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Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance

Tobias S. Buckell

First published April 2017
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

Synopsis

The narrator gave up free will and had their personality loaded into a form much more comfortable with vacuum. In exchange, they got to see the universe as a spaceship maintenance worker. And on this particular day was confronted with a wounded biological person, spewing orders not to call security.

Awards

YearAwardCategoryStatus
2018 Hugo Award Best Short Story Nominee/Finalist
2018 Locus Poll Award Best Short Story Nominee/Finalist
2018 The Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction Eugie Award Nominee/Finalist
2018 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Best Short Science Fiction Nominee/Finalist

Publications (28)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
April 2017 Cosmic Powers Saga Press Anthology 35
April 2017 Cosmic Powers Saga Press Anthology 35
2018 The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 10 Infinivox Anthology |9
February 2018 Lightspeed, February 2018 Lightspeed Magazine MAGAZINE |2
March 2018 The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Twelve Solaris Anthology |17
March 2018 The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Twelve Solaris Anthology 17
April 2018 The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3 Night Shade Books Anthology 591
April 2018 The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3 Night Shade Books Anthology |591
April 2018 The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Twelve Recorded Books Anthology |17
May 2018 The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 10 Infinivox Anthology 159
June 2018 The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 10 Infinivox Anthology |9
June 2018 The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 10 Infinivox Anthology |9
July 2018 The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection St. Martin's Griffin Anthology |358
July 2018 The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection St. Martin's Griffin Anthology 358
July 2018 The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection St. Martin's Griffin Anthology 358
October 2018 The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 Mariner Books Anthology 323
October 2018 The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Anthology
December 2018 The Long List Anthology: Volume 4 Diabolical Plots Anthology 1
February 2019 Forever, February 2019 Wyrm Publishing MAGAZINE
September 2020 The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3 Recorded Books Anthology |591
December 2020 We, Robots Ad Astra / Head of Zeus Anthology |405
December 2020 We, Robots Ad Astra / Head of Zeus Anthology |405
December 2021 We, Robots Apollo / Head of Zeus Anthology |405
April 2023 Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories Apex Publications Collection |4
April 2023 Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories Apex Publications Collection |4
August 2024 New Adventures in Space Opera Tachyon Publications Anthology 1
August 2024 New Adventures in Space Opera Tachyon Publications Anthology |1
April 2025 2025 Hugo Voter Packet Seattle Worldcon 2025 Omnibus |11.107