The stories here are considered the year's best SF/F because they have been recommended by one or more prolific reviewers👍, included in a "year's best" anthology📙, or are finalists for one or more awards🏆. Each story shows a "Recommended By" list where a score is tallied from the +2, +1 or +0 after each recommendation.
This page starts as the "Year-To-Date" list and is updated the first of each month with recommendations from prolific reviewers. After a year, it becomes the "SF/F Ballots" list and is updated through the awards voting season with "year's best" anthologies and award finalists such as the Nebulas. When the awards voting season is over, it becomes the "Best SF/F" list and is updated with later awards like the Eugie and Sturgeon as well as the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy anthology.
1. Year-To-Date
2/1/19: 100% done (✓70/70)
Next Update: Complete
| Recommendations By | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 👍GDozois.r+2 👍GDozois.r+1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 👍GTognetti+2 👍GTognetti+1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍JMcGregor+2 👍JMcGregor+1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍KBurnham+2 👍KBurnham+1 | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍RHorton.r+2 👍RHorton.r+1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍RSR+2 👍RSR+1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 👍STomaino+2 👍STomaino+1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
2. SF/F Ballots
The magazine-specific awards come with a longlist link to all stories published by each magazine, with blurbs to help you remember the ones you've read and scores to guide further reading.
For the general awards, see the outstanding stories on this page, grouped by length (novella, novelette, short story), by publication, by new writer (year 1, year 2), or by author.
Awards in bold are currently available for voting.
Open to All
- Analog Readers' Awards: Ballot (Jan 1-Feb 1)
- Longlist & Covers; My Ratings (Analog highlighted)
- Asimov's Readers' Awards: Ballot (Jan 1-Feb 1)
- Longlist & Covers; My Ratings (Asimov's highlighted)
- Apex Story of the Year: Story Ballot & Cover Ballot (Jan 23-Feb 4)
- Uncanny Favorite Fiction Reader Poll: Ballot (Jan 8-Feb 5)
- Clarkesworld Reader's Poll: Winners Ballot (Feb 1-20)
- Locus Awards: Ballot (Feb 1-Apr 15)
Open to Members
- BSFA Awards: Longlist Ballot (Sep-Dec); Shortlist Ballot (Jan 1-31); Winners Ballot (Feb 17-Apr 20)
- British Fantasy Awards: Ballot (Jan-Feb)
- Nebula Awards: Longlist; Shortlist Ballot (Nov 15-Feb 15)
- Hugo Awards: Shortlist Ballot (Jan 10-Mar 15); Winners Ballot (Apr-Jun)
- Campbell-eligible Writers (200+ stories, 150+ authors)
- Pro Artists (300+ images, 100+ artists, lightbox view)
- Pro Artists from ISFDB (700+ images, 100+ artists, lightbox view)
Here are some helpful aggregation lists for Best Novel (John DeNardo's Best of the Best), Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form (Metacritic's 2018's Best Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Superhero Films - scroll down), and Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form (Metacritic's TV Shows Mentioned on Most Critic Top 10 Lists - 2018). GoodReads' Choice Awards 2018 is also useful for science fiction novels, fantasy novels, and graphic novels.
- Eugie Award: Longlist (Publishers, Editors); Shortlist (Commitee); Winner (Panel)
- Sturgeon Award: Shortlist (Editors, Reviewers); Winner (Jury)
- Shirley Jackson Awards: Longlist (Publishers, Editors); Shortlist & Winners (Jury)
- World Fantasy Awards: Longlist (Publishers, Editors); Shortlist & Winners (Jury)
3. Best SF/F
2/20/19: 47% complete (🏆6/26; 📙2/7; 👍14/14)
Next Updates: Feb (
Story scores will be updated with the release of each 🏆award (finalists, winners), 📙year's best anthology (table of contents, honorable mentions), and 👍reviewer's end-of-year post (award worthy, recommended) according to the estimated schedule below. Final scores for the top stories range from 15-20 by the time the last award winners are announced (see 2017, 2016, 2015; typically early Nov for the World Fantasy Awards).
Clicking on a completed award/year's best/reviewer link will highlight the stories whose score was increased by that award/year's best/reviewer.
Eric Wong Updated Friday February 1, 2019
You have Domestic Violence by Madeline Ashby listed as a novelette, but the word count I get is about 4970.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I repasted the text in Word and got 4,983 but my spreadsheet showed 9,983 so it must have been a typo when I first entered it.
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