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The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 (Nebula Awards #12)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 73 ratings · 22 reviews

With this inaugural volume at Tor, the annual Nebula Award collection is reborn as a fiction-only anthology. This collection of nominees for 2010’s Nebula Awards includes all of the prior year’s most celebrated stories, and will be published in time for the 2011 Nebula Awards in May, 2011.

2009’s award winners, announced in May 2010, include Kage Baker’s novella “The Women...more

Paperback, The cover image is copyrighted to Shutterstock., 416 pages

Published May 24th 2011 by Tor Books (first published May 2011)

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May 24, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-or-review-copy, fantasy, scifi, read-in-2011, short-stories, tor

While not every story within the Showcase was a homerun for me, this is quite a compendium of talent and is worth taking a look at. With authors like N. K. Jemisin, Neal Barrett, Jr., Rachel Swirsky and many more, there should be something here that could please nearly every taste. However, it is worth noting that, as with anything of this nature, some stories and novellas will please readers more than others, depending on individual taste. Regardless, there are some heavy-hitting authors here t...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Noor Jahangir rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, fantasy

Put together an eclectic collection of Nebula award winning short stories and novelettes, as well as a full length novella selected by Kevin J Anderson and you know you’re in for a treat. Each story is distinct in its style, but what all of them have in common is that they are well-written, original and challenging. As the title suggests, this huge tome cannot be read in one sitting, nor fully done justice to in a short review. I will however note the stories that stood out for me, in the order...more Put together an eclectic collection of Nebula award winning short stories and novelettes, as well as a full length novella selected by Kevin J Anderson and you know you’re in for a treat. Each story is distinct in its style, but what all of them have in common is that they are well-written, original and challenging. As the title suggests, this huge tome cannot be read in one sitting, nor fully done justice to in a short review. I will however note the stories that stood out for me, in the order they appeared in the anthology.
First up is “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela” by Saladin Ahmed. It begins like a traditional Arabian Nights tale with a young court physician who has been exiled by his master for an indiscretion to a remote desert settlement. The village contains the usual mixture of gossips, do-gooders and nay-sayers, indeed the first part of the story comes across as a black comedy that wouldn’t be out of place in the Thousand and One Nights. But then things turn a lot more sinister when the physician’s services are called upon by Abdel Jameela, the local pariah who is said to be married to a woman who dabbles in black magic.
“Bridesicle” by Will McIntosh is also another that stood out for me, for its interesting take on the use of cryogenics. In the near future, people can take out insurance to have yourself or a loved one frozen until a cure can be found for their ailments; even if they are newly dead. When one young lady finds herself waking up to a man leaning over her, she realises that she had been in an accident and as a result has been frozen. However, things have changed a great deal since she was put under. She has become part of a collection of frozen postal-order brides that men can date and then chose to ‘defrost’ if they wish to marry them.
Then there is the novelette, “Divining Light” by Ted Kosmatka, who manages the impossible in this story by making Physics accessible to the lay reader. The story follows a burnt-out physicist who is being given a second chance by a college buddy to re-establish himself. He is given access to a veritable cornucopia of lab equipment and an open cheque-book to research whatever he pleases. Amongst the containers he discovers the tools to replicate the real science ‘double-slit experiment’, to see for himself how light can change from waves to particles, depending on how it is decoded or perceived by a viewer. Kosmatka then has the character take the next leap into discover, by introducing non-human observers, starting with small lab animals and working his way up through the various species. But the world isn’t ready for what he discovers . . . It’s safe to say that this story blew my mind, and as a stand-alone merits the full five stars!
Other notable stories include Rachel Swirsky’s retelling of the story of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, “A Memory of Wind”, which casts a fresh perspective on the Trojan War. Eugie Foster’s “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest: Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman Beast” is a story about a future where people have lost all sense of personal identity and only find expression through the various personas imprinted on their masks. This one resonated with Orwell’s “1984” and Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”. The anthology also contains a number of Rhysling Award winning poems, one of which I found quite emotive, “Song for an Ancient City” by Amal El-Mohtar. Also featured in the collection are stories by SFWA Author Emeritus Neal Barrett Jr. and SFWA Grandmaster Damon Knight.
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Oct 29, 2012 Jarezal rated it 2 of 5 stars

Pocos relatos de esta antología me han gustado y varios de ellos se han hecho incluso pesados de leer.

De la categoría Short Story, únicamente destacaría dos; I Remember the Future y Bridesicle siendo esta mi favorita y la que creo que se hubiera merecido el premio, al menos por su original concepto.

La primera historia trata de un escritor de ciencia ficción ya en sus últimos años de vida y que no se siente demasiado querido por su familia. Según va hablando con su hija, va recordando fragmentos...more

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Jun 17, 2011 Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthology, fantasy, science-fiction, short-story-collection, www-fantasyliterature-com-review

The Nebula Awards are one of the great institutions in science fiction and fantasy. Each year since 1965, the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have voted for the Best Novel, Novella (40,000-17,500 words), Novelette (17,500-7,500 words), and Short Story (less than 7,500 words) in SF and fantasy. Compiling a list of the nominees and winners for all those years would get you an excellent reading list and a comprehensive cross-view of the best that can be found in...more The Nebula Awards are one of the great institutions in science fiction and fantasy. Each year since 1965, the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have voted for the Best Novel, Novella (40,000-17,500 words), Novelette (17,500-7,500 words), and Short Story (less than 7,500 words) in SF and fantasy. Compiling a list of the nominees and winners for all those years would get you an excellent reading list and a comprehensive cross-view of the best that can be found in the genres. To make this task easier, every Nebula Award since the first one has had a corresponding book that collected some of the stories, ballots and related texts. The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011, edited by Kevin J. Anderson, is the first one of these to be released by Tor.

First thing to be aware of, and just to avoid any possible confusion for people who may be new to this particular format: the annual Showcase is timed to be released around the following year’s Nebula Awards ceremony. This means that this specific book, The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011, presents the winners and nominees from the 2010 Nebula ballot, which in turn means that it contains stories that were all originally published in 2009.

Taking a look at the Table of Contents for this anthology, it’s hard not to feel that this book offers truly excellent value for your money: it contains every single nominated short story and novelette on the final 2010 ballot, as well as the winning novella in its entirety. There are also short features about, and sample stories by, the 2010 SFWA Author Emeritus (Neal Barrett, Jr.) and the 2010 SFWA Grand Master (Joe Haldeman), and the winning poems in the three Rhysling Award categories for SFF poetry. There’s no excerpt from the winning novel, but as it is, the book still offers up a lot of great science fiction and fantasy in one affordable volume.

In the short story section, you’ll find stories by Saladin Ahmed, Michael A. Burstein, N.K. Jemisin, James Patrick Kelly, Will McIntosh and (winner) Kij Johnson. My favorites among the nominated stories are Will McIntosh’s “Bridesicle,” which applies the concept of the “mail order bride” to cryogenic storage in a chilling and touching way, and James Patrick Kelly’s “Going Deep,” a subtle story about a disgruntled teenager growing up alone without her spacer mother. Both of these are gorgeous, memorable stories that hint at much more than they explicitly describe — the kind of story you could imagine building a novel around. The Nebula went to Kij Johnson’s “Spar,” a shocking and original story that challenges the boundaries of comfort. “Spar” was originally published in Clarkesworld.

The novelette section contains entries by Paolo Bacigalupi, Michael Bishop, Richard Bowes, Ted Kosmatka, Rachel Swirsky, and (winner) Eugie Foster. Unlike the short story section, which contained a few stories I personally wasn’t wild about, each of the included novelettes is nothing less than excellent, making it hard to pick a favorite. The winning novelette, Eugie Foster’s “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Blue Mask, Gentleman, Beast,” won the Nebula and was originally published in Interzone. It’s a brilliant piece of fiction, but my personal favorite here was still Paolo Bacigalupi’s “The Gambler,” offering a realistic look at what the news media is even now turning into. Also gorgeous is Ted Kosmatka's “Divining Light,” which combines a very hard SF concept with very human emotion in a way that’s reminiscent of that other brilliant short fiction writer called Ted (Chiang). Ah hell, all the nominated novelettes are great — just read them all.

Closing out the prose material from the 2010 ballot is Kage Baker’s “The Women of Nell Gwynne’s,” which won the award for Best Novella. This story is connected to the author’s acclaimed Company series, set in the same period as her novel Not Less Than Gods, which also mentions some of its characters. I highly recommend it to everyone who loved the Company series. “The Women of Nell Gwynne’s” was originally published by Subterranean Press.

Aside from all this excellent prose found on the 2010 Nebula ballot, The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 contains a few tasty extras. There’s “Getting Dark,” a truly stunning story from SFWA Author Emeritus Neal Barrett, Jr., and “A !Tangled Web”, a hilarious story by SFWA Grand Master Joe Haldeman that may surprise people who only know the author from his classic SF novel The Forever War. There’s also a transcript of the funny and touching speech Connie Willis gave about/to Joe Haldeman during the award ceremony. The book also contains the three lovely Rhysling Award-winning poems, one by Amal El-Mohtar and two by Geoffrey A. Landis. Finally, each short story and novelette is preceded by a short introduction by the author and followed by a brief, informative author bio. Sadly, Kage Baker passed away in 2010, so for “The Women of Nell Gwynne’s” there’s instead a brief, touching essay by her sister, Kathleen Bartholomew.

The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 offers a wonderful and generous sample of the best SFF has to offer. It’s a great snapshot of the genre, presented in a wonderful format and at a very reasonable price. I’m already looking forward to next year’s installment!

(This review was also published at www.fantasyliterature.com on 6/17/2011.)(less)

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Oct 07, 2011 Shellie (Layers of Thought) rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: readers and writers of SFF andH

Shelves: spec-fic-science-fiction, genre-poetry-short-stories-plays, blog-reviews, award-hugo-nebula, read-in-2011, spec-fic-horror, spec-fic-fant-slipstream-magicreali, favorites

Original and a more complete review posted at Layers of Thought.

An incredible collection of short stories, novelettes, one novella, poetry and more -representing the best in the science fiction and fantasy field published in 2009. All chosen by peers from the SFWA –Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.

In summary: I enjoyed every story in this great anthology, one of which is the best short stories I have ever read. Yep, it was that good. Subjective star ratings are shown for each ind...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Ken rated it 3 of 5 stars

- "Divining Light" makes one think about the nature of reality long thereafter. This brilliantly creative writing is an excellent read for anyone who always wants to "understand" the world of quantum mechanics but never got beyond high school math. This story reminds me of the classic Clarke's story, "Nine Billion Names of God"

- The nebula winning story "Spar" is, imho, nothing other than alien porn, disguised as something more meaningful like "Communication is key...."

- Novellette winner "Sinne...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Naomi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, science-fiction, nebula-winner, short-stories

I really enjoyed it and as usual from reading an anthology, discovered a whole list of authors to explore. The author intros to each story really added to the reading.
I especially liked "Divining Light" by Ted Kosmatka, "I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said" by Richard Bowes, and "A !Tangled Web" by Joe Haldeman.
Thanks, Paul, for the copy!

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Sep 07, 2012 Johanne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

AS is usual with these collections mostly good stories with a couple of iffy stories and a couple of excellent ones. The issue as always with Science fiction collections is that it covers such a broad range of sub-genres fantasy, steam-punk, dystopias etc and it is therefore unlikely to please everyone - I rarely find anything in fantasy that I like and much steam punk leaves me cold. My favourite was probably Kage Baker's offering but choices are often mood dependant..

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Jul 25, 2011 David Littlewood rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This was more science fantasy than science fiction and I usually prefer the latter. However there was an excellent novella, "Divining Light", by Ted Kosmatka, based on the wave vs particle theory of light in quantum mechanics. In addition the novella, "The Women of Nell Gwynne's", by Kage Baker was a wonderful example of steampunk. I've already reserved a copy of her last novel at the library and will probably read everything that she wrote.

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Mar 25, 2012 Robert Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars

I give it a three because it had some really good stories, but then it had some I really didn't care for.

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Sep 21, 2012 Caitlin Brook rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not too bad a collection of stories, though I'm not convinced that they are all SF.

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Jan 27, 2013 Kieran rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An interesting mix of stories from old and new SF authors.

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Mar 09, 2013 Cherie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, short-stories

Best story in the anthonogy was "The women of Nell Gwynnes" by Kage Baker.

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Sep 02, 2012 Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some really good stories in here, but a few that I really didn't enjoy.

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Aug 24, 2012 Sash Uusjärv rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Väga hea raamat, kui kaks täiesti mõttetut lugu (Michael Bishop ja Richard Bowes) välja arvata. Ja meeldiv on tõdeda, et Nebula saajate ning nominentide hulgas on ka nii palju naisi - tervelt viis!
Mõned asjad lugesin pärast lõpetamist kohe uuesti üle, mälu värskendamise mõttes, et kas ikka olid nii head (Kij Johnson, Will McIntosh, Ted Kosmatka). Olid küll. Soovitan soojalt!

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Sep 24, 2012 Dana rated it 4 of 5 stars

A good collection of stories. Some of them really got to me, others...not so much. Really, really did not like the award winner, "Spar." In fact, I found it just downright offensive that it won in the first place when there were so many other wonderful runner-ups! Overall, decent collection.

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Aug 26, 2011 Bill rated it 1 of 5 stars

Bad collection. I kept hoping the next short story would be good...it never was.

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Aug 28, 2011 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi-bkgrp-selection, science-fiction

I've been reading these for the last 10 years or so and I have to say I liked the new format. As with most short story collections, some stories are better than others and it's a matter of personal preference.

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Aug 27, 2011 Tiffany rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthology, science-fiction

The short fiction was delightful (though I really couldn't get into the winner "Spar") but most of the longer stuff I skipped over after a few pages. "Bridesicle" remains my favorite.

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Sep 20, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: shorts, fiction, 2011

Keeping track of books, I'm realizing how much I actually do read short story collections.

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Mar 08, 2012 Vince rated it 4 of 5 stars

An enjoyable collection of short stories, novellettes, and a novella. Chewy, interesting, thought-candy.

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Feb 04, 2013 Aphie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

When scifi is good it is quite amazing!

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May 14, 2013 Francisco is currently reading it · review of another edition

May 13, 2013 Jason Manford marked it as to-read

May 11, 2013 L. Miller marked it as to-read

May 08, 2013 Filipe is currently reading it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

May 03, 2013 Yunaine marked it as to-read

May 01, 2013 Mckinley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-story, scifi, hugo-nebula

Apr 28, 2013 Iulian marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: my-books

May 13, 2013 Carly is currently reading it

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About Kevin J. Anderson

Pseudonyms: Gabriel Mesta, K.J. Anderson

He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and is the co-author of the Dune prequels. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. He has also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in coll...more

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Books by Kevin J. Anderson

Jedi Search (Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #1)

Dark Apprentice (Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #2)

Champions of the Force (Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, #3)

Blood Lite (Blood Lite, #1; Dark-Hunter Universe, #15.5; Hellchaser, #1; Otherworld Stories, #8.2; The Dresden Files, #10.1)

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The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 (Nebula Awards #12)

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