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Short Story Finalists for the 2018 Nebula Award

April 12, 2019 The Unbound Writers
“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington.” Illustration by Odera Igbokwe from Fireside Magazine.

“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington.” Illustration by Odera Igbokwe from Fireside Magazine.

Fiction Unbound continues our annual tradition of admiring the unique voices and daring ideas that are the short stories nominated by SWFA member writers for the Nebula Awards. No predictions.

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In Reviews Tags Nebula Awards, Theodore McCombs, CS Peterson, CH Lips, Lisa Mahoney, Mark Springer
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"A People's Future of the United States"

April 5, 2019 The Unbound Writers
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Dystopia can be fun, in the right hands, but time loops probably aren’t. Example: our own era. Fiction Unbound writers Gemma and Catie explore stories that consider what the future may bring based on where we are presently, in the new collection A People’s Future of the United States.

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In Reviews Tags speculative fiction, N.K. Jemisin, G. Willow Wilson, Violet Allen, Alice Sola Kim, Gemma Webster, CS Peterson, Black speculative fiction, African-American speculative fiction
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"Muse of Nightmares": Looking Through the Lens of Trauma

March 29, 2019 C.S. Peterson
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Laini Taylor put a restriction on this project: killing couldn’t be the solution to her characters’ conflicts. The result is a harrowing exploration of nightmares, both lived and dreamed.

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In Reviews Tags CS Peterson, Muse of Nightmares, female protagonist, The Hero's Journey, Laini Taylor
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Whitney Scharer’s “The Age of Light” Illuminates Lee Miller During Her Man Ray Years

March 22, 2019 Danyelle Overbo
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Whitney Scharer’s historical fiction The Age of Light is a sumptuous look into photographer and artist Lee Miller’s relationship with Man Ray. Set in Paris in the early 1930’s, this novel does a beautiful job of giving Lee Miller a strong, clear voice during her formative years as a artist.

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In Reviews Tags Danyelle C. Overbo, Whitney Scharer, Lee Miller, Pre-War, 1930s, Feminism, Paris, Historical Fiction
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"Black Leopard, Red Wolf": A Knife to the Neck of Genre and Gender Tropes

March 15, 2019 CH Lips
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2015 Man Booker winner Marlon James embraces epic fantasy with a non-conforming, lightning-paced tale that up-ends every expectation.

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In Reviews Tags CH Lips, Kazuo Ishiguro, Marlon James, African-American speculative fiction
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Sooner or Later Sarah Pinsker Breaks Your Heart and Puts It Back Together All Weird

March 8, 2019 Theodore McCombs
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The award-winning Sarah Pinsker finally has a collection out, and it’s excellent.

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In Reviews Tags Sarah Pinsker, Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea, Small Beer Press, Theodore McCombs
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No More Yielding but a Dream: Sandra Newman's "The Heavens" and the Progressive Vision

January 18, 2019 Theodore McCombs
The Heavens by Sandra Newman from Grove Atlantic

The Heavens by Sandra Newman from Grove Atlantic

Newman’s novel is an inspired time-travel story and a troubled look at progressive hopes.

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In Reviews Tags Sandra Newman, The Heavens, Shakespeare, Time Travel, Theodore McCombs
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Their Hungry, Thirsty Roots: McGuire's latest Wayward Child

January 4, 2019 C.S. Peterson
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Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series continues with a story that asks, “What if life were fair?” It’s portal fantasy at its best: A door appears, a choice is made, you come back changed … if you come back at all.

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In Reviews Tags CS Peterson, Seanan McGuire, Portal Fantasy, female protagonist, The Hero's Journey, Wayward Children Series
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"How Long ‘Til Black Future Month?": The Book Born Great

December 21, 2018 Sean Cassity
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If three consecutive novel Hugos have not convinced you N. K. Jemisin is a modern master, this collection will bridge the gap.

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In Reviews Tags N.K. Jemisin, How Long 'Til Black Future Month, Anthology, Sean Cassity, African-American speculative fiction
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Refusing Silence: A Review of Gabino Iglesias's "Coyote Songs"

December 15, 2018 Guest Contributor

Guest Contributor Manual Aragon reviews Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias. “[Iglesias] creates a world that I know, where language knows no barriers, no walls, and moves exactly where it is most comfortable.”            

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In Reviews Tags Noir, Horror, Supernatural, Gabino Iglesias, Manual Aragon, La Frontera, Barrio Noir, Yuri Herrera
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"Mechanical Animals": An Anthology of Animal Automata, Old and New

November 30, 2018 The Unbound Writers
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Biomimicry abounds in this themed collection of new and classic science fiction “at the crux of creatures and tech,” from Hex Publishers.

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In Reviews Tags Science Fiction, Mark Springer, Lisa Mahoney, Carrie Vaughn, Hans Christian Anderson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hex Publishers, Jason Heller
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A Human Being Is Only Breath and Shadow: "The Book of M"

November 7, 2018 Theodore McCombs

Peng Shepherd’s thrilling debut novel explodes post-apocalyptic fantasies of independence.

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In Reviews Tags Book of M, Peng Shepherd, post-apocalyptic, Literary Fantasy, Shadows, Alice in Wonderland, Ursula K. Le Guin
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"Finding Baba Yaga": The Perfect Book for the Season of the Witch

October 19, 2018 The Unbound Writers
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Jane Yolen’s novel-in-verse, Finding Baba Yaga, arrives just in time for the season of the witch.

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In Reviews Tags Amanda Baldeneaux, CS Peterson, female protagonist, The Hero's Journey, halloween, Jane Yolen
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"New Fears 2": Nightmares Are the Price We Pay for Dreaming

October 12, 2018 The Unbound Writers
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In the second New Fears anthology, horror knows no boundaries.

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In Reviews Tags Horror, Mark Springer, Gemma Webster, Theodore McCombs
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What Feels Like Fate: Daisy Johnson’s "Everything Under"

October 5, 2018 Theodore McCombs

A watery, Gothic update of Greek myth by an exciting new voice in dark fiction.

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In Reviews Tags Daisy Johnson, Everything Under, Water Monsters, Fate, Greek Myths, Oedipus, Theodore McCombs
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"Exit Strategy": Beware the Wrath of Murderbot

September 28, 2018 Mark Springer
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In volume 4 of The Murderbot Diaries, Murderbot’s climactic showdown with an evil corporation pushes the rogue SecUnit to its limits, and beyond.

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In Reviews Tags The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells, Science Fiction, Rogue AI, Mark Springer
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"Circe": A Thousand Ways to Deal with Lovers

September 21, 2018 C.S. Peterson
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Yes, you can turn them into pigs, but there are so many other situations women find themselves in and such a variety of possible responses. Gods and Heroes, trigger warning: not all of them act like gentlemen.

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In Reviews Tags Greek Myths, Feminism, The Penelopiad, Madeline Miller, The Hero's Journey, Circe, CS Peterson
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Great Graphic Novels — Teens Struggling to Fit In

September 7, 2018 The Unbound Writers
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Being different is hugely consequential for teens who populate graphic novels, as well as for teens who read them.

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In Reviews Tags Marjorie Liu, Neil Gaiman, Sana Takeda, Charles Burns, Lisa Mahoney, Sean Cassity, Graphic Novels
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The Black God's Drums: Steampunk of the African Diaspora

August 23, 2018 Sean Cassity
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The Black God’s Drums beats a hammer of imagination against the anvil of history and forges a dense alternate history.

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In Reviews Tags Black God's Drums, P. Djèlí Clark, Steampunk, Alternate History, African-American speculative fiction
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Mid-Summer Speculative Short Story Round Up

August 10, 2018 Amanda Baldeneaux
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To mark summer’s midpoint, here are a few of the best speculative short stories Amanda has read since summer’s inauguration back in June.

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In Reviews Tags Short Stories, A.C. Wise, The Dark magazine, In the End it Always Turns Out the Same, We Show What We Have Learned, Clare Beams, Tin House, Abbey Mei Otis, Rich People, The Merry Spinster, Mallory Ortberg, The Daughter Cells, Quietly Gigantic, Strange Horizons, Amanda Baldeneaux, K.C. Mead-Brewer
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