Comments on: Short Fiction Friday: The 2013 Nebula Nominated Short Stories

By: Carl V.

Carl V. — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:06:55 +0000

Oh yes, definitely more harsh but in the sense of the story it is the kind of behavior that makes for an impact. And I don’t think that is the only, or even the main, thing that part of the story is meant to represent. The thing he took from her is in many ways a representation of what was taken from her emotionally with a relationship where, at least from her point of view, there was more of a commitment and romance than there actually was in reality. I don’t know about you but even though she was porcelain, or maybe especially because she was porcelain, I had such a visceral reaction to all of the references to cracks and missing parts and especially to what then happened to her.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 22:23:21 +0000

I’ll read Immersion before then and join in the discussion.
Yes, this does seem to be tourist behaviour in a lot of respects (okay maybe a little bit more harsh than a typical holiday romance and then run but even so).
Lynn

By: Carl V.

Carl V. — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:29:56 +0000

I have to say that the behavior of the tourist was one that first shocked me because it was so unexpected and then as I thought about it more made perfect sense because isn’t that so much like what the average tourist in another place is like? You should read “Immersion” if you have time, I think that is the one I will be announcing tomorrow as the short story we will discuss on Sunday March 9th at my place.

By: Carl V.

Carl V. — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:27:49 +0000

Thanks Richard, I hope they keep me! Haven’t heard anyone sharpening knives or smelled tar being put on to boil, but you never know.

I’m definitely going to try to work on the other two short fiction categories and am hoping the current works that are not up free online will become available soon now that they’ve been nominated. I did order Aliette de Bodard’s limited edition “On a Red Station, Drifting” which is nominated in the novella category and received it in the mail yesterday so that marks one that doesn’t appear to be available anywhere online.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:01:32 +0000

Oh my, I just read Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain. It’s quite a captivating story and I certainly did not see that end coming! Plus it’s thought provoking in many ways. The fact that the tourist comes along and takes something from Tikka. She was so naive and vulnerable – given one of the lists she wrote about humans perhaps she should have shown more caution. It’s only a short story but it makes you think.
I will go and read some of the others – this one appealed to me I think because of the ‘lists’.
Thanks
Lynn

By: RkR

RkR — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 18:56:26 +0000

A fine overview of the nominated group, plus your usual insightful analysis of each story with strengths and weaknesses. Your Friday review of short fiction has added a lot to SF Signal, I hope you’re here to stay.

I too would love to see the novelette nominees reviewed here, even if it has to be just a couple of them at a time.

By: Carl V.

Carl V. — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 17:10:21 +0000

True.

By: John DeNardo

John DeNardo — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:21:32 +0000

Fwiw, I usually classify short fiction as *anything* shorter than novel length. Thus, short stories, novelettes and novellas are all types of short fiction as determined by their word count (small to large).

By: Carl V. Anderson

Carl V. Anderson — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 06:01:02 +0000

I suppose it is possible if I have a way to easily track them down.

By: Jeff S

Jeff S — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:40:42 +0000

Can we hope to see a review of the novelette’s in the near future as well. Their close to short fiction, right?

By: Carl V. Anderson

Carl V. Anderson — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:22:40 +0000

I thought it was really clever how Cat Rambo used the “five” theme in Porcelain and also think it says something about the quality of the story that the reader can just step right into it and go with it. These people made of porcelain don’t seem far-fetched at all because the story works so well.

By: Carl V. Anderson

Carl V. Anderson — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:20:39 +0000

I’m not sure where to even look, but boy would I be curious once all the voting is done to see just how close a race this was between the eventual winner and the others. This is such a strong field, in my opinion. And although a print form of some kind will come out (the Nebula Awards Showcase) with some of these stories in them, I wish that a volume including each of the short fiction selections would come out. I’d love to have a bound copy with all of these in it.

By: Robert N. Lee

Robert N. Lee — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:08:53 +0000

For once, I read all the stories on one of these shortlists. I have no idea how I’d pick between Aliette de Bodard’s, Ken Liu’s, and Cat Rambo’s stories.

By: Carl V.

Carl V. — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:33:47 +0000

I just noticed that Aliette de Bodard has a new story in this month’s issue of Clarkesworld. Looking forward to reading that.

By: Bob Blough

Bob Blough — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:04:33 +0000

Great review. I’ve read all but one of these stories and I would say that my top two are “Immersion” and “Five Ways to Fall in Love on the Planet Porcelain”. I do wish others of my favorites had been here but Carl is right – it is a very good choice of stories . Not a poor one in the bunch.