Season Seven Short Story Category Winner Announcement!

A story about finding the truth in a universe of misperceptions.

Congratulations to

Garen Marie

, our Lunar Award winner for the short story, “The Echo of Gods“, which is posted on her Substack called Only Child Originals! This story is one of several responses to Prompt Quest #2. Entries are allowed an early access pass to the subsequent award season, so be sure to watch for another opportunity to participate in prompt quests. Starting with this season, I’m also adding a third ranking category named Notable Contributions. We have so many wonderful stories — it’s only fair more of them receive recognition.

The Echo of Gods

Garen is the winner of all four eBooks in

Joshua James

’ popular “Saturn’s Legacy” series, including the audio book versions! She will also receive a six-month paid comp to the Lunar Awards, and a permanent link on the Past Winner’s page. Thank you, Joshua, for helping us make this season a success!

For millions of years, Saturn hid an alien secret. In 2065, humanity will find it. ~ “Artifact” (Book 1)

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The slow, steady unraveling of a mystery you didn’t even know existed, is a satisfying experience. It’s hard for a writer to keep it quiet in a short story, where the temptation to reveal too much too soon is an overpowering sensation. Quiet doubts start to shout during moments when little hints or clues are strategically dropped. No, don’t tell them that! This is the joy of reading Garen’s short story, when we discover something is off, indicating the experiences of the characters are tilted and unstable. But all is disclosed with perfect timing.

We have a protagonist who is feeling the same emotions that we are, and the connection to the reader grows stronger as “The Echo of Gods” progresses. We can sense a festering discontentment, a resolve to uncover the truth hidden behind the mask of religiosity, safety and contentment. The first step is to question what’s known by demonstrating simple curiosity, but it takes a monumental courageous act to explore the unknown, even risking abandonment from society.

It’s what I like about “City of the Dead” by Bridget Riley and “Never Seen Stars” by Evelyn K. Brunswick. While in these two stories we’re more aware there is a mystery to be solved, they both cast aside the passive protagonist, introducing us to characters who are incapable of letting questions remain unanswered. The constant drive to search for meaning amid struggles is a great personality trait to develop. All three stories do it well.

How can a story keep the mystery alive while allowing the protagonist to achieve an end goal, satisfying both their drive and curiosity? In layers.

I’ve talked about layers before in previous season’s announcements and I’ll talk about it here again, as it’s so crucial to storytelling in general and especially with a great mystery. The reader should not be buried in the details, but they should sense that a tremendous weight is being pressed down on the protagonist. The characters should be intertwined with one another, their culture, traditions and environments. As readers, we should recognize the situation’s complexity. If we can’t empathize, we should at least understand there is discomfort.

In Garen’s story, the limited, tiny world contains a rich set of beliefs. There is a plethora of superstition acting as a counterforce to anyone who dares to be branded a heretic. In Bridget’s and Evelyn’s stories, the connection to routine or relationship norms magnifies apathy and surrender. Breaking free from all of those is impossible, but our adventurers do manage to overcome, and it’s worth reading about their plights, learning from them and emulating their accomplishments.

Because great, award-winning fiction inspires us to act in our own lives.

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Honorable Mentions

In the story “City of the Dead”, written by

Bridget Riley

, a woman investigates the attempted murder of her sister in this supernatural mystery.

In the story “Never Seen Stars”, written by

Evelyn K. Brunswick

, a writer researches a mysterious entity with unknown intentions in this dystopian science fiction.

Notable Contributions

“The Thoughts of K’Pra” by

Michael S. Atkinson

“Discount Interstellar, Inc.” by

Derek LaPorte

“Take one picture…” by

Natalie Phillips

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Participants

“The Bot of Bluebeard“ by

Amy Letter

“Deep Calls to Deep” by

SDG Lemaître

“No Going Back” by

Johnathan Reid

“Jellyfish” by

J. M. Allen

“Father Brown and the Lord’s Earwax“ by

Jack Backes

“Gears, Grease and a Little Bit of Magic” by

H. A. Titus

“Soultrapped” by

Sam Rake

“Dagger in the Dark” by

Josh Tatter

“Departure” by

Sharron Bassano

“The Bus” by

Haly, the Moonlight Bard 🌜🪶

“Cold Feet” by

Randall Hayes

“The Decade Cycle” by

E. H. Lau

“Three Dots” by

Daniel Jacoby

“Unsafe maneuvers.” by

Michael Van Haney

“The Magic of Old Men” by

Janet Bess

“Like a Bat leaving the danger-zone” by

Andrew MacLeod