Nebula Award Nominees for Short Fiction, Part 1 of 6

The Nebula Conference starts this week on June 5. The awards ceremony is on Saturday, June 7. The Nebula Awards® are voted on and presented by full, senior, and associate members of the  Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. There are two short fiction categories that are less than book length. These are the awards for best novelette (at least 7,500 words but less than 17,500 words) and best short story (less than 7,500 words).

In the run up to the awards ceremony on Saturday, I will be publishing links to the six stories in each category, one story in each of these categories each day for a week! Happy reading!

Nominee for Best Novelette

“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (2024) — 8,173 words (about 33 minutes for the average reader)

Originally published in Uncanny magazine issue #58, May/June 2024.

Nominee for Best Short Story

“Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole”by Isabel J. Kim (2024) — 3,190 words (about 13 minutes for the average reader)

Originally published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #209, February 2024.

Beartown by Frederik Backman

My book club reads books in translation in May. This was our pick this year. It was originally published in Swedish. It is also the basis for the HBO series of the same name.

The book tells the story of a small rural town in Sweden called Beartown. It is known for only one thing: hockey. The town is small and in the forest. No one goes there by mistake and lots of folks look to get out. One man who made it big in hockey moves back with his family after a brief career in the NHL, becoming the general manager of the local club. The town revolves around this club. Everyone is involved in some way: player, spectator, sponsor. The junior team is on the verge of making the finals for the first time in decades. But something happens after the semi-final that sets the town at odds with itself.

This book is exactly the kind of fiction I love to read. It deals with fundamental aspects of what if means to be human and be in relationship with others. What do we owe one another? What do we owe to ourselves? How do manage both at the same time? There are deep and meaningful relationships of all sorts: player-coach, couples, father-son, mother-daughter, neighbors. All of them are real and complicated with no easy answers. And the writing is so compelling and compassionate. I highly recommend this book.

My rating: 5/5

Uncanny Magazine Issue #64

This is the first issue of this magazine that I have read since 2023. I still love the variety of stories told.

“Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War” by Caroline M. Yoachim (6,748 words) — Through a series of short vignettes, it tells the story of an ongoing war between humans and fae and how it reflects the ongoing state of their shared existence. (My rating: 4/5)

“Barbershops of the Floating City” by Angela Liu (6,024 words) — A daughter who sees the memories of her customers cuts hair and struggles to help her mom. A poignant story of class struggle, abuse, and relationships. (My rating: 4/5)

“Vivisection” by Anjali Sachdeva (4,916 words) — Eleanor, fearing for her safety, hides her organs around the house to keep them safe from her abusive girlfriend Severine. This my first story by this author. A unflinching and sideways look at a relationship with an abuser from the victim’s perspective. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Breaker of Mountains and Rivers” by Aliette de Bodard (Story link live starting June 3) — An angel is tortured by demons led by the lover of the celestial being tortured. (My rating: 4/5)

“Hi! I’m Claudia” by Delilah S. Dawson (Story link live starting June 3) — A man talks with an AI about the troubles in his life. A view to our possible future? (My rating: 5/5)

“All the World is Fog” by DeVaun Sanders (Story link live starting June 3) — A father leads a krewe in a water-soaked, climate-changed dystopia. I enjoyed the world here but the plot was a bit muddled for me and left me not feeling much of anything. (My rating: 2/5)

“Pale Serpent, Green Serpent” by Ewen Ma (1,199 words) — Immortal friends play a game after getting together after a long time apart. The game is one only immortals can play. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating for this issue: 4 out of 5.

Clarkesworld Magazine Issue #224

This is one of the first things I read each month. Here are my mini reviews for the latest issue.

“Brainstem Disco, 2191” by Angela Liu (1,640 words) — One of a pair of lovers interacts with the other’s post-mortem disembodied self, pining for them, wishing they hadn’t died. Lot’s of imagery, especially around sound. Unique and interesting story. (My Rating: 3/5)

“The Library of the Apocalypse” by Rati Mehrota (3,850 words) — The narrator leads a band of humans surviving in a shattered Toronto as they search each full moon for the titular library to escape briefly from their dark reality. Intriguing and well-written with a twist at the end. (My rating: 5/5)

“We, the Fleet” by Alex T. Singer (7,700 words) — A mother with inorganic children finds and saves a human woman by making her into a cyborg. A wonderful story of family and friendship told from a unique perspective. (My rating: 5/5)

“Descent” by Wole Talabi (21,240 words) — A man on a gaseous planet seeks to find the planet’s surface. It has lots of foreign/made-up words without definitions and that I found not easily understood from context. (My rating: 3/5)

“Oh Time Thy Pyramids” by Ann LeBlanc (7,430 words) — I found this one confusing to the point that I stopped reading at the first break. (My rating: 1/5)

“Proxima One” by Caryanna Reuven (4,020 words) — Silicos set out to search for life in the universe and end up considering whether to create it again. Very engaging concept without much of a plot. (My rating: 3/5)

“Yarn Theory” by Marie Vibbert (1,000 words) — A mathematician knits a pattern in yarn of a message received from aliens. I liked this very much. It ended too soon. I wanted more. (My rating: 4/5)

My average story rating for this issue: 3.43 out of 5.