Best Short Stories of 2009

Oh goody! The indestructible Charles Tan has finally finished compiling the Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2009.

Similar in format to the Datlow/Windling/Grant/Link 'best-of' yearly anthologies, Tan has managed to select his 12 best stories published last year. You can check out the website here.

I'm happy to point out that three of the stories-- Dean Alfar's "Strange Weather", Crystal Koo's "Wildwater", and Mia Tijam's "Spelling Normal"-- were first published in the estrangheropress first outing, The Farthest Shore: Fantasy from the Philippines.

For those interested in checking out the stories, you can read it online at the website but it's also available for downloads here. Personally, I'd go for Best of Speculative Fiction 2009 PDF.

(For tips on how to get its different versions, see RocketKapre's how-to post.)

Here's the list of the 12 stories cited:

1. The Fires of the Sun in a Crystalline Sky by Francezca C. Kwe
2. The Day the World Lost Its Gravity by Camsy Ocumen
3. Strange Weather by Dean Francis Alfar
4. The Sewing Project by Apol Lejano-Massebieau
5. Lex Talionis by Paolo Chikiamco
6. Isa by Marianne Villanueva
7. Spelling Normal by Mia Tijam
8. Daddy by Yvette Tan
9. From Abecediarya by Adam David
10. The Annotated Account of Tholomew Mestich by Elyss G. Punsalan
11. Beats by Kenneth Yu
12. Wildwater by Crystal Koo
13. Moondown and Fugue by Alexander Drilon
14. The Maiden’s Song by Kate Aton-Osias
15. Capture by Gabriela Lee
16. The Secret Origin of Spin-man by Andrew Drilon

Congratulation to all of them!