Reviewing the 36th Annual Reader's Award Finalists from Asimov's Science Fiction. 2022. Novellas, Novelettes, and Short Stories

Asimov’s Science Fiction, formerly Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, is one of the greatest SF magazines in the genre’s history with awards too numerous to mention, an unbeatable roster of published authors, and some of the editorial giants at the helm. Subscribe here.

Each year ASF makes freely available the finalists for their annual reader’s award, which is considered by many to be the equal or superior to Hugo or Nebula awards. As of today (February 27, 2022) the stories are available as a free download at this link.

This year’s selections are exceptional with a total of 6 stories the become my first entry for 2021 in The Great List. The stories are even better than the finalists last year, which I reviewed here.

Check out the stories below. No Spoilers Here!

36TH ANNUAL READER'S AWARD FINALISTS FROM ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION

RATED 91% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE: 4.19 OUT OF 5.00

16 STORIES : 6 GREAT / 7 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF

BEST NOVELLAS

1. A Blessing of Unicorns – Elizabeth Bear (September/October 2021)

   Great. A crime procedural set in Bangalore of the 2070. A detective tries to solve the case of missing influencers while dealing with issues of family. Smartly written, with a good mix of speculation and human grounding.

2. The Realms of Water – Robert Reed (January/February 2021)

   Great. On the Great Ship, a giant being tells the story of his life. It is a story of slavery, war, friendship, honor, and pathos. A SF version of a historical war epic, at once enthralling and heartbreaking. A true sense of wonder both in scope and in the human heart of an alien being.

3. Glitch – Alex Irvine (March/April 2021)

   Great. A riveting techno thriller. A man died in a terrorist bombing. The man was brought back using a backup of his consciousness. Unfortunately, there was a glitch and the Neo-Nazi terrorist was also brought back inside his mind. The terrorist wants to take over and the police want to make someone pay for the attack.

4. A Rocket for Dimitrios – Ray Nayler (January/February 2021)

   Great. In an alternate history where America became the dominant power in WWII because of crashed alien technology, a woman who can search the mental pathways of the dead is send to Istanbul. The person she is supposed to investigate could possibly hold the secret of a second crashed spaceship. That would change the world.

5. Light Up the Clouds – Greg Egan (March/April 2021)

   Good. For the people living in the foggy forest of a gas giant, their religious texts have told about The Cousins, who left years ago when a cataclysm affected the planet. Now, they may have returned. The people must invent a way to launch in space and let The Cousins know that they are there. Rigorous Hard SF as Egan has thought through every aspect of how this society would accomplish the task.

BEST NOVELETTES

1. Año Nuevo – Ray Nayler (May/June 2021)

   Great. On the California coastal beach of Año Nuevo, large aliens have lain without doing anything. Then one morning they are gone … and it changes everything. A gentle and sublime tale that is as much about mood and character as the very big Science Fictional idea at its center.

2. Billie the Kid – Rick Wilber (September/October 2021)

   Good. A charming memoir of a teenage girl playing professional baseball for a Hollywood team. Then she teams up with a time-traveling lesbian and Baseball Player / Spy to stop a Japanese bomb attack in the final moments of World War 2. The baseball stuff is really enjoyable, the main character interesting, and the adventure stuff just a bit underwhelming. Still really enjoyed this story. It just missed going on the Great List.

3. Philly Killed His Car – Will McIntosh (July/August 2021)

   Good. He really needs to sell his car. He really needs the money. You can’t sell a sentient car that doesn’t want to be sold …. but what about the insurance money?

4. Table Etiquette for Diplomatic Personnel, in Seventeen Scenes – Suzanne Palmer (January/February 2021)

   Good. A politically charged murder mystery on a human alliance spaceport. As aggressive aliens come to ‘negotiate’ unexpectedly, the murder of a surprise crew member must be balanced with the discovery of a strangely delicious fruit.

5. The HazMat Sisters – L.X. Beckett (July/August 2021)

   Average. A gang of sisters cross an apocalyptic American landscape caused by a mutation of Covid-19. Their mother has gamified this experience using some of the tropes and rules of Dungeons and Dragons.

BEST SHORT STORIES

1. Bread and Circuits – Misha Lenau (November/December 2021) PODCAST

   Great. Nadia runs an ‘orphanage’ for household appliances that ‘get quirky’ i.e.gain sentience. One day a quirky toaster ends up on her front door and her entire perspective on life and friendship will change.

2. Flowers like Needles – Derek Künsken (March/April 2021)

   Good. On an alien world with beings made of metallic needles, one such being goes on a quest to find his master. Cool alien social structures here, but not much originality in the story being told.

3. My Heart Is at Capacity – TJ Berry (May/June 2021)

   Good. A robot is saving money for a new heart. It will help it(him) better love the woman he(it) is with … but she’s been acting strangely.

4. Muallim – Ray Nayler (November/December 2021)

   Good. An Azerbaijan village wants to keep their robot teacher.

5. Alien Ball – Kristine Kathryn Rusch (July/August 2021)

   Average. Good and fun when the story is about how aliens would play basketball. Boring and pretentious when the author focuses on a racial history in sports without nuance or originality.

6. Sentient Being Blues – Christopher Mark Rose (March/April 2021)

   Average. There is a good story here of a robot who played music to lessen the pain of humans who were trapped in a mine collapse and then was exploited by a music company, but that story is in a background of this more maudlin legal drama.