The Best of 2007 Short Stories: A Meme

Since charles twisted my paw, am passing this meme around he made for editor ellen datlow's request to recommend good genre short stories published this year.

Alas, of the number of anthologies this year, I've only read one collection-- Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories, edited by John Klima. I'll probably get around to doing a full review of this book but I can definitely say that it's a mixed sort of collection with some strong stories. Some of these include Hal Duncan's "The Chiaroscurist", Michael Moorcock's "A Portrait of Ivory", and Jeff Vandermeer's "Appoggiatura".

However, my top three list that I'd definitely would recommend would be Daniel Abraham's "The Cambist and Lord Iron", Tim Pratt's "From Around Here", and Theodora Goss' "Singing Mount Abora". But wait a minute, you say, aren't Pratt and Goss always high on your list? Unfortunately, yes, which is why after thinking about it, I'll ultimately place Abraham's story as my top recommendee, coming as it is from a relatively-new writer.

Abraham creates an interesting type of story here about a cambist who engages in a test of wills with the scoundrel Lord Iron. How the cambist manages to overcome Lord Iron's three tests is quite an engaging read as Abraham tries to show what it really means to have 'a fairy tale of economics.' Granted, the ending is a bit of a cliché but given how Abraham had shaped the story, it was forgivable that it would head in that direction.

So go ahead, make your own recommendations/s!