neil clarke best science fiction of the year

As the year closed, I became curious about where everyone landed, so I devised a survey and sent it to editors at fifty-four different English language science fiction and fantasy magazines. Throughout 2020, I had informal discussions with editors about the changes we were observing in story submissions, readership, and listenership. No matter what your experience, the routine of our daily lives was disrupted on a scale few of us even imagined likely.Īs I began reviewing my notes for this introduction, the unusual nature of the year nagged at me. Responses from those in power ranged from outright denial of science to enforcement of strict quarantine restrictions.

Lockdowns, furloughs, face masks, and shortages at supermarkets became commonplace. Many of us lost family and friends, or knew of someone who did. It’s impossible to look back at 2020 without noting the shadow of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Introduction A State of the Short SF Field in 2020 Neil Clarke Clarke, publisher and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed and award-winning magazine Clarkesworld, has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year’s writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome “sensawunda” that the genre has to offer. The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to present the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, a yearly anthology compiled by Hugo and World Fantasy Award–winning editor Neil Clarke, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers. Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more-a task that can be accomplished by only the most determined and voracious readers. From Hugo Award-Winning Editor Neil Clarke, the Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year Collected in a Single Paperback Volume

Neil clarke best science fiction of the year