Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2012 Edition. edited by Liz Gorinsky, David G. Hartwell, and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
SOME OF THE BEST FROM TOR.COM: 2012 EDITION
RATED 90% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE 4.10 OUT OF 5
10 STORIES : 3 GREAT / 5 GOOD / 2 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
Doc Holliday leads a group of women into a spaceship that crashed in the desert. A young girl takes her imaginary friend to school. Werewolves hunt terrorists in a far away land. A pregnant scientist jump in and out of her past and future, but only on Christmas. One painter destroys what she paints. A doctor carves the memory of murder into the killer’s flesh as a design.
There are lots to enjoy in the brief anthology from Tor.com, a superb online magazine. All of the stories in this anthology can be read for free online.
There were three new additions to the Great Stories List.
Dormanna • short story by Gene Wolfe. Beautiful SF fairy tale of a young girl who takes to school what she believes is an imaginary friend, but really is an information gathering device for a large alien. One of the few stories of Wolfe’s that are not only elegantly profound, but are easily understood on the first read. Read it for free here.
A Tall Tail • short story by Charles Stross. A very dry, droll, and hilarious story. A conversation in a hotel bar leads to a tall tail about a dangerous rocket fuel concept leaked to the USSR by the CIA in the 1980s to try to get them to destroy themselves. Read it for free here.
The Ghosts of Christmas • novelette by Paul Cornell. A woman invents a new technology and experiments with it while pregnant. The device allows time travel into the past and future, but only on the same day each year. And only within your own body of that time. The results are painful, destructive, and addicting. Read it for free here.
SOME OF THE BEST FROM TOR.COM: 2012 EDITION IS RATED 90% POSITIVE.
10 STORIES : 3 GREAT / 5 GOOD / 2 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
How do I arrive at a rating?
Dormanna • short story by Gene Wolfe
Great. Beautiful SF fairy tale of a young girl who takes to school what she believes is an imaginary friend, but really is an information gathering device for a large alien.
Portrait of Lisane de Patagnia • novelette by Rachel Swirsky
Good. Fantasy. A painter who destroys the things she paints, while also immortalizing them on canvas, is summoned to paint her abusive mentor on her deathbed.
The Mongolian Wizard • short story by Michael Swanwick
Good. Fast-paced and fun fantasy with wizards, very small soldiers, and werewolf guards. There is a grand meeting of powerful people, but one of them is a spy for the feared (but distant) Mongolian Wizard.
A Tall Tail • short story by Charles Stross
Great. A very dry, droll, and hilarious story. A conversation in a hotel bar leads to a tall tail about a dangerous rocket fuel concept leaked to the USSR by the CIA in the 1980s to try to get them to destroy themselves.
The Ghosts of Christmas • novelette by Paul Cornell
Great. A woman invents a new technology and experiments with it while pregnant. The device allows time travel into the past and future, but only on the same day each year. And only within your own body of that time. The results are painful, destructive, and addicting.
The Finite Canvas • novelette by Brit Mandelo
Good. A doctor in a clinic in what used be India, in the slums of Earth, is thrust into a situation where she has to creatively scar a Syndicate Assassin has a commemoration for the assassins most recent murder.
Am I Free to Go? • novelette by Kathryn Cramer
Average. Slightly convoluted story about private prisons, police overreach, and the power to strike back using computers.
About Fairies • short story by Pat Murphy
Good. Perhaps fantasy, perhaps not. A woman works at a tech company on a fairy design project while her Father is dying.
Our Human • novelette by Adam-Troy Castro
Average. Four beings with monstrous histories explore a dangerous and primitive planet to attempt to capture an even bigger monster known as the Beast Magrison.
Faster Gun • novelette by Elizabeth Bear
Good. Doc Holliday escorts some women from the future to explore a spaceship that crashed in the desert. Lots of fun.
