Speculiction's Awards - Best Fiction Published in 2023

The hype machine that is a good chunk of the internet will, undoubtedly, have a lot of positive things to say about speculative fiction published in 2023. Me not so much. Having read twenty-three books published in 2023, the year feels decidedly ho-hum. There are only a couple books I feel strongly about recommending. Why? Maybe because the market continues to be saturated, meaning it's more difficult for books to distinguish themselves or feel distinguished. Maybe because quality is more evenly dispersed. Maybe because identity politics continue to play too strong a role in reviews, awards, and who gets published. Maybe because I'm a thousand+ books deep into my sf&f journey, meaning true satisfaction is more difficult to come by as more and more of speculative fiction's true gems are consumed. They can't all be 5 STARS!!, which is what the hype would have it...

This is all a long winded way of saying there wasn't a lot of competition for Speculiction's novel and anthology/collection of the year. I read the “best” novel early in the year, and if it wasn't for bormgans, I wouldn't even have a “best” anthology/collection. <puff-puff> Let's blow the dust off the velvet curtain and see what they are.

Best Reads of 2023

As is tradition at Speculiction, we post two best-of lists at year-end. One is for the best books published during the year, and the other list—this list—is for the best books we read regardless of year published or form—fiction, poetry, non-fiction, etc.  (For best-of fiction published only in 2023, see here.)  In other words, these are books that have a chance of sticking around in memory, to poke their nose above the thousands of books we have read in time. Without further ado, here are the books still sticking at Speculiction:

The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford – Despite being Jeff Ford's debut collection, the stories collected here show no sign of 'an up and coming writer'. Ford appears to be one of the few who emerged from the cocoon with butterfly wings. As with most Ford collections, there are a few highly memorable stories worth a read, with the surrounding material hanging close. “Creation”, the title story, “The Delicate”, and “At Reparata” are all proper good, with “Creation” being one of the nest I've ever read. If you haven't read Ford, this is as good a place as any to discover he is one of the absolute best short story writers of our time.

Something3 : Get Onboard?

For the unaware, there is a bit—just a bit—of subculture naming British pubs, specifically those which use our most popular conjunction 'and'. The Dog and Duck. The Eagle and Child. The Lamb and Flag. And the list goes on in the US, as well. I recall wandering Boston as a student and seeing the phenomenon. Though the nouns were a bit more radical than eagle or dog, the pattern held true. In fact, it was as if an unspoken creativity contest was being run among pub owners: who can come up with the oddest yet catchiest combination? Elephant and Wheel. Bird and Buggy. And so on. It's like ultra-mini haiku. But what about the similar phenomenon observable in contemporary fantasy book titles? A Song of Ice and Fire, for example. Sure, the authors cube the nouns, adding a third at the beginning. But the titles end in the same pattern: ____ and ____. Question is, does this fantasy phenomenon possess the same degree of potentially potent poetry as a pub name? Let's see!

<sound of keys clattering>

Answer: no. The end. You can go enjoy a beer at your friendly local something².  Oh, more of a response needed? Ok, here goes...

Review of Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes: Voice from the Edge Vol. 3 by Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison is a name that is threatening, unfortunately, to fall by the way side of contemporary fantastika readership. Which is a shame. In an age when stories are peer reviewed into mediocrity and emphasis is placed on magic systems and identity politics, Ellison's incredible authorial voice goes unmentioned. For a reader who believes that all stories have already been told, it's how you tell them, Ellison is for you. Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes, third of five audiobook collections recorded by Ellison himself, is worth looking into. Style matters.

The title story, “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes”, is a tight, dynamic specimen of writing you find so little of these days. Perhaps more fantastical vision than proper story, Maggie nevertheless tells of a man beguiled by a slot machine in Vegas. Ellison's superb voice provides the meat, while the manner in which the man is beguiled provides the spice. “Kiss of Fire” is an overt confirmation of mortality in the face of life extending technology. Ellison mixes his devices a touch (aliens, extraterrestrialism, angels, etc.), but the imagery, particularly that in the final few pages, offers a nice touch. One of several pieces of flash fiction in the collection, “Fever” is a spot of forgettable flash fiction that tells what happened next to Icarus.

Review of Everywhere by Ian R. Macleod

I am not a fan of bands' greatest hits albums. Unlike standard albums which are conceived as sequential wholes of original songs, greatest hits are forced conceptions. Song order no longer matters, which (ironically) dilutes the contrast of what makes great songs great. Secondly, the songs are not technically novel; they've been released before. And thirdly, not to put too fine a point on it, such albums feel more commodity than art. I feel the same about book publishers who release best-ofs, particularly those who release best-ofs for writers still creating at a high level. Unable to find his older collections at a reasonable price, however, I made the choice to go against my own values and indulge in Ian Macleod's two volume 'greatest hits': Everywhere (2019) and Nowhere (2019). Collecting his 'best' novellas (or at least longer pieces of short fiction), let's take a look at Everywhere.

Things kick off with “Grownups”, a story capturing the worldview of pre-teens, often in subtly uncomfortable fashion. Peter Pan-adjacent (perhaps adjacent to adjacent), it tells of a boy growing up in the most bizarre, creepy social fashion, but is at heart looking at the awkwardness, dynamism, and occasional absurdity of becoming an adult. Magic realist in substance, Macleod presents the strangeness as quotidian. The tale builds to a bittersweet ending that hangs and hangs for its relatability, making for a difficult story to forget.

Review of Nowhere by Ian R. Macleod

I am not a fan of bands' greatest hits albums. Unlike standard albums which are conceived as sequential wholes of original songs, greatest hits are forced conceptions. Song order no longer matters, which (ironically) dilutes the contrast of what makes great songs great. Secondly, the songs are not technically novel; they've been released before. And thirdly, not to put too fine a point on it, such albums feel more commodity than art. I feel the same about book publishers who release best-ofs, particularly those who release best-ofs for writers still creating at a high level. Unable to find his older collections at a reasonable price, however, I made the choice to go against my own values and indulge in Ian Macleod's two volume 'greatest hits': Everywhere (2019) and Nowhere (2019). Collecting his 'best' short stories (i.e. non-novellas), let's take a look at Nowhere.

in true 'greatest hits' fashion (sorry, can't avoid the cynicism), Nowhere kicks off with one of Macleod’s most well-reviewed shorts, “The Chop Girl”. It is, rightfully, also one of his best. “The Chop Girl” captures a narrative voice and doesn’t let go in telling the exact opposite of a rabbit’s foot: a British WWII woman who seems to be the downfall of every pilot and airman she comes in contact with. She meet her match, however, a lucky pilot named Walt Williams (no relation to the poet, seemingly) and the fate of the meta-physical world is tested. From WWII to the vague future, “The Perfect Stranger” is an odd story not easy to get your head precisely around until you realize there are two different timelines overlapping the same location. Part trauma, part tragedy, and a polarized dystopia/utopia, it features the relationship troubles of a man and a woman in a single nutshell of time. The reader's like/dislike of the story will likely hinge on how well they grasp the structure rather than the content, which, is relatably human.

Review of His Master's Voice Stanisław Lem

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground is one of those portrayals of humanity so disturbingly subtle as to set the psychological skin crawling. Spotlighting what might jokingly be called an anti-hero, it features a man who, with all spleen possible, goes about making his life miserable, and if that isn't enough, the lives of those around him as well. No murder, no torture, it's a tough read that compels for its commentary on the human condition. Dostoyevsky scholars will undoubtedly roll their eyes, but I can't help but think Stanisław Lem's His Master's Voice (1968) is a science fiction cousin—cousin—to Notes from the Underground.

His Master's Voice is the memoirs of a fictional American mathematician, Peter Hogarth. Top of his class with Nobel potential, he is one of a handful of experts, natural to hard to social sciences, who are called in to examine, analyze, and hypothesize on an extraterrestrial signal intercepted from space. The group of experts come up with all manner of interpretations of the message, absurd to logical, in coming up with humanity's answer to the stars. But is it enough?

Review of Vulkan Lives by Nick Kyme

Upon completing the third Horus Heresy novel, Galaxy in Flames, I was in awe of the new level the 30k galaxy had been taken. The stakes were huge. But I was mildly disappointed at the relative lack of weight given to events on Isstvan V. Where Isstvan III was the “quiet” moment in which Horus revealed his revolt internally, Isstvan V was the “loud” moment, the moment it became known to the wider universe. Despite being larger in import, however, the story didn't seem to have the same respect for the battle. Know No Fear and its representation of a sub-battle delivered more weight to the Word Bearer's book-length attack on the Ultramarines than does Horus' betrayal of all humanity in Flames. I held out hope that perhaps future books/stories would explore it in more detail. I'm not sure Vulkan Lives by Nick Kyme (2013), twenty-sixth novel in the series, is my hope rewarded, but it certainly is a deeper dive into the events on the black sand planet and the primarchs involved.

Vulkan Lives is told through two storylines which alternate back and forth in the narrative. One is the time pre-Istvann V, the time when Horus' rebellion was unknown to the wider universe and all the primarchs and legions still think of themselves as brothers. The other is directly after the events of Istvann V, the time of the disappearance of Vulkan, primarch of the Salamanders. Thought dead by what remains of his Legion, he is, in fact, in the captivity of Konrad Curze, primarch of the Night Lords. A Groundhog's Day scenario playing out, Curze tortures Vulkan through death and back again, that is, until the cycle breaks. What breaks is of interest.

Review of Fear to Tread by James Swallow

After consuming fifteen Horus Heresy books over several months, I took a break. I've been following wargamer.net's recommended reading list, and as Vengeful Spirit closed what they consider Act I, an intermission seemed natural. Scenes and battles had started blending together, meaning it felt right to pause lest I burn out. I'm back now, refreshed, ready to raise the curtain on Act II with Fear to Tread by James Swallow (2012).

Fear to Tread opens on an explosive, pre-Heresy moment. Horus and the Lunar Wolves storm the battlefield against a juggernaut of a foe that would seek to subjugate humanity (ironically in not so different a way than the Emperor). The battle more difficult than anticipated, the Blood Angels, led by their primarch Sanguinius, swoop onto the battlefield, swaying things distinctly in the Legion's favor. In the aftermath of the battle it's revealed some of the Blood Angels are suffering from a peculiar blood sickness, a sickness that causes a frenzied madness to overtake those afflicted and become aggressive and malevolent toward anyone, friend or foe. Seeming to want to help Sanguinius with his problem, Horus sends the Blood Angels to a distant planet to fight, promising them the solution to their blood problem lies in wait there. Trouble is, Horus has more planned for the Blood Angels than just a healing mission.

Review of The Primarchs ed. by Christian Dunn

If readers had to identify the single thing which keeps bringing them back to the Horus Heresy series, keeps them believing the 60+ books are worth it, it has to be the primarchs. Demi-gods of the far future, they dominate their scenes and generate excitement when one faces another. It makes sense then, that among the dozen anthologies you include in the series, one is designated for the super-human sons of the Emperor, yes? Let's see if The Primarchs (2012), edited by Christian Dunn, capitalizes.

The Primarchs consists of four novellas, and four novellas only. Each focuses on one of the titular demi-gods. For those counting, that's four of the eighteen known primarchs. The first is ”The Reflection Crack'd” by Graham McNeill. The story follows a swordsman named Lucius of the Emperor's Children as he begins to suspect Fulgrim's demonic possession. Suspicion converting to vested interest, he begins tailing Fulgrim in his private life to learn the truth. Lucius does discover the truth, but in hindsight perhaps would rather have not... McNeill's strong writing is (mostly) on display, but that cannot rescue this tale from the redundancy of Angel Exterminatus. A repeated concept, the novella is really only for major fans of Fulgrim and the Emperor Children's storyline.