Cover by Sandro Castelli

How did I not know there was a Best of Shimmer anthology? Time to get some better inside contacts in the publishing biz, I think.

Shimmer was one of the best of the small press fantasy magazines. It received a Hugo nomination for Best Semiprozine last year, and editor E. Catherine Tobler was honored with a Best Professional Editor, Short Form nomination. The magazine published science fiction, fantasy, and “a dash of literary horror.” The final issue, #46, appeared in November 2018.

Shimmer was constantly interesting, and we covered over half a dozen issues as part of our magazine coverage over the years. Their greatest skill was spotting talent, and they did plenty of that. Shimmer: The Best Of contains stories by many of the brightest stars of modern fantasy, including Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Amal El-Mohtar, Karin Tidbeck, Mary Robinette Kowal, Carmen Maria Machado, Sunny Moraine, Arkady Martine, Fran Wilde, Sonya Taaffe, A. C. Wise, Sarah Gailey, Vajra Chandrasekera, K.M. Szpara, and many, many others, all packed into a massive 489-page volume.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

Introduction by Mary Robinette Kowal
“Flying and Falling,” by Kuzhali Manickavel
“Little Match Girl,” by Angela Slatter
“Skeletonbaby Magic,” by Kathy Watts
“King of Sand and Stormy Seas” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
“The Crow’s Caw,” by Amal El-Mohtar
“Juana and the Dancing Bear,” by n.a. bourke
“Birds and Burin,” by Daniel A. Rabuzzi
“The Shape of Her Sorrow,” by Joy Marchand
“Seek Him I’th’Other Place Yourself,” by Josh Storey
“Five Letters from New Laverne,” by Monica Byrne
“Gutted,” by Lisa Hannett
“Some Letters for Ove Lindström,” by Karin Tidbeck
“Gödel Apparition Fugue,” by Craig DeLancey
“Food My Father Feeds Me, Love My Husband Shows Me,” by A. A. Balaskovits
“Ordinary Souls,” by K.M. Szpara
“In Light of Recent Events I Have Reconsidered The Wisdom of Your Space Elevator,” by Helena Bell
“Like Feather, Like Bone,” by Kristi DeMeester
“We Were Never Alone In Space,” by Carmen Maria Machado
“The Earth and Everything Under,” by K.M. Ferebee
“A Whisper in the Weld,” by Alix E. Harrow
“The Half Dark Promise,” by Malon Edwards
“Dharmas,” by Vajra Chandrasekera
“Come My Love and I’ll Tell You a Tale,” by Sunny Moraine
“Serein,” by Cat Hellisen
“The Law of the Conservation of Hair,” by Rachael K. Jones
“Palingenesis,” by Megan Arkenberg
“Red Mask,” by Jessica May Lin
“All the Colors You Thought Were Kings,” by Arkady Martine
“Painted Grassy Mire,” by Nicasio Andres Reed
“Only Their Shining Beauty Was Left,” by Fran Wilde
“Itself at the Heart of Things,” by Andrea Corbin
“The Creeping Influences,” by Sonya Taaffe
“Hare’s Breath,” by Maria Haskins
“The Weight of Sentience,” by Naru Dames Sundar
“Black Fanged Thing”, by Sam Rebelein
“The Triumphant Ward of the Railroad and the Sea” by Sara Saab
“Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate,” by Anya Johanna DeNiro
“Rapture,” by Meg Elison
“Lake Mouth,” by Casey Hannan
“From the Void,” by Sarah Gailey
“The Time Traveler’s Husband,” by A. C. Wise
“Rust and Bone,” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“Ghosts of Bari,” by Wren Wallis

Shimmer: The Best Of was published on May 29, 2020. It is 489 pages, priced at $19.99 in trade paperback and $7.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Sandro Castelli. See at the details and order copies here.

See all our recent coverage of the best new releases in SF and fantasy here.