The Best of the Nebulas

by Ben Bova (Editor), Samuel R. Delany, Harlan Ellison

The Nebula - the most prestigious award in the science fiction field - is presented each year by science fiction authors to their colleagues for the best work in that year.The Nebula Award has been given for twenty-five years. To honor its silver anniversary, Tor is proud to present THE BEST OF THE NEBULAS. Includes complete lists of twenty-five years of Nebula winners AND brand-new introductions by the authors of the chosen stories.

Contains the best SF stories published between 1965 and 1985.

- The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth (1965) novelette by Roger Zelazny
- "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (1965) shortstory by Harlan Ellison
- He Who Shapes (1965) novella by Roger Zelazny
- Aye, and Gomorrah ... (1967) shortstory by Samuel R. Delany
- Passengers (1968) shortstory by Robert Silverberg
- Behold the Man (1966) novella by Michael Moorcock
- When It Changed (1972) shortstory by Joanna Russ
- Gonna Roll the Bones (1967) novelette by Fritz Leiber
- Dragonrider (1967) novella by Anne McCaffrey
- Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death (1973) shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
- Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones (1968) novelette by Samuel R. Delany
- A Boy and His Dog (1969) novella by Harlan Ellison
- The Day Before the Revolution (1974) shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Slow Sculpture (1970) novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
- Houston, Houston, Do You Read? (1976) novella by James Tiptree, Jr.
- Catch That Zeppelin! (1975) shortstory by Fritz Leiber
- Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand (1973) novelette by Vonda N. McIntyre
- The Persistence of Vision (1978) novella by John Varley
- Grotto of the Dancing Deer (1980) shortstory by Clifford D. Simak
- Sandkings (1979) novelette by George R. R. Martin
- Jeffty Is Five (1977) shortstory by Harlan Ellison

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy, Short Story Collection, Fiction

593 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1989

About the author

Ben Bova was born on November 8, 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, while attending Temple University, he married Rosa Cucinotta, they had a son and a daughter. He would later divorce Rosa in 1974. In that same year he married Barbara Berson Rose.

Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.

Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.

In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.

In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".

Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.

Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.

Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.

Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).

Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".

http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Por momentos, notable, bastante notable; pero no en todos los casos.-

Género. Relatos.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Lo mejor de los premios Nebula (publicación original: The Best of the Nebulas, 989), es una antología dirigida por Ben Bova que ofrece los mejores relatos (que incluyen tres categorías que los anglosajones conocen como Novella, Novelette y Short Story, o Novela corta, Relato y Relato corto para los hispanoparlantes, aunque se citen también las novelas y se presenten comentarios sobre ellas, la mayoría realizados por los propios autores) de ciencia ficción publicados entre 1965 y 1985, según miembros de la Sociedad Norteamericana de Escritores de Ciencia Ficción (que en 1965 empezó a conceder el premio Nebula con carácter anual), y seleccionadas entre las que ganaron dicho premio (el sistema de votación, recuento y criterios de valoración para esta antología resultan muy interesantes y Bova los explica con cuidado).

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread of (almost) all of the stories, though the editorial matter is of course new, and Ben Bova (1932-2000) was a helluva editor. Better editor than writer, I think. His pick of the Ten Best of the Nebula Novels (up to 1989) is an interesting selection, and he asked for short essays from the then-living award-winners. They are all worth reading, and sometimes surprising: Joe Haldeman was a big fan of "Starship Troopers" -- he read it three times! And a big fan of Heinlein, as who wasn't in those days.
Complete TOC including story info: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?3...

Anyway. I just re-read Roger Zelazny's (1937-1995) "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" (Best Novelet [sic] 1965). This was Zelazny's Big Fish story, set in the twilight of Old Venus & Old Mars fiction. It's his homage to Hemingway's manly fishing stories, booze included, and held up well to rereading: 4.4 stars. Copy online: http://www.kulichki.com/moshkow/ZELQZ...

● "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison (1934-2018), (Best Short Story, 1965). I couldn't say how many times I've read this one, but I certainly remember the first: running off a copy on the office copier to send to a friend and former room-mate so he could enjoy it, too. What a story! 6 stars!
Here's an online copy: https://www.d.umn.edu/~tbacig/cst1010... I'm envious if you have missed it! By far my favorite Ellison.
● Aye, and Gomorrah ... • (1967), by Samuel R. Delany • Best short story award. Not one of my favorite stories of his, and didn't stand up to this reread. 3-ish stars. The Spacer story line I LOVED was another one, where a former female gets out of the spaceship, throws up, and remarks: "Gravity sucks!" Google couldn't find that story, and he was writing a LOT of short fiction around then. Anyway: this reread, 2.5-ish stars. Not online sfaict.
● "Passengers" by Robert Silverberg, 1970 Nebula for short story. I've never much cared for this one, though it is certainly well-written. Goes back to Silverbob's pulpy roots. This is an echo of countless 1950s paranoia-pieces. Mysterious Aliens who ride your mind & make you do weird & disgusting things! Sex with random strangers! It's never worked for me. 2 stars.
Copy online so you can judge for yourself: https://escapepod.org/2012/11/08/ep36...
● "When It Changed" [Whileaway] (1972), short story by Joanna Russ (1937-2011). A notable story, but not one that has stood the test of time very well for me, dammit. Still pretty good, and a great opening! Very short, almost a vignette. Do try it. Online copy: https://americanfuturesiup.files.word...
● "Gonna Roll the Bones" (1967) by Fritz Leiber (1910-1992) . Won both the Hugo & Nebula awards for Best Novelette. His masterwork, IMO, and one of the finest SF/F stories ever written. Here's my previous review: 5 stars! https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho... In his foreword Leiber says why he chose the American tall tale for his story. One. of many reasons why to seek out this book! Try your library....
Last line: "Then he turned and headed straight for home, but he took the long way, around the world."
● "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones" (1968), novelette by Samuel R. Delany. Another Delany that's never been a favorite (other than the title), and seemed even more gimmicky this time. The underworld's Secret Word of the Day, that's always, you guessed it, a semi-precious stone! Oh, well. Why, oh why didn't "The Star Pit" (1967) win? Set in a spaceship-repair garage, training a kid off the streets to be a master mechanic! Great stuff! Many, many reprints: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg... That's the Delany short you should read!
● "Slow Sculpture" (1970), short story by Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985). One of my favorite Sturgeon shorts: one I hadn't read in so many years, it was a particular pleasure to reread it. Not one I can tell you about without spoiling, really, and it's not online. 5 stars! Many reprints, though none recent: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg...
● "The Grotto of the Dancing Deer" (1980), a short story by Clifford D. Simak (1904-1988), won both the Hugo & Nebula awards. Simak isn't much read these days, which is a pity. This one is a first-rate story about an archeological discovery -- well, you read the title. There's a copy online here: https://escapepod.org/2014/07/07/ep45... -- so you can see for yourself what you have been missing. 4 stars.
● "Sandkings" (1979), novelette by George R. R. Martin. Pure horror, and since I don't do horror, I skimmed the reread. Not for me! But very well-done, if that's your thing. As for the keeper of the titular Sandkings, well, things don't go as he had hoped... He wasn't a RtFM-type guy!
● "Jeffty Is Five" (1977), short story by Harlan Ellison. I didn't remember in time, but I don't much like this one, a nostalgia piece. See, the titular Jefty is stuck at age 5, and has been for 17 years? Weird. Not online but easy to find.

I skipped some stories, because I just didn't feel like re-reading them ("A Boy and His Dog"), or I re-read them and just don't feel like commenting ("Dragonrider") or.... I may (or may not) come back to this and backfill some of the holes, but I'm done for now. Pretty much essential reading even now, 40+ years on. Likely you will like some I didn't, and not like some I did....
But they were all creme de la creme back then!

Nebula Rant
This collection happened back in the Glory Years of the Nebula Awards, when the SFWA members voted on the basis of good storytelling and nothing else. These are the stories that have stood the test of time and multiple re-readings. But then, something happened. For one, the group became the SFFWA: they let in the Fantasy writers! I read fantasy too, and back when I started reading this stuff, before a lot of you were even born, there was no hard-and-fast boundary between the two. In my opinion, there shouldn't be, and some of the very best stories blend stuff from SF, F, and other genres into a rich goulash of flavors...

OK, OK. But, somewhen around that time, I started noticing that the Nebula winners weren't (in general) all that appealing. I could pick up the SFFWA annual award collection and I might only find one or two stories I cared for. Now I seldom bother even picking these up, and when I do: no change. Can't be healthy for the field, as short fiction has always been the low-risk, low-return teaching lab of fantastic story-telling. A real pity.

Fortunately, the advent of the online SF/F/H magazines has reinvigorated the short-fiction markets, and there are enough other people reading and recommending their favorites that I never run out of good short fiction to read (Well, hardly ever...).

[Manu Castellanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro esencial para el amante de la ciencia ficción. Al menos america... Que no es la única que existe.
Merece la pena y muy variado.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0 stars. This amazing collection gathers together the very best short ficiton from 1965 to 1985. All of the stories are considered classics (rightfully so in most cases). I am going to be reading through the entire anthology (re-reading the storis that I have already read in addition to the ones I have never experienced) and will review each story as I finish them.

"The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" by Roger Zelazny (4.0 stars). One of Zelazny's most famous stories, this is a beautiful story about redemption, pride and working to accomplish your goals despite life's obstacles. I didn't "enjoy" this as much I would have liked, but it is well-written, powerful story.

"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison (6.0 stars). One of Ellison's very best stories (and that is saying a lot given how many truly spectacular stories he has written).

"Passengers" by Robert Silverberg (6.0 stars). One of my very favorite stories by Robert Silverberg. A dark, evocative story about aliens who can usurp and control peoples bodies. As much horror as science fiction.

"Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock (4.0 to 4.5 stars). A great novella filled with emotion and a memorable main character. Great use of SF to explore issues of faith, religion and personal discovery.

[Martín · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recopilación de relatos ganadores del Nebula desde 1965 a 1985. Algunos de los autores escribieron cosas mejores por aquellas fechas, pero ay, nos encontramos con la (lógica) limitación de tener que elegir sólo entre los premiados. En cualquier caso, una selección interesante y una buena muestra de lo que dio la New Wave en aquella época.
A destacar especialmente Amor es el plan el plan es la muerte, Arrepiéntete, Arlequín!, He aquí el hombre, El día anterior a la revolución, Houston, Houston, ¿me recibe?, Voy a probar suerte, Los reyes de la arena, La persistencia de la visión

[Ricard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leídos:
¡Arrepiéntete, Arlequín! dijo el señor TicTac 5.0/5.0
Pasajeros 3.5/5.0
He aquí el hombre 3.0/5.0
Cuando las cosas cambiaron 2.5/5.0
Amor es el plan, el plan es la muerte 5.0/5.0
El día anterior a la revolución 4.5/5.0
La persistencia de la visión 4.0/5.0
Los reyes de la arena 4.0/5.0
Jeffty tiene cinco años 3.0/5.0

Pendientes: tropecientos... ya los leeré

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primera lectura: De lo mejorcito que hay.
"Amor es el plan, el plan es la muerte" hasta la muerte

Segona lectura 5 anys després: Hi ha històries molt bones i altres que no m'han agradat gens. Li he baixat la puntuació a 4 estreles perquè algunes són infumables.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is an interesting editorial conceit by one of the most outstanding SF editors of his time:

This anthology contains absolutely the best science fiction stories published between 1965 and 1985, as judged by the members of the Science Fiction Writers of America.

In his introduction Bova explains the methodology used to select these stories and analyzes the results -and “the flurry of controversy” that the concept and methodology awakened. For anyone with a smattering of knowledge on statistics and voting mechanisms this is an interesting case study, particularly of the complementary and rather simple “word cluster analysis” that was carried out. Other even more controversial mechanisms could have been applied -for example what would have happened if the same members had been asked to pick the best stories, but including nominees for the Nebula? Or just the best SF stories published during those twenty years? Would such selections have shown possible anomalies on the scale of, say, Nobel prize winners for Literature? It is worth pointing out that Tolstoy was nominated for several years but never received the Nobel…

In any case, most of the authors included in this anthology are indubitable “big” SF names, even if one’s opinion on whether their best work, in novella, novelet and short story form is actually included is moot -due to length and copyright restrictions Nebula award-winning novels are not included :-(

For old times sake, I would have loved to give this collection 4 stars, was tempted to give the collection two stars (ok), but have settled for three. This probably says more about the place I am at now, than the intrinsic quality of the stories themselves. One’s tastes change in time. One may be enamored of Mozart’s work at fourteen, arrogantly consider him, well, predictable and simple at eighteen, and then “rediscover” and be in awe of him at fifty. I first became aware of how one changes after I had read J. D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey for the third or fourth time spanning some twenty years, I considered it dazzling the first time I read it, howled with laughter at its zany wit the second time, and wondered what on earth I had found so funny about this somber story the third time around. Heraclitus famously pointed out that “No man ever steps into the same river twice” -the river changes all the time but so do people… For quite a number of years, I read all the SF I could get my hands on. Then I felt had outgrown SF and stopped reading it though I cherished warm memories of many of the stories I had read. Years later, I foisted some of my old favorites on my daughter, only to have her deprecate them. I couldn’t believe my ears, reread them and discovered they some of them had not aged at all well -or perhaps I had changed out of all recognition and the mighty river I had crossed seemed to have shrunk to the size of a babbling brook. Well to cut a rather long reflection short, lets say I have not yet returned home to SF, and this probably accounts for my current rating for this anthology.

I do remember devouring several of the Dragonrider books by Anne McCaffrey, although for the life of me I cannot remember which or how many. It’s possible I read Dragonrider (the first of the series and included in this anthology) but if so, I cannot say I remember much of it, although I do remember the tone and ambiance. And I must admit I was again enthralled by McCaffrey’s Pern inventions -but the four stars I would have given it when I was half way through dropped dramatically when I read the abrupt and rather tame end. Still, there was enough in the book to make me consider the possibility of tracking down a later novel of the series to see whether, the problem with Dragonrider is that it is an early work of an author yet to hit her stride.

As several other readers have commented, the misogyny of some of the stories is troubling -in particular I found A Boy and His Dog, Harlan Ellison’s savage attack on 1950s mores as seen a decade later, breathtaking in its extremity -but far less effective than Antony Burgess far richer and deeper 1962 A Clockwork Orange. Seen alongside some of the more misogynistic stories from the 1960s included in this anthology, Joanna Russ’ When It Changed and James Tiptree’s Houston, Houston, Do You Read? can be seen as two stories exploring similar feminist stances questioning the role of men, indeed the need for men, in society. I found Russ’ story to be the more interesting. I feel it reflects the utopian psychology and politics of feminist separatism at the time. On the other hand, Tiptree’s story is cruder in its portrayal of men as chavinistic stereotypes, and her story is redeemed only through her imaginative exploration of cloning as a case of collectivism,. The individuals that share the same gene are free to explore the possibilities of the gene and to share and build on what they learn - dialogical introspection. When one of the men confronts this society of clones, he interprets their “collectivity” as “a threat to individuality”, to the uniqueness of a life. One of the clones brilliantly provides the opposing view:

”How do you know who you are? Or who anybody is? All alone, no sisters to share with! You don’t know what you can do, or what would be interesting to try. All you poor singletons, -you -why, you just have to blunder along and die, all for nothing!

The collection starts with the awful The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Eyes by Roger Zelazny, a watered down Venusian fantasy version of Moby Dick with a few swipes from The old man and the sea, in which an obsessed and apparently impoverished seaman is not only cured of his obsession by catching the most humongous fish in the universe, but also gets the fantabulous girl who has it all, and turns out to be a playboy with a fortune stashed away on Mars. Self indulgent? You bet.

Considering Alfred Bester’s extraordinary 1959 The Pi Man, I was surprised to find out that Harlan Ellison’s derivative Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman -with a dash of comic-style masks and tights dashing along roofs- actually received a Nebula Award in 1965. Much more interesting though somewhat reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles is Ellison’s Jeffty is Five.

Time travel’s stock options include travelling back to cavemen times and to the time of Jesus. This anthology includes Michael Moorcock’s Behold the Man, in which Jesus is depicted as a half-crazed time traveller and one of Clifford Slimak’s weaker stories, The Grotto of the Dancing Deer which reverses the usual formula and depicts an immortal caveman who after twenty two thousand years living through history, is content to continue to toot on a prehistoric four note pipe and has evolved (?) from neolithic cave painting to

Colorful animals capered round the entire expanse of stone. Bison played leapfrog. Horses cantered in a chorus line. Mammoth turned somersaults[…T]he execution of the paintings had a prehistoric touch to them. Perspective played but a small part. The paintings had that curious flat look that distinguishes most prehistoric art[…] So who had been this clown who had crept off by himself in this hidden cavern to paint his comic animals.

Twenty two thousand years of furtive living through half of Europe, studying in medieval Paris in order to tootle, hide, and paint like Disney? This is unintentionally almost as grim as Aldous Huxley 1939 satirical novel After Many a Summer Dies the Swan, which postulates that if man lived long enough he would turn into a hairy, dull and very unintelligent ape, intelligence being but a “childhood” trait. Slimak’s story is perhaps closer in spirit to Jorge Luis Borges 1950 The Inmortal in which immortality is a curse and the immortals sink into a stupor, lost in the complexities of their own thoughts:

Among the Immortals, every act (and every thought) is an echo of those that preceded it, the first of the series no longer visible, and the exact foreshadowing of others which will multiply it vertiginously. There is nothing that has not lost itself between indefatigable mirrors.

John Varley’s The Persistence of Vision is an interesting twist on H. G. Well’s 1904 short story and allegory The Country of the Blind. In Varlay’s story, an epidemic of rubeola has spawned a multitude of deaf and blind children. The more intelligent of these devise an elaborate, multilayered language based on touch, and a communal culture where they can independently explore and develop their strengths and abilities rather than having their dis-abilities drilled into them. As in H. G. Well’s story, it turns out that in the country of the blind, the one eyed man is most emphatically not king.

The collection also includes the mindbending classic, Passengers by Robert Silverberg, two future innercity street smart works by Samuel Delaney, an epitome of the surreal craps tall story (Gonna Roll the Bones by Fritz Leiber, Ursula LeGuin's character sketch in preparation for The Dispossessed, The Day Before the Revolution, and the haunting Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand by Vonda McIntyre.

Finally, one of the inadvertently funniest stories in the collection and well worth reading is George R. R. Martin’s Sandkings (1979), which sheds a fascinating light not only on the development of his epic fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire, which was later adapted into the HBO series Game of Thrones, but also on the author’s relationship to his creation….

[Norman Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable collection of the best stories to win the Nebula Award, based on a survey of the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The Nebula was started in 1965, and the stories here represent the first twenty years of the award.

The anthology begins with essays about the best Nebula-winning novels, some written by the authors and some by editor Bova. Each story is introduced either by its author or Bova.

"The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" by Roger Zelazny (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1965 - novelette) 1966 Nebula Award winner and 1966 Hugo Award finalist
3 Stars
This would've made a great John Huston movie. A washed up big-game hunter on one last hunt, leading a rich, headstrong female dilettante to try and capture a giant Venusian sea creature. Though the premise is a bit contrived, the prose stylings make this entertaining. It's clearly a bridge between the super-science of the pulps and the more humanist New Wave.

""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison (Galaxy Magazine, December 1965 - short story) 1966 Hugo Award winner and 1966 Nebula Award winner
5 Stars
In a dystopian future, time is strictly regulated by the Ticktockman. Being late is a crime. So when Everett C. Marm, aka Harlequin, engages in a whimsical rebellion against deadlines, the ensuing disruptions must be dealt with harshly. This satirical story, that stretches conventional writing style, is one of the most reprinted stories of all time.

"He Who Shapes" by Roger Zelazny (Amazing Stories, January and February 1965 - novella) 1966 Nebula Award winner
4 Stars
This serialized novella was expanded into The Dream Master (1966). A divorced male psychiatrist uses a special machine to link his mind with his patients to create vivid mental simulations to help their analyses. When a blind female psychiatry student comes to him wanting to learn his technique, they begin a dangerous journey into the mind. There are some puzzling subplots here, such as the doctor's reactions to his son's accident at boarding school or the conflict with the talking service dog, and the ending is a bit wonky, but overall this is quite an engaging look at mental health and how we perceive the world.

"Aye, and Gomorrah …" by Samuel R. Delany (Dangerous Visions, October 1967 - short story) 1968 Nebula Award winner and 1968 Hugo Award finalist
5 Stars
This is arguably the best story in Dangerous Visions, about unconventional sex practices performed by neutered astronauts (to avoid the effects of space irradiated genes) with their groupies known as "frelks". The story deals with nonbinary sex at time when society didn't acknowledge non-heterosexual sex as acceptable.

"Passengers" by Robert Silverberg (Orbit 4, December 1968 - short story) 1969 Nebula Award winner and 1969 Hugo Award finalist
4 Stars
Unseen alien entities ("Passengers") are able to take control over humans for their deviant pleasures, with the human hosts unable to remember what they did while being ridden—until one day a man spots a woman who he met while being ridden and with whom he then tries to strike up a relationship.

"Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock (New Worlds SF, September 1966 - novella) 1968 Nebula Award winner
3 Stars
It's possible this was one of the first sf stories to use this set-up, but I doubt it; it's certainly been done to death. A time traveler goes back and substitutes himself for a historical figure to make sure history is "correct." This time, the time traveler becomes Jesus after discovering the real Jesus is mentally and physically handicapped. It's interesting to see the mental breakdown of the time traveler as he gets more and more into the role he is playing, and how that juxtaposes with flashbacks of his life in modern times. A quibble, too, is that Moorcock uses the Westernized forms of Biblical names rather than what we know of their actual names, but then readers probably wouldn't have understood some of what was going on. The story doesn't address another point, but I can't help but thinking it explains why Jesus would be a White man in the ancient Middle East.

"When It Changed" by Joanna Russ (Again, Dangerous Visions, March 1972 - short story) 1973 Nebula Award winner and 1973 Hugo Award finalist
3 Stars
I'm sure this was a radical piece of sf when it was first published, but this tale of an all-female planet being invaded by men seems dated by today's standards, which in a way is a good thing. Today's writers are free to write about diverse cultures of all kinds, thanks in large part to writers like Russ who first broke the unwritten rules concerning gender and sexuality.

"Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Leiber (Dangerous Visions, October 1967 - novelette ) 1968 Hugo Award winner and 1968 Nebula Award winner
3 Stars
This is a well crafted story full of excellent word pictures. A gambler plays a game of craps against an unbeatable foe for his very life. There are some ideas in this novelette that have not aged well, though. The n-word is used a couple of times, and one of the main points of the tale seems to be that modern men are being emasculated by the growing equality of their mothers and wives.

"Dragonrider" by Anne McCaffrey (Analog, December 1967 and January 1968 - novella) 1969 Nebula Award winner and 1969 Hugo Award finalist
3 Stars
The rating here reflects my rating of the novel Dragonflight (1968) of which this novella is the second part (the first part being the novella "Weyr Search" (1967) (1968 Hugo Award winner and 1968 Nebula Award finalist)). It reads like a fantasy, but in later volumes of the series it's established that the "dragons" and their powers are science based. My memories of the series are that the books are entertaining enough, but not terribly profound.

"Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" by James Tiptree, Jr. (The Alien Condition, April 1973 - short story) 1974 Nebula Award winner (short story) and 1974 Hugo Award finalist (novelette)
3 Stars
An alien named Moggadeet narrates this tale that examines instinct versus free will. Moggadeet finds love with a different kind of alien named Lilliloo. As time goes by, though, the two realize that things aren't what they seem. Tiptree captures the weirdness of the characters and their world, a world in which winters are getting longer, a surprising nod to climate change. The unconventional style seems to be influenced by the New Wave of the 1960s.

"Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones" by Samuel R. Delany (New Worlds #185, December 1968 - novelette) 1970 Hugo Award winner (short story) and 1970 Nebula Award winner (novelette)
4 Stars
This is a bit of a stream-of-consciousness story wherein a criminal uses a series of aliases (all with the initials HCE) to interact with his allies and enemies. Much of the story has to do with HCE trying to fence some unnamed contraband in order to obtain money to fund future endeavors. The title of the story comes from the criminals' use of code words based on semi-precious stones to identify one another. HCE's final alias is a cringe-worthy piece of yellow-face.

"A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison (New Worlds #189, April 1969 - novella) 1970 Nebula Award winner and 1970 Hugo Award finalist
5 Stars
Ellison intended this to be a part of a novel called Blood's a Rover, but alas, like with a lot of Ellison's plans, only parts were ever finished. Nevertheless, this novella stands on its own as a powerful look at a post-apocalyptic society. One of the characteristics of this novella is that the intelligent dog, Blood, acts with nobility while his human companion (and really, all the humans they meet) acts like an untamed animal. This was filmed as A Boy and His Dog (1975) with misogynistic changes that Ellison disavowed.

"The Day Before the Revolution" by Ursula K. Le Guin (Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1974 - short story) 1975 Nebula Award winner and 1975 Hugo Award finalist
3 Stars
This is a character study of an old woman who had helped lead a revolution somewhere in her youth. She reminisces about those times, especially with her now deceased husband, and takes one last look at the town and her supporters who will continue the revolution. There is nothing inherently science fictional in this story—maybe it's set in the future?

"Slow Sculpture" by Theodore Sturgeon (Galaxy Magazine, February 1970 - short story) 1971 Hugo Award winner (short story) and 1971 Nebula Award winner (novelette)
4 Stars

The slow sculpture is revealed to be a bonsai tree, although one as large as a normal tree and not the miniature ones we are used to. The tree is cared for by an eccentric engineer who claims to have a cure for cancer. When a young woman with breast cancer stumbles upon his estate, he offers to treat her. The story is essentially a thought experiment for Sturgeon's famous philosophy, "Ask the next question."

"Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" by James Tiptree, Jr. (Aurora: Beyond Equality, May 1976 - novella) 1977 Hugo Award winner and 1977 Nebula Award winner
5 Stars
I can understand why readers at the time would be confused by Tiptree's actual gender (Tiptree, of course, was eventually outed as the pen name of Alice Sheldon). This novella starts out as something that seems to put men on a pedestal, but ultimately shows how women have bettered themselves and the world by the elimination of men. The story itself is about a 3-man spaceship coming back from a survey of the Sun which somehow travels hundreds of years into the future, to be rescued by the mostly female crew of another spaceship. As one would expect, the cultural shock leads to some violent, explicit confrontations.

"Catch That Zeppelin!" by Fritz Leiber (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1975 - short story) 1976 Hugo Award winner and 1976 Nebula Award winner
4 Stars
This is more of a thought experiment than a story. It examines what an alternate world might look like if post-Civil War reconstruction had truly emancipated the slaves, if Germany had been thoroughly defeated in World War 1 (helping to prevent World War 2), and if transportation had been powered by electricity instead of gasoline. According to Leiber, it would be a world where humanitarian German scientists would bring prosperity to the world, with luxury helium-filled dirigibles regularly crossing the Atlantic.

"Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" by Vonda N. McIntyre (Analog, October 1973 - novelette) 1974 Hugo Award finalist and 1974 Nebula Award winner
5 Stars
This story does a great job introducing us to Snake who uses snakes and their venoms to heal people in need. Snake's mysterious back story fuels her relationships with the people she meets, but it's her relationships with her snakes that makes this story special. McIntyre took this idea and expanded it in 1978 into the award winning novel Dreamsnake.

"The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1978 - novella) 1979 Hugo Award winner and 1979 Nebula Award winner
5 Stars
This is an amazing examination of the thought experiment: how would a colony of deaf-blind people live? There's not much science fiction here—it's set in an economic downturn in the "future" of the 1990s and there's just a tad of magic realism near the end—but there is a lot of emotional depth. There is also a bit of an ick-factor whereby a middle aged man has sex with a thirteen-year-old girl (although Varley never shied away from unconventional gender and sexual depictions) and it makes sense within the context of the story.

"Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by Clifford D. Simak (Analog, April 1980 - short story) 1981 Hugo Award winner and 1981 Nebula Award winner
3 Stars
This is a gentle tale that shows the potential loneliness of being immortal and having your loved ones continually disappear. It's a good, not great, story, probably winning in a weak year more as a lifetime award for one of the genre's grandmasters than on its own merits.

"Sandkings" by George R. R. Martin (Omni, August 1979 - novelette) 1980 Hugo Award winner and 1980 Nebula Award winner
5 Stars
Once upon a time, George R. R. Martin wrote science fiction, and in my opinion it's better than the fantasy he is better known for. "Sandkings" is arguably his best piece of fiction, combining sf with horror in a powerful and potent way. The ending is unforgettable.

"Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1977 - short story) 1978 Hugo Award winner and 1978 Nebula Award winner
5 Stars
This is arguably Ellison's finest story. A boy who never ages beyond five years old is able to listen to old-time radio programs and experience other things from the past. On one hand, it's a somewhat cynical look at how things were so much better then than now. On the other hand, it's a poignant, nostalgic character study.

[Brian Gaston · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his introduction, Ben Bova notes that these are the very best SF stories between 1965 and 1987 as determined by
The Science Fiction Writers Association. He's not far wrong and this was a period in which some very good stories were written.

[Shozo Hirono · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all of these stories before, but not since I was 13, so it was almost like reading them for the first time. I want to start by getting some of the major disappointments out of the way. These are some writers who I used to love as a kid but found unpalatable as an adult:
Zelazny - His two stories I could only bear for a couple of pages before giving up because I found them so unengaging. I wonder if I would think the same of the Amber series or Lord of Light if I reread them today.
Delaney - I had assumed I would appreciate him better now because I couldn't make any sense of him when I was a kid. However, as a grownup, I find his flashy language is like decoration on an adolescent sensibility, as with many later cyberpunk writers. But maybe some of his novels are better than these stories.
Ellison - Another adolescent sensibility. I found "A Boy and His Dog" entertaining, although it's shockingly misogynistic by today's standards, but I couldn't get past the first couple of pages of "Ticktockman." And I like him least when he's in his sentimental mode, as in "Jeffty Is Five."
Le Guin - I should probably reread Left Hand of Darkness instead, but I found her story "The Day Before the Revolution" very boring and mundane. Also, I don't understand how it won a science fiction award when it's not science fiction at all. It could have taken place in any made-up country.
But I found some pleasant surprises too. The Sturgeon, Russ, Simak, and Leiber stories were much more well-written and sophisticated than I expected. I also enjoyed the Varley and Silverberg stories. The Martin story was creepy. But I don't understand how something like "Of Mist and Grass and Sand" could have received more votes than, say, Wolfe's "The Death of Doctor Island."

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were true gems. Particularly the stories by Samuel Delaney and James Tiptree, Jr. Lots of "Wow" in both of those.

Lots of horrifying sexism and racism in other stories, and even some well-meaning tone-deafness in Editors' Forwards.

I was a little annoyed that over half of the book, ostensibly an overview of the best of the Nebulas from 1965-1985, is pre-1970. I suppose it's easier to accept earlier works as masterpieces - less controversial, perhaps.

Harlan Ellison's long, pompous 'author's forward' - the only author's forward so long it had to have 'continued on' at the end of its first two installments - generally not informative despite its length, but the laugh-out-loud funniest part was the line before "A Boy and His Dog" - a story about a serial rapist looking for a woman to rape, who finds one, rapes her, then decides he loves her, and through some brain-damage I guess she decides she loves her rapist back, he goes on an adventure with her, and then feeds her to his dog at the end - he says he trusts "you will not find the anti-female tone of the movie"!!! Now, the movie is true to the story! I mean it is hella misogynistic, but the only ways it differs from the story are actually its least misogynistic notes, so I do wonder what, exactly, he thought the source of the 'anti-female tone' was.

It still has me gaping in disbelief.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

21 stories:

**** The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth (1965) • Roger Zelazny
*** "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (1965) • Harlan Ellison
**** He Who Shapes (1965) • Roger Zelazny
**** Aye, and Gomorrah ... (1967) • Samuel R. Delany
**** Passengers (1968) • Robert Silverberg
*** Behold the Man (1966) • Michael Moorcock
**** When It Changed (1972) • Joanna Russ
***** Gonna Roll the Bones (1967) • Fritz Leiber
**** Dragonrider (1967) • Anne McCaffrey
***** Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death (1973) • James Tiptree, Jr.
**** Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones (1968) • Samuel R. Delany
**** A Boy and His Dog (1969) • Harlan Ellison
***** The Day Before the Revolution (1974) • Ursula K. Le Guin
***** Slow Sculpture (1970) • Theodore Sturgeon
***** Houston, Houston, Do You Read? (1976) • James Tiptree, Jr.
** Catch That Zeppelin! (1975) • Fritz Leiber
**** Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand (1973) • Vonda N. McIntyre
**** The Persistence of Vision (1978) • John Varley
*** Grotto of the Dancing Deer (1980) • Clifford D. Simak
***** Sandkings (1979) • George R. R. Martin
** Jeffty Is Five (1977) • Harlan Ellison

[Nik Bramblett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of short stories and novellas ("novelettes," they call them)... keep in mind, of course, that the genre has evolved a LOT in the last 30-40 years, so some of this, stylistically, is a bit dated. Interestingly, a lot of the concepts that are explored (I imagine this has something to do with how they've been award-winning) are still just as apropos as ever.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't finished it; had to return it with two or three stories left to go. It is a spectacular collection, many great stories, some kind of horrific stories, great writers. Essential for any sci fi fan.

[Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

After many years, I've finished another sci fi short story collection!

[Eloi Puig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ressenya en català:

http://www.elkraken.com/R-mejor%20de%...

Reseña en castellano:

http://www.elkraken.com/Esp/R-mejor%2...

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me four months to get through this but there are some really good stories in here.