"Souls" is a 1982 science fiction novella by Joanna Russ. It was first published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in January 1982,^[1] and subsequently republished in Terry Carr's The Best Science Fiction of the Year 12,^[2] in Russ's 1984 collection Extra(ordinary) People,^[3] as well as in the first volume of the Isaac Asimov/Martin H. Greenberg-edited anthology The New Hugo Winners,^[4] and in 1989 as half of a Tor Double Novel (with "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" by James Tiptree, Jr.).^[5]

Plot

In 12th-century Germany, Radulphus tells the story of Radegunde, abbess of the abbey where he spent his childhood, and of what she did "when the Norsemen came" — and of how he discovered her true nature.^[6]

Reception

"Souls" won the 1983 Hugo Award for Best Novella^[1] and the Locus Award for Best Novella,^[3] and was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novella.^[7]

Stephen Burt has described the story as "perfectly wrought".^[8]