We paid out cash money for the following this month: a literary, somewhat anti-literature fantasy from William Browning Spencer (returning to the pages of F&SF after too long an absence!); another new story from the prolific Robert Reed (perhaps his best since “The Sleeping Woman”); a new Gaunt & Bone adventure from Chris Willrich; a sequel of sorts to “The Tribes of Bela” by Albert Cowdrey; a cyberpunk crime story from Alexander Jablokov; and an unorthodox tale of the Red Planet from Ruth Nestvold.

All this, plus: a new slush survivor, by the name of S.L. Gilbow, who debuts with a “Lottery”-esque tale of social SF; and…the F&SF debut of Susanna Clarke, author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, who will grace our pages (in the December issue) with a tale of John Uskglass.