One More Honorable Mention · 3:09am Jun 2nd, 2021
The results are in. Congratulations to the winners.
The contest was not mine and I was not a judge. GaPJaxie offered, but I didn't take him up on it, both because I am exceptionally busy in real life (I've still only made it through a third of the contest entries), and because I suspect my own tastes aren't entirely reflective of the average reader.
But I'm going to advocate for one story to be in the anthology, since there were so many entries not all of them could be printed. So I present one more story which is a winner in my heart, even if it only gets Whose Line Is It Anyway Points. Hopefully, it will get Published on Paper Points.
Honorable Mention: Best Wham Line
It is hard to talk about this story without spoiling the reveal, so I won't, and I encourage you to go in blind. There are three words about 3/4s of the way through which are a perfect punchline that makes all the setup worth it, and elevate this story from good to great. Even keeping things vague may count as a spoiler: Good science fiction doesn't shy away from the implications of the rules that it sets up, and Terra Online doesn't shy away from taking its premise to its logical conclusion, and I really respect that. In tone, the story is more fun than serious, but I give it major props for the above. And it's unique and new; I don't remember anyone else doing this concept before.
Agreed. Terra Online is that obvious-in-hindsight kind of brilliance that makes you wonder why no one thought of it earlier.
Thank you for pointing this story out.
Thank you! You just made my day.