to buy the cheaper e-books rather than the more expensive print editions, that doesn’t mean that people are going to stop buying print books altogether. The fact is that more books, both print and digital, are being sold than ever before. Amazon may be selling 115 e-books for every 100 paperbacks sold – but they’re still selling those 100 paperbacks. Amazon’s Russ Grandinetti has commented that “our print business continues to grow. We see e-books as an additive more than a substitute,” and Scott Lubeck of the Book Industry Study Group has pointed out that “it’s good for readers, and reading is good for publishing.” For the foreseeable future, a sizeable percentage of people are going to prefer print books to e-books, and browsing at physical brick-and-mortar bookstores to shopping for books online, and many writers are not going to have either the inclination or the skill set necessary to publish their own e-books themselves, even though current technology makes that possible (and a certain number will do just that, some successfully, some not; publishing houses won’t be going away anytime soon, though). For that matter, although this is a factor not taken into consideration in most conversations of this sort, even here in the twenty-first century there are still plenty of people who don’t have e-readers, don’t have Internet access, don’t even have computers of any sort, and to ignore them would be to abandon a considerable subset of potential customers. Even people too poor to afford an iPad or a Kindle may still pick up a mass-market paperback from time to time.