The Political Officer
"The Political Officer" is a science fiction novella by Charles Coleman Finlay. It was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, in April 2002.
Synopsis
[edit]Maxim Nikomedes is a political officer who must not only locate a traitor on the crew of a spaceship, but also identify his own attempted assassin.
Reception
[edit]"The Political Officer" was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2002,[1] and for the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella.[2]
Steven H. Silver praised its "carefully thought out and interesting setting with plenty of indication of an actual history behind it" and its "intelligent and riveting" narrative,[3] while John Joseph Adams stated that its presence would make a collection "worth buying for that story alone."[4]
Origin
[edit]"The Political Officer" is a rewritten version of "Negri's Boys", a fanfic of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ^ The Political Officer, at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved March 5, 2022
- ^ 2003 Hugo Awards, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved March 5, 2022
- ^ WILD THINGS, reviewed by Steven H. Silver; retrieved March 5, 2022
- ^ Review: WILD THINGS, by John Joseph Adams, at JohnJosephAdams.com; published January 14, 2006; retrieved, March 5, 2022
- ^ Negri's Boys..., by Charles Coleman Finlay; published 2002; retrieved March 5, 2022 via archive.org; "Negri's Boys... is no longer here, alas. The bad news is that, after selling several other stories, and getting encouraging feedback about this one, I decided to rewrite it, keeping the original characters and action, etc., but revising the other parts, inventing a new setting and backstory, etc. So you can't read the version here anymore. I'm sorry. The good news is that the new story, "The Political Officer," was the cover story in the April 2002 issue of F&SF!"
- ^ FanFic, at Dendarii.co.uk; published January 18, 2016; retrieved March 5, 2022; "Negri's Boys by Charlie Finlay. A story that discloses one source of information about the Betan plasma mirrors. (original story no-longer available as re-written and sold!) [4 Jul 02]"