The Top Ten Fucking Amazingest Stories I've Read This Year (so far)

Despite the Top Ten billing on this, I'm not actually ranking them in any order. That would be WAY too difficult. Already I'm having to cull out so many amazing stories. SO MANY. Think of it this way: when I do the Monthly Round, I recommend nine different stories. A month. I now have to pick out ten stories for six months. But armed with my newly updated spreadsheet I will make the attempt!

What's clear to me now is that short fiction is amazing. There is obviously too much put out for one person to really do it justice. I read what I can, but I struggle with even that. Obviously I miss some of the largest publications like Asimov's and Fantasy and Science Fiction and Analog and such. Mostly I stick to the smaller places that put their stuff up for free online because I'm not incredibly wealthy and I just don't have the time, and not reading those places means I can spotlight some smaller publications that are very good. Anyway, I'm rambling a bit and should just get on with the stories. HERE THEY ARE!

• "Descent" by Carmen Maria Machado (Nightmare) (February)

• "The Language of Knives" by Haralambi Markov (Tor) (February)

• "A Sister's Weight in Stone" by JY Yang (Apex) (May)

• "Everyone's a Clown" by Caroline M. Yoachim (Unlikely Story) (April)

• "The Heat of Us: Towards an Oral History" by Sam J. Miller (Uncanny) (January)

• "The Shape of My Name" by Nino Cipri (Tor) (March)

• "The Half-Dark Promise" by Malon Edwards (Shimmer) (January)

• "Forestspirit, Forestspirit" by Bogi Takács (Clarkesworld) (June)

• "Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds" by R.B. Lemberg (Beneath Ceaseless Skies) (June)

• "Documentary" by Vajra Chandrasekera (Lightspeed) (March)

I toyed around with the idea of giving little blurbs about these stories but between the original Quick Sips and then the Monthly Rounds (yes, all of these stories have...or will [spoilers!] appear in Monthly Rounds) I have already reviewed them twice and I really should just need to say that they are amazing and you should go give them a read (if you have not already).

Anyway, there is my list. Thank you all for reading!

All the best,

Charles Payseur