Hugo and Nebula Recommendations for Short Reads

I have always loved science-fiction short stories, novelettes, and novellas. They are shorter than novels, so they take less time to read. But good ones do not short shrift the story along with the word count. To the contrary, well drafted shorter works are tight and pack awallop. Science fiction is particularly well-suited to these shorter forms because, more than any others, it is the genre of ideas. A great idea in science fiction may or may not support an entire novel. But presented in a form of the proper length, inspiration and awe await the reader.

Like many, I’m busy. So I try to find ways to guide my selection of shorter works to read. One way I do that is to consider the nominees for the two most well-known awards in science fiction–the Nebula and the Hugo. I compare the lists of finalists and, typically, first look to the stories that have been nominated for both awards. It’s a good sign when the science-fiction writing community (for the Nebula) and the science-fiction writers/readers/fans community (for the Hugo) both find particular works worthy of consideration for their highest honor. I usually also read the stories that appear on only one list or the other. But for starters, there is (usually) always the cross overs.

There are no cross overs this year in the categories of novella, novellette, or short story. In fact, there is not even any cross over in the sources of the stories. (There is a current raging voting controversy. This piece is not about that.)

If I’m reading their lists right, the Nebula award nominees for shorter works come from Apex, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, Daily Science fiction, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Granta, Lightspeed, NobleFusion, Qualia Nous, Subterranean Summer, Tachyon, Tor.com, and Upgraded, with the following number of nominees from each publisher:

While the Hugo award nominees are from Analog, Broad Reach, Castalia House, Galaxy’s Edge, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, and Sci Phi Journal in the following numbers:

With a total of 35 stories nominated overall in these categories across both award final lists, that’s a lot of reading. If you’re like me, you’d like a little more information to help decide where to start. Given that Castalia House is the runaway nominee source for the Hugos, and Fantasy & Science Fiction is one of the leading sources for the Nebulas, here is a description of each of those publishers from their websites:

Castalia House

Castalia House is a Finland-based publisher that has a great appreciation for the golden age of science fiction and fantasy literature. The books that we publish honor the traditions and intellectual authenticity exemplified by writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert E. Howard, G.K. Chesterton, and Hermann Hesse. We are consciously providing an alternative to readers who increasingly feel alienated from the nihilistic, dogmatic science fiction and fantasy being published today. We seek nothing less than a Campbellian revolution in genre literature. (Link: http://www.castaliahouse.com/)

Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, founded in 1949, is the award-winning SF magazine which is the original publisher of SF classics like Stephen King’s Dark Tower,Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon, and Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz.Each double-sized bimonthly issue offers:

 compelling short fiction by writers such as David Gerrold., Ursula K. Le Guin, Terry Bisson and many others;
 the science fiction field’s most respected and outspoken opinions on Books, Films and Science;
 humor from our cartoonists and writers. (Link: https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/)

I couldn’t find a specific self description at Tor.com (there probably is one; I just didn’t find it). But suffice it to say it is a top-tier publisher of novellas, novelettes and short stories, among other things. (Link: http://www.tor.com/)

Happy sorting and choosing. If you have any tips, or if you’ve read one or more of the nominated stories and have an opinion about it, please share.

Blogger Book Fair Giveaways

Don't Miss The 2014 Speculative Fiction Blogger Book Fair. The Blogger Book Fair features authors of speculative fiction in November, with blog posts spanning November 10 through 14. I will feature five  such authors. In addition, the Blogger Book Fair conducts RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAYS. 

Official BBF Giveaways

$50 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

$30 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

$20 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't miss spotlights of the featured authors, including:

Jessica E. Subject--author of contemporary and science fiction romance, ranging from sweet to sexy. In her stories, you could meet clones, or a sexy alien or two. You may even be transported to another planet for a romantic rendezvous. Connect with her at: Website | Twitter | Facebook

H M Clarke--author of The Enclave. In a former life, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, an ICT Project Manager, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting). Find The Enclave at Amazon.

K. Ferrin--author of Magicless, during the daylight hours K. Ferrin lives in a world filled with high technology - satellites, windowless buildings filled with humming machinery and robust HVAC systems, and networks spanning half the globe. As an author, she writes fantasy of all kinds, some epic, some urban, and some dark, some young adult and some for mature readers. Connect with her at: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Diantha Jones--author of Prophecy of the Most Beautiful, spent the first 16 years of her life as an official Army brat, and has spent the last twelve years living in Georgia (Atlanta, then Savannah). She loves to read and watch movies (Quentin Tarantino is her fave director), and she loves cold weather and french fries (with cheese if possible). Connect with her at: Website | Twitter | Facebook

D.H. Aire--author of Highmage’s Plight and its sequel Human Mage, a number D.H. Aire's short stories appear in Separate Worlds first anthology, Flights of Fantasy, Vol. 1 (available on Smashwords.com and BarnesandNoble.com). His story, Crossroads of Sin, appears in the anthology RealLies (2013). Link to his ebook to read sample chapters at: http://amzn.to/ynvrFH. Also available in print on Amazon.

"Nickel Stream" Released in PERIHELION SCIENCE FICTION

“Jorge Jenson makes his daily commute to the office, while his boy, L. Roy, trains for the for the Interplanetary Soccer tryouts.” Cover by Tais Teng.

Don't miss the latest issue of Perihelion Science Fiction online for free, including my new short story, “Nickel Stream.” Perihelion is a long-running science-fiction periodical with an impressive tradition. It is now available exclusively online, with short stories, articles, editorials and other features.

This month’s editorial, by editor Sam Bellotto, Jr., is titled “Watching TV and Afraid,” and includes interview comments from author and psychologist, Dr. Ann Gimpel. The beautiful cover art for this issue is by Tais Teng.

“Nickel Stream” takes place at a star mining facility, and features Gina, a legacy star miner, born and raised to extract Nickel-78 plasma from appropriate stars. But there is more to the company and its survivial than just doing a job, and Gina’s loyalties and acumen are both tested by a series of slightly extraordinary events.

The story begins with a tense confrontation:

EVEN THROUGH THE FULLERENE-GLASS filter, the stream of Nickel-78 plasma brightened the work station transition chamber. It was a big leak … bigger than any Gina had seen. It reminded her of the early stories, when solar miners earned their hazardous-duty pay.

She cocked her head and returned her foreman’s glare. “Don’t you think it’s a little too hot out there, Marty?”

Marty’s face hardened.

“Put … a plasma shell on … and get out there. That valve is not going to close itself.” His face transitioned through shades of red—some common and some as exotic as the filtered horizon that dominated every view from the work platform.

Gina stood firm. She might still have a lot to learn, but this wasn’t the first foremen she’d had to handle. Hell, her father had been a Company foreman. “If the machine can’t do the job, then there’s no way I’m going out there.” She tipped her head and gestured to the viewport. “Would you turn around and look at it?”

The massive quantum-flow coupler spewed N-78 plasma from its broken seam. Probably a jammed meter and stuck valve. A strong clamp would do the trick. It would force the stream through the coupler and into the space time transport vector without a costly shut down. Unfortunately, the loose plasma stream already melted five robot clamps, which Marty considered to be “expensive equipment.” Now he had it up his ass that she would turn the valve manually—a brilliant solution except for the risk of incineration.

It’s not the event, but its fallout, that poses the greatest test of Gina’s resolve.  The entire story is up and available to read, along with ten others, which will remain there for six months. So visit Perihelion and enjoy!

Read the Newest Hugo Winning Stories

When I read a collection of stories, I start at the table of contents, note the page-count of each story, and start with the shortest, working my way up.

I don't know how many people do that. But here is an opportunity to read the first two 2014 HUGO AWARD WINNERS, starting with the SHORT STORY winner, followed by the NOVELETTE winner, thanks to the posting of the stories by the authors and Tor.com.

BEST SHORT STORY 

“The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere” by John Chu (Tor.com, 02-2013)

In the near future water falls from the sky whenever someone lies (either a mist or a torrential flood depending on the intensity of the lie). This makes life difficult for Matt as he maneuvers the marriage question with his lover and how best to “come out” to his traditional Chinese parents. 

John Chu is a microprocessor architect by day, a writer by night. His fiction has appeared or is forthcoming at Boston Review, Bloody Fabulous, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Apex Magazine and Tor.com. Most of John Chu’s fiction is available on the internet. See his bibliography for details. You can learn more about John at his website.

John Chu and Tor.com have made “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere” available to read free online HERE.

It is also presently available without DRM in Kindle format at Amazon for 99 cents.

BEST NOVELETTE 

“The Lady Astronaut of Mars” by Mary Robinette Kowal (maryrobinettekowal.com / Tor.com, 09-2013)

Thirty years ago, Elma York led the expedition that paved the way to life on Mars. For years she’s been longing to go back up there, to once more explore the stars. But there are few opportunities for an aging astronaut, even the famous Lady Astronaut of Mars. When her chance finally comes, it may be too late. Elma must decide whether to stay with her sickening husband in what will surely be the final years of his life, or to have her final adventure and plunge deeper into the well of space. 

Mary Robinette Kowal is a novelist and professional puppeteer. Her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey (Tor 2010) was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel. In 2008 she won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, while three of her short fiction works have been nominated for the Hugo Award: “Evil Robot Monkey” in 2009 and “For Want of a Nail” in 2011, which won the Hugo for short story that year. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov’s, and several Year’s Best anthologies, as well as in her collection Scenting the Dark and Other Stories from Subterranean Press.Kowal is also an award-winning puppeteer. With over twenty years of experience, she has performed for LazyTown (CBS), the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Pictures and founded Other Hand Productions. You can learn more about Mary at her website.

Mary Robinette Kowal and Tor.com have made “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” available to read free onlone HERE.

It is also presently available without DRM in Kindle format at Amazon for 99 cents.

Related articles

• Congratulations to Tor.com's Hugo Award-Winners! (tor.com)
• The 2014 Hugo Award Winners (jrjohnson.me)
• Sample the Best Science Fiction of 2014 (mediabistro.com)
• Randall Munroe wins Hugo Award for "Time" (comicsbeat.com)
• Newswire: Hugo Awards definitively prove that Game Of Thrones is better than Doctor Who (avclub.com)
• Read Tor.com's Original Fiction Hugo Finalists (tor.com)
• Tor Books to Launch New DRM-free Imprint on Tor.com (the-digital-reader.com)
• Tor founder Tom Doherty on publishing without DRM (boingboing.net)
• UK Readers Can Now Purchase DRM-Free Books From Tor UK (tor.com)

Hearts in Ruin Book Trailer

Hearts in Ruin

Coming Soon: "Murphy's Traverse"

by J. C. Conway

My new short science fiction story, “Murphy’s Traverse,” has been accepted for publication  in the speculative fiction magazine, The Colored Lens, this month. The Colored Lens is edited by Dawn Lloyd and Daniel Scott and published by Light Spring LLC.

“Murphy’s Traverse” is the tale of a colony starship engineer named Murphy, and the events between here and his final, unexpected destination that prove the law that bears his name.

The Colored Lens describes the goal of speculative fiction as examining the real world “through the lens of the imaginary. By considering what could be, we gain a better understanding of what is.”

The Colored Lens strives to do exactly that. By publishing four to five short stories and serialized novellas a quarter in genres ranging from fantasy, to science fiction, to slipstream or magical realism, it hopes to help its readers see the world just a bit differently than before they came to its website or downloaded its magazine.

It also publishes non-fiction articles meant to broaden our perspectives and perceptions of the world around us and author interviews of writers whose books its editors and staff have particularly enjoyed and would like to bring to their readers’ attention. 

In Vino Veritas Released

Thirteen Press has now released the short story anthology In Vino Veritas, presently available at Lulu.com in eBook format for $5.09, or as a paperback for $14.68.

When people drink, all sorts of things happen… it brings out something in them, something that has been concealed: they develop a mood anywhere between happy and murderous. Within those two end pieces lies a range of emotions and actions which the talented Thirteen Press authors have explored in great detail in this exciting and fascinating anthology, guaranteed to make you reach for a bottle of something, beer, wine or spirits. Enjoy!

The stories all involve a drink in one fashion or another. In Vino Veritas includes three of my short stories, including the never-before-published story, “Medicinal Need.”

• “Medicinal Need” is a new western tale about a seriously-injured young cowboy on a cattle drive and the medicinal bourbon offered by the trail boss to save the cow hand’s life. This story is my first short western.
• “Another Wrong World” is the quick, amusing tale of a forlorn star pilot that must share his woes in exchange for a stiff Rigelian Rye on the house, first published in Issue 23 of Indigo Rising Magazine. 
• “Early Retirement” is the first person story of a forlorn astro-surveyor who learns something terrible about the fate of the world and his company’s role in that fate. The story begins as he encounters a gregarious problem-solver in an asteroid bar. It was first published in Static Movement.