Outstanding SF/F by People of Color 2018

In the spirit of Lightspeed Magazine's famous People of Color Destroy Science Fiction series, here are 65 stories by 53 people of color that had scores of 2 or higher from RSR's 2018 Best SF/F list. That list contains the 342 most-recommended stories out of 785 covered, so the 65 stories by people of color make up around 19% of the best of 2018.

Some stories not reviewed by RSR are in the Best SF/F list because they were award finalists 🏆, included in year's best anthologies 📙, or recommended by other prolific reviewers 👍 (see Q&A for SF/F awards, year's best anthologies, and prolific reviewers followed).

Readers asked us to make it easy for them to find good stories written by authors with diverse racial backgrounds, and that’s what this list is meant to accomplish (author identity plays no role in our ratings). This is the third year we've done this list (2017, 2015-2016).

Outstanding High Fantasy of 2018

Here are 39 outstanding high fantasy stories from 2018 that were finalists for major SF/F 🏆awards, included in "year's best" SF/F 📙anthologies, or recommended by prolific 👍reviewers in short fiction (see Q&A). That's 39 out of 340+ best SF/F stories from 2018. A story's score is the sum of the +n points in it's "Recommended By" list (click the Details link to see the awards, year's best, and reviewers and the points).

For our purposes, we define "high fantasy" as a fantasy story that takes place in a secondary world. That is, something like Lord of the Rings, where Middle Earth is clearly not in the past or future of our world.

We've included portal fantasies, provided the destination is a secondary world.

Outstanding SF/F Horror of 2018

Although horror isn't our focus, we do review horror stories that turn up in our regular magazines, so in honor of Halloween, here are 30 outstanding SF/F horror stories from 2018 that were finalists for major SF/F 🏆awards, included in "year's best" SF/F 📙anthologies, or recommended by prolific 👍reviewers in short fiction (see Q&A). That's 30 out of 340+ best SF/F stories from 2018. A story's score is the sum of the +n points in it's "Recommended By" list (click the Details link to see the awards, year's best, and reviewers and the points).

Outstanding Hard Science Fiction of 2018

Here are 27 outstanding hard science fiction stories from 2018 that were finalists for major SF/F 🏆awards, included in "year's best" SF/F 📙anthologies, or recommended by prolific 👍reviewers in short fiction (see Q&A). That's 27 out of 340+ best SF/F stories from 2018. A story's score is the sum of the +n points in it's "Recommended By" list (click the Details link to see the awards, year's best, and reviewers and the points).

Outstanding LGBT Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2018

June is Pride Month, and here are 33 outstanding stories with LGBT characters from 2018 that were either finalists for major SF/F awards 🏆, included in "year's best" SF/F anthologies 📙, or recommended by prolific reviewers 👍 in short fiction (see Q&A).

This list could be useful for making nominations for the 2019 Gaylactic Spectrum Awards for Best Short Fiction (published in 2010-2018). Anyone can nominate through June 30, 2019. Stories from 2018 are below. For earlier stories, see Outstanding LGBT Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2017 and 2015-2016.

Annotated 2019 Hugo Award Finalists

Update 11/3/19: Tagged 3 🏆World Fantasy Award winners (click link to highlight). (More)

Update 10/20/19: Tagged 2 🏆British Fantasy Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 9/2/19: Tagged 1 🏆Eugie Award winner (click link to highlight).
Update 8/24/19: Tagged 20 stories in 📙BASFF year's best anthology TOC + 33 honorable mentions (click link to highlight).
Update 8/24/19: Tagged 3 🏆Hugo Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 7/25/19: Tagged 9 🏆World Fantasy Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 7/23/19: Tagged 5 🏆British Fantasy Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 7/7/19: Tagged 35 stories listed as honorable mentions in 📙NClarke's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 6/30/19: Tagged 3 🏆Locus Award and 1 🏆Sturgeon Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 6/1/19: Tagged 5 🏆Eugie Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/19/19: Tagged 3 🏆Nebula Award winners (click link to highlight), 3 🏆Analog and 3 🏆Asimov's Readers Poll winners.
Update 5/12/19: Tagged 33 stories in 📙PGuran's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 26 stories in 📙RHorton's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 30 🏆Locus Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 2 🏆Shirley Jackson Award finalist (click link to highlight).
Update 4/22/19: Tagged 1 🏆BSFA Award winner (click link to highlight).

Here is the annotated 2019 Hugo Award finalists list, merged with RSR's 2018 Best SF/F list (aka our aggregated list of "outstanding" stories) for the first time, with the finalists highlighted in red, and sorted by score.

Observations

In the six sections below, the links support the claims in the text by jumping to a view of the table that highlights the stories and data being discussed.

Annotated 2018 Sturgeon Award Finalists

Update 11/3/19: Tagged 3 🏆World Fantasy Award winners (click link to highlight). (More)

Update 10/20/19: Tagged 2 🏆British Fantasy Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 9/2/19: Tagged 1 🏆Eugie Award winner (click link to highlight).
Update 8/24/19: Tagged 20 stories in 📙BASFF year's best anthology TOC + 33 honorable mentions (click link to highlight).
Update 8/24/19: Tagged 3 🏆Hugo Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 7/25/19: Tagged 9 🏆World Fantasy Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 7/23/19: Tagged 5 🏆British Fantasy Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 7/7/19: Tagged 35 stories listed as honorable mentions in 📙NClarke's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 6/30/19: Tagged 3 🏆Locus Award and 1 🏆Sturgeon Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 6/1/19: Tagged 5 🏆Eugie Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/19/19: Tagged 3 🏆Nebula Award winners (click link to highlight), 3 🏆Analog and 3 🏆Asimov's Readers Poll winners.
Update 5/12/19: Tagged 33 stories in 📙PGuran's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 26 stories in 📙RHorton's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 30 🏆Locus Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 2 🏆Shirley Jackson Award finalist (click link to highlight).
Update 4/22/19: Tagged 1 🏆BSFA Award winner (click link to highlight).
Update 4/2/19: Tagged 18 🏆Hugo Award finalists (click link to highlight).

Here is the annotated 2018 Sturgeon Award finalists list, merged with RSR's 2018 Best SF/F list (aka our aggregated list of "outstanding" stories) for the first time, with the finalists highlighted in red, and sorted by score.

The combination lets us analyze the Sturgeon finalists to see which stories that were broadly recognized as outstanding were left out, which magazines were over- or under-represented, how many were Campbell-eligible, and how RSR's own recommendations stack up with the Sturgeon Award jurors in general. As with every RSR annotated list, there are links galore to the stories, their authors, the magazines, any award nominations/wins or "year's best" anthology inclusions, and search-links to find other reviews.

If you want to skip the analysis and just start reading, click here (to highlight free stories).

Annotated 2018 Locus Reading List for Short Fiction

Update 11/3/19: Tagged 3 🏆World Fantasy Award winners (click link to highlight). (More)
Update 10/20/19: Tagged 2 🏆British Fantasy Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 9/2/19: Tagged 1 🏆Eugie Award winner (click link to highlight).
Update 8/24/19: Tagged 20 stories in 📙BASFF year's best anthology TOC + 33 honorable mentions (click link to highlight).
Update 8/24/19: Tagged 3 🏆Hugo Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 7/25/19: Tagged 9 🏆World Fantasy Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 7/23/19: Tagged 5 🏆British Fantasy Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 7/7/19: Tagged 35 stories listed as honorable mentions in 📙NClarke's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 6/30/19: Tagged 3 🏆Locus Award and 1 🏆Sturgeon Award winners (click link to highlight).
Update 6/1/19: Tagged 5 🏆Eugie Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/19/19: Tagged 3 🏆Nebula Award winners (click link to highlight), 3 🏆Analog and 3 🏆Asimov's Readers Poll winners.
Update 5/12/19: Tagged 33 stories in 📙PGuran's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 26 stories in 📙RHorton's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 30 🏆Locus Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 5/8/19: Tagged 2 🏆Shirley Jackson Award finalist (click link to highlight).
Update 4/22/19: Tagged 1 🏆BSFA Award winner (click link to highlight).
Update 4/2/19: Tagged 18 🏆Hugo Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 3/6/19: Tagged 11 🏆Sturgeon Award finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 3/1/19: Tagged 1 🏆Clarkesworld Readers' Poll winner (click link to highlight).
Update 2/20/19: Tagged 18 🏆Nebula finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 2/17/19: Tagged 4 🏆BSFA finalists (click link to highlight).
Update 2/11/19: Tagged 29 stories in 📙NClarke's year's best anthology (click link to highlight).
Update 2/10/19: Tagged 30 🏆Analog & Asimov's readers polls finalists (click links to highlight their now-free stories).
Update 2/7/19: Tagged 6 🏆Uncanny Poll winner/finalists.
Update 2/1/19: Tagged 6 🏆Clarkesworld Reader's Poll finalists.

Here is the annotated 2018 Locus Recommended Reading List for short fiction, merged with RSR's 2018 Best SF/F list (aka our aggregated list of "outstanding" stories) for the first time, with stories from the Locus list highlighted in red, and sorted by score.

The combination lets us analyze the Locus list to see which stories that were broadly recognized as outstanding were left out, which magazines were over- or under-represented, which authors did particularly well (or not), how many were Campbell-eligible, and how RSR's own recommendations stack up with Locus reviewers in general. As with every RSR annotated list, there are links galore to the stories, their authors, the magazines, any award nominations/wins or "year's best" anthology inclusions, and search-links to find other reviews.

Anyone can vote for the Locus Awards at this link. Due date is Monday April 15, 2019.

If you want to skip the analysis and just start reading, click here (to highlight free stories).

The Planet Woman By M.V. Crawford, by Lavie Tidhar

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(SF Adventure) Tidar has an imaginary author (M.V. Crawford) tell a series of short stories about a world where all the men were turned into women. (3,682 words; Time: 12m)

Leviathan Sings to Me in the Deep, by Nibedita Sen

[Nightmare]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Fantasy Horror) A whaling ship conducts an experiment in generating whale song to try to make it easier to attract whales to kill. (5,402 words; Time: 18m)

Recommended By: 👍JMcGregor+2 (Q&A)

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington, by P. Djèlí Clark

[Fireside]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Historical Fantasy) In which we learn about the donors of each of the nine teeth and what effects they had on Washington. (3,648 words; Time: 12m)

Recommended By: 📙JStrahan+2 (Q&A)

Robots vs. Fairies, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ Recommended

(Mixed) Not stories about robots fighting against fairies but rather a set of nine robot-themed stories interleaved with nine fairy-themed stories with the reader to judge which is the victor. (103,935 words; Time: 5h:46m)

A Fall Counts Anywhere, by Catherynne M. Valente

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Mixed Genre) Professional Wrestling of the future pits robots vs. fairies. (6,033 words; Time: 20m)

To a Cloven Pine, by Max Gladstone

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Virtual Reality) In a VR simulation, a starship AI keeps reenacting scenes from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. But why? (3,702 words; Time: 12m)

Adriftica, by Maria Dahvana Headley

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Modern Fantasy) Although the world is gradually falling apart, Heck Limmer still covers rock and roll bands for Rolling Stone, and he’s just found one that’s literally out of this world. (8,672 words; Time: 28m)

All the Time We've Left to Spend, by Alyssa Wong

[Anthology]

★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

(Robot SF) Ten years ago, all the members of the IRIS band died in an accident, and Ruriko blames herself. She keeps visiting robot constructed with the personalities of the band members hoping to find absolution. (6,755 words; Time: 22m)

Ostentation of Peacocks, by Lila Bowen

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Western Fantasy) A ranger can’t ignore four men on horseback chasing a naked man across the desert, even if it means she’ll have to change back to human form. (6,024 words; Time: 20m)

Three Robots Experience Objects Left Behind from the Era of Humans for the First Time, by John Scalzi

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Humor) An account of robots trying to make sense of artifacts left by vanished humanity. (1,294 words; Time: 04m)

The Buried Giant, by Lavie Tidhar

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Post-Apocalypse) The narrator tells how he learned the story of Oli, who discovered he was the only human in a town of robots and decided to leave so he could learn to be “a real boy.” (7,133 words; Time: 23m)

Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)

Second to the Left, and Straight On, by Jim C. Hines

[Anthology]

★★★★☆ A cool new twist on an old favorite

(Peter Pan Pastiche) Angela Davis’s daughter was lost to the fairies some time ago, but she keeps looking for her and for other “Found Girls” trapped this side of Neverland. (5,311 words; Time: 17m)