Alastair Reynolds’ fascinating SLOW BULLETS garners discussion about possible award nominations.

Photo: Barbera Bella

At A SKINSELLER’S WORKSHOP, Joseph Tomaras reveals his tentative nominations for the forthcoming Nebula Awards, which included SLOW BULLETS.

This one grew on me more than I expected. It starts out like a fairly standard, grim bit of military SF, but by bringing in atrocity, torture, vengeance, the decline of civilization, memory, and identity, it ends up echoing Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony”. A very timely glimpse into a far future that isn’t quite so distant.

Read about Tomaras other selections at A SKINSELLER’S WORKSHOP.

Maddalena Tarallo recently discovered the Planetary Awards, chosen by book bloggers, podcasters, and booktubers. On her SPACE AND SORCERY blog, Tarallo shared her choices.

For Shorter Story, SLOW BULLETS by Alastair Reynolds: this author usually deals with wide-spanning galactic civilizations, but here he keeps his focus tighter on a group of people who find themselves marooned in space – and time – through an accident that might be sabotage as well. I enjoyed the fascinating characters and the more intimate depiction of their psychology.

Check out the rest of Tarallo’s selections at SPACE AND SORCERY.

For more info about SLOW BULLETS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Design by Elizabeth Story