"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." – George R. R. Martin
Almost there!
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha (2024) — 8,370 words (about 34 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #212, May 2024.
“V*mpire” by P.H. Lee (2024) — 5,320 words (about 22 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Reactor magazine, 23 October 2024.
Here are the next two nominees that can be read online for free.
“Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being” by A.W. Prihandita (2024) — 8,730 words (about 35 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #218, November 2024.
“Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachel K. Jones (2024) — 549 words (about 3 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Lightspeed magazine issue #164, January 2024.
Two more nominees that can be read online for free.
“What Any Dead Thing Wants” by Aimee Ogden (2024) — 16,300words (about 66 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Psychopomp magazine online, February 2024.
“The Witch Trap” by Jennifer Hudak (2024) — 3,080 words (about 13 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet magazine issue #48, September 2024.
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!
“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.
“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.
If you enjoy Black Mirror on Netflix, this one scratches that itch.
Tigers for Sale by Risa Wolf (2023) — 6,560 words (about 27 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #202, July 2023.
An interesting exploration of what speeding up in the name of productivity can do to people and society.
A Record of Lost Time by Rebecca Kuang (2023) — 7,953 words (about 32 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Lightspeed magazine issue #162, November 2023.
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.
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.
What a masterpiece! Evokes all the feelings of television advertising and touches on all the real troubles and desires that consumerism covers up.
Can You Hear Me Now? by Catherynne M. Valente (2023) — 5,908 words (about 24 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Uncanny magazine issue 54, September/October 2023.
Here we have a fascinating and excellent use of multiple points of view.
Bodyhoppers by Rocío Veg (2025) — 5,280 words (about 21 minutes for the average reader)
Originally published in Clarkesworld magazine issue #221, February 2025.