Best Anthologies of new SF&F?

[Ian Whates]

These anthologies annoy me, i see Solaris and co they are full of older famous SF authors.

I want to try new authors i didnt already know was already rated authors.

Not after books with Baxter,Banks,Gene Wolfe,Shepard etc

I confess to having a vested interest as I'm in the Solaris book in question, Con, but do you really consider Warren Hammond, Scott Edelman, Jennifer Pelland, Tim Akers, Daniel Abraham and myself (all of whom are in the book) as "older famous SF authors"?

Have to confess, with my first novel out in a couple of months, I don't see myself in that light.

One of the things I love about the Solaris books is that they offer a blend of recognised authors whose work I want to read and new writers whose work I want to discover. Seems the ideal combination to me. Mind you, I have to say that, since it's exactly the blend I try to produce in my own NewCon Press anthologies.

 

[Connavar]

I confess to having a vested interest as I'm in the Solaris book in question, Con, but do you really consider Warren Hammond, Scott Edelman, Jennifer Pelland, Tim Akers, Daniel Abraham and myself (all of whom are in the book) as "older famous SF authors"?

Have to confess, with my first novel out in a couple of months, I don't see myself in that light.

One of the things I love about the Solaris books is that they offer a blend of recognised authors whose work I want to read and new writers whose work I want to discover. Seems the ideal combination to me. Mind you, I have to say that, since it's exactly the blend I try to produce in my own NewCon Press anthologies.

I confess i was talking about the famous anthologies in general.

The Best of the year types,Mammoth sf books. I mistook a Mammoth SF book in the library for Solaris, remembering only the older names i knew. All those collections are in the same shelf.

Checking out Solaris New SF books just now they look more promising alot of new authors for me.

Any other anthologies in the last decade like Solaris new SF ones ?

 

[Ian Whates]

Any other anthologies in the last decade like Solaris new SF ones ?

The Big Boys tend to view original anthologies as financially unviable so don't produce them any more. Frustration with this policy was one of the things that prompted me to launch my own publisher, NewCon Press, a couple of years ago. I love short story anthologies.

At present, in the UK, it's only really Solaris, PS Publishing, and my own NewCon Press that are producing original anthologies. Closest to the Solaris ones would be my own. I've got two more coming out in the next couple of months (one pure SF, the other all new vampire tales) and I can't wait!

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

One of the best newish SF writers is Ted Chiang, and his collection Stories Of Your Life And Others is possibly my favourite single-author SF short story collection in recent years.

 

[Fried Egg]

These anthologies annoy me, i see Solaris and co they are full of older famous SF authors.

I want to try new authors i didnt already know was already rated authors.

Not after books with Baxter,Banks,Gene Wolfe,Shepard etc

No Banks, Wolfe or Shepherd in this Solaris collection I have although I see that you confused this collection with another. In any case, I'm quite happy for a few big names to be in there because I've read so little new SF (well known or otherwise) and I want to give them all a try. That Solaris collection contains authors who are all new to me and all the stories were published in 2008. That's good enough for me.

Even the Mammoth book of new SF is fully of authors who are new to me.

 

[GOLLUM]

I would like to second the recommendation of Ted Chiang. His collection Stories Of Your Life And Others is essential reading for anyone wishing to read both an original voice and a most talented writer in modern SF. He's not prolific but what he does write is often exceptional.

Following is a link to a mixture of online text and podcasts and includes some of the stories in the above named collection but others that do not appear there. Most notable of the latter grouping is perhaps The Merchant And The Alchemists's Gate.

Free Speculative Fiction Online: Ted Chiang

Enjoy....

 

[Fried Egg]

I have already read "Story of Your Life" and "Tower of Babylon" in other collections and they were both good. I am definitely up for reading more of him.

 

[GOLLUM]

Frustratingly for this fan at least, he writes so little. His collection Stories Of Your Life And Others is the only collection I'm aware of.

 

[Connavar]

I have heard very good things about Ted Chiang looking forward to reading him.
I'm gonna explore more writers like him,other names that isnt so clearly known.

I have tried the contemporary big SF names,newer writers and its only Richard Morgan i feel strongly for,think their writing,stories,worlds are quality reads. I'm gonna go deeper,try to find authors i feel as strongly for.

I dont mean older writers with 30+ years and still going strong. Like favs like CJ Cherryh and co.

 

[jojajihisc]

I would like to second the recommendation of Ted Chiang. His collection Stories Of Your Life And Others is essential reading for anyone wishing to read both an original voice and a most talented writer in modern SF. He's not prolific but what he does write is often exceptional.

Following is a link to a mixture of online text and podcasts and includes some of the stories in the above named collection but others that do not appear there. Most notable of the latter grouping is perhaps The Merchant And The Alchemists's Gate.

Free Speculative Fiction Online: Ted Chiang

Enjoy....

Excellent link. I'm reading The Story of Your Life today so I'll be reading some of those others when I'm done.

 

[Fried Egg]

I really enjoyed the Solaris book of new SF (volume 3) anthology that came out last year. A very strong collection and I enjoyed being introduced to lots of new authors.

However it appears that Solaris aren't bringing out a volume 4 this year, at least I've seen no sign of it (volume 3 was published in March, 2009). Anyone have any info on that?

Any other recommendations for a 2010 anthology?

 

[iansales]

The new Life on Mars one edited by Jonathan Strahan looks pretty good. TOC here.

 

[Ian Whates]

I really enjoyed the Solaris book of new SF (volume 3) anthology that came out last year. A very strong collection and I enjoyed being introduced to lots of new authors.

However it appears that Solaris aren't bringing out a volume 4 this year, at least I've seen no sign of it (volume 3 was published in March, 2009). Anyone have any info on that?

Any other recommendations for a 2010 anthology?

FE, Games Workshop announced they were selling Solaris not long after #3 appeared. The sale finally went through towards the end of 2009, with George Mann, who edited the 'Best New SF' anthologies, staying with Black Library. I think the new owners, Rebellion (who own the Judge Dread franchise) have been so busy since then they haven't had time to even consider a volume 4.

As for a decent 2010 antho, ahem... politeness almost forbids me to say, but have you considered this?
240 Conflicts NewCon Press : NewCon Press

 

[Fried Egg]

FE, Games Workshop announced they were selling Solaris not long after #3 appeared. The sale finally went through towards the end of 2009, with George Mann, who edited the 'Best New SF' anthologies, staying with Black Library. I think the new owners, Rebellion (who own the Judge Dread franchise) have been so busy since then they haven't had time to even consider a volume 4.

That's a shame. Thanks for the info on that though.

As for a decent 2010 antho, ahem... politeness almost forbids me to say, but have you considered this?
240 Conflicts NewCon Press : NewCon Press

Please don't hesitate to mention your own anthologies, I didn't even know about it. Can I ask, is it all new material?

 

[Ian Whates]

Please don't hesitate to mention your own anthologies, I didn't even know about it. Can I ask, is it all new material?

Yes, FE, essentially all the NewCon Press anthologies feature material written specifically for the books.

About the only exception in the paperback editions appears in the all-women anto Myth-Understandings, for which I accepted a reprint from Gwyneth Jones... but it was her World Fantasy Award winning story "The Grass Princess" which thoroughly deserved a reprint. Some of the bonus stories featured in the signed limited edition hardbacks are reprints of hard-to-find stories. Other than that, yes, all originals.

If you click on the 'books' button at the top, it'll show all titles. If you decide you'd like any, please let me know rather than ordering through the site, as I always try to squeeze a discount out for Chrons members.

 

[clovis-man]

The new Life on Mars one edited by Jonathan Strahan looks pretty good. TOC here.

Impressive lineup, including the recently departed Kage Baker.

 

[Connavar]

The new Life on Mars one edited by Jonathan Strahan looks pretty good. TOC here.

You havent seen a 2010 anthology that has stories by less known names ? I want to see what is hidden in contemporary SF.

 

[Fried Egg]

You havent seen a 2010 anthology that has stories by less known names ? I want to see what is hidden in contemporary SF.

Surely any anthology is going to have to throw a few bigger names in the pot to get people to buy it?

 

[iansales]

Here's one due in September which I think everyone should definitely buy...

 

[iansales]

And, purely coincidentally, no sooner did I mention it, then PS added it to their forthcoming books here.