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