Nebula Award Stories Nine

Nebula Awards Showcases #9

by Kate Wilhelm (editor)

Science Fiction

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

241 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Kate Wilhelm’s first short story, “The Pint-Sized Genie” was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers.

Wilhelm’s works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries; her novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Quark, Orbit,  Magazine of Fantasy and ScienceFiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,  Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.

Kate Wilhelm is the widow of acclaimed science fiction author and editor, Damon Knight (1922-2002), with whom she founded the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and the Milford Writers’ Conference, described in her 2005 non-fiction work, STORYTELLER. They lectured together at universities across three continents; Kate has continued to offer interviews, talks, and monthly workshops.

Kate Wilhelm has received two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction. 

Kate’s highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel.

Reviews

[Stephanie Ricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very, very mixed bag, as these collections usually are. Interesting mainly for a short scifi story written by a very young George R.R. Martin, a solid desert fantasy by Vonda McIntyre, and a very alien romance/death story by James Tiptree. "Shark" was truly awful and should've been a comedy (Dude's girlfriend wants to be a shark for inexplicable reasons, dude agrees to help her transplant her brain into a shark, girlfriend--predictably--eats dude). Harlan Ellison's "Deathbird" was intriguing but so bizarre that I couldn't enjoy the process of disentangling some sense from it.

[Jim Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

At an upcoming science fiction convention, I'm part of a panel discussion on the science fiction and fantasy of 1973. This Nebula awards story collection -- which features the Nebula-winning fiction for that year, plus several of the runners up -- was a good place to start preparation. I'd previously read perhaps two-thirds of the stories in the book, but they were worth rereading, and the new-to-me stories were good finds.

The two best in the volume were Gene Wolfe's "The Death of Doctor Island" and Vonda McIntyre's marvelous "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand." The former won the award for best novella (it would lose the Hugo to Tiptree's "The Girl Who Was Plugged In") and the latter won for best novelette (it would lose the Hugo to Ellison's "The Deathbird"). In both cases I thought the Nebula winners were a bit better, though the Hugo winners were respectable choices.

James Tiptree's strange "Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death," about a truly alien species, won for best short story. It lost the Hugo to Ursula Le Guin's classic "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omegas," which wasn't n0minated for the Nebula. Given the status the Le Guin story now has, that's surprising, but the Tiptree story is a strong one so it's not a bad choice.

Harlan Ellison's "The Deathbird" is a hard one to evaluate. The basic story, involving the creation of the world, the story of the Snake, and so on, is a good one, but Ellison chose to insert sections such as "Topics for Discussion," "Recommended Reading," and a multiple-choice quiz. I often like post-modernist and experimental fiction, but I'm really not sure that these additions added anything to this story.

Also included are good stories by George Martin, Norman Spinrad, and Norman Spinrad (plus one by Carol Emshwiller, which was a strange addition in that it was not a Nebula nominee). It also includes an essay by Ben Bova and a summary of the year in science fiction by Damon Knight.

[Natalie Ingalls · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mostly exceptional collection of stories, with a few misses. Loved the variety of styles and subject matter, there's definitely something for everybody here. With Morning Comes Mistfall and A Thing of Beauty were my two favorites and very easy to digest, while stories like Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death and The Deathbird were a lot more experimental (I was shocked to find myself tearing up at the dog essay in The Deathbird). Shark was a total dud but the brief The Childhood of the Human Hero was an unexpected yet touching finale. I am inclined to read more Nebula anthologies!

[Jeff Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Re-read this after nearly 50 years and it's not aged well. Bizarrely, there is no contents page listing the short stories in the anthology. Most are now unreadable though and I found myself fast forwarding through them. A couple are still reasonably engaging. Strange how some SF has dated so badly and other material has stood the test of time.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

"A Thing of Beauty" was the only story that kept me from giving this book one star. I actually enjoyed that one. (I also thought "Shark" and "With the Morning Comes Mistfall" were okay.) Many of the stories were not what I would consider science fiction; they were man vs. nature (or man vs. man-who-acts-like-an-animal) stories with a lot of internal action -- just the kind of stories I hate to read. Plus some of the pieces had an anti-Christian bias, combined with (in the case of the essays) a presumption that all readers would share that prejudice. I should have quit the book 25 pages in but kept thinking I'd like the next story more.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

8 stories:

***** The Death of Dr. Island (1973) • Gene Wolfe
**** Shark (1973) • Edward Bryant
** With Morning Comes Mistfall (1973) • George R. R. Martin
**** Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand (1973) • Vonda N. McIntyre
* The Deathbird (1973) • Harlan Ellison
* A Thing of Beauty (1973) • Norman Spinrad
***** Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death (1973) • James Tiptree, Jr.
** The Childhood of the Human Hero (1973) • Carol Emshwiller

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is surprising how fresh most of these stories from the early ‘70s are. It just goes to show that good writing ages very slowly. Stories like Harlan Ellison’s “Deathbird” and James Tiptree’s “Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death” alone make this collection worth picking up. The collection is also a strong reminder that science fiction at the time was in the midst of its New Wave movement.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better-than-average collection of science fiction stories and a couple of non-fiction pieces by established writers. The best of the lot is Ellison's "Deathbird" of which the best part is about his dog.

[Richp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most SF fans will find something to like, and something not so good. Thinking back to those days, these stories represent the type of stuff that was being published fairly well. With time and experience, I am less impressed than I would have been then, and my rating is a low 4, not a high one.