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Previous SFF Author: James H. Schmitz

SFF Author: Lawrence M. Schoen

Lawrence M. SchoenLawrence Schoen holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, was a college professor for 10 years, and currently works as the compliance officer for a mental health & addiction services medical center. He’s one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Klingon language. He also runs Paper Golem, a speculative fiction small press. His fiction draws on his professional expertise, and it’s no surprise to find themes of language, memory, and cognition throughout his work. There’s a generally light and humorous tone to most of his fiction, and his style has frequently been described as harkening back to a simpler time in SF. In 2007 he was a finalist for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2010 he was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Short Story.


CLICK HERE FOR A FEW MORE TITLES BY LAWRENCE M. SCHOEN.



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Barry’s Tale: Gentle humor in a strong novella

Barry’s Tale by Lawrence M. Schoen

Barry’s Tale, a novella which has been nominated for this year’s Nebula Award, appears in Buffalito Buffet, one of a number of collections written by Lawrence M. Schoen regarding The Amazing Conroy and his buffalito, Reggie. And that calls for an explanation, doesn’t it? “The Amazing Conroy” is man who formerly made his living as a stage hypnotist, but who, at the time of this story, has a nascent business marketing buffalitos, alien creatures that look like miniature buffaloes  but are as cuddly as puppies and will eat literally anything.


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Barry’s Deal: Frenetic and fun

Barry’s Deal by Lawrence M. Schoen

The world and characters of Barry’s Deal (2017) will require no introduction to long time Lawrence M. Schoen readers. The Amazing Conroy, a space-traveling hypnotist and his companion Reggie, a buffalito (buffalo dog), have cropped up several times before, not least in Schoen’s last novella (Barry’s Tale, 2014). Nevertheless, the internet assured me that this latest installment can be read as a stand-alone novella and, as it’s one of this year’s Nebula nominees,


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Barsk: A wonderfully thoughtful, imaginative work of science fiction

Barsk: The Elephant’s Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen

When I put in my ARC request for Lawrence M. Schoen’s new novel Barsk, all I knew about it was that the setting involved a group of worlds inhabited by a variety of anthropomorphic space-faring animal species, with the main focus on elephants (thus its subtitle: The Elephant’s Graveyard). C’mon. El-e-phants in Spaaaaaccce! How could I resist? But Barsk is much more than a funny-but-cool premise;


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The Moons of Barsk: Not as good as book one but leaves you excited for book three

The Moons of Barsk by Lawrence M. Schoen

I was a big fan of Lawrence M. Schoen’s first entry in this series, Barsk: The Elephant’s Graveyard, and therefore was excited to pick up its sequel, The Moons of Barsk (2018). I have to admit to being somewhat disappointed, but despite suffering from a bit of a second-book slump, The Moons of Barsk does move the big story arcs along while broadening/deepening some characterization,


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Magazine Monday Special Edition: Nebula-Nominated Novellas, 2014

No, you have not jumped forward in time two days; it’s still Saturday. But the Nebula Awards will be handed out tonight, so this special edition of Magazine Monday discusses the nominated novellas.

The late, lamented Subterranean Magazine first published Rachel Swirsky’s “Grand Jeté.” The story is about Mara, a 12-year-old child who is dying of cancer, her father, who loves her very much, and the android Mara’s father has built that mimics Mara in every way, right down to her thoughts and feelings. It is an amazing technological accomplishment that Mara’s father sees as a gift to his daughter.


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SHORTS: Harrow, Greenblatt, Larson, Schoen

Our weekly exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read that we wanted you to know about, including three 2018 Nebula nominees.

“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies” by Alix E. Harrow (2018, free at Apex magazine, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue). 2018 Nebula nominee (short story).

Our narrator is both a librarian and a witch (all good librarians are, she claims), and one of her joys is giving library patrons the book they “need most.” So when the black teenager with the red backpack comes into the Maysville Public Library,


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Next SFF Author: John Schoffstall
Previous SFF Author: James H. Schmitz

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