Writers of the Future 32 Science Fiction & Fantasy Anthology Read online

  Explore a world where . . .

  The bite of a dead man is the least of Dr. Arus’ problems.

  People from the distant past send messages of ill-intent to the future.

  Danny must deal with what happens when the Internet escapes.

  Meet fascinating people . . .

  Nate is all about loyalty and companionship—but aren’t most werewolves?

  Anna works in a factory, where her magic won’t even provide for her barest needs.

  Harric has only two hours to live, unless he can win the gods’ favor.

  Some folks have the strangest powers . . .

  Yvina hopes to bring peace to her war-torn peoples, if only she can channel her inner bear.

  Caleb’s family keeps him in utter darkness—perhaps for good reason.

  Keani’s parasite can make her look like anyone, but who is she really?

  Discover a future where . . .

  Trading cards hold the title to entire worlds.

  Liza can manufacture dinosaurs, if she can find the raw ingredients.

  David must battle incendiary monsters, and risk becoming a monster himself.

  The last sunset on earth is quite beautiful, but a bit sad.

  L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future contains these stories and more from award-winning authors, along with articles on writing and art by some of the world’s foremost authorities.

  What has been said about the

  L. RON HUBBARD

  Presents

  Writers of the Future

  Anthologies

  * * *

  “Speculative fiction fans will welcome this showcase of new talent. . . . Winners of the simultaneous Illustrators of the Future Contest are featured with work as varied and as exciting as the authors.” — Library Journal starred review

  “Always a glimpse of tomorrow’s stars . . .”

  — Publishers Weekly starred review

  “Not only is the writing excellent . . . it is also extremely varied. There’s a lot of hot new talent in it.”

  — Locus magazine

  “A first-rate collection of stories and illustrations.”

  — Booklist magazine

  “I really can’t say enough good things about Writers of the Future. . . . It’s fair to say that without Writers of the Future, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

  — Patrick Rothfuss

  Writers of the Future Contest winner 2002

  “The book you are holding in your hands is our first sight of the next generation of science fiction and fantasy writers.”

  — Orson Scott Card

  Writers of the Future Contest judge

  “The Writers of the Future Award has also earned its place alongside the Hugo and Nebula awards in the triad of speculative fiction’s most prestigious ackowledgements of literary excellence.”

  — SFFaudio

  “If you want a glimpse of the future—the future of science fiction—look at these first publications of tomorrow’s masters.”

  — Kevin J. Anderson

  Writers of the Future Contest judge

  “Where can an aspiring sci-fi artist go to get discovered?. . . Fortunately, there’s one opportunity—the Illustrators of the Future Contest—that offers up-and-coming artists an honest-to-goodness shot at science fiction stardom.”

  — Sci Fi magazine

  “The Illustrators of the Future Contest is one of the best opportunities a young artist will ever get. You have nothing to lose and a lot to win.”

  — Frank Frazetta

  Illustrators of the Future Contest judge

  “The Writers of the Future Contest was definitely an accelerator to my writing development. I learned so much, and it came at just the right moment for me.”

  — Jo Beverley

  Writers of the Future Contest winner 1988

  “The Contests are amazing competitions because really, you’ve nothing to lose and they provide good positive encouragement to anyone who wins. Judging the entries is always a lot of fun and inspiring. I wish I had something like this when I was getting started—very positive and cool.”

  — Bob Eggleton

  Illustrators of the Future Contest judge

  L. Ron Hubbard PRESENTS

  Writers of the Future

  VOLUME 32

  * * *

  L. Ron Hubbard PRESENTS

  Writers of the Future

  VOLUME 32

  * * *

  The year’s thirteen best tales from the

  Writers of the Future international writers’ program

  Illustrated by winners in the Illustrators of the Future

  international illustrators’ program

  Three short stories from authors

  L. Ron Hubbard / Sean Williams / David Farland

  With essays on writing and illustration by

  L. Ron Hubbard / Brandon Sanderson / Tim Powers / Sergey Poyarkov / Bob Eggleton

  * * *

  Edited by David Farland

  Illustrations Art Directed by Bob Eggleton

  GALAXY PRESS, INC

  © 2016 Galaxy Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any unauthorized copying, translation, duplication, importation or distribution, in whole or in part, by any means, including electronic copying, storage or transmission, is a violation of applicable laws.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  For information, contact Galaxy Press, Inc. at 7051 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California, 90028.

  “The Star Tree”: © 2016 Jon Lasser

  “Images Across a Shattered Sea”: © 2016 Stewart C Baker

  “Möbius”: © 2016 Christoph Weber

  “How to Drive a Writer Crazy”: © 1997, 2012 L. Ron Hubbard Library

  “The Last Admiral”: © 1949, 1999 L. Ron Hubbard Library

  “The Jack of Souls”: © 2016 Stephen Merlino

  “Swords Like Lightning, Hooves Like Thunder”: © 2016 K. D. Julicher

  “Where Steampunk Started”: © 2016 Tim Powers

  “Hellfire on the High Frontier”: © 2014 Dave Wolverton. First published in Dead Man’s Hand, Tales of the Weird West

  “Squalor and Sympathy”: © 2016 Matt Dovey

  “Dinosaur Dreams in Infinite Measure”: © 2016 Rachael K. Jones

  “Cry Havoc”: © 2016 Julie Frost

  “A Glamour in the Black”: © 2016 Sylvia Anna Hivén

  “The Broad Sky Was Mine, And the Road”: © 2016 Ryan Row

  “The Fine Distinction Between Cooks and Chefs”: © 2016 Brandon Sanderson

  “The Jade Woman of the Luminous Star”: © 2011 Sean Williams. First published Ghosts by Gaslight, eds. Jack Dann & Nick Gevers, 2011

  “Freebot”: © 2016 R. M. Graves

  “Last Sunset for the World Weary”: © 2016 H. L. Fullerton

  “The Sun Falls Apart”: © 2016 J. W. Alden

  “Flawless Imperfection”: © 2003–2004 Sergey Poyarkov

  Illustration on pages 5 and 393: © 2016 Killian McKeown

  Illustration on pages 21 and 395: © 2016 Paul Otteni

  Illustration on pages 37 and 397: © 2016 Talia Spencer

  Illustration on pages 78 and 396:
© 2016 Irvin Rodriguez

  Illustration on pages 95 and 401: © 2016 Maricela Ugarte Peña

  Illustration on pages 139 and 402: © 2016 Eldar Zakirov

  Illustration on pages 179 and 390: © 2016 Rob Hassan

  Illustration on pages 191 and 392: © 2016 Adrian Massaro

  Illustration on pages 220 and 399: © 2016 Preston Stone

  Illustration on pages 230 and 394: © 2016 Vlada Monakhova

  Illustration on pages 259 and 391: © 2016 Brandon Knight

  Illustration on pages 265 and 398: © 2016 Jonas Špokas

  Illustration on pages 314 and 400: © 2016 Daniel Tyka

  Illustration on pages 329 and 389: © 2016 Dino Hadžiavdić

  Illustration on pages 345 and 388: © 2016 Camber Arnhart

  Illustration on pages 355 and 387: © 2016 Christina Alberici

  Cover Artwork: Don’t Stop © 2001 Sergey Poyarkov

  Interior Design by Jerry Kelly

  This anthology contains works of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Opinions expressed by nonfiction essayists are their own.

  Kindle: ISBN 978-1-61986-500-6

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016934876

  BATTLEFIELD EARTH is a registered trademark owned by Author Services, Inc., and is used with its permission. WRITERS OF THE FUTURE (word and medallion) and ILLUSTRATORS OF THE FUTURE and its logo are trademarks owned by the L. Ron Hubbard Library and are used with permission.

  Contents

  * * *

  Introduction

  by David Farland

  The Star Tree

  by Jon Lasser

  Illustrated by Killian McKeown

  Images Across a Shattered Sea

  by Stewart C Baker

  Illustrated by Paul Otteni

  Möbius

  by Christoph Weber

  Illustrated by Talia Spencer

  How to Drive a Writer Crazy

  by L. Ron Hubbard

  The Last Admiral

  by L. Ron Hubbard

  Illustrated by Irvin Rodriguez

  The Jack of Souls

  by Stephen Merlino

  Illustrated by Maricela Ugarte Peña

  Swords Like Lightning, Hooves Like Thunder

  by K.D. Julicher

  Illustrated by Eldar Zakirov

  Where Steampunk Started

  by Tim Powers

  Hellfire on the High Frontier

  by David Farland

  Illustrated by Rob Hassan

  Squalor and Sympathy

  by Matt Dovey

  Illustrated by Adrian Massaro

  Dinosaur Dreams in Infinite Measure

  by Rachael K. Jones

  Illustrated by Preston Stone

  Cry Havoc

  by Julie Frost

  Illustrated by Vlada Monakhova

  A Glamour in the Black

  by Sylvia Anna Hivén

  Illustrated by Brandon Knight

  The Broad Sky Was Mine, And the Road

  by Ryan Row

  Illustrated by Jonas Špokas

  The Fine Distinction Between Cooks and Chefs

  by Brandon Sanderson

  The Jade Woman of the Luminous Star

  by Sean Williams

  Illustrated by Daniel Tyka

  Freebot

  by R.M. Graves

  Illustrated by Dino Hadžiavdić

  Last Sunset for the World Weary

  H.L. Fullerton

  Illustrated by Camber Arnhart

  The Sun Falls Apart

  by J.W. Alden

  Illustrated by Christina Alberici

  Flawless Imperfection

  by Sergey Poyarkov

  Directing the Art

  by Bob Eggleton

  List of Illustrations by Artist

  The Year in the Contests

  Introduction

  by DavID Farland

  * * *

  David Farland is a New York Times bestselling author with over fifty novel-length works to his credit.

  As an author, David has won many awards for both his short stories and his novels. He won the grand prize in Writers of the Future Volume III for his story “On My Way to Paradise” in 1987, and quickly went on to begin publishing novels. He has since won numerous awards for his longer works, including the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award, the Whitney Award for Best Novel of the Year, the International Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel of the Year, and the Hollywood Book Festival Book of the Year Award — among many others.

  Along the way, David has written a number of bestsellers, designed and scripted video games, such as the international bestseller StarCraft: Brood War, acted as a greenlighting analyst in Hollywood, and worked as a movie producer.

  David has long been involved in helping to discover and train new writers, including a number who have gone on to become

  #1 international bestsellers — such as Brandon Mull (Fablehaven), Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings), James Dashner (The Maze Runner), Stephenie Meyer (Twilight), and many others.

  David currently lives in Utah with his wife and children, where he is busily writing his next novel, teaching workshops and judging entries for L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume 33.

  Introduction

  Just over thirty years ago, I was a college student at Brigham Young University, where I soon found myself in a writing group. We were an odd bunch—science fiction and fantasy writers trying to figure out how to make a career. At the time, there were almost no writers in our area who were making a living in this field, so we were trying hard to figure out how to make a start. We organized a science fiction writing symposium, called Life, the Universe, and Everything (which is still running) and were able to bring in big-name authors like Fred Pohl and Tim Powers and Orson Scott Card. We started a little magazine called The Leading Edge, which is also still running, so that we could learn how publishing works and also publish some of our own stories.

  Mostly, though, we wrote like mad and critiqued one another’s work. In that way, we were much like hundreds of other little writing groups across the country. But everything changed one day when my friend M. Shayne Bell came to our weekly meeting with a copy of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 1.

  Shayne explained, “They’ve got the coolest contest ever. L. Ron Hubbard was a Golden Age science fiction writer, and he set up this great contest to help discover and promote new writers!”

  For a young writer aching to break into this business, it sounded almost too good to be true. Shayne and I both decided to enter, worried that, as I put it, “If we don’t get in quick, these folks might go out of business.”

  So I wrote a science fiction story and became a finalist on my very first entry. Later, both my friend Shayne and I became first-place winners.

  Looking back, it’s kind of humbling. I had no idea how large this contest would become–it has grown to be the largest of its kind in the world. Certainly, we broke all of our own previous records for submissions this year. Now, at 32 years, it has also become one of the longest-running writing contests in the world.

  When I first heard of it, I didn’t quite understand the vision of the contest. As Algis Budrys once put it to me, “When we talked about creating this contest, we considered what our goals would be. I knew that with the contest, we wanted to offer three things. First, if someone won this contest, they would win enough money to make a difference in their writing lives.” So the contest offers generous cash prizes in addition to payment for publication. “Second,
we wanted to offer validation to the new writers.” So the stories were to be judged by some of the biggest celebrities in the writing field. “Third, we decided to try to help the writers by training them, by teaching them the business of writing.” Thus, L. Ron Hubbard and Algis Budrys began offering a writing camp and retreat each year for new writers, where they get to meet with celebrities who help teach writers the ropes.

  Yet I think that there was something even more that L. Ron Hubbard hoped for from this contest. I believe that he was looking for a new generation of dreamers, of authors and artists who might be able to envision a better, brighter future for the world. He saw speculative fiction as the “herald of possibility,” and said, “A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists.”

  As a young author, I don’t know that I saw how vast that vision was. As an old editor, I understand it much better. With that in mind, each year I go through thousands and thousands of stories, looking for authors with great talent, but also searching for authors with an even greater vision.

  With that in mind, I welcome you to L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future, Volume 32.

  The Star Tree

  written by

  Jon Lasser

  illustrated by

  KILLIAN MckEOWN

  * * *

  about the author

  Jon Lasser lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife Laura and their two children. Although he’s been writing since he was six and has long been a published author of technical nonfiction, he only started focusing on speculative fiction the last several years—ever since his wife told him to “put up or shut up” and take writing seriously.

  When not writing, working in technology, or taking care of his family, Jon scuba dives. He prefers the Northwest’s cold-water diving, but won’t turn down a free trip to Hawaii or Bonaire if offered.

  This is Jon’s second speculative fiction sale, following the flash story “The Saviors,” which appeared in Penumbra #32 (May 2014).

  about the illustrator