I have a concise attention span regarding anthologies and short story collections; the writing quality varies from story to story, typically resulting in a slow reading turnaround for me. Science fiction is the worst because of the vast subgenres—many I don't care for—and in a short story collection with no theme, it's a flip of a coin whether or not I'll like the stories. I fell into that situation with "WRITERS OF THE FUTURE, VOLUME 40," recently published by Galaxy Press.
Let's rewind a bit. Writers of the Future is a writing contest founded by the late pulp writer L. Ron Hubbard—founded Scientology and wrote the science fiction saga Battlefield Earth—in 1983. Anyway, it's a quarterly science-fiction and fantasy writing contest. The finalists get sent to a panel of professional science fiction writers—who determine the top three—and receive cash prizes. Later, the four first-prize winners compete for the Gold Award (and more cash). The first, second, and third prize winners's stories get published in the annual anthology, along with illustrations from the Illustrators of the Future, founded in 1988.
Jody Lynn Nye edited WRITERS OF THE FUTURE, VOLUME 40. The anthology features fifteen illustrated short stories, bonus stories, and art & writing tips by Gregory Benford, Bob Eggleton, Nancy Kress, S.M. Stirling, and Dean Wesley Smith—who wrote many Star Trek tie-in novels.
The twelve "winning" stories featured in this volume are:
- The Edge of Where My Light is Cast by Sky McKinnon and illustrated by Carina Zhang
- Son, Spirit, Snake by Jack Nash and illustrated by Pedro N.
- Nonzero by Tom Vandermolen and illustrated by Jennifer Mellen
- The Imagalisk by Galen Westlake and illustrated by Chris Arias
- Life and Death and Love in the Bayou by Stephannie Tallent and illustrated by Ashley Cassaday
- Five Days Until Sunset by Lance Robinson and illustrated by Steven Bentley
- The Wall Isn't a Circle by Rosalyn Robilliard and illustrated by Guelly Rivera
- Da~ko~ta by Amir Agoora and illustrated by Connor Chamberlain
- Squiddy by John Eric Schleicher and illustrated by Tyler Vail
- Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber by James Davies and illustrated by May Zheng
- Summer of Thirty Years by Lisa Silverthorne and illustrated by Gigi Hooper
- Butter Side Down by Kal M and illustrated by Selena Meraki
The bonus short stories are Halo by Nancy Kress and illustrated by Lucas Durham, Shaman Dreams by S.M. Stirling (inspired by Dan dos Santo's Starcatcher), and The Last Drop by L. Ron Hubbard and L. Sprague de Camp and illustrated by Chris Arias. There are four essays: On Writing and Science Fiction by L. Ron Hubbard, Forty Years of Writers of the Future, It Seemed Like Just Yesterday by Dean Wesley Smith, and L. Ron Hubbard's Illustrator of the Future at Thirty-Five! by Bob Eggleton. Additionally, the anthology opens with an introduction by editor Jody Lynn Nye and a "The Illustrators of the Future Contest" piece by Echo Chernik.
My reading was sluggish with WRITERS OF THE FUTURE, VOLUME 40, reading a story here and there and between other reads. All the stories have their own merits, though only two stood out for me: The Edge of Where My Light is Cast—a heartwarming story about a digital cat—and Da~ko~ta—an intriguing tale featuring Teddy Roosevelt on the hunt for a wendigo.
As for the illustrations, I liked them all, but through my lens, none stood out from the pack.
Overall, with the good and the bad, I enjoyed reading WRITERS OF THE FUTURE, VOLUME 40, and I recommend it to other science fiction and fantasy readers. ╌★★★½✰
Just a quick reminder: This book is available for purchase on Amazon.com. I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you buy the book through the link above, I will receive a small commission. All earnings will help to support future reviews.
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