The Weight of the Sunrise

"The Weight of the Sunrise" is a 2013 alternate history short story by Vylar Kaftan. It was first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in February 2013.

Synopsis[edit]

When Francisco Pizarro and the Conquistadors arrived in Peru, Atahualpa and his troops slaughtered them. The Inca Empire thrives, but is beset by smallpox. Centuries later, emissaries arrive from the Thirteen Colonies, seeking to trade the secret of vaccination for gold.

Reception[edit]

"The Weight of the Sunrise" won the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2013,^[1] and the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, short form, for 2013.^[2]

Tangent Online considered it "mesmerizing and beautifully told", and noted its "overall tone (...) of pride and hope."^[3]

References[edit]

^ The Weight of the Sunrise, at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved June 6, 2021
^ 2013 Sidewise Awards Winners, at Locus Online; published August 18, 2014; retrieved June 6, 2021
^ Asimov’s — February 2013, reviewed by Colleen Chen, at Tangent Online; published January 3, 2013; retrieved June 6, 2021

External links[edit]

Text of the story at VylarKaftan.com
The Weight of the Sunrise title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

v t e Nebula Award for Best Novella
1966–1980	The Saliva Tree by Brian W. Aldiss and He Who Shapes by Roger Zelazny (1966) The Last Castle by Jack Vance (1967) Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock (1968) Dragonrider by Anne McCaffrey (1969) A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison (1970) Ill Met in Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber (1971) The Missing Man by Katherine Maclean (1972) A Meeting with Medusa by Arthur C. Clarke (1973) The Death of Doctor Island by Gene Wolfe (1974) Born with the Dead by Robert Silverberg (1975) Home Is the Hangman by Roger Zelazny (1976) Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr. (1977) Stardance by Spider Robinson and Jeanne Robinson (1978) The Persistence of Vision by John Varley (1979) Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear (1980)
1981–2000	Unicorn Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas (1981) The Saturn Game by Poul Anderson (1982) Another Orphan by John Kessel (1983) Hardfought by Greg Bear (1984) Press Enter by John Varley (1985) Sailing to Byzantium by Robert Silverberg (1986) R&R by Lucius Shepard (1987) The Blind Geometer by Kim Stanley Robinson (1988) The Last of the Winnebagos by Connie Willis (1989) The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold (1990) The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman (1991) Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress (1992) City of Truth by James Morrow (1993) The Night We Buried Road Dog by Jack Cady (1994) Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick (1995) Last Summer at Mars Hill by Elizabeth Hand (1996) Da Vinci Rising by Jack Dann (1997) Abandon in Place by Jerry Oltion (1998) Reading the Bones by Sheila Finch (1999) Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang (2000)
2001–2020	Goddesses by Linda Nagata (2001) The Ultimate Earth by Jack Williamson (2002) Bronte's Egg by Richard Chwedyk (2003) Coraline by Neil Gaiman (2004) The Green Leopard Plague by Walter Jon Williams (2005) Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link (2006) Burn by James Patrick Kelly (2007) Fountain of Age by Nancy Kress (2008) The Spacetime Pool by Catherine Asaro (2009) The Women of Nell Gwynne's by Kage Baker (2010) The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window by Rachel Swirsky (2011) The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson (2012) After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress (2013) The Weight of the Sunrise by Vylar Kaftan (2014) Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress (2015) Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (2016) Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (2017) All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2018) The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (2019) This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (2020)
2021–present	Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (2021) And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed (2022) Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk (2023)