There seems to be a sort of tradition emerging in which I have a story appear each year in the July/August issue of Asimov’s. In 2023 it was my first, “Daughters of the Lattice,” followed a year later by “Sisters of the Flare.” This year, it’s my novelette “Pirates of High Ship”. I have no idea if this tradition will continue, but for now it’s a nice pattern!

“Pirates of Highship” follows a scientist who’s convinced that the storms among the clouds of a gas giant planet are evidence of intelligence and who has a plan for communicating with them. Unfortunately, pirates keep getting in the way. It’s a story about hubris, frustrated experiments, and piloting aircraft very fast through huge clouds. I was definitely channeling some of my favorite chase scenes from Cowboy Bebop in this one.

You can find the novelette in the issue of Asimov’s out now, available through their website or at your local bookstore. If you have a chance to read it, I’d love to hear what you think. And I’d love to hear whether you agree with me about the parallels between thoughts in a human brain and patterned electrical discharges in a vast storm. 

Is my mind simply a storm inside my skull?

Read the story and find out.