peter young’s listopia

Sue Jones  Unapproachable  2008
Nina Allan, 'Flying in the Face of God' (.pdf)  (INTERZONE #227, MARCH–APRIL 2010)
Another strong contender for the BSFA 'Best Short Story' Award next month, this inevitably reminded me of Delany's 'Aye, and Gomorrah...' as it touches on the same theme of sterility as a result of working in space. But it's far more subtle, underplayed and very human, also possessing a delicate (and probably completely unintentional) Ishiguro feel about it, and is very readable as a result.

Felicity Shoulders, 'Conditional Love' (.pdf)  (ASIMOV'S, JANUARY 2010)
Asimov's have made this available online at last, now that it's up for this year's Nebula Award. About the care of children who are rejected because they are 'designer baby' genetic failures, this one really drew me in and is certainly the one short story on the Nebula shortlist with the most unexpected (and excellent) ending, something you will never see coming.

Neil Williamson, 'Arrythmia' (.pdf)  (MARK HARDING, ed., MUSIC FOR ANOTHER WORLD, 2010)
A story that took me right back to 1976/7, the dawn of punk and my complete infatuation with Toyah Wilcox. Enjoyable enough and well written, but where's the science fiction? Surely an outsider on the shortlist for the BSFA Award.

Favourite short stories of the week: E.M. Forster's 'The Machine Stops' from 1909, my third reading of this memorable dystopia that doesn't really need any introduction, paired with 'The Celestial Omnibus' from 1908, a more subtle tale where a boy discovers that the best stories seem to have their own heaven: Forster also seems to be writing allegorically about the elitism of literature. Both are published this month by Penguin as part of their Mini Modern Classics range. I badly want that boxed set.