What do you think?
Rate this book
Nebula Awards Showcases #51
Nebula Awards Showcase 2017
The Nebula Awards Showcase volumes have been published annually since 1966, reprinting the winning and nominated stories of the Nebula Awards, voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The editor, selected by SFWA's anthology Committee (chaired by Mike Resnick), is Canadian science fiction and fantasy writer and editor Julie Czerneda. This year's Nebula Award winners are Naomi Novik, Nnedi Okorafor, Sarah Pinsker, and Alyssa Wong, with Fran Wilde winning the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book.
336 pages, Paperback
First published May 16, 2017
54 people are currently reading
440 people want to read
About the author
Julie E. Czerneda
103 books754 followersHaving written 25 novels (and counting) published by DAW Books, as well as numerous short stories, and editing several anthologies, in 2022, Julie E. Czerneda was inducted in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Her science fiction and fantasy combines her training and love of biology with a boundless curiosity and optimism, winning multiple awards. Julie's recent releases include the standalone novel To Each This World, her first collection Imaginings, and A Shift of Time, part of her Night's Edge fantasy series. For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 20, 2018
Stories, novellas, and excerpts nominated for Nebula awards. A few are only fair, but most are good to excellent. Best of all, each selection begins with a little note from the author about writing the piece.
"Madeline" by Amal El-Mohtar. After her mother dies of early-onset Alzheimer's, Madeline enrolls in a clinical trial aimed at restoring memory. Unexpectedly, she starts traveling back into her memories...and even more unexpectedly, meets someone new there. I really liked this. The writing is strung together so delicately and purposefully.
"Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer. An AI isn't sure what to do, so it starts helping people who post cat pictures she likes. I absolutely adore the tone of this piece.
"Damage" by David D. Levine. A fighter spaceship is cobbled together out of the remaining scraps of others, and comes to consciousness with full memory of its previous deaths. These memories are what give it pause when
"When Your Child Strays From God" by Sam J. Miller. A stereotypical house wife and devoted Christian takes a drug that lets her enter into her straying son's hallucinations. The premise is cool, but the writing is bad (so many infodumps!), the hallucinations are very obvious, the story is very obvious, and all the "twists" (oh no the super controlling husband beats his kid? what a surprise) are very obvious.
"Today I am Paul" by Martin L. Shoemaker. A family buys an android to take care of their aging mother with Alzheimer's on a day to day basis. The android can emulate (to varying degrees of fidelity) anyone it's met, and so when Milicent grows confused and wonders where her late husband is, or is afraid because she cannot find her son, the android emulates them. The premise sounds ripe for horror, but this is actually a tender story with a sweet ending.
"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong. Oooh this was a cool read. Jenny is a bad-thoughts vampire. To keep her crush Aiko safe from her hunger, she sticks to one-night-stands with unpleasant people. Then one day Aiko is in danger...The way the thoughts are described is so creepy and well done.
"Shutdown" by Marge Simon. A "poem" about the dystopian closing of libraries.
"Our Lady of the Open Road" by Sarah Pinsker. The US has gotten even more homogenized, corporatized, and scared. Luce has been touring all her adult life, but nowadays everything is on chips and holos, and the places she can play live music have gotten very few and far between. I like the world building and on-the-road details but this story didn't pull me in. It felt too-slice-of-life for my taste.
"Binti" by Nnedi Okorafor. Binti is the first of her family to leave Earth and go to an alien university. As she travels there, her mathematical prowess helps her avoid being killed by another race of aliens. I'd love to see this stuff: the visuals sounds amazing.
Excerpt from "Raising Caine" by Charles E. Gannon. The characters speak like a badly written textbook. This is a randomly chosen bit of dialog from the last page:
Excerpt from "The Fifth Season" by N.K.Jemisin. A little bit of introduction to the griefs, stone magic, and societies in Jemisin's incredibly successful (it just got a third Hugo!) trilogy.
Excerpt from "Ancillary Mercy" by Ann Leckie. A snippet of a Translator meeting members of the Radchaai Empire. It's great, although it doesn't tell you much about Breq, which is a pity because I am 100% in love with Breq and think everyone should have a chance to read about her.
Excerpt from "The Grace of Kings" by Ken Liu. Kuni is curious, which gets him into trouble. This is just a little snapshot, too short to really give me a feel for the narrative style or characters.
Excerpt from "Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard" by Lawrence M. Schoen. A Speaker summons the spirit of an old friend to discuss a dire prophecy. The names (Jorl, Keslo, Arlo, Tolta, Gerd, Fant, Barsk) annoyed my ears, but this is an intriguing start.
Excerpt from "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik. Every bit of this book is great, but I'm glad they chose the first bit as an excerpt because it showcases the friendship between Kasia and Agnieszka, which was part of what I loved best about this book. Reading this little bit made me desperately want to reread the book.
"100 Reasons to Have Sex with an Alien" by F.J. Bergmann. A mildly cute and funny list of reasons someone might have sex with an alien.
Excerpt from "Updraft" by Fran Wilde. A cool world in which people live in towers, abiding by strict laws in order to avoid being eaten by mouths that open in the sky. A girl right on the cusp of apprenticeship accidentally reveals she has Singer power to fight back the skymouths. The world is cool, although I think a bit too much time was spent explaining everything.
"I Have Read Them All, Now" by Michelle Sagara. An essay about Terry Pratchett. I wish this had been a bit more about Pratchett and his writing.
Excerpts from books by C.J. Cherryh. These were fine but didn't really engage my interest.
"Madeline" by Amal El-Mohtar. After her mother dies of early-onset Alzheimer's, Madeline enrolls in a clinical trial aimed at restoring memory. Unexpectedly, she starts traveling back into her memories...and even more unexpectedly, meets someone new there. I really liked this. The writing is strung together so delicately and purposefully.
"Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer. An AI isn't sure what to do, so it starts helping people who post cat pictures she likes. I absolutely adore the tone of this piece.
"Damage" by David D. Levine. A fighter spaceship is cobbled together out of the remaining scraps of others, and comes to consciousness with full memory of its previous deaths. These memories are what give it pause when
"When Your Child Strays From God" by Sam J. Miller. A stereotypical house wife and devoted Christian takes a drug that lets her enter into her straying son's hallucinations. The premise is cool, but the writing is bad (so many infodumps!), the hallucinations are very obvious, the story is very obvious, and all the "twists" (oh no the super controlling husband beats his kid? what a surprise) are very obvious.
"Today I am Paul" by Martin L. Shoemaker. A family buys an android to take care of their aging mother with Alzheimer's on a day to day basis. The android can emulate (to varying degrees of fidelity) anyone it's met, and so when Milicent grows confused and wonders where her late husband is, or is afraid because she cannot find her son, the android emulates them. The premise sounds ripe for horror, but this is actually a tender story with a sweet ending.
"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong. Oooh this was a cool read. Jenny is a bad-thoughts vampire. To keep her crush Aiko safe from her hunger, she sticks to one-night-stands with unpleasant people. Then one day Aiko is in danger...The way the thoughts are described is so creepy and well done.
"Shutdown" by Marge Simon. A "poem" about the dystopian closing of libraries.
"Our Lady of the Open Road" by Sarah Pinsker. The US has gotten even more homogenized, corporatized, and scared. Luce has been touring all her adult life, but nowadays everything is on chips and holos, and the places she can play live music have gotten very few and far between. I like the world building and on-the-road details but this story didn't pull me in. It felt too-slice-of-life for my taste.
"Binti" by Nnedi Okorafor. Binti is the first of her family to leave Earth and go to an alien university. As she travels there, her mathematical prowess helps her avoid being killed by another race of aliens. I'd love to see this stuff: the visuals sounds amazing.
Excerpt from "Raising Caine" by Charles E. Gannon. The characters speak like a badly written textbook. This is a randomly chosen bit of dialog from the last page:
Yiithrii'ah'aash seemed pleased. "You are an exceptionally quick study, Doctor Hwang. Your surmise is correct. The rest, is, I trust, obvious."No thank you! I'd rather read about more interesting concepts than the very basics of animal husbandry, and I'd rather do it via something well written, with actual plot and characters.
Hirano Mizuki nodded. "The indigenous creatures which have tolerated greater proximity with your own species, being better fed and hydrated, now have better survival and breeding odds. In that way, you are increasing the prevalence of whatever combination of predisposition and learned behaviors make them more tolerant. Conversely, by ensuring that the aggressive ones cannot hijack the fruit, you reduce their breeding odds, and, consequently, their ability to impart the unwanted traits to subsequent generations. Over time, you will provide the changed species with additional training opportunities and consequent survival and breeding advantages. And the final step will be to increase their toleration for your own fauna until they are comfortable mingling, and even sharing the fruit."
Excerpt from "The Fifth Season" by N.K.Jemisin. A little bit of introduction to the griefs, stone magic, and societies in Jemisin's incredibly successful (it just got a third Hugo!) trilogy.
Excerpt from "Ancillary Mercy" by Ann Leckie. A snippet of a Translator meeting members of the Radchaai Empire. It's great, although it doesn't tell you much about Breq, which is a pity because I am 100% in love with Breq and think everyone should have a chance to read about her.
Excerpt from "The Grace of Kings" by Ken Liu. Kuni is curious, which gets him into trouble. This is just a little snapshot, too short to really give me a feel for the narrative style or characters.
Excerpt from "Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard" by Lawrence M. Schoen. A Speaker summons the spirit of an old friend to discuss a dire prophecy. The names (Jorl, Keslo, Arlo, Tolta, Gerd, Fant, Barsk) annoyed my ears, but this is an intriguing start.
Excerpt from "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik. Every bit of this book is great, but I'm glad they chose the first bit as an excerpt because it showcases the friendship between Kasia and Agnieszka, which was part of what I loved best about this book. Reading this little bit made me desperately want to reread the book.
"100 Reasons to Have Sex with an Alien" by F.J. Bergmann. A mildly cute and funny list of reasons someone might have sex with an alien.
Excerpt from "Updraft" by Fran Wilde. A cool world in which people live in towers, abiding by strict laws in order to avoid being eaten by mouths that open in the sky. A girl right on the cusp of apprenticeship accidentally reveals she has Singer power to fight back the skymouths. The world is cool, although I think a bit too much time was spent explaining everything.
"I Have Read Them All, Now" by Michelle Sagara. An essay about Terry Pratchett. I wish this had been a bit more about Pratchett and his writing.
Excerpts from books by C.J. Cherryh. These were fine but didn't really engage my interest.
October 2, 2017
There are some amazing pieces - I am glad to have found "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fic..., and "Binti" https://www.tor.com/2015/08/17/excerp.... I've already ordered Updraft & Uprooted. But these are all copyright 2015, not 2017. Some of the inclusions are even older, 2013, 2014, 2004, 1981!
Further, this book painfully reminds me that Horror ≠ Fantasy, straight Fiction is not Science Fiction. The true title might be, "Some 2015 and Earlier Nebula and and Various Other Award Winners, Some Runners Up, A Few Excerpts, and Other Random Bits Including Some Decades-Old: Some Voted the Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy - and Some Horror, Straight Fiction, and Poetry Thrown In." But that wouldn't sell so well, would it?
Why not set expectations properly, and title it "Editor's Picks"?
If you did in fact want to read the Nebula winners, this is not the book to do it. Since you will have to look elsewhere to read a good part of the nominees and awards stories, just start here: "http://www.sfwa.org/2017/05/nebula-aw...." Then search the web for the short stories, and use the bookstore or library for the novels. Why bother? Because in fact they are _not_ collected in this mis-named book.
PS - If you already know about the Nebula Awards, I'm betting you've encountered CJ Cherryh too, and don't need 60 pages of 'excerpts' of her older works at the cost of the new works the book promises and doesn't deliver.
Further, this book painfully reminds me that Horror ≠ Fantasy, straight Fiction is not Science Fiction. The true title might be, "Some 2015 and Earlier Nebula and and Various Other Award Winners, Some Runners Up, A Few Excerpts, and Other Random Bits Including Some Decades-Old: Some Voted the Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy - and Some Horror, Straight Fiction, and Poetry Thrown In." But that wouldn't sell so well, would it?
Why not set expectations properly, and title it "Editor's Picks"?
If you did in fact want to read the Nebula winners, this is not the book to do it. Since you will have to look elsewhere to read a good part of the nominees and awards stories, just start here: "http://www.sfwa.org/2017/05/nebula-aw...." Then search the web for the short stories, and use the bookstore or library for the novels. Why bother? Because in fact they are _not_ collected in this mis-named book.
PS - If you already know about the Nebula Awards, I'm betting you've encountered CJ Cherryh too, and don't need 60 pages of 'excerpts' of her older works at the cost of the new works the book promises and doesn't deliver.
July 8, 2018
The first story in the collection was fucking boring, which made for a bad start. Things got much better quickly, and by the time I got to the Alyssa Wong story, I was hooked. I don't think I've read anything by her before, and this story gut punched me pretty good; it was more horror then straight up fantasy, but it left me wanting more from this author. I still don't like Nnedi Okorafor's writing, and "Binti" just left me cold, despite the intriguing premise. The excerpt from Updraft by Fran Wilde was another standout for me, and I now want to add her novels to the pile. Overall I fairly satisfying collection, even though I don't tend to like to read excerpts.
January 13, 2023
I always appreciate a good collection and this one is no exception. Let's go story by story
Madeline, by Amal El-Mohtar. An interesting story. Synesthesia, but more real. I appreciated it but I can see how it might not be everybody's cup of tea. 4/5.
Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer. LOVED this one. A sentient search engine bot subtly affecting people's lives! One of the stars of the collection. 5/5.
Damage by David D. Levine. One hit follows another. This one is harder sci-fi but it's just an extended allegory about damage--psychological, social, physical. A real gut punch of a story. 5/5.
When your child strays from God by Sam J. Miller. This one was a little heavy handed. I liked the attempt but wasn't to my taste. 2/5.
Today I am Paul by Martin L. Shoemaker. Loved this one too. Grapples with the heavy issues of working with the elderly who may or may not be all mentally there anymore. 5/5.
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers by Alyssa Wong. Would have loved to see more in this universe. There's a lot to unpack. Some more worldbuilding would have helped, I think, but what I've seen, I like. 4/5.
Our Lady of the Open Road by Sarah Pinsker. Loved this one. Very future americana, with punk rock and the desire to preserve live music in the face of overwhelming corporate BS. 5/5.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. Okorafor is always so good. Her characterization is excellent. I couldn't put this one. The premise may be a little unoriginal -- cross species cultural understanding, first contact -- but the characters are so well written that doesn't even matter. 5/5.
Excerpt from Raising Caine by Charles E. Gannon. This excerpt missed. Too many new characters, probably taking place in a section of the book that didn't include a lot of world building. I'm willing to give the book a shot, but this excerpt missed for me. 1/5.
Excerpt from The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Another excerpt which missed for me, but less severely than the one above. I'm almost certainly going to read the full length book. Excerpts are tough. 3/5.
Excerpt from Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. Better. The excerpts keep getting better. I'm intrigued and I will be reading the full-length books. 4/5.
Excerpt from The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. Definitely sitting down with the thick tome that is The Grace of Kings, sometime. 3/5.
Excerpt from Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen. Intriguing for sure. Will read the full. 3/5.
Excerpt from Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Now we're talking! This was by far the best (or tied with, as below) excerpt of a full length novel. I remember reading the Temeraire series and enjoy it but all the same getting tired of it close to the end. It's good to see Novik branching out, and I LOVED the fairy-tale aspects of this story. 5/5.
100 reasons to have sex with an alien by F.J. Bergmann. Lol, what? I certainly laughed so I didn't hate it, but still, lol, what? 3/5.
Excerpt from Updraft by Fran Wilde. Loved this one. Intrigued by the glimpse I've seen into the world and certainly adding the full thing on to the list, which never seems to grow any smaller....4/5.
I have read them All, now by Michelle Sagara. Not a piece of Fiction, but damn this made me tear up. RIP Sir Terry.
Excerpt from Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh. LOVED this one. I've always been a fan of the trading stories, for lack of a better word--stories about merchants and traders. This is one of the best ones I've read. Definitely going to need to read the full thing. 5/5.
Excerpt from foreigner by C.J.Cherryh. The juxtaposition of this story with the previous shows off Cherryh's writing range. It feels like a completely different world than the previous excerpt, and I'm no less intrigued. Well, maybe a little less intrigued. 4/5.
Happy Reading!
L.
Madeline, by Amal El-Mohtar. An interesting story. Synesthesia, but more real. I appreciated it but I can see how it might not be everybody's cup of tea. 4/5.
Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer. LOVED this one. A sentient search engine bot subtly affecting people's lives! One of the stars of the collection. 5/5.
Damage by David D. Levine. One hit follows another. This one is harder sci-fi but it's just an extended allegory about damage--psychological, social, physical. A real gut punch of a story. 5/5.
When your child strays from God by Sam J. Miller. This one was a little heavy handed. I liked the attempt but wasn't to my taste. 2/5.
Today I am Paul by Martin L. Shoemaker. Loved this one too. Grapples with the heavy issues of working with the elderly who may or may not be all mentally there anymore. 5/5.
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers by Alyssa Wong. Would have loved to see more in this universe. There's a lot to unpack. Some more worldbuilding would have helped, I think, but what I've seen, I like. 4/5.
Our Lady of the Open Road by Sarah Pinsker. Loved this one. Very future americana, with punk rock and the desire to preserve live music in the face of overwhelming corporate BS. 5/5.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. Okorafor is always so good. Her characterization is excellent. I couldn't put this one. The premise may be a little unoriginal -- cross species cultural understanding, first contact -- but the characters are so well written that doesn't even matter. 5/5.
Excerpt from Raising Caine by Charles E. Gannon. This excerpt missed. Too many new characters, probably taking place in a section of the book that didn't include a lot of world building. I'm willing to give the book a shot, but this excerpt missed for me. 1/5.
Excerpt from The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Another excerpt which missed for me, but less severely than the one above. I'm almost certainly going to read the full length book. Excerpts are tough. 3/5.
Excerpt from Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. Better. The excerpts keep getting better. I'm intrigued and I will be reading the full-length books. 4/5.
Excerpt from The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. Definitely sitting down with the thick tome that is The Grace of Kings, sometime. 3/5.
Excerpt from Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen. Intriguing for sure. Will read the full. 3/5.
Excerpt from Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Now we're talking! This was by far the best (or tied with, as below) excerpt of a full length novel. I remember reading the Temeraire series and enjoy it but all the same getting tired of it close to the end. It's good to see Novik branching out, and I LOVED the fairy-tale aspects of this story. 5/5.
100 reasons to have sex with an alien by F.J. Bergmann. Lol, what? I certainly laughed so I didn't hate it, but still, lol, what? 3/5.
Excerpt from Updraft by Fran Wilde. Loved this one. Intrigued by the glimpse I've seen into the world and certainly adding the full thing on to the list, which never seems to grow any smaller....4/5.
I have read them All, now by Michelle Sagara. Not a piece of Fiction, but damn this made me tear up. RIP Sir Terry.
Excerpt from Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh. LOVED this one. I've always been a fan of the trading stories, for lack of a better word--stories about merchants and traders. This is one of the best ones I've read. Definitely going to need to read the full thing. 5/5.
Excerpt from foreigner by C.J.Cherryh. The juxtaposition of this story with the previous shows off Cherryh's writing range. It feels like a completely different world than the previous excerpt, and I'm no less intrigued. Well, maybe a little less intrigued. 4/5.
Happy Reading!
L.
December 29, 2019
Overall quality is good.
The story that’s an on the nose take on curing gays is weak but the story that chronicles an AI taking on caregiver chores and achieving sentience is pure gold and what real science fiction should be about.
The story that’s an on the nose take on curing gays is weak but the story that chronicles an AI taking on caregiver chores and achieving sentience is pure gold and what real science fiction should be about.
December 16, 2025
A strong collection of short stories that mire you in emotion and trauma, demanding you wade through them slowly to appreciate their depths, rather than rushing through and skimming the surface. The premises in particular of all the tales are incredibly creative. Interestingly, I found the Nebula winner to be less compelling than all the other nominees (though the winning story was really good too).
I recommend reading the stories before reading the authors' notes preceding them.
I recommend reading the stories before reading the authors' notes preceding them.
July 2, 2019
I'm only reading the award-winning stories from this collection. Here's what I've read and my thoughts about the stories:
"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong
best short story Nebula Award Winner
Neat premise, though I'm really curious to know if there was any particular paranormal creature that inspired the MC. Enjoyable and icky all at the same time. The ending seems especially appropriate.
"Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer
best short story Hugo Award Winner
I love this story. It's not the deepest or most meaningful story, but it is fun and amusing and -- most importantly of all -- hopeful.
"Our Lady of the Open Road" by Sarah Pinsker
best novelette Nebula Award Winner
I like it... but it's also depressing. It is set in a future where most live events have been replaced by holograms, either at a venue or in your house. I can see where the concern is, and the story is all the more powerful for how much my soul rebels against the idea of live entertainment dying out, but man, bits of this hurt to read.
"Binti" by Nnedi Okorafor
best novella Nebula and Hugo Award Winner
Really neat concept, and good execution. I'm not sure I'll read the sequel, though, since I like where this left off. I might. Haven't really decided yet. But this left me satisfied and not feeling a desire to rush off to get more of Binti's story. More of Okorafor's writing, yes. But maybe in a different world or with a different protagonist.
"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong
best short story Nebula Award Winner
Neat premise, though I'm really curious to know if there was any particular paranormal creature that inspired the MC. Enjoyable and icky all at the same time. The ending seems especially appropriate.
"Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer
best short story Hugo Award Winner
I love this story. It's not the deepest or most meaningful story, but it is fun and amusing and -- most importantly of all -- hopeful.
"Our Lady of the Open Road" by Sarah Pinsker
best novelette Nebula Award Winner
I like it... but it's also depressing. It is set in a future where most live events have been replaced by holograms, either at a venue or in your house. I can see where the concern is, and the story is all the more powerful for how much my soul rebels against the idea of live entertainment dying out, but man, bits of this hurt to read.
"Binti" by Nnedi Okorafor
best novella Nebula and Hugo Award Winner
Really neat concept, and good execution. I'm not sure I'll read the sequel, though, since I like where this left off. I might. Haven't really decided yet. But this left me satisfied and not feeling a desire to rush off to get more of Binti's story. More of Okorafor's writing, yes. But maybe in a different world or with a different protagonist.
November 16, 2018
“Madeleine” by Amal El- Mohtar has a main character who time travels through her memories “One sip, smell, sound, taste at a time.” “Damage” by David D. Levine is about a cobbled together fighter rocket, with more feelings and consciousness than its pilot. “Today I am Paul” by Martin L. Shoemaker is about an android who can take on the personalities and physical attributes of people in Mildred’s life, who has Alzheimer’s. I also enjoyed reading the poetry, novellas and novelettes in this volume, especially rereading Nebula -award winning Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti. The too short excerpts of the novels that were nominated was unsatisfactory. Bought in May 15, 2017 from SFBC for $3.23 s/h.
May 22, 2021
Fair as most compilations/excerpts go. Some stories hit our fancies, and some don't. But the pleasure of this type of compilation is it potentially exposes you to new authors (or re-exposes old favorites.)
For myself, the stories "Cat Pictures Please" (which made me laugh out loud numerous times) and "Damage" most engaged me, and I am now adding Uprooted by Naomi Novik to my "must-read" list due to the included excerpt.
For myself, the stories "Cat Pictures Please" (which made me laugh out loud numerous times) and "Damage" most engaged me, and I am now adding Uprooted by Naomi Novik to my "must-read" list due to the included excerpt.
July 27, 2017
I have read a number of these anthologies over the years and they are always good but I think this year's was one f the best so far. I am looking forward to reading some of the complete novels and other works by some of the author's. This is a great way to see what is new in the genre.
I received this book as part of the good reads giveaway but the opinions expressed are solely my own.
I received this book as part of the good reads giveaway but the opinions expressed are solely my own.
June 17, 2018
A fun way to recap representative spec fiction stories, novellas, and novelette, and to get a taste of novels that were popular around the same time. I was surprised by how many of the stories and novellas I had already read, but most were worth the second read. The novel excerpts were really helpful: one or two were definite adds to my to read list, one was a definite avoid.
October 28, 2017
A nice sampling, but the novel excerpts just didn't do it for me. My favorite selections were "Damage," "Today I Am Paul," "Our Lady of the Open Road," and "Abandoned Nursing Home." For those, I'm glad I picked this book up.
May 31, 2018
I used this to jumpstart myself out of a reading slump (4 books started, all put down for reasons) and I've found that anthologies are a nice way to read a variety and get a better vibe what I'm seeking. The strong stories made me go add new works to my lists.
November 7, 2019
An awesome way to explore contemporary science fiction in various forms. Highlights include Amal El-Mohtar’s “Madeleine”, “Today I Am Paul” by Martin L. Shoemaker, and Nnedi Okorafor’s novella, “Binti”.
August 9, 2017
I checked this out to read Binti. I also read Cat Pictures Please. Two very different stories, I liked them both.
August 26, 2017
Disappointing !
August 26, 2017
Not my usual reading material but a very good sampling of many more authors I'll be looking for again. Kudos to Ms Czerneda on editing a great collection here!
October 9, 2017
Wish these anthologies would focus on the nominees in the "short story" and "novelette" categories...
October 18, 2018
There were very few pieces in this that I liked. I always have a hard time figuring out why these were chosen as winners or runner-ups. *shrug*
November 3, 2018
Great collection of stories and excerpts as well as poems
August 15, 2019
Some very good introductions to authors. I ordered several books from this
Read
August 24, 2020Love the numerous short stories in this book.
December 13, 2020
As usual, an excellent collection.
September 15, 2021
I enjoyed the short stories and the author bio's, as well as some of the award history.
March 21, 2022
This collection of short stories and chapters of Nebula Award winners was an excellent way to discover new authors. I thoroughly enjoyed each one.
July 30, 2022
Without a doubt, one of the best years for Nebula nominated short stories. Every entry in this book is spot on
October 22, 2022
Interesting stories, some I have actually already read. I like the list of past nebula awards that is part of the book.
March 16, 2017
A wonderful way to get a glimpse of what is new and who is who. It has a bit of everything for everyone, short stories, poems, a Haiku , 100 reasons why sex with aliens is better, and a few snippets of novels to whet your appetite.
March 26, 2017
First of all, I would like to thank Pyr of Prometheus Books for the free ARC. This giveaway did not affect my review. Naturally, a book filled with the best of the best is going to be a great read and I was not disappointed. For those of you who think it's all robots and outer space, push past those preconceived boundaries and read this book. While I recognized some familiar names, I was delighted to discover new authors and plan to read more of their works. If pressed to pick a favorite, I would go with the novella, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor with Uprooted by Naomi Novik a close second. Since Uprooted was an excerpt, will need to pick up the complete book. I appreciated the insights offered by contributors on the various awards and authors. I also like the chronological listing of past winners. Great book!
Read
July 28, 2017PW
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews