What does that do to a person, to barely grow old as their friends and family age and die? How has Nia's lifestyle affected her? For every 15 years of our time, Nia and everyone on her ship only experiences eight months. NOAF: Nia's ship travels faster than light, through pocket-space. S.J.: The emotional core of the book was influenced by my insecurities and obsessions surrounding time, aging, and intimacy, but a lot of the genre-level inspirations came from Simmons’ Hyperion series, Bester’s The Stars My Destination, and a ton of other seminal works that were not necessarily sci-fi.

NOAF: What were your inspirations behind The Vanished Birds? Simon Jimenez: Sure! My name is Simon Jimenez, and I am the author of the sci-fi novel The Vanished Birds. NOAF: Welcome to Nerds of a Feather! Can you tell us a little about yourself? Jimenez was kind enough to have a short chat with me about his inspirations behind The Vanished Birds, how long it took to write this ambitious novel, among other topics.

Le Guin, with many reviewers calling it the best debut of 2020. Reviews of The Vanished Birds have compared Jimenez's it to the works of Samuel Delaney and Ursula K. And soon the crew of Nia's ship have new crew member - a mysterious young boy. And what must it be like for Imani? She enjoys what she does, but everytime she touches down planetside, 15 more years have passed - children are adults, adults are older, elders have passed away. With time literally flying by, the chapters jump forward and backward in time, allowing the reader a larger view of Nia's universe. Much of the story revolves around freighter captain Nia Imani, who spends months in pocket space while 15 years pass for the rest of us. In the space opera future of The Vanished Birds, faster than light travel is done through 'pocket space'.

Jimenez's debut novel, The Vanished Birds, was also nominated for the Locus award and was shortlisted the Arthur C. Congratulations to Simon Jimenez, who is nominated this year for an Astounding Award! Not a Hugo, but awarded at the same ceremony, the Astounding Award is given to the best new writer whose first professional work was published in the last 2 years.

The vanished birds simon jimenez