Editor Donna Scott has scoured magazines, anthologies, webzines and obscure genre corners to discover the very best science fiction stories by British and British-based authors published during 2021. Two dozen stories, varying greatly in subject matter and style, from superb technological mystery to conflict on very alien worlds, from sweet, sad stories symptomatic of the tense times we have lived through to tales optimistic for better times to come, and even a dash of wry humour here and there for good measure.

Donna Scott is a director and recent chair of the BSFA, as well as being a distinguished poet, writer, and stand-up comedian. Donna is also a free-lance editor who has worked behind the scenes for a number of major publishers over the course of several years.

Contents

Introduction - Donna Scott

Distribution - Paul Cornell

Stealthcare - Liz Williams

Down and Out Under the Tannhauser Gate - David Gullen

Me Two - Keith Brooke and Eric Brown

The Andraiad - Tim Major

Bloodbirds - Martin Sketchley

Going Home - Martin Westlake

Okamoto's Lens - A.N. Myers

Love in the Age of Operator Errors - Ryan Vance

Stone of Sorrow - Peter Sutton

Henrietta - T.H. Dray

A History of Food Additives in 22nd Century Britain - Emma Levin

The Trip - Michael Crouch

The Ghosts of Trees - Fiona Moore

The Opaque Mirror of Your Face - Russell Hemmell

More Sea Creatures to See - Aliya Whiteley

The End of All Our Exploring - Gary Couzens

How Does My Garden Grow? - David Cleden

Girls' Night Out - Teika Marija Smits

Bar Hopping for Astronauts - Leo X. Robertson

In Aeturnus - Phillip Irving

A Spark in a Flask - Emma Johanna Puranen

A Pall of Moondust - Nick Wood

About the Authors

Acknowledgements