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Nebula Awards Showcases #44
Nebula Awards Showcase 2010
The year's best science fiction and fantasy in one essential volume.
An annual commemoration, the Nebula Awards are presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to those members whose imaginations refine and re-define the infinite storytelling possibilities found within the genre. The Nebula Awards Showcase represents the best of the best in fantasy in one indispensible collection.
This year's compilation includes stories
?Ursula K. LeGuin
?Catherine Asaro
?John Kessel
?Nina Kiriki Hoffman
?Harry Harrison, this year's Grandmaster
An annual commemoration, the Nebula Awards are presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to those members whose imaginations refine and re-define the infinite storytelling possibilities found within the genre. The Nebula Awards Showcase represents the best of the best in fantasy in one indispensible collection.
This year's compilation includes stories
?Ursula K. LeGuin
?Catherine Asaro
?John Kessel
?Nina Kiriki Hoffman
?Harry Harrison, this year's Grandmaster
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
12 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
About the author
Bill Fawcett
122 books42 followersBill Fawcett has been a professor, teacher, corporate executive, and college dean. His entire life has been spent in the creative fields and managing other creative individuals. He is one of the founders of Mayfair Games, a board and role-play gaming company. As an author, Fawcett has written or coauthored over a dozen books and dozens of articles and short stories. As a book packager, a person who prepares series of books from concept to production for major publishers, his company, Bill Fawcett & Associates, has packaged more than 250 titles for virtually every major publisher. He founded, and later sold, what is now the largest hobby shop in Northern Illinois.
Fawcett’s first commercial writing appeared as articles in the Dragon magazine and include some of the earliest appearances of classes and monster types for Dungeons & Dragons. With Mayfair Games he created, wrote, and edited many of the Role Aides role-playing game modules and supplements released in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, he also designed almost a dozen board games, including several Charles Roberts Award (gaming's Emmy) winners, such as Empire Builder and Sanctuary.
Fawcett’s first commercial writing appeared as articles in the Dragon magazine and include some of the earliest appearances of classes and monster types for Dungeons & Dragons. With Mayfair Games he created, wrote, and edited many of the Role Aides role-playing game modules and supplements released in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, he also designed almost a dozen board games, including several Charles Roberts Award (gaming's Emmy) winners, such as Empire Builder and Sanctuary.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 15, 2010
My favorite genre is Science Fiction / Fantasy. My regular reading is Analog (magazine) with lots of authors represented. Reading a book of the Nebula Awards is a treat - it is the best of the best. Now I will have to go out and get Ursual K LeGuin's book, "Powers"!
This is a great book with explanations of the history of Science Fiction and Fantasy writing. Great reads and insights. Non SF-F folks should really give this genre their attention and this is a great book to go with.
This is a great book with explanations of the history of Science Fiction and Fantasy writing. Great reads and insights. Non SF-F folks should really give this genre their attention and this is a great book to go with.
July 5, 2022
NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2010
RATED 75% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE: 3.5 / 5
6 STORIES : 0 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
Each editor of the Nebula Awards Showcase has a different way of addressing the same challenge. How do you publish an anthology that highlights the Nebula Awards, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)? Each unique attempt is what makes these volumes exciting or, in this case, what makes it frustrating.
Do you publish all the nominees? or just the winners? How do you treat novels? Excerpt or ignore? How much emphasis do you put on the poetry, screenplays, and other such categories? And how do you treat the authors Emerta or Grand Masters?
This volume - covering stories primarily published in 2008 - is probably worth reading. Just not for the fiction which I found surprisingly mediocre. What was most interesting was the articles that discussed science fiction by decade from the 1940s through the end of the 1990s.
Another excellent part of this book was the inclusion of articles from the Solstice Award Winners, which are given “for exceptional contributions to SF publishing” not usually in terms of fiction writing, but more often in terms of supporting the community by editing, mentoring, raising the profile of genre fiction, etc.” The award now bares Kate Wilhelm’s name and a story of hers in reprinted in this book. [thx to Rebecca Gomez Farrell.]
This makes the book a combination of pretty interesting nonfiction and quite mediocre fiction. Surprisingly so, considering that the Nebula Awards almost always deliver quality stories. I feel strongly that this anthology should have contained a lot more stories.
It almost never happens, but this anthology added no stories to The Great List.
https://www.shortsf.com
***
NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2010 IS RATED 75% POSITIVE
6 STORIES : 0 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
The Space Time Pool • (2008) • novella by Catherine Asaro
Average. Okay, so this is technically science fiction (alternate universe with high level mathematics, spaceships that only exist in history books) but every moment of this READS as fantasy. Seers with prophecies. Two handsome and powerful brothers fighting over our heroine’s hand in marriage and the fate of their kingdom. Simple, uncomplicated prose.
Rules of the Game • (1996) • short story by Kate Wilhelm
Good. A woman’s scumbag husband returns as a ghost and she reluctantly starts investigating his death.
Pride and Prometheus • (2008) • novelette by John Kessel
Good. Mary from “Pride and Prejudice” meets Viktor Frankenstein and his monster. Well written, atmospheric, but requires a good working knowledge of both old novels to make this truly work.
Trophy Wives • (2008) • novelette by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Average. In the future two women share a telepathic bond and try to rescue a woman who has escaped from her husband who is literally a frog.
Talking About Fangs • (1995) • short story by M. J. Engh
Average. A man in talking to his lawyer about vampires, cremation, and why it only APPEARS that he is dying of AIDS.
The Streets of Ashkelon • (1962) • short story by Harry Harrison
Good. A trader on a planet resents the arrival of a missionary because the alien natives have managed to achieve a society that never considered the idea of god.
RATED 75% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE: 3.5 / 5
6 STORIES : 0 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
Each editor of the Nebula Awards Showcase has a different way of addressing the same challenge. How do you publish an anthology that highlights the Nebula Awards, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)? Each unique attempt is what makes these volumes exciting or, in this case, what makes it frustrating.
Do you publish all the nominees? or just the winners? How do you treat novels? Excerpt or ignore? How much emphasis do you put on the poetry, screenplays, and other such categories? And how do you treat the authors Emerta or Grand Masters?
This volume - covering stories primarily published in 2008 - is probably worth reading. Just not for the fiction which I found surprisingly mediocre. What was most interesting was the articles that discussed science fiction by decade from the 1940s through the end of the 1990s.
Another excellent part of this book was the inclusion of articles from the Solstice Award Winners, which are given “for exceptional contributions to SF publishing” not usually in terms of fiction writing, but more often in terms of supporting the community by editing, mentoring, raising the profile of genre fiction, etc.” The award now bares Kate Wilhelm’s name and a story of hers in reprinted in this book. [thx to Rebecca Gomez Farrell.]
This makes the book a combination of pretty interesting nonfiction and quite mediocre fiction. Surprisingly so, considering that the Nebula Awards almost always deliver quality stories. I feel strongly that this anthology should have contained a lot more stories.
It almost never happens, but this anthology added no stories to The Great List.
https://www.shortsf.com
***
NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2010 IS RATED 75% POSITIVE
6 STORIES : 0 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 3 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF
The Space Time Pool • (2008) • novella by Catherine Asaro
Average. Okay, so this is technically science fiction (alternate universe with high level mathematics, spaceships that only exist in history books) but every moment of this READS as fantasy. Seers with prophecies. Two handsome and powerful brothers fighting over our heroine’s hand in marriage and the fate of their kingdom. Simple, uncomplicated prose.
Rules of the Game • (1996) • short story by Kate Wilhelm
Good. A woman’s scumbag husband returns as a ghost and she reluctantly starts investigating his death.
Pride and Prometheus • (2008) • novelette by John Kessel
Good. Mary from “Pride and Prejudice” meets Viktor Frankenstein and his monster. Well written, atmospheric, but requires a good working knowledge of both old novels to make this truly work.
Trophy Wives • (2008) • novelette by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Average. In the future two women share a telepathic bond and try to rescue a woman who has escaped from her husband who is literally a frog.
Talking About Fangs • (1995) • short story by M. J. Engh
Average. A man in talking to his lawyer about vampires, cremation, and why it only APPEARS that he is dying of AIDS.
The Streets of Ashkelon • (1962) • short story by Harry Harrison
Good. A trader on a planet resents the arrival of a missionary because the alien natives have managed to achieve a society that never considered the idea of god.
October 4, 2018
Some fun, interesting reads in this one
April 7, 2023
Some great stories, a LOT of filler about the history of sci-fi that I eventually started skimming, and part of the script from Wall-E.
June 3, 2023
Borrowed this to read the short story The Space Time Pool by Catherine Asaro
June 9, 2010
This is June’s book group selection. We’ve read eight Nebula Awards books to this point – in fact, when the book is brought to the table, it is the one selection we don’t bother with the voting process. We’re going to read this one!
This year’s Nebula Awards (which is always about two years behind when they are actually awarded – I don’t recall why right off hand), took a look at the history of SFandF from the 1950’s through the 1990’s.
It was a mixed bag of stories, yet there were strands of familiarity or similarity running through the selections.
The featured author’s were:
The Spacetime Pool Catherine Asaro (novella) – the story of a young woman who is pulled from one timeline into a different timeline where physics and mathematical constructs are the same yet represented differently. She is part of a prophecy between two twin brothers, one who rules as a tyrant and one who could rule with a compassionate heart and whichever one she marries will rule all. Didn’t float my boat.
Pride and Prometheus John Kessel (novelette) A blending of Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein. Left me dissatisfied all the way round.
Trophy Wives Nina Kiriki Hoffman (short story) Well written and engaging. Two women share an unusual bond and a mission, to help women in a worse place than themselves.
Powers Ursula K. LeGuin (novel excerpt) Hmm…can’t recall what this one was about. Must not have made an impression on me.
Flora’s Dare Ysabeau S. Wilce (novel excerpt) Very well written and intriguing. Usually not wild about young adult, but this one was mature enough for my tastes along with an interesting world setting that if time permits I would add this to the reading list.
There is also a inside look at the script to WALL-E, a selection of poetry (which I usually skip if it’s more than a page long), and selected introductions by several prominent authors introducing each decade and the authors that made up that decade. Some I read, others I skipped.
This year’s Nebula Awards (which is always about two years behind when they are actually awarded – I don’t recall why right off hand), took a look at the history of SFandF from the 1950’s through the 1990’s.
It was a mixed bag of stories, yet there were strands of familiarity or similarity running through the selections.
The featured author’s were:
The Spacetime Pool Catherine Asaro (novella) – the story of a young woman who is pulled from one timeline into a different timeline where physics and mathematical constructs are the same yet represented differently. She is part of a prophecy between two twin brothers, one who rules as a tyrant and one who could rule with a compassionate heart and whichever one she marries will rule all. Didn’t float my boat.
Pride and Prometheus John Kessel (novelette) A blending of Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein. Left me dissatisfied all the way round.
Trophy Wives Nina Kiriki Hoffman (short story) Well written and engaging. Two women share an unusual bond and a mission, to help women in a worse place than themselves.
Powers Ursula K. LeGuin (novel excerpt) Hmm…can’t recall what this one was about. Must not have made an impression on me.
Flora’s Dare Ysabeau S. Wilce (novel excerpt) Very well written and intriguing. Usually not wild about young adult, but this one was mature enough for my tastes along with an interesting world setting that if time permits I would add this to the reading list.
There is also a inside look at the script to WALL-E, a selection of poetry (which I usually skip if it’s more than a page long), and selected introductions by several prominent authors introducing each decade and the authors that made up that decade. Some I read, others I skipped.
March 23, 2011
I think I've read this collection every year for the last 10 years or so. It's enjoyable. You get a nice overview of the state of science fiction and some solid stories. The cover says 'science fiction and fantasy', but this book is always very science fiction focused. One thing I dislike is that the editors always insist on including poetry. I realize there is a nebula award for poetry, but seriously, who cares?
I felt this year's edition also had entirely too much blathering about the history of science fiction. Again, not very interesting.
So to recap, a good collection of short stories, a novella, and a novel excerpt. Worth reading, but not groundbreaking. I generally read this collection after I read 'The Year's Best Science Fiction', edited by Gardner Dozois.
I felt this year's edition also had entirely too much blathering about the history of science fiction. Again, not very interesting.
So to recap, a good collection of short stories, a novella, and a novel excerpt. Worth reading, but not groundbreaking. I generally read this collection after I read 'The Year's Best Science Fiction', edited by Gardner Dozois.
December 11, 2010
It was good to browse through some of the winners this year, but this book has more than just winning stories/excerpts. There are essays throughout about the history of science fiction. It's far from a thorough history, but I don't know much about sci-fi history, so these essays filled in many gaps in my knowledge, and gave me some ideas about authors I might want to read.
On the flip side, I don't think I'll be checking out too many older stories, because I find myself too interested in what is being written today. My sci-fi/fantasy interests are really driven by the imagination that authors today apply to ideas that scientists are coming up with at the moment. I was glad to come to this realization while reading this collection.
On the flip side, I don't think I'll be checking out too many older stories, because I find myself too interested in what is being written today. My sci-fi/fantasy interests are really driven by the imagination that authors today apply to ideas that scientists are coming up with at the moment. I was glad to come to this realization while reading this collection.
September 19, 2013
Unhappily, there's much more in this book talking *about* the winners and writing in general, than there is the award-winning writing. I especially enjoyed "The spacetime pool" by Catherine Asaro, a writer I've not encountered before. I thought John Kessel's "Pride and Prometheus" not particularly worth reading. On the whole, there's not enough SF or fantasy to make it worth pursuing unless you happen to have it on your to-be-read pile.
January 16, 2016
A very enjoyable collection of stories interspersed with historical essays on the various aspects of sci fi writing. The poetry piece winners were especially intruiging.
I didn't know much about the sci fi award system before reading this, though I'd seen both Hugo and Nebula awards on book covers before. This book has introduced me to new authors and given me confidence that a book with a Nebula will be worth my time.
I didn't know much about the sci fi award system before reading this, though I'd seen both Hugo and Nebula awards on book covers before. This book has introduced me to new authors and given me confidence that a book with a Nebula will be worth my time.
December 11, 2010
This mostly sucked - I quit reading it and I didn't like the bit I did read. If this is what's winning the Nebula these days, ouch. It lost me from the first novella (a cheesy fantasy that reads like the cover of a romance novel looks except that the heroine wins because of math?) I did like "Trophy Wives".
September 18, 2014
This isn't a bad book, but not really worth going out of your way to read. If it's on hand it won't be a complete waste of your time, but if you are in a library you'd be far better off selecting something else to fill your hours.
A nice variety of styles and lengths here, but most of the stories aren't memorable at all. The best of the collection is the last story, The Streets of Ashkelon.
A nice variety of styles and lengths here, but most of the stories aren't memorable at all. The best of the collection is the last story, The Streets of Ashkelon.
February 7, 2012
One or two of the stories/historical pieces were quite good, but most left me flat, especially the very first piece, a novella (really? that was the best one this year?). It was hard to continue optimistically after that.
June 14, 2010
good essays about SF in the last few deacades. The stories are flat, except for "rules of the game"
Read
April 12, 2011Only liked 2 stories
Read
September 11, 2016Fellow Viable Paradise alumnus F.J. Bergmann gets a Rhysling in this one. W00t and congrats!
March 23, 2012
The first story alone gave me my first taste of (excellent) mathematical fiction. Read it.
May 7, 2014
Will not read this series again. Too much pandering in the essays-- & way too many essays in general-- and both the short stories & excerpts were not very good.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews