I don’t pretend to understand it. As Feynmann said – in a world where he didn’t die in jail – it all goes back to the experiment with the light and the two slits, and Feynmann himself didn’t pretend to understand that. What we have been told is simply this: the past of the universe, its very habitability for human beings, depends on its future being one – or rather, many – that contain as many human beings and their successors as possible, until the end of time.
It is not enough for the time-travelers to intervene in histories such as the one from which I come, and by defeating Communism while avoiding atomic war, save a swathe of futures for cooperation and survival. They also have to repopulate the timelines in which humanity destroyed itself, and detonate new shockwaves of possibility that will spread humanity across time and forward through it, on an ever-expanding, widening front.
The big mare stops and looks at me and whinnies. The sun is low above the hills to the west, the hills where I once – or many times – fought. Its light is red in the sky. The dust from the last atomic war is no longer dangerous, but it will linger in the high atmosphere for thousands of years to come.
I unharness the horse, heave the plough to the shed at the end of the field, and lead the beast up the hill toward the village. The atomic generator is humming, the lights are coming on, and dinner in the communal kitchen will soon be ready. Tracy will be putting away the day’s books in the library, yawning and stretching herself. Maybe this evening, after we’ve all eaten, she can be persuaded to tell us some stories. For me she has many fascinations – she’s quite unlike any woman I’ve ever met – and the only one I’m happy for to share with everybody else her stories from the world where, I still feel, history turned out almost as it would have done without any meddling at all by the time-travelers: her world, the world where the prototype bomber didn’t work; the world where, as she puts it, the Roswell saucer crashed.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
2001
Daniel Abraham, “As Sweet,” Realms of Fantasy, December.
—, “Exclusion,” Asimov’s, February.
—, “A Good Move in Design Space,” Bones of the Earth.
—, “The Lesson Half-Learned,” Asimov’s, May.
Poul Anderson, “The Lady of the Winds,” F&SF, October/November.
—, “Pele,” Analog, October.
Alan Arkin, “The Amazing Grandy,” F&SF, August.
Eleanor Arnason, “Lifeline,” Asimov’s, February.
Caterine Asaro, “Ave de Psso,” Redshift.
Pauline Ashwell, “Elsewhere,” Analog, June.
Kage Baker, “The Applesauce Monster,” Asimov’s, December.
—, “The Caravan from Troon,” Asimov’s, August.
—, “The Dust Enclosed” Asimov’s, March.
—, “Katherine’s Story,” Fictionwise, 2/4.
—, “Miss Yahoo Has Her Say,” Fictionwise, 1/29.
—, “Monster Story,” Asimov’s, June.
—, “Pueblo, Colorado Has the Answers,” Fictionwise, 1/29.
—, “Standing in His Light,” Sci Fiction, 7/25.
—, “Studio Dick Drowns Near Malibu,” Asimov’s, January.
—, “The Ruined Vacation,” Fictionwise, 2/19.
—, “What the Tyger Told Her,” Realms of Fantasy, June.
Tony Ballantyne, “A New Beginning,” Interzone, January.
—, “Restoring the Balance,” Interzone, May.
Ashok Banker, “Devi Darshan,” Weird Tales, Winter.
Neal Barrett, Jr., “Prince of Christler Coke,” Revolution SF.
—, “Rhido Wars,” Redshift.
Stephen Baxter, “The Cold Sink,” Asimov’s, August.
—, “The Ghost Pit,” Asimov’s, July.
—, “Gray Earth,” Asimov’s, December.
—, “In the Un-Black,” Redshift.
—, “Lost Continent,” Interzone, February.
—, “Sun-Cloud,” Starlight 3.
—, “Tracks,” Interzone, July.
—, & Simon Bradshaw, “First to the Moon!”, Spectrum SF 6.
Chris Beckett, “Watching the Sea,” Interzone, November.
M. Shayne Bell, “Breaking Spells,” Realms of Fantasy, February.
—, “Miss America at the Java Kayenko,” F&SF, July.
—, “Red Flowers and Ivy,” F&SF, February.
—, “Refugees from Nulongwe,” Sci Fiction, 4/18.
—, “Sam 43 Unit 763,” Bones of the Earth.
Gregory Benford, “Anomalies,” Redshift.
—, “Brink,” Sci Fiction, December 5.
—, “Menage A Trois,” Interzone, November.
—, “Three Gods,” Interzone, September.
Terry Bisson, “A View from the Bridge,” F&SF, August.
—, “That Old Rugged Cross,” Starlight 3.
James Blaylock, “His Own Back Yard,” Sci Fiction, 7/11.
—, “Small Houses,” Sci Fiction, 10/10
Keith Brooke, “Genetopia,” Future Orbits, Oct/Nov.
Eric Brown, “A Writer’s Life,” PS Publishing.
—, “The Angels of Life and Death,” Spectrum SF 3.
—, “Ascent of Man,” Interzone, May.
—, “The Children of Winter,” Interzone, January.
—, “The Frankenberg Process,” Interzone, September.
—, “Instructions for Surviving the Destruction of Star-Probe X-11-57,” Spectrum SF 6.
—, “The Kethani Inheritance,” Spectrum SF 7.
Richard Bowes, “The Ferryman’s Wife,” F&SF, July.
Nigel Brown, “Rare as a Rocket,” Interzone, June.
Chris Bunch, “Mirror,” Absolute Magnitude, Spring.
—, “The Stars Too Near,” Absolute Magnitude, Autumn.
Pat Cadigan, “Life on Earth,” Sci Fiction, 12/19.
Amy Sterling Casil, “To Kiss the Star,” F&SF, February.
Michael Cassutt, “Beyond the End of Time,” Sci Fiction, 6/20.
Adam-Troy Castro, “Sunday Night Yams at Minnie and Earl’s,” Analog, June.
Robert R. Chase, “Seven Times Never,” Asimov’s, September.
Rob Chilson, “Talking Monkeys,” Analog, April.
John Christopher, “Rendezvous,” Interzone, March.
Richard Chwedyk, “The Measure of All Things,” F&SF, January.
Ted Chiang, “Hell is the Absense of God,” Starlight 3.
Susanna Clarke, “Tom Brightwind, or, How the Fairybridge Was Built at Thoresby,” Starlight 3.
David Ira Cleary, “Old Immortality,” Bones of the Earth.
Brenda W. Clough, “Home is the Sailor,” Starlight 3.
D.G. Compton, “In Which Avu Giddy Tries to Stop Dancing,” Starlight 3.
Michael Coney, “Poppy Day,” Spectrum SF 3.
Brenda Cooper & Larry Niven, “Ice and Mirrors,” Asimov’s, February.
F. Brett Cox, “It Came Out of the Sky,” North Carolina Literary Review, Number 10.
Nat Coward, “The Second Question,” Interzone, July.
Albert E. Cowdrey, “The King of New Orleans,” F&SF, February.
—, “Queen for a Day,” F&SF, October/November.
—, “Nature 2000,” F&SF, April.
—, “Tomorrow,” F&SF, June.
Jack Dann, “The Diamond Pit,” F&SF, June.
—, “Ting-A-Ling,” Redshift.
~Avram Davidson, “Young Vergil and the Wizard,” The Infinite Matrix, 12/3.
Stephen Dedman, “Ptaargin,” Interzone, August.
—, “Ravens,” Interzone, February.
—, “Valley of the Shadows,” Weird Tales, Summer.
Luna De Tar, “The Trickster’s Lot,” On Spec, Summer.
Elisabeth De Vos, “Taking Stock,” Talebones, Spring.
Paul Di Filippo, “Babylon Sisters,” Interzone, June.
—, “Doing the Unstuck,” F&SF, May.
—, “Karuna, Inc.,” Fantastic, Spring.
; —, “Return to Cockaigne,” Interzone, January.
—, & Bruce Sterling, “The Scab’s Progress,” Sci Fiction, 1/3.
Cory Doctorow, “Power Punctuation!” Starlight 3.
—, “The Super Man and the Bugout,” On Spec, Fall.
Aidan Doyle, “A Good Place to Raiae a Boy,” Orb 2.
Terry Dowling, “The Lagan Fishers,” Sci Fiction, 4/11.
L. Timmel Duchamp, “The Mystery of Laura Molson,” Asimov’s, July.
Andy Duncan, “The Premature Burials,” Realms of Fantasy, April.
—, “Senator Bilbo,” Starlight 3.
J.R. Dunn, “The Ground He Stood On,” Analog, July/August.
Linda J. Dunn, “Christmas at Ground Zero,” Analog, December.
Frederic S. Durbin, “The Place of Roots,” F&SF, February.
S.N. Dyer, “My Cat,” Asimov’s, April.
Greg Van Eekhout, “Wolves Till the World Goes Down,” Starlight 3.
Phyllis & Alex Eisenstein, “Wallpaper World,” Weird Tales, Fall.
Harlan Ellison, “From A to Z in the Sarsaparilla Alphabet,” F&SF, February.
—, “Incognita, Inc.,” United Airlines Hemispheres, June.
Carol Emshwiller, “Creature,” F&SF, October/November.
—, “Foster Mother,” F&SF, February.
—, “The Project,” F&SF, August.
Andreas Eschbach, “The Carpetmaker’s Son,” F&SF, January.
Gregory Feeley, “Spirit of the Place,” iPublish, March.
Charles Coleman Finlay, “Footnotes,” F&SF, August.
Eliot Fintushel, “Female Action,” Asimov’s, September.
Jeffrey Ford, “The Honeyed Knot,” F&SF, May.
Neil Gaiman, “Other People,” F&SF, October/November.
Stephen Gallagher, “My Repeater,” F&SF, January.
R. Garcia y Robertson, “Firebird,” F&SF, May.
—, “Shady Lady,” Asimov’s, March.
Peter T. Garratt, “A Connecticut Welshman at Artognov’s Court,” Interzone, May.
Carolyn Ives Gilman, “The Invisible Hand Rolls the Dice,” Interzone, October.
Alexander Glass, “The Eaters,” Interzone, February.
—, “The Necropolis Line,” The Third Alternative, Jan/Feb.
—, “Violin Road,” The Third Alternative, Autumn.
Lisa Goldstein, “The Go-Between,” Asimov’s, March.
Garvin Grant, “Editing for Content,” Sci Fiction, 3/7.
Dominic Green, “Grass,” Interzone, June.
Colin Greenland, “Wings,” Starlight 3.
Jennifer de Guzman, “Underground,” Strange Horizons, 3/26.
Joe Haldeman, “Road Kill,” Redshift.
Elizabeth Hand, “Cleopatra Brimstone,” Redshift.
Charles Harness, “The Dome,” Weird Tales, Winter.
—, “Passkey,” Asimov’s, August.
Rick Heller, “The Mind Field,” F&SF, January.
Glen Hirshberg, “Struwwelpeter,” Sci Fiction, 11/28.
Ernest Hogan, “The Rise and Fall of Paco Cohen and the Mariachis of Mars,” Analog, April.
Sarah A. Hoyt, “The Play and the Thing,” Fantastic, Winter.
Simon Ings, “All Cats Are Gray,” The Third Alternative, Jan./Feb.
—, “Dr. Real,” The Infinite Matrix, 8/1.
—, “Menage,” Asimov’s, October/November.
—, “Myxomatosis,” Interzone, March.
Alex Irvine, “Akhenaton,” F&SF, April.
—, “Elegy for a Grasswiper,” F&SF, September.
—, “The Sea Wind Offers Little Relief,” Starlight 3.
Michael Jasper, “Crossing the Camp,” Strange Horizons, 1/22.
Matthew Johnson, “Closing Time,” On Spec, Summer.
Richard Kadrey, “Lotus Alley,” The Infinite Matrix, Nobember.
Michael Kandel, “Mayhem Tours,” F&SF, September.
James Patrick Kelly, “Unique Visitors,” Redshift.
Leigh Kennedy, “Wind Angels,” Interzone, September.
Damon Knight, “Ah, Too Late,” The Spook, September.
Nancy Kress, “And No Such Things Grow” Asimov’s, June.
Geoffrey A. Landis, “Mirusha,” Absolute Magnitude, Spring.
—, “The Secret Egg of the Clouds,” Starlight 3.
—, “Shooting the Moon,” Sci Fiction, 8/1.
John Langan, “On Skua Island,” F&SF, August.
David Langford, “The Case That Never Was,” Weird Tales, Winter.
Mary Soon Lee, “Crew Dog,” Spectrum SF 7.
Tanith Lee, “La Vampiresse,” Weird Tales, Summer.
—, “The Man Who Stole the Moon,” Realms of Fantasy, February.
Yoon Ha Lee, “Alas, Lirette,” F&SF, January.
Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Building,” Redshift.
—, “The Bones of the Earth,” Tales from Earthsea.
—, “The Finder,” Tales from Earthsea.
—, “On the High Marsh,” Tales from Earthsea.
Edward M. Lerner, “Creative Destruction,” Analog, March,
—, “Strange Bedfellows,” Artemis, Spring.
Michael Libling, “Timmy Gobel’s Bug Jar,” F&SF, December.
Megan Lindholm, “Cut,” Asimov’s, May.
Marissa K. Lingen, “The Handmade’s Tale,” Future Orbits 2.
Kelly Link, “Louise’s Ghost,” Stranger Things Happen.
— & Gavin Grant, “Sea, Ship, Mountain, Sky,” Altair 6&7.
James Lovegrove, “Speed Stream,” Interzone, January.
Jack McDevitt, “Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City,” Artemis, Summer.
Sean McMullen, “Tower of Birds,” Analog, December.
Danith McPherson, “Of Blood and Earth,” The Third Alternative, Jan/Feb.
Elisabetgh Malartre, “A Windy Prospect,” Asimov’s, April.
Geoffrey Maloney, “Remembering Aoteoroa,” Orb 2.
Joseph Manzione, “Cockroaches,” Asimov’s, April.
Steve Martinez, “Bad Asteroid Night,” Asimov’s, October/November.
David Marusek, “A Boy in Cathyland,” Asimov’s, May.
Laura J. Mixon, “At Tide’s Turning,” Asimov’s, April.
Steve Mohan, Jr., “Harbinger,” Talebones, Fall.
Steve Mohn, “Green Time,” On Spec, Fall.
Devon Monk, “Last Tour of Duty,” Realms of Fantasy, December.
A.R. Morlan, “The Cat in the Box,” Sci Fiction, 3/28.
David Morrell, “Resurrection,” Redshift.
Walter Mosely, “Little Brother,” F&SF, December.
Vera Nazarian, “Swans,” On Spec, Summer.
Ruth Nestvold, “Latency Time,” Asimov’s, July.
R. Neube, “Bug Me, Please,” Future Orbits 2.
Larry Niven, “The Heights,” Analog, May
—, “Ssoroghod’s People,” Redshift.
G. David Nordley, “Burdens,” Artemis, Spring.
—, “Relic of Chaos,” Analog, January.
Jack O’Connell, “Legerdemain,” F&SF, October/November.
Jerry Oltion, “The Seeds of Time,” Bones of the Earth.
Robert Onopa, “Name That Moon,” F&SF, January.
Susan Palwick, “Cucumber Gravy,” Sci Fiction, 1/24.
—, “Gestella,” Starlight 3.
Richard Parks, “A Respectful Silence,” Realms of Fantasy, December.
—, “The First Law of Power,” Realms of Fantasy, June.
—, “Keeping Lalande Station,” Future Orbits 2.
David Phalen, “Lost Moments,” Analog, October.
Brian Plante, “The Dove Cage,” Bones of the Earth.
—, “Fresh Air,” Analog, February.
Steven Popkes, “The Butterfly Man,” Realms of Fantasy, August.
—, “Tom Kelley’s Ghost,” F&SF, July.
Ruaridh Pringle, “Meeting the Relatives,” Interzone, September.
Tom Purdom, “Civilians,” As
imov’s, August.
—, “Romance with Phobic Variations,” Asimov’s, February.
David Redd, “Eternity-Magic,” Spectrum SF 6.
—, “Green England,” Spectrum SF 7.
Robert Reed, “The Boy,” Asimov’s, October/November.
—, “Crooked Creek,” F&SF, January.
—, “Hero,” Asimov’s, May.
—, “Market Day,” F&SF, March.
—, “Mirror,” Asimov’s, January.
—, “One Last Game,” F&SF, August.
—, “Past-Imperfect,” Asimov’s, March.
—. “Season to Taste,” F&SF, April.
—, “Sparks,” Asimov’s, July.
Jessica Reisman & A.M. Dellamonica, “The Girl Who Ate Garbage,” Sci Fiction, 11/7.
Mike Resnick, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” Asimov’s, September.
— & Janis Ian, “Water-Skiing Down the Styx,” Fictionwise, 8/20.
Alastair Reynolds, “Diamond Dogs,” PS Publishing.
Joel Richards, “The Gods Abandon Alcibiades,” Asimov’s, February.
Carrie Richerson, “The Golden Chain,” F&SF, April.
Kate Riedel, “Neighbors,” On Spec, Spring.
Uncle River, “My Stolen Sabre,” Asimov’s, December.
Madeleine E. Robins, “La Vie En Ronde,” Starlight 3.
Benjamin Rosenbaum, “The Ant King: A California Fairy Tale,” F&SF, July.
Rudy Rucker & John Shirley, “Pockets,” Redshift.
Richard Paul Russo, “The Dread and Fear of Kings,” Sci Fiction, 10/24.
James Sallis, “Day’s Heat,” Asimov’s, February.
William Sanders, “He Did the Flatline Boogie and Boogied on Down the Road,” Absolute Magnitude, Autumn.
Ken Scholes, “Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk,” Talebones, Fall.
Nisi Shawl, “Shiomah’s Land,” Asimov’s, March.
Robert Sheckley, “The Quijote Robot,” F&SF, December.
Lucius Shepard, “Aztechs,” Sci Fiction,
—, Eternity and Afterward,” F&SF, March.
Rick Shelley, “First Contact National Monument,” Analog, December.
Bud Sparhawk, “Magic’s Price,” Analog, March.
Brian Stableford, “The Color of Envy,” Asimov’s, May.
The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 15 Page 108
