The Astronaut From Wyoming

by Jerry Oltion

Alexander has a rare deformity that has driven the media into a frenzy. Can he overcome his strange appearance and accomplish more than his parents ever dreamed? Nebula Award(R) Nominee, Hugo Award Nominee

Genres: Science Fiction

72 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2001

About the author

Jerry Oltion (pronounced OL-tee-un) has been a gardener, stone mason, carpenter, oilfield worker, forester, land surveyor, rock 'n' roll deejay, printer, proofreader, editor, publisher, computer consultant, movie extra, corporate secretary, magazine columnist, and garbage truck driver. For the last 37 years he has also been a writer, with 15 novels and over 150 stories published so far.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as part of the 'Science Fiction Megapack' series that throws a random assortment of sci-fi into your kindle at bargain-basement prices but as this is a stand-alone novella I thought it deserved its own review. I have to say I'm pretty surprised at some of the awards this was nominated for and some of the positive reviews on here: it didn't work for me at all. The story deals with the media intrusion onto people who are born differently but in a very heavy-handed way and doesn't really have anything insightful to say about it apart from 'it's bad'. I'm a big fan of the sci-fi novella format and I feel sad that, in recent years, it's been mostly abandoned in favour of 400 page epics, but there didn't seem much that was original or particularly well constructed in this story to my point of view.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oltion, Jerry and Adam-Troy Castro. The Astronaut from Wyoming. Analog, 1999. Kindle, 2003. Analog, January-February, 2020.
The Astronaut from Wyoming, a novella that was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, was recently reprinted in Analog as part of its 90th anniversary celebration. The story of a boy born with a condition that makes some people think he is a Roswell alien is well worth a reread. Its treatment of the tabloid industry seems prescient, and its space science is excellent for its time. It is the kind of story that has made Analog the institution it is and, I hope, will continue to be.

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

misericórdia 🥹😭👽

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in Analog magazine and it was a very intriguing story about someone that's different growing up and meeting their amazing potential in their adult life.