A New Year's Cheer for Sci-Fi

Let's raise a toast most delightful and high;
A new year draws forward with fresh sci-fi.

Short stories, novellas, e-books plus zines;
Robots, A.I.s, protagonists and fiends.

Sentient spaceships surfing between suns;
Space pirates skulking with lethal ray guns.

Worlds beyond measure, some climates aghast;
Time travels to future, sidewise and past.

Hoorah! Clink our glasses and grant credit
To those who write, tweet, podcast or edit.

Make merry, make cheer and make it quite loud:
Hail bookstores! Hail cons! Hail the sci-fi crowd!

Again with gusto, let’s do ourselves proud:
Hail bookstores! Hail cons! Hail the sci-fi crowd!

The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 6 Update:

The final proof is in the process of being printed. With a little luck, this book will be released June 17th in both paperback and ebook formats. A tip of the hat to Maurizio Manzieri for his inspired cover art.

Sparklybits Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Sparklybits"

by

Nick Wolven 

GEC SBGOETEA PTLX QHYBHEB BSQB, T AKBQQ, LXGL’Q BGQTBO LXGE SBGOETEA GSHEB.

Substitute the letter M for Y.

ANSWER

AND LEARNING WITH SOMEONE ELSE, I GUESS, THAT’S EASIER THAN LEARNING ALONE.

Come the Revolution Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Come the Revolution"

by

Ian Tregillis 

FNTP TP LEZJTS, PNY OEVMP, KLF PNY TP J ZCJMYU JEU ZLSTVLP XJANTEY.

Substitute the letter S for P.

ANSWER

THIS IS UNFAIR, SHE KNOWS, BUT SHE IS A FLAWED AND FURIOUS MACHINE.

Rover Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Rover"

by

A. T. Sayre 

BSJ APRJA VWH BSJAJ W VPTN BLKJ WI BSJ IET KPRJF WYAPII BSJ IUH.

Substitute the letter Y for H.

ANSWER

THE ROVER LAY THERE A LONG TIME AS THE SUN MOVED ACROSS THE SKY.

A Guide for Working Breeds Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"A Guide for Working Breeds"

by

Vina Jie-Min Prasad  

AL SGFERSE UKEX XPARFD KD PDPRVVL YIGA R MKDERFSZ.

Substitute the letter L for V.

ANSWER

MY CONTACT WITH HUMANS IS USUALLY FROM A DISTANCE.

Father Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Father"

by

Ray Nayler  

SCVLMF’T JCP MOM SZRXGMFMP JCXG VB ZRSM SBF C IBIMYV, VLMY AMYV PMCP CECRY.

Substitute the letter Y for O.

ANSWER

FATHER’S BAD EYE FLICKERED BACK TO LIFE FOR A MOMENT, THEN WENT DEAD AGAIN.

Nic and Viv Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Nic and Viv's Compulsory Courtship"

by

Will McIntosh  

“F KJX’L ODPI LJ LDCI D LIX-OJME LEDFX EFKI LJ CXJN F QJPI AJBIJXI.”

Substitute the letter N for X.

ANSWER

“I DON’T HAVE TO TAKE A TEN-HOUR TRAIN RIDE TO KNOW I LOVE SOMEONE.”

The Ambient Intelligence Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"The Ambient Intelligence"

by

Todd McAulty  

YOXL ISASY JRL R WRUTKI YS KZKIHSUK XU YOK QXYH.

Substitute the letter G for T.

ANSWER

THIS ROBOT WAS A DANGER TO EVERYONE IN THE CITY.

50 Things Every AI Should Know Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"50 Things Every AI Working with Humans Should Know"

by

Ken Liu 

MUT MTAMHFT DO C PDDY LMDFK, C LMDFK MUCM KDH RCE RNVEP MD.

Substitute the letter G for P.

ANSWER

THE TEXTURE OF A GOOD STORY, A STORY THAT YOU CAN CLING TO.

The Beast Adjoins Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"The Beast Adjoins"

by

Ted Kosmatka 

UPCA OPC TCYXO DNZCX INJ BX, R UREE ANO ECO RO OYMC BX.

Substitute the letter S for X.

ANSWER

WHEN THE BEAST COMES FOR US, I WILL NOT LET IT TAKE US.

Metal Like Blood Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Metal Like Blood in the Dark"

by

T. Kingfisher 

Q FGH SGEL WA LXGL FWEBU, WZJK, FXKZ Q FGH CWPZY.

Substitute the letter F for A.

ANSWER

I WAS PART OF THAT WORLD, ONCE, WHEN I WAS YOUNG.

Your Boyfriend Experience Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Your Boyfriend Experience"

by

James Patrick Kelly 

“FULZBA?” L POBCJTY. “L YBJ’S EJBC CVB SVFS LU.”

Substitute the letter V for A.

ANSWER

“ASIMOV?” I FROWNED. “I DON’T KNOW WHO THAT IS.”

Go. Fix. Now. Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Go. Fix. Now"

by

Timons Esaias 

OFCS Y AFYKQ EKYEBGC, YSP IWHK KWTA JYEB Y QYAACSZCK TUSPWT EKYEBCP, GCOOUSZ YUKTFUAOGC WHO.

Substitute the letter R for K.

ANSWER

THEN A SHARP CRACKLE, AND FOUR ROWS BACK A PASSENGER WINDOW CRACKED, LETTING AIR WHISTLE OUT.

Callme and Mink Find Line

 

"Find the Story Line" Puzzle

from

"Callme and Mink"

by

Brenda Cooper 

PA L QBULV ELVIH LV LVPULZ, IQXV APVO CBI PA IQXW JLV DXXY PI HLAX.

Substitute the letter F for A.

ANSWER

IF A HUMAN WANTS AN ANIMAL, THEN FIND OUT IF THEY CAN KEEP IT SAFE.

Translator Sparklybits

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“Sparklybits”

by Nick Wolven

All tepyrt lisyl, eving that hyde’t equipped the capel with round-the-clock monitoring.

ANSWER

All pretty silly, given that they’d equipped the place with round-the-clock monitoring.

Translator Come the Revolution

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“Come the Revolution”

by Ian Tregillis

The refis of rage are the gilth by which she sees the pymet lhesl of her redfin.

ANSWER

The fires of rage are the light by which she sees the empty shell of her friend.

Translator The Rover

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“The Rover”

by A.T. Sayre

A few osruh obfeer dawn, it duclo move no more and thelad at the tercs of a hill.

ANSWER

A few hours before dawn, it could move no more and halted at the crest of a hill.

Translator A Guide for Working Breeds

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“A Guide for Working Breeds”

by Vina Jie-Min Prasad

Most embodied AIs hesoco samen deabs off ihtre isrese designation.

ANSWER

Most embodied AIs choose names based off their series designation.

Translator Father

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“Father”

by Ray Nayler

Father’s groane eyes dwoleg a tellit in the hedsa of the greaga, I noticed.

ANSWER

Father’s orange eyes glowed a little in the shade of the garage, I noticed.

Translator Nic and Viv's

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“Nic and Viv's Compulsory Courtship”

by Will McIntosh

“You nudos slomat arege to get in there and celerap that olitte.”

ANSWER

“You sound almost eager to get in there and replace that toilet.”

Translator Ambient Intelligence

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“The Ambient Intelligence”

by Todd McAulty

It kelodo like a fat dripes, with sinister blism gitjnut out at all saleng.

ANSWER

It looked like a fat spider, with sinister limbs jutting out at all angles.

Translator 50 Things

 

Universal Translator Puzzle

The universal translator isn’t perfect. The letters in some of the words in the line below are mixed up. Rearrange the letters in these words to restore the original line from the story.

from

“50 Things Every AI

Working with Humans Should Know”

by Ken Liu

The cvoter capes of all gauses of all drows in all unham languages.

ANSWER

The vector space of all usages of all words in all human languages.