Monthly Archives: April 2021

Hugos 2021 – Short Stories

The finalists for this year’s short story Hugo Award were a pleasant surprise.  A full half of them were actually science fiction, but I enjoyed the rest just as much.  The quality of the writing was consistently high, which caused … Continue reading

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Flash review: A Rose for Ecclesiastes by Roger Zelazny

Roger Zelazny was a master wordsmith, and Rose is one of his early masterpieces.  It is so skillfully written that one doesn’t even notice that it is more akin to a Greek tragedy than to science fiction.  And one doesn’t … Continue reading

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Flash Review: The Little Black Bag by Cyril M. Kornbluth

This highly amusing and cynical short story hits all the right buttons.  It contains a future that may be funny for some and terrifying for others.  It has a highly emotional redemption arc.  And a crime and punishment element so … Continue reading

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Flash review: Scanners Live in Vain by Cordwainer Smith

Before Alastair Reynolds and the Ultras, before the mind-numbing and soul-crushing emptiness of deep space travel, there was Smith and his Scanners.  This is one of the first stories that combine Lovecraftian horror with space travel.  It uses very vivid … Continue reading

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Flash Review: Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon

A few years ago, I got to meet George R. R. Martin at a convention.  My “meeting” was absolutely forgettable for him.  I was one of hundreds of people queuing to get his autograph.  Still, I was one of the … Continue reading

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