The Best of Cast of Wonders 2017

written by David Steffen

Cast of Wonders is the YA branch of the Escape Artists podcasts, edited by Marguerite Kenner, covering all speculative genres and aiming to appeal to YA audiences. I think their definition of YA is significantly broader than most, which I see as a positive thing–I had very broad tastes when I was a young adult, so it makes sense to me anyway.

After Cast of Wonders joined Escape Artists in 2016, they increased their pay rates which helped them become qualified as a SFWA-qualifying market, which is a great sign of progress.

In 2017 they produced weekly episodes very regularly, and during their Banned Books week they published a story a day for an extra stretch of bonus content, for a total of about 63 stories

Cast of Wonders reprinted one of my own stories in 2017, titled “Always There”, about a grandmother who has maybe died but not yet admitted it (it is an episode on the subject of grief).

Every short story that is eligible for Hugo and Nebula nominations this year which were first published by Podcastle are marked with an asterisk (*)

The List

1. “Lost In Translation” by Afalstein Kloosterman*
The ancient texts prophecying the chosen one are… hard to translate. This has caused some problems seeking the fulfillment of those prophecies.

2. “Random Play All and the League of Awesome” by Shane Halbach
Teenagers with debatable superpowers form a semi-superhero team.

3. “More Than Machines Will Fall to Rust” by Rachael K. Jones*
A pair of friends become superhero and archenemy, can they rekindle their friendship?

4. “The Scent that Treason Brings” by Holly Schofield*
A bookbinder in a hive society decides to rebel against the oppressive leadership.

5. “Cross the Street” by Marie Vibbert*
When city design makes it harder and harder for poor people to survive, it can become an obstacle to even get from place to place.

6. “Single Parent” by Sarah Gailey*
Great story about a widowed father trying his best who is called into his kid’s room and finds a real monster there.

Honorable Mentions

“Contractual Obligations” by Jaime O. Mayer*

“Brothers in Stitches” by Dantzel Cherry*

“Strong as Stone” by Effie Seiberg

The Best of Escape Pod 2017

written by David Steffen

Escape Pod is the weekly science fiction podcast. At the beginning of 2017 it was edited by Norm Sherman, but when he stepped down from the role two co-editors have filled the positions: S.B. Divya and Mur Lafferty.

Escape Pod was already a qualifying market for writers to become members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, but in 2017, its three sister podcasts joined the list as well, making all of Escape Artists’ ongoing publications qualifying markets!

In February Escape Pod once again participated in the Artemis Rising event across the Escape Artists podcasts, publishing fantasy stories written by women and nonbinary authors.

Escape Pod published a total of 52 stories in 2017.

Every short story that is eligible for Hugo nominations this year which were first published by Escape Pod are marked with an asterisk (*). If the original publisher was someone besides Escape Pod, the original publisher is noted in parentheses for award-eligible fiction.

The List

1. “Unit Two Does Her Makeup” by Laura Duerr*
I love a well-thought-out AI story, and this one is great, exploring the interaction between two AIs who have different roles in a company and how that affects nuances of their behavior and many minor choices affected by these values.

2. “Planetbound” by Nancy Fulda* (from the anthology Chasing Shadows)
Those living off-Earth have joined into a state of ongoing connectedness with their fellow human beings, and have become largely separate from those on the planet. One of those people come back to Earth so that everyone off-Earth can experience what it’s like.

3. “Red in Tooth and Cog” by Cat Rambo
A woman discovers an ecology of feral smart devices in the city park.

4. “Texts From the Ghost War” by Alex Yuschik*
Story told as wartime text messages with a mechwarrior.

5. “Trash Talk” by Holly Schofield
A story exploring how the economic disparity of the uses of advanced technology.

Honorable Mentions

“That Game We Played During the War” by Carrie Vaughn

“Vegetablemen in Peanut Town” by August Marion*

“A House of Her Own” by Bo Balder

The Best of Cast of Wonders 2016

written by David Steffen

This has been a big year of change for Cast of Wonders, the young adult podcast edited by Marguerite Kenner. Starting at the beginning of 2016, Cast of Wonders joined the Escape Artists family of podcasts as their fourth podcast. And, as part of this change, they greatly increased their writer pay rates from just a few pounds to professional rates for original stories, which I believe should’ve started the timer for becoming a SFWA-qualifying market.

This year there have been some technical issues with the feed that have resulted in long stretches between episodes. What’s more confusing is that, to compensate for these issues, several episodes have been renumbered, and a bunch of episodes were added late in the year but with earlier dates posted on them. I don’t say all this to complain but that… I’m not 100% sure that I have actually heard all of the episodes this year, because the changed dates and changed episode numbers have made a mess of the feed. I tried my best!

All of the stories on this list are eligible for Hugos and Nebulas this year. (that’s why they’re all marked with asterisks.

Cast of Wonders published 30 stories in 2016.

The List

1. “The Jungle Between” by Holly Schofield*
Story with dual points of view–of human scientists and dinosaur-like aliens they are studying, centered around their perceptions of the other.

2. “This Story Begins With You” by Rachael K. Jones*
Stories with power to transform everything around them.

3. “The Authorized Biography” (part 1 and part 2) by Michael G. Ryan*
What if you found a book that gave your complete biography, including what hasn’t happened yet?

4. “The Four Stewpots” by DK Thompson*
Speculative Yelp review!

5. “Welcome to Willoughby’s” by Michael Reid*
Space taxidermy!