“The Tale of the Wicked” in the 21st Century Science Fiction anthology
Posted on November 8, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 19 Comments
I would be remiss if I did not note that my story “The Tale of the Wicked” is in the new anthology 21st Century Science Fiction, edited by David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden, which came out this week and is in available in North American bookstores (and maybe other places in the world; honestly I get confused about all that at this point).
Who else is in the book? Here’s the table of contents:
- “Infinities” by Vandana Singh
- “Rogue Farm” by Charles Stross
- “The Gambler” by Paolo Bacigalupi
- “Strood” by Neal Asher
- “Eros, Philia, Agape” by Rachel Swirsky
- “The Tale Of The Wicked” by John Scalzi
- “Bread And Bombs” by M. Rickert
- “The Waters Of Meribah” by Tony Ballantyne
- “Tk’tk’tk” by David Levine
- “The Nearest Thing” by Genevieve Valentine
- “Erosion” by Ian Creasey
- “The Calculus Plague” by Marissa Lingen
- “One Of Our Bastards Is Missing” by Paul Cornell
- “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear
- “Finisterra” by David Moles
- “Evil Robot Monkey” by Mary Robinette Kowal
- “The Education Of Junior Number 12″ by Madeline Ashby
- “Toy Planes” by Tobias Buckell
- “The Algorithms For Love” by Ken Liu
- “The Albian Message” by Oliver Morton
- “To Hie From Far Cilenia” by Karl Schroeder
- “Savant Songs” by Brenda Cooper
- “Ikiryoh” by Liz Williams
- “The Prophet Of Flores” by Ted Kosmatka
- “How To Become A Mars Overlord” by Catherynne M. Valente
- “Second Person, Present Tense” by Daryl Gregory
- “Third Day Lights” by Alaya Dawn Johnson
- “Balancing Accounts” by James Cambias
- “A Vector Alphabet Of Interstellar Travel” by Yoon Ha Lee
- “His Master’s Voice” by Hannu Rajaniemi
- “Plotters And Shooters” by Kage Baker
- “The Island” by Peter Watts
- “Escape To Other Worlds With Science Fiction” by Jo Walton
- “Chicken Little” by Cory Doctorow
Yeah, that’s a line-up that does not suck. The collection has also gotten some stellar reviews, literally in the case of this starred review from Kirkus. It’s a fine survey of the current state of science fiction, and it’s nice to be part of showcase like this. Need I note it will be a fine gift for the holidays? I thought not.
For those of you wondering why I am in an anthology when I note specifically I don’t write for anthologies: This is a reprint anthology, using a story I’ve already written and thus requiring no additional work from me. So, you know, why not.
Looks interesting.
I enjoyed that story.
You forgot to mention it was in Publisher’s Weekly best of 2013 list for SFF: http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2013/sf-fantasy-horror#book/book-3
Yeah. This has present written all over it.
Looked interesting, so I grabbed the Kindle edition.
Yaaay! Sold! That is one nice collection.
Wow, what a line-up!
A perfect gift. FOR ME. Purchased and winging its way to my Kindle.
I’m not familiar with Paul Cornell’s work, but the title “One of our Bastards is Missing” may just sell me the anthology all by itself.
Bought the hard copy, so I won’t have people in my household fighting over my Nook…just the book.
Started to read this yesterday and, so far, I have been wowed by the excellent stories. This is a REALLY good collection. One of the best anthologies I’ve ever read, actually.
Reblogged this on Barbara C Rowe Author.
Good timing. With my schedule the way it is lately, short stories fit well into my sporadic recreational reading times.
I buy the anthology every year. And it never, ever sucks.
It’s got Kowal’s evil robot monkey story, might buy it for that alone. She’s talked about it a lot on Writing Excuses. I like that it has a good admixture of non SWM as well.
It’s available as an (undated) Pre-Order from the Australian iBookstore!
Looks like someone got the international rights on time. And there’s a sample…
You had me at “Rogue Farm”. Darn fine Stross story that I have lost track of the book containing it. Everybody else is just a wonderful bonus. I’m looking forward to shoving aside the rest of my reading list and pulling this anthology to the top. Thanks!
@infinitefreetime Those Cornell Hamilton stories are all very good. I think there are three short-form things set in the Balance universe so far, so if you enjoy Bastards, the others are well worth a look:
http://thierstein.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=232:paul-cornell-jonathan-hamilton&catid=2&Itemid=129