Nebula Awards Showcase 2012

Nebula Awards Showcases #46

by James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel (Editor)

The Nebula Awards Showcase volumes have been published annually since 1966, reprinting the winning and nominated stories in the Nebula Awards, voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. .

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Anthologies, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

335 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

James Patrick Kelly (please, call him Jim) has had an eclectic writing career. He has written novels, short stories, essays, reviews, poetry, plays and planetarium shows. His short novel Burn won the Science Fiction Writers of America's Nebula Award in 2007. He has won the World Science Fiction Society’s Hugo Award twice: in 1996, for his novelette “Think Like A Dinosaur” and in 2000, for his novelette, “Ten to the Sixteenth to One.” His fiction has been translated into eighteen languages. He produces two podcasts: James Patrick Kelly's StoryPod on Audible and the Free Reads Podcast (Yes, it’s free). His most recent publishing venture is the ezine James Patrick Kelly’s Strangeways. His website is www.jimkelly.net.

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories Included:
Ponies - Kij Johnson nasty little girls and fitting in

Sultan of the Clouds - Geoff Landiss terraforming

Map of Seventeen - Chris Barzak growing up

I Awoke and Found Me Here on This Cold Hills Side - James Triptree, Jr society/aliens

Pishaach - Sweta Narayan being the outsider even when on the inside

Blackout/All Clear (excerpt) - Connie Willis I won't touch this one

Arvies - Adam Troy-Castro umm...how to describe? The depths to which society has sunk; satisfing the desires of a few at the expense of others humanity

How Interesting: A Tiny Man - Harlan Ellison society can't mind it's own business anymore; mutliple endings.

Jaguar House in Shadow - Alliete de Bodard

The Green Book - Amal El-Mohtar facinating...

And I Shall Wear Midnight (excerpt) - Terry Pratchett Tiffany Aching series


The downside with this years selection - I had read about 1/3 of the stories last year as part of the Hugo Nominee packet.

The upside with this years selection - I had read about 1/3 of the stories already!

What is fascinating to me is the use of a novelette or short story format as social commentary. It might be about current of modern day topics such as Ponies and how nasty little girls can be. (Hey, I'm a girl - I could totally relate.) Or Harlan Ellison's How Interesting: A Tiny Man with societies penchant for sticking our noses into everything these days and slapping it up on the web.

And more frequently, about where society might be headed, as in Arvies by Adam Troy-Castro.

A novel length isn't quite capable of that impact necessary to get a social message across in my opinion. There are too many other factors that need to be plugged into a novel and the message is too easily buried. Not to say those novels aren't being written (Kim Stanley Robinson comes to mind), or have been written (Fahrenheit 451) but it's a harder length to work with.

So overall, I thought the Nebula Awards 2012 was a pretty good selection. Recommended.

(August 2012 Bkgrp selection)

[Jeremy Preacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never followed the Nebulas, so it was interesting to read through this years' field. As might be expected, I liked some of the stories and excerpts quite a lot, and others left me completely cold. The overall quality was of course high, though, and if you like SF short stories at all, this is definitely worth a read. I prefer Dozois's Year's Best in general, but this represents a wider range of tastes.

[dreams_of_a_butterfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Info
Book: Nebula Awards Showcase 2012
Author: James Patrick Kelly
Series: Nebula Awards (13th book)
Length: Novel (3 poems, 4 short-stories, 4 novelettes, 2 novellas, 2 excerpts)
PoV: Varying
Awards: None

Summary
Collected since 1966, the Nebula Awards Showcase volumes, as true to their name, showcase the winners of last year's Awards. (links to individual pages here)
Go to a cutting off party in Ponies , explore the mysteries and schemes of cloudy Venus in The Sultan of the Clouds , be bind to The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen's Window , and read an excerpt from the time-travelling heroes of Blackout .

Review
This is one of the more enjoyable Nebulas, however, as usual in any short story collection, the qualities vary. I'll present an micro-review of all the stories in order as they are presented:

Ponies: I already have a review of this story, see it here.

The Sultan of the Clouds: Good enough, and readable even though there's evidence that there's a prequel of sorts, but it just didn't excite me.

Map of Seventeen: I liked this, though there still was the problem with Sultan, however it's not as obvious, the whole story is worth a 3.

And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side: A neat story, with an excellent ending. Do you heed the madman's warnings or not?

In the Astronaut Asylum: Now, my low opinion of this may be due to the fact that I just don't like poems, especially long ones, but... Hold on. Now that I think about it, my low opinion of this is due to the fact that I don't like poems!

Pishaach: Very beautiful story, with a simply lovely way of writing.

Blackout (excerpt): When I started this, I really wasn't expecting this to be that good. Well, it isn't, but it's still good in a neat smile way.

Bumbershoot: I'm not really sure that I get this. Nor am I sure that this is long enough to review.

Arives: Whilst I imagine that the style must be off-putting to some, I liked it well enough. Thought-provoking story about babies and abortion. Is it okay to kill a baby that will only suffer?

How Interesting: A Tiny Man: Same problem as The Sultan of the Clouds, it just doesn't hold the interest well enough to make me really care.

The Jaguar House, in Shadow: This is one of those stories that really needs to be longer, not so I can savor it more, but so I can understand the world more. The ending was enlightening, making a villain seem a tortured person who's just trying to protect her world, and isn't sure if what she's doing is for the good of it--or will rot everything she knows.

The Green Book: Another one of those stories that needs more elaboration, but it's good nonetheless.

That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made: I'll say just one word: okay. But not that good. (okay, I didn't say just one word)

I Shall Wear Midnight (excerpt): Has promise. I may read the novel, which so far looks to be at least not a one-star.

To Theia: Whilst I am not a poem person, as I stated in my mini-review of In the Astronaut Asylum, this is both short enough and good enough to make me forget the fact that I do not like poems.

The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window: I love this one. The main views the world in black and white, but I like that. I like almost everything about this story, and it is captivating.

Overall, this is one of the better short story collections in existence. (obviously, since everything in it has either won the Nebula Award, or is an nominee, or has won another award related to the Nebula)


This review was made with help from the Review writing topic from the Challenge Factory group. Thanks!

[Răzvan Ursuleanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Îmi pare rău că editura Trei a abandonat seria antologiilor “Nebula” după doar trei volume, ba chiar mai rău îmi pare că editura Trei a abandonat publicarea oricărui roman de ficțiune științifică, dar atât cât a durat, a fost frumos...

Despre texte :

Premiul Nebula 2012 pentru povestire
“Ponei” de Kij Johnson, sau momentul în care am descoperit că pe cât de prost poate Kij Johnson să scrie (“Coabitare”, povestirea care a câștigat premiul Nebula în 2011, este unul dintre cele mai slabe texte de care din nefericire m-am împiedicat), pe atât de bine poate să scrie (povestirea “Ponei” este briliantă, o adevărată încântare, chiar nu văd cum un alt text ar fi putut să-i răpească premiul).
Nota 10

Premiul Nebula 2012 pentru povestire (la egalitate cu “Ponei” de Kij Johnson)
“Ce interesant, un omuleț” de Harlan Ellison, sau cum am descoperit cu părere de rău că un scriitor inegalabil a scris o povestire care nu este egală cu “Ponei”, nici pe departe.
Nota 7,5

Premiul Nebula 2012 pentru nuveletă
“Leviatanul acela pre carele l-ai zidit” de Eric James Stone, sau un copy paste de la “Ponei” - “briliantă, o adevărată încântare, chiar nu văd cum un alt text ar fi putut să-i răpească premiul”.
Nota 10

Premiul Nebula 2012 pentru nuvelă
“Doamna care-a cules flori roșii sub fereastra reginei” de Rachel Swirsky, sau “ce poate face o femeie atunci când dragostea, timpul și adevărul nu se potrivesc unul cu toate celelalte?”
Nota 10

Premiul Nebula 2012 pentru roman
“Blackout/All Clear” de Connie Willis (fragment), sau cât de mult te poți enerva pentru că antologia nu include și restul romanului.
Fără notă

Alte texte finaliste :

“Sultanul norilor” de Geoff Landis, sau bucuria de a citi și povestiri în care planeta Venus joacă un rol principal, pentru că planeta Marte (această abonată la “Miss Sistemul Solar” în nenumărate cărți și filme science fiction) a început să fie un pic iritantă.
Nota 8,2

“Harta celor șaptesprezece” de Chris Barzak, sau despre cum se pot împleti, în aceeași nuveletă, un stil literar deosebit și o idee modestă.
Nota 7,9

“M-am deșteptat și m-am trezit aici, pe coasta dealului cea înghețată” de James Tiptree Jr., sau argumentul care ar putea să-l facă pe cititorul uman să reconsidere o ipotetică relație intimă cu o ființă extraterestră.
Nota 8,9

“În azilul astronauților” de Kendall Evans și Samantha Henderson, sau cum pot reuși unele poezii să treacă prin blindajul cititorului pentru care ficțiunea speculativă înseamnă doar proză.
Nota 8,8

“Pishaach” de Shweta Narayan, sau o nouă povestire despre metamorfi, din păcate însă la mult prea puține pagini distanță de textul similar a lui Chris Barzak pentru a o putea aprecia la justa sa valoare.
Nota 7,9

“Umbrela” de Howard Hendrix, sau cum NU pot reuși unele poezii să treacă prin blindajul cititorului pentru care ficțiunea speculativă înseamnă doar proză.
Nota 6,1

“VeRe” de Adam Troy-Castro sau unul dintre cele mai controversate texte SF din istoria acestui gen literar ce tratează tema aducerii pe lume a unui copil.
Nota 9,4

“Casa Jaguarului, din umbră” de Aliette de Bodard, sau un upgrade considerabil pentru aproape toate povestirile cu iz maiaș scrise de Michael A. Stackpole.
Nota 8

“Cartea verde” de Amal El-Mohtar, sau cum se pot citi două cărți în același timp.
Nota 9,1

“Pentru Theia” de Ann K. Schwader, sau clipele de totală stupefacție la aflarea veștii că o poezie a câștigat premiul Nebula pentru nuvelă… până să-mi dau seama că este doar o simplă greșeală de tipar.
Nota 5

Premiul Andre Norton 2012
“Voi purta miez-de-noapte” de Terry Pratchett (fragment), sau încă un motiv pentru care ar trebui să citim absolut tot ce a scris Terry Pratchett.
Fără notă

http://www.bucurestifm.ro/2024/06/25/...

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than average anthology, with a few real gems.

I loved Arvies, How Interesting: A Tiny Man, The Jaguar House in Shadow, The Green Book, The Leviathan, and The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen's Window.

Those stories were all simply wonderful. Weeks after reading each I would find myself thinking about the characters while taking a walk, or about the world. The concepts were all novel and well executed.

The excerpts were great, too. I'm immediately going to read I Shall Wear Midnight based on the excerpt. Wonderful little story!

So why not 5 stars? Frankly, the first third of the collection was, for me, weak and full of the kinds of stories I just don't enjoy. I didn't like Ponies, Map of Seventeen, Pischaach...and basically any that were trying to work out teenage or childhood social anxiety in some way. Not my bag.

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a long time to review this and I'm not going to do it right. Just so I remember, actually:
I skipped all poetry and excerpts. I gave up on reading The Sultan of the Clouds because the author seems to think he's so important and has a lot to say, but he actually just sounds like a boring white cis male (which I have no idea if he is, but).

For the ratings of what I actually read:

Ponies ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Map of Seventeen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
And I Awoke And Found Me Here On The Cold Hill's Side ⭐⭐⭐
Pishaach ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Arvies ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
How Interesting: A Tiny Man ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Jaguar House, In Shadow ⭐⭐⭐
The Green Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Lady Who Plucked Flowers Beneath The Queen's Window ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Scout · Rating 4 out of 5]

A diverse and interesting collection of science fiction and fantasy in a variety of forms. I would have loved to hear more from Kelly and Kessel about how the works were selected and arranged.

My favorites from the collection were: "Ponies", "Bumbershoot", and the stunning "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window". Both "The Sultan of the Clouds" and "The Leviathan Whom Thou Hast Made" had some super cool worldbuilding even though they left me cold in other ways.

[L. Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting selections from James Patrick Kelly -- slightly more variation than in previous years.

[Tomislav · Rating 5 out of 5]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ponies, by Kij Johnson (Nebula winner)
The Sultan of the Clouds, by Geoff Landis
Map of Seventeen, by Chris Barzak
And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side, by James Tiptree, Jr. (Solstice Award winner)
In the Astronaut Asylum, by Kendall Evans and Samantha Henderson
Pishaach, by Shweta Narayan
excerpt from Blackout/All Clear, by Connie Willis (Nebula winner)
Bumbershoot, by Howard Hendrix
Arvies, by Adam Troy-Castro
How Interesting: A Tiny Man, by Harlan Ellison (Nebula winner)
The Jaguar House, in Shadow, by Aliette de Bodard
The Green Book, by Amal El-Mohtar
That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made, by Eric James Stone (Nebula winner)
excerpt from I Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett (Andre Norton Award winner)
To Theia, by Ann K. Schwader
The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Windows, by Rachel Swirsky (Nebula winner)

I was reminded how I am reading fewer short works than I did a few years ago when I subscribed to Asimov's. By the copyright page, most of this material was published in venues less known than the remaining big name monthly SF magazines. That's an indication, I think, of one of the current trends in the world of SF.

This is the best of 2010, at least as voted in 2011 by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (which was formerly the Science Fiction Writers of America, but has been renamed to accurately convey a shift in its membership). The collection contains all short winners (short story, novella, novelette) and an excerpt from the winning novel - as well as some of the other nominees, and winners of a few related awards. With the exception of the poetry, which I have never learned to respect, and an excerpt from a Terry Pratchett book, whose work I find endlessly repetitive, the contents of this anthology are of outstanding literary quality. I ordered this within a few months of its publication, and now intend to make this annual anthology a regular read.

[Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read much SF for a while, so it was interesting to get some sense of what's going on these days. Judging from this book, one thing that isn't going on much is "hard" science fiction, where scientific ideas and speculation are front and center: the only story of this type was Geoff Landis, "The Sultan of the Clouds." I found the science in this story very interesting, though as a story I'd say it was decent but not great. The stories by James Tiptree, Jr., Adam Troy-Castro, and Eric James Stone would also count as science fiction, but not of the "hard" variety (and the Tiptree, Jr. story is from 1972, appearing in the book because she received an "impact on the field" award). The selection from Connie Willis's Blackout/All Clear is probably time travel SF, but the portion reprinted in the volume reads almost like straight historical fiction. It seems very well done, though; I may have to read the novel(s).

It was fun to see that Harlan Ellison is still writing stories and winning awards after all these years. And still with memorable titles, too; I really like the title "How Interesting: A Tiny Man." Didn't get much out of the story, though I enjoyed its quirkiness.

Almost everything else is pure fantasy. The best-written fantasy piece might be "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen's Window" by Rachel Swirsky.

After reading this book I looked at the list of past award-winners at the end. All of the stories from the very first year of the awards, 1965, sounded familiar; I checked my shelves and sure enough, I had the book that collected them along with a few others. I reread it and I think it holds up pretty well in comparison with the current volume.

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Nebula Awards Showcase 2012 presents a selection of winners and nominees for the Nebulas awards, including novel excerpts, novellas, novlettes, short stories, and poetry. Overall I enjoyed every story in this collect, from the straight scifi stories to the realms of fantasy.

There are many stories to love in this collection. Kij Johnson's "Ponies" is a disturbing portrayal of popularity and exclusion in young girls. "Map of Seventeen" by Christopher Barzak is a moving story about a young girl, frustrated with the world around her.

Shweta Narayan's "Pishaach" is about a girl who chooses to go mute when she learns about the mystical origins of her grandmother. She is taunted and treated as a witch, which in a way she is, as she holds sway over the local snakes with the power of her flute.

"Arvies" by Adam-Troy Castro is a delightfully disturbing tale about a future in which humanity doesn't look much like it does now (it may be for, against, or neutral on the subject of abortion, depending on your point of view, though I think it is more about the status of power in society).

Rachel Swirsky's "The Woman Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window" is a stunning, epic story from the point of view of a summoned spirit, spanning epochs. The woman/spirit is an all too human character, who would rather allow harm to come to others rather than sacrifice her beliefs.

And there were many others. All around a really wonderful collection.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I read a collection of short stories to see if my youthful fascination with the form will ever reappear – and I have to say that “Nebula Awards Showcase 2012” (Pyr, $17.95, 332 pages) restored a little of my faith. As always, there are some stories that just don’t work for me, but there were enough that did to make it worthwhile.

And overall, I think that’s true of most collections like this one. Each reader will like some stories, and be unmoved by others – but the categories will differ from person to person. So I don’t know if a book like “Nebula Awards Showcase 2012” is worth buying, but it’s probably worth checking out of the library.

[Anna C · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's obviously hard to make a composite score for a book of short stories from various authors, but overall I thought this was quite an enjoyable read. My favorites were "Ponies" (who knew a four page story could be so chilling??) "Arvies," "The Green Book" and "The Lady who Plucked Flowers Beneath the Queen's Window." A few of them, like "The Sultan of the Clouds" were a little disappointing and some, like "Blackout/All Clear were likely not given justice because they were excerpted from a larger work. Overall, an excellent read for anyone looking to stay up with what is currently happening in the speculative fiction scene.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology is truly fantastic!
The collection opens with "Ponies," by Kij Johnson, a piercing story about pretty girls with ponies. It made my eyes bug out; it was a stunning and heartbreaking take on the dark side of friendship and acceptance.
The book goes on to soar through many other memorable topics, including: a romantic adventure in the cloud cities of Venus, a future where death begins at birth, a Naga romance, a twentieth century Aztec society, a book with a mind of its own, and a Merman in the Midwest.

[Oliver Masciarotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, a very solid mix. In particular, I found Rachel Swirsky’s The lady who plucked red flowers beneath the queen's window to be a fantasy stunner, one of those stories that will remain with me for a long time. Another standout, Geoff Landis’ The sultan of the clouds; Wonderful hard science.

Other exceptional reads: Shweta Narayan’s Pishaach and old and new stuff from the ever entertaining James Tiptree, Jr. and Harlan Ellison. Recommended!

[DDog · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorites were "Ponies," "Map of Seventeen," "Pishaach," "Bumbershoot," "The Jaguar House, in Shadow," "The Green Book," "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made," "To Theia," and "The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window."

Disappointed by Ellison's winning story, and I would definitely have chosen THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS over BLACKOUT/ALL CLEAR for novel. Oh well.

[Besha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standouts: Christopher Barzak, Sweta Narayan, Kij Johnson.

Literally couldn't put it down, even while trying to stretch at the gym: Rachel Swirsky.

Skipped it because he's an insufferable wanker: Harlan Ellison™.

Almost as bad as I heard it was, but don't discount it just because of the solar whale rape: Brad Torgerson.

[Sarah Brehm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories I liked:
Ponies by Kij Johnson
The Sultan of the Clouds by Geoff Landis
Map of Seventeen by Chris Barzak
Arvies by Adam Troy-Castro
How Interesting: A Tiny Man by Harlan Ellison
That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made by Eric James Stone
excerpt from I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window by Rachel Swirsky

[Zerthimon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have appreciated a greater selection of short stories. Though individual works (Ponies, The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window) are excellent, I was left feeling like I'd been grazing from a combo platter.

[Norman Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

The preteen heir to a vast fortune recruits a renowned terraforming expert for a secret project in his floating Venusian city. This hard SF tale is brimming with interesting characters, political intrigue, and grand ideas.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read many short stories, but wanted to catch up on any recent developments in scifi fiction. This has a couple of my favorites (Connie Willis, Terry Pratchett) and a bunch of authors I don't know. So a satisfying foray into the format.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is so difficult to rate a collection of stories from so many different authors! Basically, I gave each story in the book a good go at it, but only the following really made an impression:

Ponies
Arvies
Tiny Man
Leviathan
The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers

[Shellie (Layers of Thought)]

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012...

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

[Laura Ruetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good compilation of stories and poetry. Some very magical and imaginative writing in this book

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

SOme interesting stories. More for the mood than the concepts.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Arvies" - no idea what the story is about but still gives me a chill from the first sentence to the last.

[Gail Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are several very memorable stories in this anthology. I especially like the last one.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

One or two really good stories, the others were kinda okay.

[Zane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and plausible setting.

Likable characters.