Some more 2008 fiction recommendations from Rich Horton

Link. [via Bibliophile Stalker]

Recommendations from someone who read nearly 2.5k stories originally published last year! My own tastes appear to differ from his, however.

Reproduces ToCs of 3 of his "best of 2008" anthologies (I've posts on 2 - "best science fiction of 2008" & "best online fiction of 2008"). But this post is about more recommendations - ones that won't be in his books.

1. "Best Short Novels" lists 12 stories. I've only read one - "Pride and Prometheus"; I would call it "not bad" (mixes plots of "Pride & Prejudice" with "Frankenstein").
2. 10 stories that were on the "cusp of inclusion": I've read only "Crystal Nights", & that's quite a decent read.
3. "Hugo Nomination thoughts, short fiction": This is where our tastes seem to really really differ. I found "The Tear" utterly crappy & "Shoggoths in Bloom" a very ordinary story. "The Ray-Gun: A Love Story" & "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" are better than the previous two, but nothing really noteworthy about them. I haven't read any other on this list.

Related: "best of" lists.