Mars; A Traveler's Guide

By Ruth Nestvold

Red Planet Adventures provides customized tours on Mars. Naturally, they have been optimized for safety. Soon, satellite coverage on the planet will even reach 100%! But what happens in the meantime ... ?

"Mars: A Traveler's Guide" was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in January 2008. It was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2009.

"Ruth Nestvold's clever story "Mars: A Traveler's Guide" is simply wonderful. Written as a series of encyclopedia entries being accessed by someone unseen, it explains the workings of the planetary world on which it takes place, but also slowly reveals the compelling story of the person accessing it. Brilliant." (Five Stars)

John DeNardo in SF Signal

"This one is great satire on the drawbacks of computerized help systems."
Sam Tomaino in SFRevu

"The style of this story is perfect. It allows the reader to piece together small clues in order to figure out what is going on. Very well done indeed!"
BestScienceFictionStories

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Dragon Books
• Release date: Dec 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781507095447

Ruth Nestvold

A former assistant professor of English in the picturesque town of Freiburg on the edge of the Black Forest, Ruth Nestvold has given up theory for imagination. The university career has been replaced by a small software localization business, and the Black Forest by the parrots of Bad Cannstatt, where she lives with her fantasy, her family, her books and no cats in a house with a turret. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous markets, including Asimov's, F&SF, Baen's Universe, Strange Horizons, Scifiction, and Gardner Dozois's Year's Best Science Fiction. Her fiction has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella "Looking Through Lace" won the "Premio Italia" award for best international work. Her novel Flamme und Harfe appeared in translation with the German imprint of Random House, Penhaligon, in 2009 and has since been translated into Dutch and Italian.

Book preview

Mars: A Traveler's Guide was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in January 2008. It was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2009.

The podcast is available from StarShipSofa:

http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2009/04/02/aural-delights-no-73-nebula-nominee-ruth-nestvold/

Praise for Mars: A Traveler's Guide:

Ruth Nestvold's clever story 'Mars: A Traveler's Guide' is simply wonderful. Written as a series of encyclopedia entries being accessed by someone unseen, it explains the workings of the planetary world on which it takes place, but also slowly reveals the compelling story of the person accessing it. Brilliant. (Five Stars)

- John DeNardo in SF Signal

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2009/04/review-2008-nebula-award-short-fiction-nominees/

This one is great satire on the drawbacks of computerized help systems.

- Sam Tomaino in SFRevu

http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=6487

The style of this story is perfect. It allows the reader to piece together small clues in order to figure out what is going on. Very well done indeed!

- BestScienceFictionStories.com

http://bestsciencefictionstories.com/2009/04/22/mars-a-travelers-guide-by-ruth-nestvold/

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Mars:

A Traveler's Guide

by

Ruth Nestvold

Copyright