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A Short, Sharp Shock

Kim Stanley Robinson

First published May 1990
Type Short Fiction
Length Novella

Notes

  • The IASFM version of this novella is shorter than other versions; there are 24 sections/chapters in the magazine version, while there are 30 in the original Ziesing edition. The missing sections correspond to 16-20 and 27 in the Ziesing edition, and there are other continuity changes throughout the text to account for these missing chapters.
  • Like the Ziesing text, the Tor Double version has 30 chapters, as does the Bantam Spectra version and the version in the Grafton collection Down and Out in the Year 2000. The magazine version appears to be unique in its shorter nature.
  • There are other small differences between the Ziesing text and the other 30-chapter versions which are limited to corrections of typographical errors that were discovered in the first publication.

Awards

YearAwardCategoryStatus
1991 Asimov's Readers' Poll Best Novella Nominee/Finalist
1991 Hugo Award Best Novella Nominee/Finalist
1991 Locus Poll Award Best Novella Winner
1991 SF Chronicle Award Novella Nominee/Finalist

Publications (16)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
May 1990 A Short, Sharp Shock Mark V. Ziesing Chapbook 3
May 1990 A Short, Sharp Shock Mark V. Ziesing Chapbook
November 1990 Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, November 1990 Davis Publications MAGAZINE 254
December 1990 A Short, Sharp Shock / The Dragon Masters Tor Anthology 5
November 1992 Down and Out in the Year 2000 Grafton Collection 7
March 1996 A Short, Sharp Shock Bantam Spectra Chapbook 2
2000 A Short, Sharp Shock Bantam Spectra Chapbook 2
June 2000 A Short, Sharp Shock Voyager / HarperCollins Chapbook
April 2012 A Short, Sharp Shock Blackstone Audio Chapbook
April 2012 A Short, Sharp Shock Blackstone Audio Chapbook
April 2012 A Short, Sharp Shock Blackstone Audio Chapbook
April 2012 A Short, Sharp Shock Blackstone Audio Chapbook
May 2012 A Short, Sharp Shock Playaway Digital Audio Chapbook
July 2013 A Short, Sharp Shock Roadswell Editions Chapbook
May 2015 A Short, Sharp Shock Anti-Oedipus Press Chapbook 1
May 2015 A Short, Sharp Shock Anti-Oedipus Press Chapbook