"Arvies" is a 2010 science fiction short story by Adam-Troy Castro. It was first published in Lightspeed Magazine, and subsequently republished in Castro's anthology Her Husband's Hands, as well as in the compilations Lightspeed: Year One,[1] Nebula Awards Showcase: 2012[2] and The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy: 2011.[3]
Synopsis
editIn a distant future ruled by superintelligent fetuses who have been genetically engineered to live centuries in utero, life has been legally redefined as lasting from fertilisation to birth, such that everyone who has been born is legally dead: disposable near-mindless slaves whose only purpose is to act as living "vehicles" for the fetuses that are robotically transplanted into them. One such fetus is Jennifer Axioma-Singh, who decides she wants an experience that no other fetus has ever had: to give birth.
The story does not explain the derivation of the term "arvies," which is this far-future's term for the human beings this far future allows to grow to maturity, to serve as vessels for the super-advanced fetuses. The author left it down to the reader to recognize the acronym RV, or "recreational vehicle."
Reception
edit"Arvies" won the 2011 Million Writers Award for best short story,[4] and was nominated for the 2011 Nebula Award for Best Short Story.[5]
References
edit- ^ Lightspeed: Year One edited by John Joseph Adams; by Sean Wallace; at Prime-Books.com; published June 10, 2011; retrieved December 26, 2014
- ^ Nebula Awards Showcase: 2012, via Google Books
- ^ Rich Horton's Prime Books Anthologies; by Rich Horton; at SFF.net; published February 27, 2011; retrieved December 26, 2014
- ^ The storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2010; by Jason Sanford; at storySouth; retrieved December 26, 2014
- ^ 2011 Nebula Award Winners!; by Irene Gallo; at Tor.com; published May 21, 2011; retrieved December 26, 2014
External links
edit- Text of the story
- Arvies title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database