2007: The Year in Shorts

Every year, for the past several years, I've made it a goal to read at least one short work per day of the year. I may read several on one day and none over a few days, but I try to average it out. When I finally get all my archived postings up you'll see that some years I do better than others, but I've managed to hit that minimum each time.

I had planned on waiting until I wrapped around to my archived 2007 entries before doing this one, but since I just finished a short story collection, I'll put this up and edit it later for the earlier 2007 entries. This year appears to be a stern chase (and that is the longest chase). Various events have conspired to keep me from reading as much short stuff as usual and logging it, so I'm going to have to slog to catch up!

Count for the year (as of December 31, 2007): 441 (goal of 365; 0 to go!).

Poul Anderson: The novels and short stories of Poul Anderson’s Technic Civilization series (2 entries so far, in process).

Isaac Asimov (editor): The Hugo Winners (Volumes 1 and 2) (9 stories in 2006, sidetracked in 2007, started again in 2008).

James Baen (editor): Destinies, Volume 1, Number 1 (4 entries, in process).

Gregory Benford: A variety of short works from various sources (43 stories in 2006, 8 stories in 2007, continuing to read).

Alfred Bester: Virtual Unrealities (2 stories in 2006, continuing to read).

Leigh Brackett: Martian Quest: The Early Brackett (9 stories in 2006, 22 stories in 2007, initial stories re-read, collection completed).

Lois McMaster Bujold: The Mountains of Mourning (found in the omnibus edition Young Miles)

A. Bertram Chandler: The Hard Way Up (7 entries, collection completed).

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol. I read this one to my daughter this year. I read one "stave" per night. I had to mentally edit the occasional sentence: not for anything shocking, but to find an alternate word for something that, even for me, was pretty obscure. Occasionally I would have to stop and explain something (e.g., the houses of the poor did not have ovens, so that is why they went to the bakery to cook the Christmas goose, etc.).

Gordon R. Dickson: Dickson! (2 stories in 2006, continuing to read).

Gardner Dozois: The Year's Best Science Fiction, Twenty-Third Annual Collection (6 stories in 2006, five stories in 2007, continuing to read).

Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan: The New Space Opera (two entries so far).

David Drake: All the Way to the Gallows (9 entries, collection completed). The Military Dimension Mark I and Mark II (16 entries, collection completed). Hammer! Hammer! Hammer! Omnibus review posting here. (23 stories in 2006; 4 stories in 2007). Currently reading The Complete Hammer’s Slammers, Volume 2. Balefires (22 stories, in process).

David Drake & Sandra Miesel (editors): A Separate Star: A Tribute to Rudyard Kipling (23 entries, collection completed). Heads to the Storm: A Tribute to Rudyard Kipling (30 entries, collection completed).

Lord Dunsany (Edward Plunkett): The Collected Jorkens, Volume 3 (64 entries, collection completed).

Loren Eiseley: The Star Thrower (35 entries, collection complete).

Eric Flint (editor): Jim Baen's Universe, Volume 1, Number 2 (2 entries, in process).

Stephen Jay Gould: The Panda's Thumb (33 entries, completed.)

Joe Haldeman and Martin H. Greenberg: Future Weapons of War (13 entries, collection completed).

David G. Hartwell (editor): The Science Fiction Century, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (2 stories in 2006, continuing to read).

David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (editors): Year's Best SF 10 (1 story in 2006, continuing to read).

David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (editors): The Space Opera Renaissance.

Alan Lightman: Dance for Two (7 essays in 2006, continuing to read).

H. Beam Piper: A complete re-reading of his various works (5 stories so far).

Jerry Pournelle (editor): The Endless Frontier, Volume I (17 entries, in process).

Jerry Pournelle and John F. Carr (editors): Endless Frontiers, Volume IV: Life Among the Asteroids (11 stories in 2006, 4 stories in 2007, collection completed).

Chet Raymo: The Soul of the Night: An Astronomical Pilgrimage (3 essays in 2006, continuing to read).

John Scalzi: The Sagan Diary (1 entry).

James Schmitz (edited by Eric Flint): Telzey Amberdon (5 stories, in process).

Cordwainer Smith: Tales from the Instrumentality of Mankind sequence (53 entries, collections completed).

Allen Steele: The Good Rat. Agape Among the Robots (2 entries).

Ian Stewart: Letters to a Young Mathematician (14 essays in 2006, continuing to read).

Lewis Thomas: The Medusa and the Snail (29 entries, collection complete).

Rick N. Tumlinson and Erin R. Medlicott (editors): Return to the Moon (4 essays in 2006, continuing to read).

A.E. van Vogt: Transfinite: The Essential A.E. van Vogt (6 stories in 2006, 22 stories in 2007, collection completed).

Vernor Vinge: A variety of collections and stories (7 stories in 2006, continuing to read).

David Weber (editor): More Than Honor (1 story, in process).

Jack Williamson (edited by Stephen Haffner): The Metal Man and Others; The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume One (4 entries, continuing to read).

Donald A. Wollheim (editor): The 1972 Annual World's Best SF (8 stories in 2006, continuing to read).