The Cloak and the Staff

"The Cloak and the Staff"
Author	Gordon R. Dickson
Genre(s)	Science fiction novelette
Publisher	Analog Science Fiction
Publication date	1980

"The Cloak and the Staff" is a science fiction novelette by Gordon R. Dickson. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1981.

Plot summary

A skilled human translator tries to balance his desire to stay alive with his need to lash out at Earth's hulking overlords, who treat humans as cattle, or at best, pets.

Sources, references, external links, quotations

The Cloak and the Staff publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Hugo Award for Best Novelette

Retro Hugos	"First Contact" by Murray Leinster (1946) "The Little Black Bag" by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1951) "Earthman, Come Home" by James Blish (1954)

1955–1960	"The Darfsteller" by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1955) "Exploration Team" by Murray Leinster (1956) "The Big Time" by Fritz Leiber (1958) "The Big Front Yard" by Clifford D. Simak (1959)

1967–1980	"The Last Castle" by Jack Vance (1967) "Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Leiber (1968) "The Sharing of Flesh" by Poul Anderson (1969) "Goat Song" by Poul Anderson (1973) "The Deathbird" by Harlan Ellison (1974) "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W" by Harlan Ellison (1975) "The Borderland of Sol" by Larry Niven (1976) "The Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov (1977) "Eyes of Amber" by Joan D. Vinge (1978) "Hunter's Moon" by Poul Anderson (1979) "Sandkings" by George R. R. Martin (1980)

1981–1990	"The Cloak and the Staff" by Gordon R. Dickson (1981) "Unicorn Variation" by Roger Zelazny (1982) "Fire Watch" by Connie Willis (1983) "Blood Music" by Greg Bear (1984) "Bloodchild" by Octavia E. Butler (1985) "Paladin of the Lost Hour" by Harlan Ellison (1986) "Permafrost" by Roger Zelazny (1987) "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1988) "Schrödinger's Kitten" by George Alec Effinger (1989) "Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another" by Robert Silverberg (1990)

1991–2000	"The Manamouki" by Mike Resnick (1991) "Gold" by Isaac Asimov (1992) "The Nutcracker Coup" by Janet Kagan (1993) "Georgia on My Mind" by Charles Sheffield (1994) "The Martian Child" by David Gerrold (1995) "Think Like a Dinosaur" by James Patrick Kelly (1996) "Bicycle Repairman" by Bruce Sterling (1997) "We Will Drink a Fish Together..." by Bill Johnson (1998) "Taklamakan" by Bruce Sterling (1999) "10¹⁶ to 1" by James Patrick Kelly (2000)

2001–present	"Millennium Babies" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (2001) "Hell Is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang (2002) "Slow Life" by Michael Swanwick (2003) "Legions in Time" by Michael Swanwick (2004) "The Faery Handbag" by Kelly Link (2005) "Two Hearts" by Peter S. Beagle (2006) "The Djinn's Wife" by Ian McDonald (2007) "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang (2008) "Shoggoths in Bloom" by Elizabeth Bear (2009) "The Island" by Peter Watts (2010) "The Emperor of Mars" by Allen Steele (2011)