As the editor of the anthology series The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror (Prime Books) I am now reading for the 2015 edition which will include material published in 2014.

I am looking for stories of dark fantasy—they might be simply unsettling or perhaps eerie. Dark fantasy can be revelatory or baffling. It can be simply a story or a small glimpse of life seen “through a glass, darkly.” Or, in more literary terms (all of which are debatable) it might be any number of things: weird fiction (new or old), supernatural fiction, magical realism, surrealism, the fantastique, dark epic fantasy, or the ever-ambiguous horror fiction (which need not have a supernatural element but can crossover into other genres). And yes, dark SF is certainly part of the horror mix.

You can get an idea of what I am looking for from the first four volumes of the series; the fifth (covering 2013) will be published in July of this year. Or by reading the introduction to the first volume: What the Hell Do You Mean by Dark Fantasy and Horror?” or last year’s introduction: Instructions for Use.

This is a REPRINT anthology so I am only reading material published during the calendar year of 2014.

READERS: I appreciate your recommendations. Email paula@prime-books.com.

PUBLISHERS: I prefer email submissions of Word documents, RTF, or PDF rather than hard copies if available. It saves you the postage and I can keep track of things better this way. If you must send galleys, magazines, or books, see the address below. If your publication appears on the Web only, please make me aware of it. Send to: darkecho@darkecho.com

WRITERS: Please ask the publisher of your collection or of periodicals and/or anthologies you appear in to send me copies of their publications. Please do not send me your individual story or stories unless I request such from you.

Please post and/or pass this on to others.

DEADLINE for 2014 materials: December 1, 2014. If your work/publication is being published in December, please try to get it to me in some form by that date. Overall: the earlier I get the material the better.

—Paula Guran

Mailing Address:
Paula Guran
YBDF&H
87 S Meadowcroft Dr
Akron OH 44313-7266

THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY: 2014 edited by Rich Horton

This sixth volume of the year’s best science fiction and fantasy features over thirty stories by some of the genre’s greatest authors, including James Patrick Kelly, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Robert Reed, Lavie Tidhar, Carrie Vaughn, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, F&SF, and other top venues, The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy is your guide to magical realms and worlds beyond tomorrow.

“Social Services” by Madeline Ash (An Aura of Familiarity)
“Out in the Dark” by Linda Nagata (Analog)
“The End of the World as We Know It, and We Feel Fine” by Harry Turtledove (Analog)
“The Oracle” by Lavie Tidhar (Analog)
“Call Girl” by Tang Fei (Apex)
“Ilse, Who Saw Clearly” by E. Lily Yu (Apex)
“They Shall Salt the Earth With Seeds of Glass” by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Asimov’s)
“The Wildfires of Antarctica” by Alan De Niro (Asimov’s)
“The Discovered Country” by Ian R. MacLeod (Asimov’s)
“A Stranger from a Foreign Ship” by Tom Purdom (Asimov’s)
“On the Origin of Song” by Naim Kabir (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
“Effigy Nights” by Yoon Ha Lee (Clarkesworld)
“Soulcatcher” by James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld)
“Found” by Alex Dally MacFarlane (Clarkesworld)
“The Bees Her Heart, the Hive Her Belly” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew (Clockwork Phoenix 4)
“Loss, With Chalk Diagrams” by E. Lily Yu (Eclipse Online)
“A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel” by Ken Liu (F&SF)
“Kormak the Lucky” by Eleanor Arnason (F&SF)
“Grizzled Veterans of Many and Much” by Robert Reed (F&SF)
“Rosary and Goldenstar” by Geoff Ryman (F&SF)
“The Dragons of Merebarton” by K.J. Parker (Fearsome Journeys)
“Martyr’s Gem” by C. S. E. Cooney (Giganotosaurus)
“Such & Such Said to So & So” by Maria Dahvana Headley (Glitter & Mayhem)
“Killing Curses, a Caught-Heart Quest” by Krista Hoeppner Leahy (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet)
“A Fine Show on the Abyssal Plain” by Karin Tidbeck (Lightspeed)
“Paranormal Romance” by Christopher Barzak (Lightspeed)
“The Dead Sea-Bottom Scrolls” by Howard Waldrop (Old Mars)
“Blanchefleur” by Theodora Goss (Once Upon a Time)
“The Memory Book” by Maureen McHugh (Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells)
“Live Arcade” by Erik Amundsen (Strange Horizons)
“Town’s End” by Yukimi Ogawa (Strange Horizons)
“A Window or a Small Box” by Jedediah Berry (Tor.com)
“Trafalgar and Josefina” by Angelica Gorodischer (Trafalgar)
“Firebrand” by Peter Watts (Twelve Tomorrows)
“Game of Chance” by Carrie Vaughn (Unfettered)

SPACE OPERA edited by Rich Horton

More than five hundred pages, over one-quarter of a million words… Space Opera spans a vast range of epic interstellar adventure stories told against a limitless cosmos filled with exotic aliens, heroic characters, and incredible settings. A truly stellar compilation of tales from one of the defining streams of science fiction, old and new, written by a supernova of genre talent.

“The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars” by Yoon Ha Lee (Lightspeed)
“The Wreck of the Godspeed” by James Patrick Kelly (Between Worlds)
“Saving Tiamaat” by Gwyneth Jones (The New Space Opera)
“Six Lights Off Green Scar” by Gareth L. Powell (Aphelion)
“Glory” by Greg Egan (The New Space Opera)
“The Mote Dancer and the Firelife” by Chris Willrich (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
“On Rickety Thistlewaite” by Michael F. Flynn (Analog)
“War Without End” by Una McCormack (Conflicts)
“Finisterra” by David Moles (F&SF)
“Seven Years from Home” by Naomi Novik (Warriors)
“Plotters and Shooters” by Kage Baker (Fast Forward 1)
“The Muse of Empires Lost” by Paul Berger (Twenty Epics)
“Boojum” by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette (Fast Ships and Black Sails)
“Lehr Rex” by Jay Lake (Forbidden Planets)
“Cracklegrackle” by Justina Robson (The New Space Opera 2)
“Hideaway” by Alastair Reynolds (Interzone)
“Isabel of the Fall” by Ian R. MacLeod (Interzone)
“Precious Mental” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s)
“Two Sisters in Exile” by Aliette de Bodard (Solaris Rising 1.5)
“Lode Stars” by Lavie Tidhar (The Immersion Book of SF)
“Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew (Clarkesworld)
“The Tear” by Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)

Robert Reed’s The Memory of Sky: A Great Ship Trilogy is also now available in ebook (with print to follow in March).

Tired of waiting a year or five for the next installment of a series? This time you don’t have to! We’ve packaged all three of his new novels set in his popular Great Ship universe—over 235,000 words—in one fantastic volume.

The Memory of Sky: A Great Ship Trilogy
Book 1: Diamond
Book 2: Corona’s Children
Book 3: The Great Day

Diamond: a small weak child, a fragile little shadow of an odd boy sure to die any time…who proves to be anything but. An epic story begins when he steps into the world his parents have so carefully kept him from, a world where gigantic trees each house thousands of humans…and another human species, the papio, live on a great coral reef. Much of civilization’s needs are provided by the coronas, strange huge beasts that—for reasons unknown—float into the human world only to be slain for the riches they provide.

But Diamond, in Corona’s Children, becomes an irresistible prize. A human who isn’t quite human, a blessing…or a curse…who holds the promise to remake one species and, perhaps, all of the Creation. As with anything of great value to so many, conflict arises. With conflict comes drastic change—but no one is prepared for what that conflict ultimately brings or what will happen in the final book, The Great Day.

Handsome Devil: Stories of Sin & Seduction edited by Steve Berman is available in both print and ebook formats in many venues.

Her Husband’s Hands and Other Stories, a collection by Adam-Troy Castro is currently available on Amazon, Weightless Books, and Kobo. The print version will be in bookstores soon.

ISBN-13: 978-1607014270
480 pages | $16.95 | May 2014
(Preorder now: Amazon or BN.com)

Bright lights, big city… magic spells, witchcraft, wizardry, fairies, devilry, and more. Urban living, at least in fantasy fiction, is full of both magical wonder and dark enchantment. Street kids may have supernatural beings to protect them or have such powers themselves. Brujeria may be part of your way of life. Crimes can be caused (and solved) with occult arts and even a losing sports team’s “curse” can be lifted with wizardry. And be careful of what cab you call—it might take you on a journey beyond belief! Some of the best stories of urban enchantment from the last few years gathered in one volume full of hex appeal and arcane arts.

Contents (authors in alphabetical order):
“Paranormal Romance,” Christopher Barzak
“The Slaughtered Lamb,” Elizabeth Bear
“The Land of Heart’s Desire,” Holly Black
“Seeing Eye,” Patricia Briggs
“De la Tierra,” Emma Bull
“Curses,” Jim Butcher
“Dog Boys,” Charles de Lint
“Snake Charmer,” Amanda Downum
“Street Wizard,” Simon R. Green
“-30-,” Caitlín R. Kiernan
“Stone Man,” Nancy Kress
“Pearlywhite” Mark Laidlaw & John Shirley
“In the Stacks,” Scott Lynch
“Spellcaster 2.0,” Jonathan Maberry
“Kabu Kabu,” Nnedi Okorafor
“Stray Magic,” Diana Peterfreund
“The Woman Who Walked with Dogs,” Mary Rosenblum”
“Wallamelon,” Nisi Shawl
“Grand Central Park,” Delia Sherman
“Words,” Angela Slatter
“Alchemy,” Lucy Sussex
“A Voice Like a Hole,” Catherynne M. Valente
“The Arcane Art of Misdirection,” Carrie Vaughn
“Thief of Precious Things,” A.C. Wise