L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 39

The Best New SF & Fantasy of the Year

By: L. Ron Hubbard, Kevin J. Anderson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, S. M. Stirling, Lazarus Chernik, Samuel Parr, Spencer Sekulin, L. H. Davis, Devon Bohm, Arthur H. Manners, David Hankins, David K. Henrickson, J. R. Johnson, Elaine Midcoh, various

Narrated by: Jim Meskimen, Taylor Meskimen, Tamra Meskimen

Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

In the world of speculative fiction…

Your favorite authors…

Have selected best new voices of the year.

24 Award-winning Authors and Illustrators

3 Bonus Short Stories by Kevin J. Anderson • L. Ron Hubbard • S. M. Stirling

Art and Writing Tips by Lazarus Chernik • L. Ron Hubbard • Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Edited by Dean Wesley Smith • Jody Lynn Nye

Narrated by Jim Meskimen • Taylor Meskimen • Tamra Meskimen

16-page color gallery of artwork • Cover art by Tom Wood

Check out the stories Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, Nnedi Okorafor, Robert J. Sawyer, Kevin J. Anderson, Jody Lynn Nye and others chose as the best of the best.

Be amazed. Be amused. Be transported … by stories that take you by surprise and take you further and deeper into new worlds and new ideas than you’ve ever gone before….

Twelve captivating tales from the most exciting new voices in science fiction and fantasy accompanied by three from masters of the genre.

A miracle? An omen? Or something else? One day, they arrived in droves—the foxes of the desert, the field, the imagination….—“Kitsune” by Devon Bohm

When a vampire, a dragon and a shape-shifting Chihuahua meet on a beach in Key West, fireworks go off! But that’s just the background. —“Moonlight and Funk” by Marianne Xenos

Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., faces one of his funniest and most perplexing cases ever—an enlightened ogre, a salamander with low self-esteem, and a raging fire dragon terrorizing the Unnatural Quarter! —“Fire in the Hole” by Kevin J. Anderson

The Grim Reaper, trapped in an IRS agent’s dying body, must regain his powers before he dies and faces judgment for his original sin.—“Death and the Taxman” by David Hankins

In a metaverse future, a woman who exposes falseness in others must decide what is real to her—the love she lost or the love she may have found.—“Under My Cypresses” by Jason Palmatier

Vic Harden wasn’t lured by glory on a daring mission into the reaches of outer space—he was ordered out there by his editor.—“The Unwilling Hero” by L. Ron Hubbard

Dangerous opportunities present themselves when an alien ship arrives in the solar system seeking repairs.—“White Elephant” by David K. Henrickson

With her spaceship at the wrong end of a pirate’s guns, a former war hero must face down her enemies and demons to save Earth’s last best chance for peace.—“Piracy for Beginners” by J. R. Johnson

Years after the Second Holocaust, the last surviving Jews on earth attempt to rewrite the past.—“A Trickle in History” by Elaine Midcoh

When I said I’d do anything to pay off my debts and get back home to Earth, I didn’t mean survey a derelict spaceship at the edge of the solar system—but here I am.—“The Withering Sky” by Arthur H. Manner

High-powered telescopes bring galactic life to our TVs, and network tuner Hank Enos figures he’s seen everything—until the day an alien boy stares back.—“The Fall of Crodendra M.” by T. J. Knight

Knights, damsels and dragons, curses and fates foretold—the stuff of legends and stories, but unexpectedly perverse.—“Constant Never” by S. M. Stirling

Determined to save his wife, Tumelo takes an unlikely client through South Africa’s ruins to the heart of the Desolation—a journey that will cost or save everything.—“The Children of Desolation” by Spencer Sekulin

When a terrorist smuggles a nuclear weapon into London, a team regresses in time to AD 1093 to assassinate a knight on the battlefield, thereby eliminating the terrorist a millennia before his birth.—“Timelines and Bloodlines” by L. H. Davis

The Grand Exam, a gateway to power for one, likely death for all others—its entrants include ambitious nobles, desperate peasants, and Quiet Gate, an old woman with nothing left to lose.—“The Last History” by Samuel Parr

You will love this collection of the best new voices because, as Locus magazine puts it, “Excellent writing…extremely varied. There’s a lot of hot new talent.”

Get it now.

Authors:

• L. Ron Hubbard
• Kevin J Anderson
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• S. M Stirling
• Lazarus Chernik
• Samuel Parr
• Spencer Sekulin
• L. H. Davis
• Devon Bohm
• Arthur H. Manners
• David Hankins
• David K. Henrickson
• J. R. Johnson
• Elaine Midcoh
• Marianne Xenos
• Jason Palmatier
• T. J. Knight

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Galaxy Press (P)2023 Galaxy Press

Several really good stories

Sci fi and fantasy is not really my thing, but I was pleasantly surprised with several of those stories. I loved the Death and the Taxman story. It had me in stitches it was so funny.
The Unwilling Hero was a great story written by Mr. Hubbard. I loved it.
A trickle in time really gave you food for thought. Time travel story with a lovely twist.
The children of Desolation was a great story and so was The White Elephant.
The accompanying PDF with the illustrations added aesthetics to the book. Great illustrations.
I would highly recommend this book to Sci Fi and Fantasy readers as well as anyone who likes short stories.

A great sampling of sci-fi/fantasy!

A nice mixture of engaging sci-fi/fantasy. My favorites were:

"Death and the Taxman" is a hilarious rendering of life's two inevitables personified and in conflict.

"White Elephant" is a nice piece of pure sci-fi, thought provoking in its speculative element and anchored in fascinating scientific detail.

Another solid collection

I was enjoying myself so much, I was surprised when it was over! A lot of great stories, here...but the two I will always remember are "Death and the Taxman" and "The Fall of Credendra M." And "Timelines and Bloodlines" was a nice treatment of time travel. Plus, Kevin J. Anderson's story made me laugh. Overall, some very nicely written stories. And the narration was excellent.

Unrushed readings like storytime with pro readers.

Fine new award winning stories read word by unrushed word to disgest and enjoy. One story got me looking out farther out in the galaxy and beyond which prompted me to do a bit of searching to catch up on some astronomy I didn't know about. A little side education to a great sci fi story! All are worth a listening to and perhaps you may wish to come up with your own story for the contest.

Another Great Collection

Finally, an Audible release of a Writers of the Future collection. If you love well written, intriguing speculative fiction, you are going to love this Audio book. Narration was enjoyable. I found 1.2 to be the optimum listening speed.

Great variety and performance

This collection has a variety of great stories, but I especially enjoyed “Death and the Taxman,” “The Fall of Crodendra M,” “A Trickle in History,” and “The Children of Desolation.” The narrators also did a great job and made me like the stories even more than when I read the ebook.

Solid Collection of Stories and Enjoyable Listen

First and foremost, the narrators do a superb job of telling each story.

As for the stories themselves, there is something to appeal to every fan of SF & Fantasy. Some, such as 'Death and the Taxman', I find exceptionally entertaining. Others, like 'Kitsune', simply do not resonate with me. Even so, the writing and craft is solid for each story presented here.

Along with the stories and articles, you also get a PDF with the winners of the Illustrators of The Future contest.

There is a lot of content in this volume and it is easily recommendable.

Well put together compendium of stories

There are many different stories in here. I really enjoyed Death and the Taxman as I appreciated the humour tied in with the whole concept of Death and a taxman. Well written and like all stories in here, they are reviewed by judges so you know they'll be good.

Pretty good … but you can get other volumes free

This was still a decent deal as part of the 2 for 1 credit sale. However, I looked afterwards and saw that Vol. 32, 33, and 34 are currently free in Audible Plus. It’s worth noting that there’s about four hours spent on giving aspiring authors and illustrators tips for their trade, and providing author bios and a little story setup at the start of each short. Think of this as a 14 hour anthology with 15 shorts, plus bonus content.

Kudos to Audible for not only listing all 15 shorts in the summary, but saying a little about them- it really helped in knowing if this batch would work for me. Even more kudos for delivering an audio book well organized with a Table of Contents dividing the shorts by their title. The PDF of illustrations was cool. I also was interested to read about the writing and illustration contests.

There were only a couple that bombed with me and half that I really liked:
2. Moonlight and Funk - a shiny YA anime vibe
3. Death and the Taxman - outstanding fun, reminds me of Drew Hayes ⭐️
6. White Elephant - one alien’s trash is another’s treasure
9. Fire in the Hole by Kevin J Anderson - connected to a series about a zombie P.I.
10. The Withering Sky - excellent Black Mirror / Event Horizon vibes
11. The Fall of Crodendia M - Felt both Twilight Zone classic and Black Mirror prescient
13. The Children of Desolation - Mad Max vibes, but with South African fantasy
14. Timelines and Bloodlines - Did I say I hate time jumping stories? There’s always an exception ⭐️

Audible Edition of Writers of the Future ROCKS!

I have purchased and read various volumes of Writers of The Future (WOTF) in the past and have always enjoyed the diverse and colorful array of stories. The quality, creativeness and thought-provokingness has always amazed me, especially knowing that these writers are submitting some of their first works.

This year was no different and I was again delighted by the stories. BUT, this year having the entire volume presented on Audible REALLY brought each story and the characters to life! The Meskimens did a fabulous job of narration, each one lending their unique voice talents to presenting the story.

I highly recommend listening to this one on Audible!

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