Donna Scott has scoured magazines, anthologies, webzines and obscure genre corners to discover the very best science fiction stories by British and British-based authors published during 2021. Two dozen stories, varying greatly in subject matter and style, from superb technological mystery to conflict on very alien worlds, from sweet, sad stories symptomatic of the tense times we have lived through to tales optimistic for better times to come, and even a dash of wry humour here and there for good measure. Donna Scott is a director and recent chair of the BSFA, as well as being a distinguished poet, writer, and stand-up comedian. Donna is also a free-lance editor who has worked behind the scenes for a number of major publishers over the course of several years. Contents Introduction – Donna Scott Distribution – Paul Cornell Stealthcare – Liz Williams Down and Out Under the Tannhauser Gate – David Gullen Me Two – Keith Brooke and Eric Brown The Andraiad – Tim Major Bloodbirds – Martin Sketchley Going Home – Martin Westlake Okamoto’s Lens – A.N. Myers Love in the Age of Operator Errors – Ryan Vance Stone of Sorrow – Peter Sutton Henrietta – T.H. Dray A History of Food Additives in 22nd Century Britain – Emma Levin The Trip – Michael Crouch The Ghosts of Trees – Fiona Moore The Opaque Mirror of Your Face – Russell Hemmell More Sea Creatures to See – Aliya Whiteley The End of All Our Exploring – Gary Couzens How Does My Garden Grow? – David Cleden Girls’ Night Out – Teika Marija Smits Bar Hopping for Astronauts – Leo X. Robertson In Aeturnus – Phillip Irving A Spark in a Flask – Emma Johanna Puranen A Pall of Moondust – Nick Wood About the Authors Acknowledgements
Authors
There is more than one author with this name Liz Williams is a British science fiction writer. Her first novel, The Ghost Sister was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, Empire of Bones (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.[1] She is also the author of the Inspector Chen series. She is the daughter of a stage magician and a Gothic novelist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. She has had short stories published in Asimov's, Interzone, The Third Alternative and Visionary Tongue. From the mid-nineties until 2000, she lived and worked in Kazakhstan.[2] Her experiences there are reflected in her 2003 novel Nine Layers of Sky. Her novels have been published in the US and the UK, while her third novel The Poison Master (2003) has been translated into Dutch. Series: * Detective Inspector Chen * Darkland
Eric Brown was born in Haworth, West Yorkshire, in 1960, and has lived in Australia, India and Greece. He began writing in 1975, influenced by Agatha Christie and the science fiction writer Robert Silverberg. Since then he has written over forty-five books and published over a hundred and twenty short stories, selling his first story in 1986 and his first novel in 1992. He has written a dozen books for children; young adult titles as well as books for reluctant readers. He has been nominated for the British Science Fiction Award five times, winning it twice for his short stories in 2000 and 2002. His work has been translated into sixteen languages and he writes a monthly science fiction review column for the Guardian. His hobbies include collecting books and cooking (particularly Indian curries). He lives in Dunbar, East Lothian, with his wife and daughter.
My latest novel, The Girl from a Thousand Fathoms, was published in early 2020. Other books includes Third Instar from Eibonvale Press, and my alternative-present-day SF novel Shopocalypse. I’ve edited three anthologies, including Once Upon a Parsec:The Book of Alien Fairy Tales. I’ve sold over 40 short stories to various magazines and anthologies. My short story, Warm Gun, won the BFS Short Story Competition in 2016 and other work has been short-listed for the James White Award and placed in the Aeon Award. I’m also a past judge for the Arthur C. Clarke and James White Awards, and the current Chair of the Milford SF Conference. I was born in Africa, baptised by King Neptune, and raised in England. I live in South London with the fantasy writer Gaie Sebold behind several tree ferns.
