Aaron's Story Recommendation of the Week :: In Apprehension, How Like a God by R.P.L. Johnson

My story recommendation of the week is for "In Apprehension, How Like a God" by R.P.L. Johnson, the third SROTW I'm permitting myself from Writers of the Future, Vol. XXVII. The gorgeous illustration is by Dustin Panzino, reproduced here with his kind permission.

"In Apprehension, How Like a God" was this year's WOTF Gold Award winner, and a most worthy champion. (But not necessarily the only story that would have been worthy -- I'm glad I didn't have to vote on that.)

The story is set in a future where the internet has been superseded by the aethernet, which allows everyone to see images and information superimposed over everything around us using the Higgs field, a quantum field permeating the universe. (The Higgs field is a real physics concept, but not yet known to have all the properties described in this story.) Our protagonist, Detective Conroy, must investigate a murder at the monastic "Academy" in Uganda, home of the AI "nodes" that superimpose all that information onto the Higgs field. Conroy soon learns that the Academy is working on improving the nodes so they can "read" the Higgs field as well as "write" onto it:

Now I was the one feeling sick. "You're describing a machine that's as close to omniscient as makes no difference."

"Omniscient," the Arch-Mage weighed the ancient word. "I suppose so, within certain practical parameters of storage, processing capacity and power consumption. But in any case the project is at an early stage."

Hopefully it's not giving too much away to say that the murder relates to someone's attempt to gain control of the aethernet, control that would give you the power to change the reality being experienced by anyone you choose. The savvy reader can guess that Detective Conroy will be subject to such a reality shift, which not only makes his job difficult, but also proves an effective metaphor for his personal turmoil since the death of his daughter.

"In Apprehension, How Like a God" (the title is from Hamlet) is a great example of effective post-cyberpunk science fiction. It has all the interesting techy speculations of a future where we simultaneously co-inhabit the real world and a consensually visualized virtual world. But at the same time it is a strong story on an emotional level, with none of the coldness or smartassery that pervaded much of the original cyberpunk subgenre.

In addition to Writers of the Future XXVII, Richard Johnson has appeared at AlienSkin Magazine -- you can find that story here -- and he has another story forthcoming at Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, with hopefully many more to follow.

Let me conclude by emphasizing one more time, all of the WOTF27 winners are excellent. For purposes of SROTW, I've limited myself to three stories that especially spoke to me personally, but another reader might as easily have three different favorites. I read quite a bit of short fiction, and I keep a running list of my favorites of the year. So far I've read well over 100 pieces of short fiction published in 2011, and most of the WOTF27 winners are currently on either my top ten novelette list or my top ten short story list. That's some high-quality writing, and I am proud to be in a table of contents with every one of the other winners.

Aaron's Story Recommendation of the Week :: Medic! by Adam Perin

My story recommendation of the week is for "Medic!" by Adam Perin, from Writers of the Future, Vol. XXVII, the second of the three SROTW's I'm permitting myself to give to fellow WOTF27 winners (even though all the other winners are deserving). The illustration is by Gregory J. Gunther, reproduced here with his kind permission.

While all the Writers of the Future winners are exceptional in different ways, to me "Medic!" is the single most successful WOTF27 winner at creating a distinctive voice. The first-person narrative perfectly conveys the main character's brusque but conflicted personality, right from the opening lines:

Some guys go insane from being buried alive. I always get drowsy.

Our protagonist Sergeant Silk is a convict who was paroled because his skills as a medic were desperately needed in a bloody interplanetary war. He can go home to his fiancée if he survives long enough to save 1000 soldiers. He's currently at 995.

Adam Perin does a nice job of understandably presenting a far-future medic's difficult job. More importantly, "Medic! is a superb character study. Sergeant Silk is skilled at his work, he takes no shit from anyone rank be damned, and he is barely holding a lid on his tumultuous emotions. His story makes for gripping reading.

After sampling a host of different professions (including emergency medical technician), Adam Perin is now a diplomat with the U.S. State Department. "Medic!" is his first professional fiction sale. We'll let him retire when he gets to 1000.

Aaron's Story Recommendation of the Week :: Maddy Dune's First and Only Spelling Bee by Patrick O'Sullivan

The story recommendation of the week is for "Maddy Dune's First and Only Spelling Bee" by Patrick O'Sullivan, from Writers of the Future, Vol. XXVII. The striking illustration is by Meghan Muriel -- you can see more of her amazing portfolio, along with news of her upcoming projects, at her Facebook page.

So I had decided the stories in Writers of the Future 27 should not be eligible for SROTW since, having spent nine days together with all the other WOTF27 authors, I am far too deeply biased to evaluate the book objectively. But I just can't help myself. This book include some of the best works of short fiction I've read in the past several years, and I want them included in the SROTW honor roll.

The most I can do is limit myself to three of the stories that particularly speak to me. This should not be taken to suggest anything at all negative about any of the other WOTF27 stories, every one of which is written at a very high level (excluding my own, which I can't comment on), and I am proud to appear alongside all of these talented (and super-nice) new authors. Two of them, Keffy Kehrli and Jeff Lyman, have already received story recommendations for non-WOTF pieces, and I suspect they all will before long.

So with that disclaimer, we begin with Patrick O'Sullivan's "Maddy Dune's First and Only Spelling Bee." "Maddy Dune" is Patrick O'Sullivan's first published story, but it is so imaginative and beautifully written, I am certain we will see much more outstanding work from him in the future (which hopefully he will tell us about at his web page).

Maddy Dune is a part-human, part-"spectral hound" girl adopted by human stepparents, who have been teaching her magic. She does not fit in well in polite society, but she hopes success in the big spelling bee will help. Maddy lives in a world where "spelling bees" have nothing to do with whether "i" comes before "e."

Most of the tale takes place on the stage of an auditorium, yet this is a tremendously vivid and engaging story. I enjoyed this piece from start to finish, and I read it to a group in my office who loved it as well. You need to find a copy of Writers of the Future, Vol. XXVII and read "Maddy Dune's First and Only Spelling Bee." And then, since you have the book anyway, why not check out some of the other stories?

Signing Books Like a Real Writer Would

On Sunday, June 26, at 3:00 p.m., I'll be signing copies of Writers of the Future, Vol. XXVII at the Broadway Book Mall, at 200 S. Broadway in Denver. Appearing with me will be Erik Jean Solem, one of the winning illustrators; J Alan Erwine, local author whose new book is Red Moon Rising; and Laura Givens, Red Moon Rising's cover artist.

The event is hosted by Ron & Nina Else of Who Else! Books, who are the nicest couple you could ever hope to meet. Their little shop has hosted some of the best authors in the world -- Connie Willis was there last weekend, for instance, and Ken Scholes will appear there tonight -- but they are also kind enough to provide a forum for local wannabes like me.

So if you happen to be in Colorado and are interested in the Writers of the Future Contest, or you like to support local aspiring writers, or if you just want a free slice of cake (provided by the extremely generous, supportive folks at the Denver office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP), drop by and check it out!

Final Writers of the Future Update

I've been at the Writers of the Future workshop all week, which has been great fun and a terrific learning experience. K.D. Wentworth and Tim Powers have done a wonderful job as the primary instructors, and multiple outstanding authors have guest lectured (and regaled us over drinks and at last night's picnic) -- including Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, Eric Flint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Yoji Kondo (aka Eric Kotani), Rebecca Moesta, Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch -- with still more to come. This is such a remarkable experience, any aspiring authors out there owe it to yourselves to take a shot at this contest.

My fellow winners are a tremendously talented group, not to mention a bunch of very nice folks. It was a huge thrill to see the illustration for my story done by Illustrators of the Future winner Frederick Edwards, which is just perfect. And Cliff Nielsen's cover art for the anthology is outstanding.

If any of you are bored and want to see some of the award ceremony, it will be Sunday at 6:30 p.m. West Coast time, streamed live at the Writers of the Future web site. (There's also a blog there with many photos and with Jordan Lapp & Tim Powers scurrilously questioning my integrity.)

Aaron's Story Recommendation of the Week :: The House of Nameless by Jason Fischer

The story recommendation of the week goes to Jason Fischer for "The House of Nameless," from Writers of the Future, Volume XXVI.

Since I learned I would be in Writers of the Future, Volume XXVII I've been reading stories from previous volumes, and let me tell you it is an ego-expanding experience. Most of these stories are really good! The story concepts are almost always terrific, and the writing is generally at a high level. Certainly some of the stories seem flawed to me, but even with those it is easy to spot the qualities that impressed the judges. Historically, the Writers of the Future Contest has produced many top-notch professional authors, and I am certain that will hold true for several of the past couple years' winners.

Last year's anthology, Writers of the Future, Volume XXVI, includes a number of tales that impressed me very much, especially the stories by Alex Black, Simon Cooper, Tom Crosshill, Jason Fischer, Laurie Tom, and Brad R. Torgersen. (I hope no one will take that as a negative comment on any winners I haven't mentioned -- as I said, even in the stories that don't work for me personally, the authors' talents are obvious; you don't rise to the top of a pile of several hundred submissions without some skills.)

Of all these excellent stories, my personal favorite is "The House of Nameless" by Jason Fischer, a strikingly original piece written at a very professional level. Told from the point of view of Raoul the Minotaur, "The House of Nameless" shows a struggle between various powerful gods, but it is not quite like any such story you have read before. The gods inhabit a bizarre and pliable universe, and most of them are determined not to return to the universe we know, which they refer to as the "One-Way-World." Key to the struggle over whether to return to the One-Way-World is the god "Nameless," who was deprived of his identity in punishment for a serious crime he is expected to commit some day.

Fischer does a wonderful job of blending bizarre story devices with anachronistically mundane elements:

But there was enough vinegar left in the old god to keep the ship at bay. Try as it might, The Cheerful Misogynist was grounded, straining against Yahweh's invisible hand.

Raoul and the others were out, rappelling down ropes or gliding on dreamt-up wings. There were enough holes in Yahweh's fence that they could slip through on foot.

Imogen was back to khakis and a T-shirt, and for some reason had the remote control for Raoul's entertainment center in her hand.

This story is great fun to read all the way through. "The House of Nameless" sheds funny or thought-provoking concepts at breakneck speed -- given the level of detail, I am not surprised to see that Fischer has written other work in this universe. The spirited pace does not not allow for elaborate characterization (which I suspect is why this story did not win the Gold Award for last year's contest -- Laurie Tom's "Living Rooms" focuses more on the main character and her emotional struggles), but the gods involved are quirky enough that they don't blend together.

Like all WOTF winners, Australian Jason Fischer is new to the field, but already he has appeared in numerous publications, including Apex, Aurealis, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, among many others, and he has been nominated for the Ditmar and Aurealis Awards among other honors. I believe he has a long and successful writing career ahead of him.

Writers of the Future Field Completed

The Fourth Quarter results for the Writers of the Future contest have been released -- apparently the judging for this quarter was hurried along to accommodate moving the award ceremony up to the spring, so this quarter's finalists were deprived of the pleasure of waiting month after agonizing month for their results.

Huge congratulations to Jeffrey Lyman, Patrick O'Sullivan and Adam Perin. I'm looking forward to meeting you at the Writers of the Future workshop this spring.

Writers of the Future Update

The third quarter winners for this year's Writers of the Future contest have been announced.


Huge congratulations to Australian Richard Johnson and Seattleites Geir Lanesskog and Keffy R.M. Kehrli!

I'm looking forward to meeting the three of them at the WOTF workshop and award ceremony in the spring. Incidentally, Keffy Kehrli received a coveted Story Recommendation of the Week at this blog about a year ago for his excellent story Advertising at the End of the World, so can I pick up-and-coming authors or what?

Writers of the Future

This blog generally focuses on promoting other authors' fiction, but today I hope you'll forgive me a bit of self-promotion.

My story "The Dualist" is a winner of the Writers of the Future contest!

The star-studded judging panel of Tim Powers, K.D. Wentworth, Jerry Pournelle, and Doug Beason picked my story as third-best of the Second Quarter 2010, out of the untold boxes of submissions they get. As one of the top three, "The Dualist" will be in Writers of the Future, Volume XXVII next year, and I will be invited to a week-long writing workshop with Powers, Wentworth, and others.

Appearing in a Writers of the Future anthology is rather a big deal. Past volumes have included early stories by such outstanding writers as Stephen M. Baxter, M. Shayne Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Mark Budz, Jeff Carlson, Aliette de Bodard, Nicholas DiChario, J.R. Dunn, Nancy Farmer, Marina Fitch, Eric Flint, Karen Joy Fowler, Carl Frederick, Valerie J. Freireich, James Alan Gardner, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Howard V. Hendrix, Jim C. Hines, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Michael Jasper, Jay Lake, David D. Levine, Ian McHugh, Syne Mitchell, John Moore, Jamil Nasir, Scott Nicholson, Nnedi Okorafor, Michael H. Payne, Tony Pi, Ken Rand, Robert Reed, R. Garcia y Robertson, Bruce Holland Rogers, Patrick Rothfuss, Matthew Rotundo, Diana Rowland, Steven Savile, Ken Scholes, Dean Wesley Smith, Martha Soukup, Jason Stoddard, Eric James Stone, Sarah Totton, Mary Turzillo, K.D. Wentworth, Sean Williams, Dave Wolverton (aka David Farland), Stephen Woodworth, and David Zindell. The list goes on, but I think 50 names is enough to make my point. Of course, the list of former winners who did not go on to a noteworthy writing career is even longer, and I have no particular reason to expect to join the former list rather than the latter, but still . . .

To have something in common with all these amazing writers is a huge thrill. It's also strangely unsettling. I have the impression that many of the writers who enter the Writers of the Future contest are young, energetic people determined to become professional authors. I, on the other hand, am a middle-aged fellow who has never thought seriously of a career in fiction, because I never believed I had the talent. I've never even entered the WOTF contest before, figuring that none of my previous feeble efforts would have a chance.

I have always had an absurd hero-worship of professional authors, and so never dared to think that I could do what they do. But in the past couple years I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the local Colorado writers like Paolo Bacigalupi and Ed Bryant, and as much as I admire their work, they are actually not fifteen feet tall. They are very friendly and interesting people, but do not seem superhuman at all (but then, I haven't checked Paolo's closet for capes). I still don't imagine I have it in me to write quite like Paolo or Ed -- who does? -- but somehow it's feeling less ridiculous to think of at least publishing some stuff in the same field. I am looking forward to this workshop next year more than I can say.

Congratulations to my fellow winners for this quarter, Patty Jansen and Ben Mann (both Australian), and the winners for the first quarter, Brennan Harvey, David D'Amico, and Ryan Harvey (no relation). Good luck to everyone in the third and fourth quarters of the contest. Hope to see you next Spring!