Review: Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son (2011 Nebula Award Nominee)

Nominated: Nebula Award 2011

Synopsis: Zhenya is a young man who volunteers for a dangerous experiment because he needs the money to pay for his mother's medical care. The experiment allows Zhenya how to access the multiverse. Unfortunately for Zhenya, his mother, and apparently all of humanity, there are fatal consequences to this .

I don't know if it was Tom Crosshill's intention, but this story reminds me of the classic "Flowers for Algernon." A young man becomes the subject of a scientific experiment, and the reader experiences the rise and fall of the young man. Zhenya even has an animal companion who leads the way. However, this story is a little harder to follow. What makes Zhenya a good subject for the experiment is that his mind is young and malleable; but that also means he is not the best narrator, since his knowledge of the advanced science being performed on him never increases beyond his initial child-like perceptions. This story about one possible consequence to accessing the multiverse was interesting, but I felt the ending didn't explain enough about what happened to Zhenya and his world.

Where to read this story: Lightspeed magazine, or on your Kindle:


Watch an abridged animated version of the story.

More by the author, Tom Crosshill: Links to online releases of many stories are available on the author's web site. Some of his recent work includes

Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes, Clarkesworld Issue 67


Bearslayer and the Black Knight, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 92

Review: The Axiom of Choice

Nominated: Nebula 2011

Synopsis: You make a fatal choice one night that results in tragedy. Was that tragedy predetermined, was it inevitable regardless of what choice led to the tragedy? Or was it the result of your single choice of free will? Could you have chosen differently? In either case, the story follows what happens to your life after the tragedy.

1 - David W. Goldman's story "The Axiom of Choice" appears to explore the question of Free Will versus Determinism. If you choose Free Will go to 2; If you choose Determinism go to 3.

2 - The apparent structure of the story follows those old Choose Your Own Adventure stories that are apparently still popular. Go to 3.

3 - Even though the story is structured like Choose Your Own Adventure, the protagonist (aka You) is forced into a particular set of choices. If you make your own choices, go to 4. If you are forced into choices, go to 5.

4 - Are you making your own choice? Or is the universe choosing for you? Go to 5.

5 - Are you really forced? As Rush sang, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Go to 4.

6. Even though the structure of the story forces you to follow a particular path and all the tragedy that befalls you appears to be pre-ordained, by the end of the story...Well, you'll just have to choose to read the story to find out what happens to you in the end.

Where to read this story: Author's web site

More by the author, David W. Goldman:

All of his published work is available on his web site.

The story "The Story of His Life" is included in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future XXI


The story "Radical Acceptance" was first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact and reprinted in Prime Codex

Review: Her Husband's Hands

Nominated: Nebula 2011, Bram Stoker 2011

Synopsis: A horrific war and advances in medical technology make it possible for severely injured soldiers to return to their loved ones. For Rebecca, that means all that returns from the war are her husband's hands: alive, sentient, and with all his memories. She and Bob must learn to deal with the consequences.

I will admit that in the first few paragraphs I was incredulous. Really? His hands are alive and sentient? (And this is in a genre populated by all kinds of implausible ideas.) But medical science has made many advances recently, and injuries that would have been fatal in the 20th century are now being treated.

After I willingly suspended my belief, I was drawn into the story and the problems faced by Rebecca and Bob. Rebecca faces the struggle that many people do: How do you continue to love someone, when they are changed beyond who you knew them as?

Where to read this story: Lightspeed Magazine

More by the author, Adam-Troy Castro:

Arvies by Adam-Troy Castro

Nebula 2011 Andre Norton Award Nominees

It's May and that means that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will soon be presenting the  annual Nebula Awards. Here are the nominees for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy for 2011.

Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor (Viking Juvenile) - Review
Chime, Franny Billingsley (Dial) - Review
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) - Review
Everybody Sees the Ants, A.S. King (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) - Review
The Boy at the End of the World, Greg van Eekhout (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) - Review
(Winner) The Freedom Maze, Delia Sherman (Big Mouth House) - Review
The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson (Greenwillow) - Review
Ultraviolet, R.J. Anderson (Carolrhoda Labs) - Review

Nebula 2011 Ray Bradbury Award Nominees

It's May and that means that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will soon be presenting the  annual Nebula Awards. Here are the nominees for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation for 2011.

Attack the Block, Joe Cornish (writer/director) (Optimum Releasing; Screen Gems) - Review
Captain America: The First Avenger, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (writers), Joe Johnston (director) (Paramount) - Review
(Winner) Doctor Who: “The Doctor’s Wife,” Neil Gaiman (writer), Richard Clark (director) (BBC Wales) - Review
Hugo, John Logan (writer), Martin Scorsese (director) (Paramount) - Review
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen (writer/director) (Sony) - Review
Source Code, Ben Ripley (writer), Duncan Jones (director) (Summit) - Review
The Adjustment Bureau, George Nolfi (writer/director) (Universal) - Review

Nebula 2011 Best Short Story Nominees

It's May and that means that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will soon be presenting the  annual Nebula Awards. Here are the Best Short Story nominees for 2011.

“Her Husband's Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed Magazine, October 2011) - Review

“Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son,” Tom Crosshill (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2011) - Review

“Movement,” Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 2011) - Review

“Shipbirth,” Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction, February 2011) - Review

“The Axiom of Choice,” David W. Goldman (New Haven Review, Winter 2011) - Review

“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees,” E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2011) - Review

“The Paper Menagerie,” (Winner) Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March/April 2011) - Review

Nebula 2011 Best Novelette Nominees

It's May and that means that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will soon be presenting the  annual Nebula Awards. Here are the Best Novelette nominees for 2011.

“Fields of Gold,” Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse 4, Night Shade Books) - Review

“Ray of Light,” Brad R. Torgersen (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2011) - Review

“Sauerkraut Station,” Ferrett Steinmetz (Giganotosaurus, November 2011) - Review

“Six Months, Three Days,” Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com, June 2011) - Review

“The Migratory Pattern of Dancers,” Katherine Sparrow (Giganotosaurus, July 2011) - Review

“The Old Equations,” Jake Kerr (Lightspeed Magazine, July 2011) - Review

“What We Found,” (Winner) Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2011) - Review

Nebula 2011 Best Novella Nominees

It's May and that means that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will soon be presenting the  annual Nebula Awards. Here are the Best Novella nominees for 2011.

“Kiss Me Twice,” Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2011) - Review

“Silently and Very Fast,” Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2011) - Review

“The Ice Owl,” Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November/December 2011) - Review

“The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” Kij Johnson (Winner) (Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2011) - Review

“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary,” Ken Liu (Panverse Three, Panverse Publishing) - Review

“With Unclean Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2011) - Review

Nebula 2011 Best Novel Nominees

It's May and that means that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will soon be presenting the  annual Nebula Awards. Here are the Best Novel nominees for 2011.

Among Others by Jo Walton (Winner)

Embassytown by China Miéville

Firebird by Jack McDevitt

God’s War by Kameron Hurley

Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine

The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)


Look for reviews of all these novels soon, although I may leave Among Others and Embassytown for later, since those two are also nominated for the Hugo.