The Best of Lightspeed (and Fantasy) Podcast 2014

written by David Steffen

Lightspeed is still one of my favorite magazines, still edited by John Joseph Adams. This year has been a big one for Lightspeed, in large part because of their “Women Destroy Science Fiction!” movement–for one month the magazine was staffed by women with women writers (edited by Christie Yant), because historically women have gotten the short end of the stick in SF writing. The Kickstarter for this project blew its goals out of the water and even unlocked stretch goals for Women Destroy Horror and Women Destroy Fantasy movements. The WDSF issue of Lightspeed was published in 2014, and Fantasy Magazine (which had been subsumed by Lightspeed) revived for a month for the WDF issue (which is why Fantasy Magazine is included again in this page).

The List

1. “Drones Don’t Kill People” by Annalee Newitz
I found this one of the much more plausible AI gains sentience stories, justifies how it happens. Great, fun story.

2. “Miss Carstairs and the Merman” by Delia Sherman
I love the POV character in this story, a woman scientist discovering and classifying a merman.

3. “Phalloon the Illimitable” by Matthew Hughes
This is part of Matthew’s “Kaslo Chronicles” series which is all quite good, but this is my favorite of the series so far. Every so often the universe switches from being rationally organized to sympathetically (magically) organized)–this story takes place just before this polarity switch occurs and some have placed themselves to gain a great deal of power with the switchover.

4. “The Drawstring Detective” by Nik House
Talking toy detective helps a woman in her everyday life.

5. “The Case of the Passionless Bees” by Rhonda Eikamp
Gearlock Holmes is on the case!

6. “Love is the Plan the Plan is Death” by James Tiptree, Jr
Great alien point of view by the legendary James Tiptree Jr. (aka Alice Sheldon).

Honorable Mentions

“Harry and Marlowe and the Intrigue at the Aetherian Exhibition” by Carrie Vaughn

“How to Get Back to the Forest” by Sofia Samatar

“We are the Cloud” by Sam J. Miller

The Best of Clarkesworld 2014

written by David Steffen

Clarkesworld has been getting bigger and better. They’re publishing more stories than ever before and they’re good as ever, publishing more episodes than any of the other podcasts I listen to. Neil Clarke continues to edit and Kate Baker continues to host and usually narrate the podcast.

The List

1. “The Clockwork Soldier” by Ken Liu
I enjoyed this story so much, moving science fiction story involving text adventures (like Zork).

2. “The Magician and LaPlace’s Demon” by Tom Crosshill
Probability magician vs near-omnipotent AI. Great stuff.

3. “Fives Stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion” by Caroline M. Yoachim
Another great one by Caroline, aliens that look like frogs but are intangible mists start making deals with Earth.

4. “The Meeker and the All-Seeing Eye” by Matthew Kressel
Omnipotent super-AI finds a drifting human eras after the rest of humanity has gone extinct.

5. “The Saint of the Sidewalks” by Kat Howard
Its the rituals that make a saint.

6. “Seeking boarder for rm w/ attached bathroom, must be willing to live with ghosts ($500 / Berkeley)” by Rahul Kanakia
Pretty much what it says on the tin.

7. “The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter” by Alastair Reynolds
Hard to describe the parts I liked about it without spoiling it…

Honorable Mentions

“A Gift in Time” by Maggie Clark

“Stone Hunger” by N.K. Jemisin

“Cameron Rhyder’s Legs” by Matthew Kressel

The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Podcast 2013-2014

written by David Steffen

This post covers two years of Beneath Ceaseless Skies–they didn’t publish quite enough stories in 2013 to do a list. Beneath Ceaseless Skies continues to publish quality other-world fiction, edited by Scott H. Andrews. This list only covers the stories they published on their podcast, which is a bit less than half of the stories they publish–one podcast every two weeks.

The List

“No Sweeter Art” by Tony Pi
Sequel to “A Sweet Calling” that was published in Clarkesworld, both about a Zodiac-confectioner mage–might want to listen to the other one first.
“Sekhmet Hunts a Dying Gnosis: A Computation” by Seth Dickinson
I love stories that mix fantasy and science fiction in a big way.
“The Breath of War” by Aliette de Bodard
I can’t say I recall another fantasy quest story starring a pregnant woman as the hero.
“Alloy Point” by Sam J. Miller
Flee the terrible metalman, who comes to keep the people of base metal apart from the people of precious metal.
“The Penitent” by M. Bennardo
Number 17596 wakes in his cell. Where are the guards? Why is the cell unlocked?

Honorable Mentions

“The Clockwork Trollop” by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald
“Ill-Met at Midnight” by David Tallerman

The Best of Drabblecast 2014

The Drabblecast! Still my favorite publication, hitting just the right level of weirdness. Big editorial change recently at Drabblecast with Norm Sherman handing over the Editor-In-Chief position to longstanding head slushwrangler Nathaniel Lee–sounds like it might get episodes out with greater regularity which would be a great thing. Norm will still be host and main producer, so his talent will still make the show what it is.

The List

1. “The Carnival was Eaten, All Except the Clown” by Caroline M. Yoachim
Starring a confectionary clown who acts as the seed for a magician to make carnivals. The epitome of a Drabblecast episode–weird, fun, strong emotional story.

2. “To Whatever” by Shaenon Garrity
Written as a series of notes from an apartment dweller to lurking horror that always stays just out of sight and also drinks the last of the milk from the fridge.

3. “Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon
A kind of a selkie love story, but with jackalopes.

4. “Half a Conversation, Overheard While Inside an Enormous Sentient Slug” by Oliver Buckram
Happily, this story is exactly what it says on the tin.

5. “My Hero: The Fisherman” by Jack Handey
Yes, this is the Jack Handey you may recognize from SNL’s Deep Thoughts and Fuzzy Memories segments. Hilarious story.

Honorable Mentions

“On a Clear Day You Can See All the Way to Conspiracy” by Desmond Warzel
This is one of those that was definitely elevated by the production–amazing narration by Dave Robison as the radio DJ and others playing callers.

“Seven Things that are Better in Blue” by Jason K. Jones

The Best of Escape Pod 2014

written by David Steffen

It’s been a great year for Escape Pod with some of my favorite episodes ever after they and their sister podcasts came back from the brink of having to close due to lack of funds. The podcast is still edited by Norm Sherman, with some help this previous year from Mur Lafferty who has now moved on to edit Mothership, an upcoming Escape Artists tie-in. Just a few days ago there was a metacast that announced big new things coming up, including that Alasdair Stuart and J. Daniel Sawyer are now owners of the company. Here’s to many more years.

(Keeping it brief on this one because, due to technical issues, this is literally the third time I’ve retyped this)

The List

1. “Rachel in Love” by Pat Murphy

2. “That Other Sea” by William Ledbetter

3. “Kumara” by Seth Dickinson

4. “A Struggle Between Rivals Ends Surprisingly” by Oliver Buckram

5. “The Sky is Bright and Blue, and Full of Stars” by Edward Ashton

Honorable Mention

“Shared Faces” by Anaea Lay

The Best of Podcastle 2014

written by David Steffen

It’s been a great year for Podcastle with some of my favorite episodes ever after they and their sister podcasts came back from the brink of having to close due to lack of funds. The podcast is still edited by Dave Thompson and Anna Schwind and they’re doing a great job.Just a few days ago there was a metacast that announced big new things coming up, including that Alasdair Stuart and J. Daniel Sawyer are now owners of the company. Just yesterday I learned that Dave and Anna are stepping down from their editorial positions early this year after five years in the position–I hear that the full details are in the most recent episode along with the story Rachael K. Jones’ “Makeisha in Time” but I haven’t had time to sync my iPod and listen since I heard this, so I don’t know much more about it yet.

On to the list!

The List

1. “Heartless” by Peadar O Guilin

2. “The MSG Golem” by Ken Liu

3. “Stranger vs. The Malevolent Malignancy” by Jim C. Hines

4. “Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy” by Saladin Ahmed

5. “Gazing into the Carnauba Wax Eyes of the Future” by Keffy R.M. Kehrli

6. “Help Summon the Most Holy Folded One!” by Harry Connolly

Honorable Mentions

“The Old Woman With No Teeth” by Patricia Russo

“Underbridge” by Peter S. Beagle

“Ill Met in Ulthar” by T.A. Pratt

The Best of Pseudopod 2014

written by David Steffen

Another solid year of Pseudopod after they and their sister podcasts came back from the brink of having to close due to lack of funds. The podcast is edited, as it has been for years, by Shawn Garrett. Just a few days ago there was a metacast that announced big new things coming up, including that Alasdair Stuart and J. Daniel Sawyer are now owners of the company.

On to the list!

The List

1. “The Screwfly Solution” by James Tiptree, Jr.

2. “The Wriggling Death” by Harold Gross

3. “Shadow Transit” by Ferrett Steinmetz

4. “The Metal and Its Mold” by Tim W. Burke

5. “Prince of Flowers” by Elizabeth Hand

6. “The Signalman” by Charles Dickens

Honorable Mentions

“Kraken Rising” by Andrew Reid

“The Violin Family” by James Douglas

“File Under” by Lisamarie Lamb

The Best of Nightmare Podcast

written by David Steffen

Nightmare Magazine is the sister magazine of Hugo-winning Lightspeed Magazine, launched by editor/publisher John Joseph Adams just in time for Halloween 2012. If you don’t know who John Joseph Adams is, you haven’t been paying much attention to short SF in recent years. Besides Lightspeed, he’s probably best known for his themed anthologies.

Nightmare publishes four stories a month–two original stories and two reprints. Half of those stories are published on the podcast. My list here is only taken from the podcast, so if you like what you hear, there’s twice as many stories as I made this list from in text on the website or in ebook format.

Nightmare ran a Women Destroy Horror Month in October 2014, featuring all women staff and all women authors–this was a stretch goal of the supremely popular fundraiser Women Destroy Science Fiction project.

Like its sister magazine, Nightmare is produced by Skyboat Media Company Inc which is spearheaded by the superb voice actors Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Ridnicki

The List

1. “Centipede Heartbeat” by Caspian Gray
Woman is certain her wife’s insides are crawling with invading centipedes. But what to do about it?

2. “We Now Pause for Station Identification” by Gary A. Braunbeck
A broadcast from a station after the end of the world, sending out just a little bit of civilization to… probably nobody. One of those episodes where the voice acting turns it from a good story to really incredible, voicework by Stefan Ridnicki.

3. “Spores” by Seanan McGuire
This one could bring out the OCD in anyone.

4. “The Black Window” by Lane Robins
Mysterious opaque attic portal. Nuff said.

5. “Property Condemned” by Jonathan Maberry
Haunted house story linking childhood to adulthood–format kind of familiar, but well done.

6. “It Was Never the Fire” by Martin Cahill
Another one with great voice acting.

Honorable Mentions

“Bones” by Bones
There are some self-referential in-jokes in this one that you might only get if you’re a submitting writer or at least know some submitting writers–it probably wouldn’t be on my list if I weren’t one.

“10/31: Bloody Mary” by Norman Partridge

“Blackbirds” by Norman Partridge

The Best of Toasted Cake 2013-

written by David Steffen

Tina Connolly’s Toasted Cake podcast is still going strong! She reduced her publication frequency for a little while to spend time with her newborn baby, but pretty soon Toasted Cake will be back up to its weekly rate. By my reckoning, Toasted Cake published 41 short stories between my last list on January 21, 2013 and the end of 2013.

Two of my own stories were also reprinted on the podcast. I don’t consider my own stories for inclusion in the lists, so I’ll just mention them here in the header: This Is Your Problem, Right Here and What Makes You Tick.

The List

1. The Girl Who Was Loved By The Sea by Spencer Ellsworth
The POV character here is the personification of the ocean, who has fallen in love with a girl because of the myths she makes up about it. The ocean tries to interact with her as she grows older.

2. The Oracle of DARPA by Bogi TakÃ�’ �cs
Written as a transcript of a DARPA researcher with an oracle meant to predict threats. But the Oracle speaks so cryptically so as to be basically useless. Fun stuff! Some of the oracle’s language reminds me of conversations with the Orz when playing Star Control II.

3. Through the Cooking Glass by Vylar Kaftan
When baking gingerbread cookies, a woman finds that she has spawned a tiny little civilization of cookie people.

4. Hazelwitch v. Hazelwitch by K.G. Jewell
Follows the court proceedings involving the breakup of two magic-users.

5. Taking Care of Ma by Lee Hallison
This one reminds me of my dad and his distrust of technology, trying to help out an aging mother with technological solutions.

Honorable Mentions

After the Earthquake by Caroline M. Yoachim

The Best of Journey Into… 2013

written by David Steffen

Marshal Latham continues on with his podcast, which runs both new stories newly produced and recordings of old radio shows from the heyday of radio. He also had a special Edgar Allen Poe month at the beginning of 2013 wherein he asked for submissions of Poe-esque stories which also are inspired by and share names with Poe story titles. In November he posted a podcast every single day in an event he dubbed the Superhero Marathon Spectacular. Good stuff!

In 2013 he published about 38 stories, by my reckoning.

The List

1. Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher
A disabled woman accidentally ends up getting a crossed line when trying to dial her husband, and overhears plans for a murder. She then tries desparately to get the police to act on her evidence. This story is particularly interesting because it’s so rooted in a state of technology that was only the norm for a short time window–before that, phones weren’t prevalent. After that, phones didn’t need operators for routine connections. Without that specific window of technology, there’s no story here.

2. Emily 501 by Tamara Hladik
Researcher discovers and studies alien artifacts. Can she come to understand these strange creatures by what they left behind?

3. Kellerman’s Eye Piece by Mary Elizabeth Counselman
A man receives an apparently defective eyepiece for his telescope which makes him see strange things when he looks at the moon. He comes to the conclusion that the lens is not actually defective, but somehow allows him to see things which would ordinarily be invisible.

4. The Masque of the Red Death by Lee Lackey
No, this isn’t a plagiarism of Edgar Allen Poe. This is one of the winners of the Edgar Allen Poe contest. Though it shares the title of the story, it otherwise is not connected to it. It uses the title to good use.

5. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Some might think it wrong for me to put such a famous and revered work at #5. It’s not that I don’t like the story. I do. But I also read it for the first time a decade and a half ago, and much of my interest in fiction is for novelty. If this were my first read, it may have been higher. Still, it made the list despite my longtime familiarity with it, so that says something for its lasting appeal.

Honorable Mentions

The Martian Crown Jewels by Poul Anderson
With over-the-top but fun voice-acting by Bronson Pinchot.