I just mentioned this story to Tom W the other day: "Usurpers", by Derek Zumsteg, from the 9/2008 Asimovs. (Also on Escape Pod.<http://escapepod.org/2008/09/27/ep177-usurpers/>) The basic story (John Henry versus the machine) is old, but tuning-in to the main character's anger about being challeged by gene-modded "usurpers" made it feel fresh to me.
There was another from the same issue that I liked a lot: "Midnight Blue", by Will McIntosh. Very evocative of mood and place -- I remember the story vividly. It's set in a world very like our own, except that at some point in the not too distant past a bunch of "charms" fell down from the sky that bestowed remarkable powers (like "super-hard skin", "sings well", or "runs very fast") on the people who could find and assemble them. By the time of the story, they've become rare, expensive status markers. But our hero chances upon one that's so rare, no one knows what it does. There hasn't been a lot of other stuff that really stood out for me. There have been a few I really disliked, but that's not really the point and I'm hesitant to expend energy on them. On 2009-01-20, delancey <[email protected]> wrote: > > > In recent years, the Nebula awards have seemed a little random: good > things get passed over, and some of the nominees are a bit odd. > Everyone laments it -- last year Locus called one of the nominees > unreadable. > > I suspect that (part of) the issue is that most SFWA members are in a > condition similar to my own: I subscribe to F&SF, Analog, and > Asimovs, and am about 18 months behind in my reading of them. So, > it's very hit and miss; I nominate things I like as soon as I read > them, but I don't do anything like a broad reading of what was > published -- especially novels! > > I wonder if members in RSpec could post recommendations for things > that they read, published in the last year, that deserve consideration > for a Nebula nomination. I'd be grateful, and would try to read it, > and would both vote and lobby for it if I agreed. Maybe others among > us would do the same. (There are enough SFWA members in Rochester > that we could get something neglected noticed if not nominated -- 10 > SFWA member votes are needed to get something on the ballot.) And > maybe we can as a group kick around pros and cons, share impressions, > engage in lofty criticism, etc. > > So, anybody read anything good that was published this last year? > > cd > > > ________ > > > FYI, to see what (little) I've done so far: my recommendations have > been.... > > NOVELS > DiChario, Nick: Valley of Day-Glo > Doctorow, Cory: Little Brother > Gibson, William: Spook Country > Harrison, M. John: Nova Swing > Stross, Charles: Halting State > > [Sample bias: these are in fact all the eligible novels that I have > read this year! I should stretch a bit and read something that is not > just exactly what I expect to want to read. (Three of these are both > no longer eligible and didn't make the ballot, which I consider bad: > Gibson, Harrison, Stross.)] > > NOVELLAS > Kress, Nancy: The Erdmann Nexus > > [I thought the idea was really original -- reminding me of Sturgeon or > Kornbluth -- with characterization that somehow pulls off many > narrators in a short space.] > > NOVELETTES > Kosmatka, Ted: Divining Light > Kosmatka, Ted: The Prophet of Flores > > [The Prophet has made it on the ballot.] > > SHORTS > Bacigalupi, Paolo: The Gambler > > [Woah.] > > SCRIPTS > Groening, Matt; Cohen, David X. and Keeler, Ken: Bender's Big Score > Stanton, Andrew: WALL-E > > > > -- eric scoles ([email protected]) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
