The Undiscovered

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"The Undiscovered" is an alternate history short story by William Sanders that won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. [1] It was originally published in the March 1997 issue of Asimov's [2] and, in addition to its Sidewise Award nomination, was nominated for the Hugo Award, [3] the Nebula Award, [4] and the Theodore Sturgeon Award. [5] It was subsequently reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection, [6] The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, [7] and Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction . [8]

Plot

The story is narrated by a Cherokee man in the late 16th century. An English immigrant called Spear-Shaker has been captured by the narrator's tribe, and is essentially adopted by them. Spear-Shaker tries to introduce the concept of stage play to the tribe by producing a version of Hamlet for them, but mutual cultural misunderstandings make this very difficult.

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References

  1. Schmunk, Robert B. (1998). "Winners and Finalists". Sidewise Award for Alternate History. Uchronia. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
  2. Sanders, William (March 1997). "The Undiscovered". Asimov's Science Fiction. New York: Dell Magazines. p. 86.
  3. "1998 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. WSFS. 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
  4. "1998 Nebula Awards". The Locus Guide to SF Awards. Locus. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
  5. "1998 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award". The Locus Guide to SF Awards. Locus. 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
  6. Dozois, Gardner (1998). The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection. Vol. 15. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp.  224. ISBN   0-312-19033-6.
  7. Turtledove, Harry (2001). The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century . New York: Del Rey. pp.  270. ISBN   0-345-43990-2.
  8. Dozois, Gardner (2005). The Best of the Best : 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction. New York: St Martin's Griffin. p. 380. ISBN   0-312-33656-X.