2010 Hugo Award nominees for Best Novella
"Act One", Nancy Kress (Asimov's 3/09)
The God Engines, John Scalzi (Subterranean)
"Palimpsest", Charles Stross (Wireless)
Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon)
"Vishnu at the Cat Circus", Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days)
The Women of Nell Gwynne's, Kage Baker (Subterranean)
2010 Hugo Award nominees for Best Novelette
"Eros, Philia, Agape", Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/09)
"The Island", Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
"It Takes Two", Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
"One of Our Bastards is Missing", Paul Cornell (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three)
"Overtime", Charles Stross (Tor.com 12/09)
"Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast", Eugie Foster (Interzone 2/09)
2010 Hugo Award nominees for Best Short Story
"The Bride of Frankenstein", Mike Resnick (Asimov’s 12/09)
"Bridesicle", Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 1/09)
"The Moment", Lawrence M. Schoen (Footprints)
"Non-Zero Probabilities", N.K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld 9/09)
"Spar", Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld 10/09)
Best Novel
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)
Best Novella
"The Erdmann Nexus" by Nancy Kress (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2008)
Best Novelette
"Shoggoths in Bloom" by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov's Mar 2008)
Best Short Story
"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
2009 Hugo Award nominees for Best Novella
"The Erdmann Nexus", Nancy Kress (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2008)
"The Political Prisoner", Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF Aug 2008)
"The Tear", Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
"True Names", Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)
"Truth", Robert Reed (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2008)
2009 Hugo Award nominees for Best Novelette
"Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders", Mike Resnick (Asimov's Jan 2008)
"The Gambler", Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)
"Pride and Prometheus", John Kessel (F&SF Jan 2008)
"The Ray-Gun: A Love Story", James Alan Gardner (Asimov's Feb 2008)
"Shoggoths in Bloom", Elizabeth Bear (Asimov's Mar 2008)
2009 Hugo Award nominees for Best Short Story
"26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss", Kij Johnson (Asimov's Jul 2008)
"Article of Faith", Mike Resnick (Baen's Universe Oct 2008)
"Evil Robot Monkey", Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
"Exhalation", Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
"From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled", Michael Swanwick (Asimov's Feb 2008)
NV ASFM (Asimov’s Science Fiction) December 2008 – science fiction
<<- Asimov's Dec. 2008 cover by J.K. Potter for "The Flowers of Nicosia"
Downtown Dharma is an American rock and roll band. They are a middle-aged threesome - Dennis (vocals, guitars), Vlad (bass) and Rick (drums) - that like playing Nirvana covers. After terrorists blow up the venue they are about to play in Italy, they decide the take their music to Muslims to try to heal the rift between East and West.
They go to Cyprus, an island divided between Turkish Muslims and Greek Christians. There they meet Ali, who knows the rock scene in Nicosia and wants to be their manager. They play a club on the Greek side where they meet Shayla, who is headscarf-wearing rock chick. Shayla takes a liking to the drummer, Rick, who is a Xanax addict. Shayla and Ali were a once a couple, but now they bicker.
Downtown Dharma cross the United Nations-controlled Green Line with Ali and Shayla. Despite warnings of terrorists using a biological agent called Amanita, which causes your body to break out in colorful fungi growths, they insist on playing a club in dangerous Turkish Nicosia.
I found "The Flowers of Nicosia" to be an engaging story. It's set in the near future, with Amanita spores and heat-resistant Mylar clothing as the fantastic elements. The author relates the foreignness of the setting. The plot develops tension. The Americans in the band seems both idealistic enough and reckless enough for the story to work.
I choose to read this novella because the introduction mentioned it was inspired, in part, by R.E.M.'s "The Flowers of Guatemala", which is a cool song. And yes, I see that inspiration.
SS, ASFM (Asimov’s Science Fiction) December 2008 – science fantasy
A couple of guys travel the roads, driving from place to place. But their vehicle isn’t a car, it’s a spaceship. They give another guy a ride to a planet near Arcturus.
A very short story - less than two pages. It has a folksy feel to it.
SS, Rocky Mountain News 9/30/08 - fiction
In 1924 a timid young woman named Clara travels alone to Denver to enquire about her Uncle Matt’s will. She realizes something about herself and her fiancé Kane.
There are no fantastic elements in this story. This is a pleasant piece of short fiction.
I read this story on good, old-fashioned paper. But here's a link to read New Hat online on the Rocky Mountain News website.
