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Published: April 28, 2011
Words: 12,348 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458088710
Short description
This is the 2011 Hugo award-winning short story, "For Want of a Nail" with some bonus content. Read the author's notes, along with the original first draft which has a completely different plot.Extended description
"For Want of a Nail" is the 2011 Hugo award-winning short story by Mary Robinette Kowal. This science-fiction short story explores the choices that an AI and her wrangler must make to solve a seemingly simple technical problem. The catch is that they are on a generation ship, and the resources are limited.Also in this edition, is bonus material that includes author's notes as well as a look at the writing process. The original and unedited first draft of this story has a completely different plot. Read it and the brainstorming notes to get a peek into the creative process.
Tags
women, short story, science fiction, space, ai, hugoAvailable ebook reading formats
Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.| Format | Full Book | Sample First 20% |
|---|---|---|
| Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser) | Buy | View sample |
| Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps) | Buy | Download sample |
| Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others) | Buy | Download sample |
| PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing) | Buy | No sample available |
| RTF (readable on most word processors) | Buy | No sample available |
| LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub) | Buy | Download sample |
| Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices) | Buy | Download sample |
| Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting) | Buy | No sample available |
| Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page) | Buy | No sample available |
Reviews
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Review by:
Thomas Buehner
on Feb. 02, 2013 :
Reading the published version of the story was very satisfying alone, but enabling the reader to peek into the story's writing history was a brilliant idea. I am looking forward to read more from Mary Kowal.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Conrad Wong
on Nov. 09, 2011 :
I'll have to look for more of the author's work, I enjoyed the depiction of the AI and her 'wrangler' but I felt the story was a little frustratingly brief so we didn't get to explore much of the universe! As a story, it works well, setting up a dilemma that seems simple at the outset, then grows more complex.
(reviewed long after purchase)
Review by:
Clyde Wisham
on Oct. 12, 2011 :
Quite a good short story. What do you do when you are on a generation ship and an important AI goes awry?
(One accomplishment -- this story has convinced me to read more by Mary Robinette Kowal.)
(reviewed long after purchase)
Review by:
Kim Hunter
on June 01, 2011 :
Actually this is really two short stories the first story (the child) is the finished product while the second story is the parent. Frankly I enjoyed both and thought it was a real bargain a sort of two for one.
It was an easy read, but I think I just wanted to know a bit more about some of the side characters motivation and perhaps a snippet background on why the characters were in space and a bit more about the ship and the social structure within the ship.
But for its length it did cover all the bases (but I must admit I did love the action in the parent story).
Great buy for $.99
(reviewed within a month of purchase)