Bio: J. Stephen Pendergrast is a founder of Fictionwise.com. In his previous life, he was a software engineer working for companies like Bell Labs, Unix System Labs, and Novell, as well as a company he founded and sold a few years back. He's a published author himself, having written a book on graphical computer languages, a couple of dozen magazine articles ranging from the theory of computer languages to small windmill construction, and even has one science fiction short story published in a Canadian semi-pro magazine. At Fictionwise, Stephen primarily handles author contracts, software design for the web site, and oversees production and file conversion.

Michael Swanwick commented in a chat session that he thought this was the best story nominated in the most recent Hugo cycle, but he went on to say he didn't think it had a chance of winning. I agree with him on the first count and unfortunately he was correct on the second count. Purdom gives us a richly textured universe in which a group of "under-enhanced" humans set off on a multi-decade journey to the stars (people live hundreds of years by this time so it's not considered a big deal to go off for fifty or a hundred years on a jaunt). This story is unusual because it explores political issues on a colony ship where voting is done entirely electronically via an internet-like communications system. He also gives us a glimpse of a self-replicating machine war fought by two of the inhabitants of the ship, and he even delves into philosophical issues such as "does the universe have a purpose?". The number and scope of ideas is wonderful. There is no grand, slam-bang ending here, and I think that probably hurt it in the voting. Still, this is enough to make a Purdom fan out of anyone who enjoys being shown a glimpse of an amazingly detailed and exciting future and the issues people may face there.

Poetic story, and one that had a lot of impact for me. I kept thinking about for days afterwards. Some people may not like it because it's quite "literary" and stylistic. You could almost argue it's not even a fantasy, it could be interpreted as contemporary fiction, but if I tell you how it'd spoil the ending for you. If you appreciate fine writing and amazing imagery, you'll like this story.

This story makes you realize what a great writer Gardner Dozois really is, and makes you wish he'd have more time to write. Although it is quite violent at points and perhaps not for everyone, the sheer grandness of the ideas and the intense visual imagery are amazing. His description of the disruption device (used to destroy a city during a bloody war) is full of impact. (You can read it in the excerpt.) This is highly stylistic writing, told in rare second person format. The main character is an aging story teller who snags a young man in the morning and plies his trade (you, the reader, are the one he's snagged). But soon you are lost in his tale of his part in the Quaestor revolution. This story was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula when it was published in 1971.

I admit it, I'm a sucker for quantum interpretation of reality stories. This one is short and sweet. It presents a plausible way that we could "cross over" and send messages to other realities, then hammers us with the likely consequences. The story is written entirely as a series of emails between two scientists. Their joking style is very funny, and the science parts are imparted painlessly along with the humor, making it a quick, fun read. If you like "semi-hard" science fiction and witty writing, you'll love this one as I did.