Bewildering Stories’
Annual Review, 2021

The launch of Mariner 2 to Venus, August 27, 1962

The Mariner Awards are named for one of the first successful interplanetary missions.

The 48 titles listed — out of 274 for the year — are the ones that the Review Editors have rated most highly in 2021. They have earned Bewildering Stories’ most signal honor.

We know that all readers can cite other titles they feel belong on these lists; fair enough. Please write and tell us what else you would include and, most importantly, why. Discussions are welcome at Bewildering Stories, and we like to publish them.

Bewildering Stories was originally founded to give new writers exposure that was very hard to come by in a field dominated by print publication. Since Bewildering Stories was a pioneer on the Internet at the time, it aimed to set a standard at the outset by making accessible a critical edition of a classic work of early modern science fiction, one that was referenced by many but read by few. And it had been created by a historically “established author.” Contributors have risen to the challenge by sending us works of high quality, and frequency of publication has made “BwS” probably the largest literary webzine on the Internet.

Submissions often run in cycles, where one genre or another predominates for a while. Over the past three years, the average length of prose submissions has increased markedly. Meanwhile, flash fiction is distinguished by a few authors without whom the very difficult genre might all but vanish. The trends show every sign of continuing in the coming year.

Like the Quarterly Reviews, the Annual Review lists titles alphabetically by author and multiple titles in chronological order. The year was enlivened by thoughtful and informative discussions. However, the Departments remain in the Quarterly Reviews and are easily accessible.

We resume regular publication with issue 932 on January 3, 2022. Meanwhile, as we like to say, “There is no story so truly Bewildering as reality.” The Crew of Bewildering Stories wishes our contributors and readers a healthy and pleasantly Bewildering New Year!

Everything in green is a link. Links open in a new window, so you won’t lose your place.