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The Cost To Be Wise
Set on a distant planet, this is a gripping tale about Sckarline, a colony that believes in appropriate technology adoption. A heavily armed clan arrives at the colony while it is being visited by off-world anthropologists. Sckarline's technological beliefs are put to the test when events spiral out of control. Told from the viewpoint of a young woman, she soon learns just how high the price of wisdom can be. This production is part of the publisher's Great Science Fiction Stories series. It is an unabridged reading by Vanessas Hart, 135 minutes, on two audio CDs.
- GenresScience Fiction
3 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 1996
29 people want to read
About the author
Maureen F. McHugh
118 books277 followersMaureen F. McHugh (born 1959) is a science fiction and fantasy writer.
Her first published story appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1989. Since then, she has written four novels and over twenty short stories. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang (1992), was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In 1996 she won a Hugo Award for her short story "The Lincoln Train" (1995). McHugh's short story collection Mothers and Other Monsters was shortlisted as a finalist for the Story Prize in December, 2005.
Maureen is currently a partner at No Mimes Media, an Alternate Reality Game company which she co-founded with Steve Peters and Behnam Karbassi in March 2009. Prior to founding No Mimes, Maureen worked for 42 Entertainment, where she was a Writer and/or Managing Editor for numerous Alternate Reality Game projects, including Year Zero and I Love Bees.
Her first published story appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1989. Since then, she has written four novels and over twenty short stories. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang (1992), was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In 1996 she won a Hugo Award for her short story "The Lincoln Train" (1995). McHugh's short story collection Mothers and Other Monsters was shortlisted as a finalist for the Story Prize in December, 2005.
Maureen is currently a partner at No Mimes Media, an Alternate Reality Game company which she co-founded with Steve Peters and Behnam Karbassi in March 2009. Prior to founding No Mimes, Maureen worked for 42 Entertainment, where she was a Writer and/or Managing Editor for numerous Alternate Reality Game projects, including Year Zero and I Love Bees.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 27, 2010
3.5 stars. A smart, well written, emotionally evocative short story (more a novella) about a colony of earth descendants who have adopted a society of very limited technology so as to live in harmony with the environment. The story is told through the eyes of a young girl who begins to question all of her people's beliefs when a survey ship from Earth arrives along with all of their technological wonders. A good, solid story.
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction
Nominee: Nebula Award for Best Short Fiction
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction
Nominee: Nebula Award for Best Short Fiction
January 16, 2017
....What bothered me about this novella was not so much the tale itself, I can admire McHugh's craftsmanship, but more the feeling that I had been reading a few chapters in a longer story. There are so many open ends and so many unexplained motives in the story that it really does not work all that well as a novella. It is a well written piece but ultimately a bit unfulfilling....
Full Random Comments review.
Full Random Comments review.
February 20, 2024
Powerful sci-fi novella
April 1, 2021
The novella, The Cost to be Wise, was included in the Women Destroy Science Fiction (Lightwood Magazine Special). It was my favorite selection and I’m reviewing it because it is also available from other sources (The Great Science Fiction Stories series). The story was in the future in a colony called Sckarline, on a planet far from Earth. The story was told by a young women in the first person voice. She told the story of her colony’s traditional practices and the differences between her people and visiting anthropologists from Earth. The story was more than engaging and built a very suspenseful situation. I felt It reached a climax and then just ended. I wanted to know more about what happened to the young woman. After reading reviews and searching for answers, I found that McHugh had written a sequel, Mission Child. It wasn’t easy, but I found and have ordered a used copy. I’m definitely interested in reading more by Maureen F. McHugh.
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January 9, 2021Well, this was short and bleak. But I really enjoyed listening to this. After the last few books I was thinking I might be to distracted to listen to stories, but this one I liked. I loved the voice of Vanessa Hart. The story is simple, but not the "everything turns out great" kind of simple, more "the path to hell is paved with good intentions" kind. I guess things being bad resonate more with me right now.
February 10, 2020
I liked this, and listened to it as part of Women Destroy Science Fiction. Worldbuilding was fantastic, and the plot picked up massive amounts of speed and then sort of hit a wall at the end. I've been sitting with it since it ended, and I'm still not sure what exactly to feel.
October 22, 2021
I read this short story many, many years ago. It is a well written morality tale. It's dark, imaginative, and instructive. Probably best for a YA audience.
September 26, 2014
Trigger warning for content: The first thing I thought of was the Prime Directive gone horribly wrong. But really, this is about two very different cultures, and how they communicate, and the vast region of misunderstanding that sits amidst their communication. It is disturbing to imagine the parallels of communication between the Native Americans and the European settlers of "America". The narration is dry and matter-of-fact, but you come to realize this is an artifact of the narrator and how she moves through the world. The bits of conversation she overhears show that McHugh is actually a master of different flavors of expression and is doing things very purposefully here. An important work, and it can stand on its own but I am oh so glad it was extended to book length, in Mission Child, which I will be reading forthwith.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews