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

Nebula Award Ceremony, 19 May 2012

Congratulations to the award winners of the 2011 Nebula Awards.

Service to SFWA Award: Bud Webster


Solstice Award: Octavia Butler


Solstice Award: John Clute


2011 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award: Connie Willis


Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation: Dr Who, The Doctor's Wife by Neil Gaiman


Andre Norton Award: The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman


Best Short Story: “The Paper Menagerie,” by Ken Liu


Best Novelette: “What We Found,” by Geoff Ryman


Best Novella: “The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” by Kij Johnson


Best Novel: Among Others by Jo Walton

2012 Hugo Award, Nominees for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

2012 Hugo Award Nominees, Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

	Captain America: The First Avenger, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephan McFeely; directed by Joe Johnston (Marvel)
	Game of Thrones (Season 1), created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss; written by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, and George R. R. Martin; directed by Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan, Tim van Patten, and Alan Taylor (HBO)
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner Bros.)
	Hugo, screenplay by John Logan; directed by Martin Scorsese (Paramount)
	Source Code, screenplay by Ben Ripley; directed by Duncan Jones (Vendome Pictures)

Hugo 2012 Best Short Story Nominees

The Hugo nominations for 2012 were announced in April. Here are the Best Short Story nominees for 2012.

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

“The Homecoming,” Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Apr/May 2011) - Review

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

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

“Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue,” John Scalzi (Tor.com) - Review

Review: Movement (2011 Nebula Award nominee, 2012 Hugo Award nominee)

Nominated: Nebula Award for Best Short Story, Hugo Award for Best Short Story

Synopsis: Hannah is a young woman with temporal autism. Her parents are considering a treatment that will resolve Hannah's autism and make her "normal." Hannah has to decide what she wants.

Nancy Fulda's Nebula Award nominated story touches on several themes: the meaning of "normality," the significance of an individual in contrast to universe, and the effect of evolution on the world. Because of Hannah's autism, she is unable to communicate easily with the other characters in the story; however as the first person narrator of the story, she can communicate easily with the reader. This is not the first time an author has given us an autistic POV (see The Speed of Dark, for example), but it does give Nancy Fulda the opportunity to show us the universe from a unique perspective, which she uses to good advantage.

Where to read this story: Originally published in Asimov's (PDF), you can read it at Nancy Fulda's web site; it is also available as a podcast.

More by the author, Nancy Fulda:

Nothing This Fun Could Be Good For You: A History of Evil Entertainment (Clarkesworld) 

Dead Men Don't Cry includes the Phobos Award winning story "The Man Who Murdered Himself"

Jim Baen Memorial Award Winner:



Includes "The Breath of Heaven," Writers of the Future finalist.

Hugo 2012 Best Novelette Nominees

The Hugo nominations for 2012 were announced in April. Here are the Best Novelette nominees for 2012.

“Copenhagen Interpretation,” Paul Cornell (Asimov’s Science Fiction, July 2011) - Review

“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

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

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

Hugo 2012 Best Novella Nominees

The Hugo nominations for 2012 were announced in April. Here are the Best Novella nominees for 2012.

“Countdown,” Mira Grant (Orbit) - Review

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

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

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

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

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

With the Exception of "Countdown," these Novellas are all Nebula Nominees also.

Review: Shipbirth (Nebula Award nominee, Best Short Story)

Nominated: Nebula Award 2011

Synopsis: In an Aztec alternate future history, interstellar ships are a symbiote consisting of machine structure and human minds. Acoimi, a woman turned man, must deal with the aftermath of the failed birth of a ship mind. This is hard for Acoimi because his sister died while giving birth to a ship mind.

If this were just a story about a doctor who helps a dying woman after childbirth, it would be a simple short story of just a few pages. But the real conflict is below the surface. Aliette de Bodard shows us Acoimi who has made three big choices in his life, and none of them have worked out as he thought they would. Even though Aliette de Bodard sets this story in her Aztec future history, it could apply to anyone anyplace. We all make choices in life, hoping to achieve purpose or meaning. Whether those choices work or not, like Acoimi, we have to deal with the consequences.

Where to read this story: At Aliette de Bodard's web site. Epub and Mobi versions are also available there. It might help your understanding of the story to read the author's notes as well.

More by the author, Aliette de Bodard:

The Jaguar House, In Shadow; 2010 Nebula Award nominee for Best Novelette.

Obsidian Shards; 2008 Nebula Award nominee for Best Novelette.

The Triad's Gift; 2007 Nebula Award nominee for Best Novelette.