INTERZONE POLL 2008

[martin mcg]

Once again we’re asking you to let us know what you enjoyed (and what you didn’t) during 2008. To be eligible the story or artwork must have been published in Interzones 214 to 219 inclusive. Eligible stories and artworks below. As always, we’re as keen to hear your opinions of the magazine as we are to get your votes, so don’t be shy in letting us know what you think – and we may publish the most interesting comments.

To vote by post: Martin McGrath, 48 Spooners Drive, Park Street, St Albans, Herts AL2 2HL To vote by email: interzonepoll@ntlworld.com or you can vote below.

As usual with the Interzone poll you can vote both positively for the stories you like and negatively for those you didn't and we'll rank the final choice according to the aggregate score. And you can vote for as many or as few stories as you like.

The results will be published in Interzone issue 222, so please make sure your votes are in before 31 March.

Africa (217)
Karen Fishler
illustrated by Paul Drummond

Africa (217)
cover art by Paul Drummond

Butterfly, Falling at Dawn (219)
Aliette De Bodard
illustrated by Paul Drummond

Comus of Central Park (217)
M.K. Hobson
illustrated by Darren Winter

Concession Girl (217)
Suzanne Palmer
illustrated by Darren Winter

Corner of the Circle (218)
Tim Lees
illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

The Country of the Young (219)
Gord Sellar
illustrated by Daniel Bristow-Bailey

Crystal Nights (215)
Greg Egan
illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

Dragonfly Summer (215)
Patrick Samphire
illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

The Endling (215)
Jamie Barras
illustrated by Darren Winter

The Endling (215)
cover art by Darren Winter

Endra – From Memory (216)
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
illustrated by Chris Nurse

Everything That Matters (219)
Jeff Spock
illustrated by Kenn Brown

The Faces of My Friends (214)
Jennifer Harwood-Smith

Far Horizon (214)
Jason Stoddard
illustrated by Paul Drummond

Far Horizon (214)
cover art by Paul Drummond

The Fifth Zhi (219)
Mercurio D. Rivera
illustrated by Paul Drummond

Greenland (218)
Chris Beckett
illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

Greenland (218)
cover art by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

His Master’s Voice (218)
Hannu Rajaniemi
illustrated by Paul Drummond

Holding Pattern (215)
Joy Marchand
illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

The Hour is Getting Late (216)
Billie Aul
illustrated by Chris Nurse

How To Make Paper Airplanes (216)
Lavie Tidhar
illustrated by Chris Nurse

IF (218)
Daniel Akselrod & Lenny Royter

The Imitation Game (215)
Rudy Rucker

Into the Night (216)
Anil Menon
illustrated by Chris Nurse

The Invisibles (216)
Élisabeth Vonarburg
illustrated by Chris Nurse

Little Lost Robot (217)
Paul McAuley
illustrated by Paul Drummond

Mundane-SF Special Issue (216)
cover art by Chris Nurse

Poppyfields (218)
Chris Beckett
illustrated by Vincent Chong

Pseudo Tokyo (214)
Jennifer Linnaea
illustrated by Darren Winter

Rat Island (218)
Chris Beckett
illustrated by Daniel Bristow-Bailey

Remote Control (216)
R.R. Angell
illustrated by Chris Nurse

The Scent of Their Arrival (214)
Mercurio D. Rivera
illustrated by Paul Drummond

The Shenu (219)
Alexander Marsh Freed

The Ships Like Clouds, Risen by Their Rain (217)
Jason Sanford
illustrated by Vincent Chong

Street Hero (215)
Will McIntosh
illustrated by Chris Nurse

Talk is Cheap (216)
Geoff Ryman
illustrated by Chris Nurse

The Trace of Him (214)
Christopher Priest

Traveller (219)
cover art by Kenn Brown

The Two-Headed Girl (217)
Paul G. Tremblay

When Thorns are the Tips of Trees (219)
Jason Sanford
illustrated by Vincent Chong
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"This is the tale of the wrath of Achilles."

[StevenLP]

My favourite Interzone stories this year were:

Will McIntosh. Street Hero
Mercurio D. Rivera. The Scent of Their Arrival
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Endra—From Memory
R. R. Angell. Remote Control
Anil Menon. Into the Night
Geoff Ryman. Talk is Cheap
Paul G. Tremblay. The Two-Headed Girl
Jason Sanford . The Ships Like Clouds, Risen by Their Rain
Paul McAuley. Little Lost Robot
Chris Beckett. Greenland
Daniel Akselrod & Lenny Royter. If
Jason Sanford. When Thorns Are the Tips of Trees
Gordon Sellar. The Country of the Young

The Rivera, Tremblay and Sanford (“The Ships …”) were particularly fine

I didn’t like:

Chris Beckett. Poppyfields
Alexander Marsh Freed. The Shenu

[NeilW]

Steven - As it happens I agree with a lot of your choices (I already voted for these by email (just in case Martin counts them twice)).

Crystal Nights Greg Egan
Greenland Chris Beckett
Rat Island Chris Beckett
His Master's Voice Hannu Rajaniemi
Little Lost Robot Paul McAuley
Talk Is Cheap Geoff Ryman
The Two-Headed Girl Paul G Tremblay
When Thorns Are The Tips Of The Trees Jason Sanford

I don't do negative votes, but I have to say that I enjoyed Poppyfields - although I can understand why some readers won't.
_________________
Neil Williamson
www.neilwilliamson.org.uk

[StevenLP]

I try not to do negative votes, but as I put Greenland in my favourites I felt less bad about it. I almost didn't mention The Shenu, but it did really irritate me ...

[NeilW]

And that's why they have the negative vote thing, I suppose. Sometimes you get stories that some people love and others hate, and the ability to give negative votes gives a balanced view of what the readership in general felt about such a story.

Personally, if I find a story unsatisfying I tend to forget it rather quickly. It's only the good ones that I remember.
_________________
Neil Williamson
www.neilwilliamson.org.uk

[StevenLP]

Yes: most poor or bad stories make me shrug indifferently, it's only the ones that make my hackles rise that stick - so, in a way its a tribute - at least it shows they're memorable!

I did make a suggestion a couple of years ago that the negative votes only count in the case of a tie: then the stories that people either love or hate aren't averaged out into a mid-table position. However, in response Interzone did show a list of the favourite stories without the negative votes counted, and there was very little difference to the list with them included: one story moved up about 5 places (but it still stayed in the bottom half), otherwise a few swopped places: nothing dramatic!

[pdackerman]

[Foxie]

My pluses:
The Scent of Their Arrival -- Mercurio D Rivera (214)
IF -- Daniel Akselrod & Lenny Royter (218)
His Master's Voice -- Hannu Rajaniemi (218)
When Thorns are Tips of the Trees -- Jason Sanford (219)

And my minuses:
Poppyfields -- Chris Beckett (218)
The Fifth Zhi -- Mercurio D Rivera (219)

Wow... I didn't realise Mercurio D Rivera was making an appearance in both the top and tail of my list. Just goes to show.
_________________
The future's going to be just like the present, but with more LEDs.

Me blog: http://dylan-fox.blogspot.com/
And if that's not enough, I'm on Twitter, too: Foxie299

[GlenH]

Positive votes for stories:
The Corner of the Circle by Tim Lees
IF by Daniel Akselrod and Lenny Royter (Crowd pleaser is not a dirty category.)
Far Horizon by Jason Stoddard (This has enough material to build a novel.)
The Trace of Him by Christopher Priest
Remote Control by R.R. Angell (Unfairly advantaged by my wholehearted agreement with the author's politics.)

Negative votes for stories:
The Faces of My Friends by Jennifer Harwood-Smith (Uncomfortably Mary Sue-ish.)
Endra - From Memory by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Positive votes for art:
Rat Island illustrated by Daniel Bristow-Bailey
Pseudo Tokyo illustrated by Darren Winter

I found The Shenu fairly inoffensive and a huge step forward from the author's previous Interzone story so I'm a little surprised about the vehement dislike. Can anyone put their finger on what exactly turned them off?

[StevenLP]

Glen

I didn't like Shenu because it was too New Agey, something which always makes my hackles rise.

I did read a review that considered the possibility that the magic powers mentioned in the story weren't real - it was the kids deluding themselves. If that was the case, I'd find it less irksome.

[martin mcg]

Thanks for the votes and the discussion.

Negative votes have been steadily becoming more rare since I started doing this poll (four(!?) years ago) but I've always thought that the most interesting stories tend to get the biggest mix of negative and positive votes...
_________________
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"This is the tale of the wrath of Achilles."

[GlenH]

I'd like to add In The Country of the Young by Gord Sellar to my positive votes.

[Vaughan]

Stories I particularly enjoyed: When Thorns Are the Tips of Trees, Everything That Matters, The Fifth Zhi, Poppyfields, His Master's Voice, Africa, Endra - From Memory, Remote Control, Crystal Nights, The Scent of Their Arrival. I don't recall reading any stinkers, so I'm not going to cast any negative votes. "Thorns" was my fave story, #218 my fave cover.

[maggieloveshopey]

I liked:

Comus Of Central Park, by MK Hobson
Concession Girl, by Suzanne Palmer
Corner Of The Circle, by Tim Lees
Dragonfly Summer, by Patrick Samphire
Endra - From Memory, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Everything That Matters, by Jeff Spock
The Fifth Zhi, by Mercurio D Riviera
His Masters Voice, by Hannu Rajaniemi
IF, by Daniel Akselrod & Lenny Royter
Poppyfields, by Chris Beckett
Remote Control, by RR Angell
The Scent Of Their Arrival, by Mercurio D Riviera
The Ships Like Clouds..., by Jason Sanford
When Thorns Are The Tips of Trees, by Jason Sanford

Negative votes for

The Hour Is Getting Late, by Billie Aul
Rat Island, by Chris Beckett

Best cover was 218 - Greenland

a good year overall - I don't remember picking so many positive stories in previous years (and that was after a good deal of whittling) - especially for Messrs Sanford and Riviera
_________________
Dan

www.bugpowderdust.co.uk

[Vague]