Hello, Space Unicorns! 2023 was another tough year. Though many things were hard and horrible, we are very, very proud of all of the amazing works we published in Uncanny Magazine. Everyone in the Space Unicorn Ranger Corps has been wonderfully supportive, and your enthusiasm has meant so much to us. It’s been fantastic to see how much our readers have been enjoying Uncanny’s fiction. And while we have our personal favorites, we’d like to know which stories YOU loved from Uncanny in 2023.

We’ve set up a poll for Uncanny readers to vote for their top three favorite original short stories from 2023. (You can find links to all of the stories here.)

The poll will be open from January 15 to February 12, after which we’ll announce the results. We’re excited for you to share which Uncanny stories made you feel!

A snazzy certificate will be given to the creator whose work comes out on top of  the poll!

So please spread the word! And don’t forget, EVERY VOTE COUNTS!

It’s the time of year when people post their year-in-reviews to remind voters for the different SF/F awards what’s out there that they might have missed, and (especially for the Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards) in which categories those stories are eligible . Last year was the ninth full year of Uncanny Magazine (the double-sized Issue 50 through Issue 55). We are extremely proud of the year we had.

The Kingdom of Darkness by Sarah Monette

To Put Your Heart Into a White Deer by Kristiana Willsey

SuperMAX by Daniel H. Wilson

Anything with a Void at the Center by Lee Mandelo

The Curing by Kristina Ten

Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge by Eugenia Triantafyllou

Waystation City by A. T. Greenblatt

Flower, Daughter, Soil, Seed by Eugenia Triantafyllou

How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub by P. Djèlí Clark

Silver Necklace, Golden Ring by Marie Brennan

Miz Boudreaux’s Last Ride by Christopher Caldwell

The Father Provincial of Mare Imbrium by E. Lily Yu

Prospect Heights by Maureen McHugh

Bad Doors by John Wiswell

A Soul in the World by Charlie Jane Anders

Perhaps in Understanding by AnaMaria Curtis

Yinying­—Shadow by Ai Jiang

In Time, a Weed May Break Stone by Valerie Valdes

Blank Space by Delilah S. Dawson

Space Treads by Parlei Rivière

All These Ghosts Are Playing to Win by Lindsey Godfrey Eccles

The Mausoleum’s Children by Aliette de Bodard

The Infinite Endings of Elsie Chen by Kylie Lee Baker

A Lovers’ Tide in Which We Inevitably Break Each Other; Told in Inverse by K.S. Walker

The Rain Remembers What the Sky Forgets by Fran Wilde

Want Itself Is a Treasure in Heaven by Theodora Ward

Désolé by Ewen Ma

Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200 by R.S.A. Garcia

Can You Hear Me Now? by Catherynne M. Valente

Theses on the Scientific Management of Goetic Labour by Vajra Chandrasekera

The Big Heavy by Steph Kwiatkowski

Love at the Event Horizon by Natalia Theodoridou

The Ghasts by Lavie Tidhar

We Do Not Eat Much Fish by Grace P. Fong

The Coffin Maker by AnaMaria Curtis

Four Words Written on My Skin by Jenn Reese

The Girl with a City Inside of Her by Jeannette Ng

Esqueleto by Ana Hurtado

The Quiet of Drowning by Kel Coleman

The Pandemonium Waltz by Jeffrey Ford

End of Play by Chelsea Sutton
(available Dec 05, 2023)

We’re Looking for the Best by Cecil Castellucci
(available Dec 05, 2023)

A Piece of the Continent by Marissa Lingen
(available Dec 05, 2023)

Coming November 7, the 55th issue of the Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine!!

All of the content will be available in the eBook version on the day of release.

The free online content will be released in 2 stages- half on day of release and half on December 5.

Don’t forget eBook Subscriptions to Uncanny Magazine are available from Weightless Books, and you can support us on our Patreon!

Uncanny Magazine Issue 55 Table of Contents:

Cover:
The Lotus Flower Gift by Paul Lewin

Editorial:
“The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Fiction:
“The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer (11/7)
“The Pandemonium Waltz” by Jeffrey Ford (11/7)
“The Quiet of Drowning” by Kel Coleman (11/7)

“We’re Looking for the Best” by Cecil Castellucci (12/5)
“A Piece of the Continent” by Marissa Lingen (12/5)
“Endof Play” by Chelsea Sutton (12/5)

“Esqueleto” by Ana Hurtado (11/7)

Nonfiction:
“Scalzi on Film: Speed Racer’s Long Road” by John Scalzi (11/7)
“Ncuti to the Moon” by Amanda-Rae Prescott (11/7)

“The Telling Silence of A Ghost Story for Christmas” by Paul Cornell (12/5)
“Sweat and Skin” by Lee Mandelo (12/5)

Poetry:
“yes, your reflection is screaming” by Carlie St. George (11/7)
“Not Cricket” by Tehnuka (11/7)

“How to Haunt a Northern Lake” by Lora Gray (12/5)
“Ferry to the Island of Ghosts” by Angela Liu (12/5)

Interviews:
Jeffrey Ford interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (11/7)

Marissa Lingen interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (12/5)

Podcasts:
Episode 55A (November 7): Editors’ Introduction, “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer, as read by Erika Ensign, “yes, your reflection is screaming” by Carlie St. George, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Naomi Kritzer.

Episode 55B (December 5): Editors’ Introduction, “We’re Looking for the Best” by Cecil Castellucci, as read by Erika Ensign, “Ferry to the Island of Ghosts” by Angela Liu, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Cecil Castellucci.

Fabulous news, Space Unicorns! “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You” by John Chu won the Best Novelette Ignyte Award! Congratulations to John!!!

Once again, congratulations to Terese Mason Pierre, whose poem “In Stock Images of the Future, Everything is White” was a finalist for the Best in Speculative Poetry Ignyte Award!

Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists!

PHENOMENAL news, Space Unicorns! ““Rabbit Test” by Samantha Mills won the Best Short Story Hugo Award! Congratulations to Sam!

Even more wonderful news! Uncanny Magazine (Publishers/Editors-in-Chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, Poetry/Managing Editor Chimedum Ohaegbu, Managing Editor Monte Lin, Nonfiction Editor Meg Elison, and Podcast Producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky) won the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine! THANK YOU, SPACE UNICORNS!!!

Once again, congratulations to the other Uncanny Magazine story that was a finalist: “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You“ by John Chu, which was a finalist for the Best Novelette Hugo Award! Congratulations to everybody!

It was an amazing list of Hugo Award winners and finalists, many of whom are Uncanny authors and friends. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY!!! Thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for these works, and to the hard-working Worldcon staff. We are honored, ecstatic, and overwhelmed.

Here is our acceptance video!

Want to see something wonderful, Space Unicorns?

As many of you know, Samantha Mills‘s Uncanny Magazine story “Rabbit Test” is a Hugo Award Finalist and has already won Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon Awards. And now, we have some more fabulous Samantha Mills’s news to share with you! Samantha’s debut novel, The Wings Upon Her Back, will be released on April 23, 2024, by Tachyon Publications! HOW EXCITING IS THAT?!?!

We can now reveal the cover of The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills!! (Cover designed by Elizabeth Story.)

 

 

Here is the Press Release from Tachyon Publications:

A loyal warrior in a crisis of faith must fight to regain her place and begin her life again while questioning the events of her past. This gripping science-fantasy novel from a Nebula and Locus Award-winning debut author is a complex, action-packed exploration of the costs of zealous faith, brutal war, and unquestioning loyalty.

Five gods lie mysteriously sleeping above the city of Radezhda. Five gods who once bestowed great technologies and wisdom, each inspiring the devotion of their own sect.

When the gods turned away from humanity, their followers built towers to the heavens to find out why. But when no answer was given, the collective grief of the sects turned to desperation, and eventually to war.

Zenya was a teenager when she ran away from home to join the mechanically modified warrior sect. She was determined to earn mechanized wings and protect the people and city she loved. Under the strict tutelage of a mercurial, charismatic leader, Zenya became Winged Zemolai.

But after twenty-six years of service, Zemolai is disillusioned with her role as an enforcer in an increasingly fascist state. After one tragic act of mercy, she is cast out and loses everything she worked for. As Zemolai fights for her life, she begins to understand the true nature of her sect, her leader, and the gods themselves.

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You can pre-order The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills from Tachyon Publications ,  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound.

Wonderful news, Space Unicorns! In Stock Images of the Future, Everything is White” by Terese Mason Pierre won the SFPA 2023 Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem! (Tied with “Harold and the Blood-Red Crayon” by Jennifer Crow, Star*Line 45.1.)

Congratulations to Terese and to all of the winners and finalists!

Coming September 5, the 54th issue of the Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine!!

All of the content will be available in the eBook version on the day of release.

The free online content will be released in 2 stages- half on day of release and half on October 3.

Don’t forget eBook Subscriptions to Uncanny Magazine are available from Weightless Books, and you can support us on our Patreon!

Uncanny Magazine Issue 54 Table of Contents:

Cover:
For Woman Wild by Grace P. Fong

Editorial:
“The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Fiction:
“Can You Hear Me Now?” by Catherynne M. Valente (9/5)
“We Do Not Eat Much Fish” by Grace P. Fong (9/5)
“The Curing” by Kristina Ten (9/5)
“The Kingdom of Darkness” by Sarah Monette (9/5)

“Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (10/3)
“The Girl with a City Inside of Her” by Jeannette Ng (10/3)
“The Coffin Maker” by AnaMaria Curtis (10/3)
“Four Words Written on My Skin” by Jenn Reese (10/3)

Nonfiction:
“Always Coming Back – My Life on Board Liberator” by Una McCormack (9/5)
“Why Fanzines Now?” by Christopher J Garcia (9/5)

“Failing the Marshmallow Test: On Not Saving Books for Later” by Marissa Lingen (10/3)
“How Becoming the Doctor Made My Heart Bigger on the Inside” by Riley Silverman (10/3)

Poetry:
“Knight of Wands, Six of Swords” by Ali Trotta (9/5)
“Hora Somni” by Tiffany Morris (9/5)

“A Siren’s Call, A Banshee’s Wail, A Grandmother’s Dream” by Ai Jiang (10/3)
“Wish” by Emily Jiang (10/3)

Interviews:
Sarah Monette interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (9/5)

Eugenia Triantafyllou interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (10/3)

Podcasts:

Episode 54A (September 5): Editors’ Introduction, “Can You Hear Me Now?” by Catherynne M. Valente, as read by Erika Ensign, “Knight of Wands, Six of Swords” by Ali Trotta, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Catherynne M. Valente.

Episode 54B (October 3): Editors’ Introduction, “The Coffin Maker” by AnaMaria Curtis, as read by Matt Peters, “A Siren’s Call, A Banshee’s Wail, A Grandmother’s Dream” by Ai Jiang, as read by Erika Ensign, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing AnaMaria Curtis.