Tag: speculative fiction

Hugo Awards for Short Fiction, 3 of 12

Our next Hugo nominee come from a collection by Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice.

Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novelette

“Lake of Souls” by Ann Leckie (12,135 words or about 49 minutes to read), published by Orbit in the book Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie

This story has a feel of a fairy tale with themes of cross species care and simple kindness in the face of danger.

Anima Rising by Christopher Moore

In July, my online book club reads historical fiction. This year, we selected this book. I tried to get it from my library, but both the ebook and the physical book had a long wait list. In the end, I broke down and bought myself a copy of the ebook from ebooks.com.

The cover of the book includes a short blurb about the plot. It reads, “Klimt, Freud, and Jung meet the bride of Frankenstein”. Very accurate but without much detail. Klimt finds the bride of Frankenstein, whom he calls Judith, naked and apparently dead on the banks of the river after crossing a bridge on his way home. Upon realizing that she is not dead, he enlists a young paper boy to help him get her to his studio. He hopes to paint her portrait. Klimt is portrayed as a lovable, caring artist who spends his time around young naked models, sleeping with many of them and having many children named Gustave. Judith remembers nothing of her past, not even her name. Klimt gets Freud to take her as a patient. This is how we start to learn about Judith’s past, and the story takes off from there.

If you have read Christopher Moore before, you will not be surprised that there is a lot of humor and downright absurdity in this book. I laughed out loud many times reading it. He has a way with words and with the way he views situations. He also includes a warning in the beginning of the book titled Author’s Note and Trigger Warning. This note warns about sex, nudity, and violence throughout the novel and ends, “Finally, and I can’t stress this enough, if you are listening to this book in audio format in the car, with a kid or your grandma, turn on something else. Now.” The story kept me guessing and turning pages. I love how the author approaches storytelling and thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

My rating: 4/5

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2025

Each time I finish reading a short fiction magazine, I post short descriptions and a rating for each story. Here is my latest for the most recent issue of Analog.

“North Station Blues” by David Gerrold (9,141 words) — A lowly employee on a station around a dying star plots his way out and up. Good storytelling. Nothing new or particularly attention-getting here. (My rating: 3/5)

“The First Velodrome on Mars” by Marie Vibbert (3,921 words) — A scientist on Mars becomes obsessed about getting credit for his velodrome project. The main character is annoying but so real. (My rating: 4/5)

“Desert Soul” by David Gullen (11,577 words) — A female starfarer joins with a male boat captain seeking the last of insane timeless golems. An unusual story that surprised me toward the end. Liked it more than anticipated. (My rating: 3.5/5)

“Hidden Achievement” by Shane Tourtellotte (4,504) — Two people struggling in their dating and social lives download and play a new dating app. This was a page turner for me. Should have seen the ending coming but didn’t as I was so caught up in the story I didn’t have time to evaluate. I thoroughly enjoy everything by this author. I only wish he had more available to read on the public internet. (My rating: 5/5)

“Patient Was the Doctor” by Victoria N. Shi (6,761 words) — A psychologist takes a job treating an octopus-like alien to get health coverage for IVF with is wife. Reminds me of the movie Arrival. (My rating: 5/5)

“Last Dam Standing” by Dawn Vogel (2,950 words) — A retired doctor living alone in the mountains is contacted to help same a dam she designed 20 years prior. I liked it but it just felt run of the mill. (My rating: 3/5)

“If The Algorithms Are Gentle” by Bernie Jean Schiebeling (1,139 words) — Computer servers in a post-apocalyptic city with no humans observe a red panda plunder an ice cream cart. 🤷🏻 (My rating: 3/5)

“Low-Tide Salvage” by Matthew Claxton (6,310 words) — A father and daughter find a drone ship and work to salvage it for sale to the local Prosper. A touching story of pride and survival. (My rating: 4/5)

“ESRI” by James Dick (12,312 words) — The daughter of a famous scientist follows in her footsteps sending a mission to Europa. This story is a sequel to EDIE by the same author in the January/February 2023 issue of Analog. (My rating: 4/5)

“Jennifer Does Pushups” by Joseph Weber (4,460 words) — A woman who survived a deadly car accident makes her living selling her gut biome. A unique exploration of the ethics and economics of selling parts of oneself. (My rating: 4/5)

“Your Entry to ParadiseTM Memorial Experience” by Robert Morrell, Jr. (999 words) — A daughter’s father bequeaths her an experience that teaches her to live life. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Marks We Leave” by M. Ian Bell (6,768 words) — Rylek seeks to assuage his pain of the loss of his lover by saving some of the people in the simulation on which he works. A compassionate exploration and portrayal of deep grief. (My rating: 5/5)

“Ready for New Arrivals?” by Sean Monaghan (6,966 words) — An astronaut on Ganymede falls down a hole while tethered to another. Lots of suspense, a sort of brief thriller. (My rating: 5/5)

“Under the Moons of Venus: A Tale of a Princess Altivolant” by Jay Werkheiser and Frank Wu (34,072 words) — A story of Venus as told at King George’s court during the 1769 transit of Venus. Partially inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars books. About halfway it becomes a climate change allegory. (My rating: 3/5)

Average story rating: 3.89/5

Hugo Awards for Short Fiction, 2 of 12

Continuing my highlighting of short fiction nominees for the Hugo Awards being presented at the Seattle Worldcon 2025 on Saturday, 16 August.

Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novelette

“Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (8,173 words or about 33 minutes to read), published in Uncanny magazine issue #58, May/June 2024

An amazing metaphor for the loneliness so many feel when they go down the rabbit hole of their digital worlds instead of being with people IRL. Like so many of the stories in Uncanny, this one really gets at what it feels like to have the experience of the protagonist.

Hugo Awards for Short Fiction, 1 of 12

The Hugo Awards will presented at the Seattle Worldcon 2025 on Saturday, 16 August. Starting today, I will be highlighting one short fiction nominee each weekday running up to the announcement of winners that day.

Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novelette

“Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker (11,996 words or about 48 minutes to read), published in Uncanny magazine issue #59, July/August 2024

Sarah Pinsker is one of my favorite authors! She always combines great storytelling with exploring the most amazing “What if?” questions.

In this touching and endearing story, she tells us of estranged sisters who find their way back to each other after many years. And in the process, the older learns something about her sister that she actively made herself forget.