Nebula Awards Showcase 2007

I was there.

The 2006 Nebula Awards were held in Tempe, Arizona, and I was there.

Harlan Ellison was going to be awarded the grandmaster award during the 2006 Nebula Awards that were held in Tempe, Arizona and there was no way I would not be there.

What does any of this have to do with a review of the book that contains the winners, some essays, and a few other stories? Because the experience only made this collection that much better. Connie Willis was the Guest of Honor and it wasn’t until I saw she was going to be there that I realized how many fantastic stories she’s written (ones I loved but didn’t know were her creations.) But the most interesting epiphany may have been hearing the authors read their works. I sat in on a few show more readings the first day, and they were – ho-hum. I thought to myself, “I can write like that” and quickly swore that I would. The next day I sat in on more readings and thought to myself, “Now these are real writers” and my vow to write as well as them never came to mind. You see, I got to hear Joe Haldeman’s new novel, read by him direct from his hand-written notes, and I got to hear a story from William Nolan, the Author Emeritus who I didn’t know I’d heard of, and I got to hear Kelly Link read from two new stories. Now, here’s what was so wild about that. I didn’t know Kelly Link from Adam (or Eve) and I didn’t even put together the connection that she was twice nominated, and yet the power of her writing came through. True craftspeople showing their skills.

And it’s all in this book. The skill, the talent, the winners – it’s all here. For all the “Best of”s that are out there, the Nebula Award winners is probably the best. Voted on by the writers themselves (although they aren’t always right) this collection consistently brings the true best of science fiction. And this collection stands out above the others. As already indicated, Kelly Link’s stories deserve everything they won. Just as powerful are other the other winner’s (Carol Emshwiller’s and Joe Haldeman) works. The non-winners are also of the highest quality – quickly coming to mind are “The End of the World as We Know It” by Dale Bailey, “My Mother Dancing” by Nancy Kress, and “Still Life with Boobs” by Anne Harris. The essays in the Nebula books are often the most questionable, but they do okay in this edition. (I do miss an overall assessment of sf movies, but…) One interesting aside about the choice of stories. Mike Resnick edits this, and he manages to include one story from a collection he published earlier, as well as having one of the essays written by another author from that book. In fact, that person talks about cross-genre writing and uses her story (one of the weakest in the book) as an example. Now, for me, that collection didn’t work that well (see my review on Down These Dark Spaceways if you really care). But the inclusion of these two individuals (as well as another story that was supposed to be of the noir genre) comes off not too well. And another thing (this one positive). It was a very dangerous (but excellent) choice to include Harlan Ellison’s “The Resurgence of Miss Ankle-Strap Wedgie”. There is always a story by the Grandmaster, but it is usually sf. This story is nothing but Hollywood, but it is an excellent example of Ellison’s abilities, and as good a reason for his Grandmasterdom as any.

In case I am unclear – all the Nebula Award Showcase Books are worth reading – and this is one of the best. show less

I really liked some of the fiction pieces but not all of them. Interestingly, my two favourites were both mysteries featuring hard-boiled detectives. Men are Trouble by James Patrick Kelly takes place in a future when all the men have been done away with by aliens. Identity Theft is by Robert Sawyer and is set on Mars when people can transfer their mental processes into a new, custom-designed body (provided they have enough money). Maybe I liked them because the stories combined my two favourite genres. Whatever the reason it was nice to read some fairly current science fiction and get some ideas for future reading.

This was browsed and picked through not thoroughly read. I Did like the very optimistic Kevin J Anderson's article Think Outside The Page.

I liked the short stories "Identity Theft", "My Mother Dancing", and the "Faery Handbag." Also, the essays on sci fi were interesting.