Nebula Award Stories 17

Nebula Awards Showcases #17

by Joe Haldeman (Editor)

This anthology of award winners and nominees includes an excerpt from Gene Wolfe's "The Claw of the Conciliator," Poul Anderson's "The Saturn Game," and Michael Bishop's "The Quickening" and stories by John Varley, Jack Dann, William Gibson, and Gardner Dozois

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

228 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1983

About the author

Brother of Jack C. Haldeman II

Haldeman is the author of 20 novels and five collections. The Forever War won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975. Other notable titles include Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works "Graves," "Tricentennial" and "The Hemingway Hoax." Starbound is scheduled for a January release. SFWA president Russell Davis called Haldeman "an extraordinarily talented writer, a respected teacher and mentor in our community, and a good friend."

Haldeman officially received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2010 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at the Nebula Awards Weekend in May, 2010 in Hollywood, Fla.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

There used to be an annual volume of winners of the Nebula Awards, which the Science Fiction Writers of America present every year to what their membership votes as the best in different lengths from everything in the genre published the previous year. Each volume was edited by a different well-known genre author; Haldeman's turn came in 1983 for the awards presented in 1982 to the stories that won in 1981. His introduction was rather dry, as were the recap pieces by Baird Searles and Algis Budrys. Curiously, the best short story winner is not included, but I did rather enjoy the novelette and novella winners by Michael Bishop and Poul Anderson. I did not enjoy the excerpt from the novel winner by Gene Wolfe, as I'm rather opposed to the excerpt process in general. My favorite was probably one of the runners-up, Johnny Mnemonic by William Gibson, though the Gardner Dozois story is good, too.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading some mediocre short story collections, it's nice to dip into some quality picks like these again. Some highlights include:

Venice Drowned by Kim Stanley Robinson is light on genre elements, but heavy on the kind of melancholy desolation that makes any story a home run in my book.

Going Under by Jack Dann is novel and sharp. The kind of piece that doesn't fit cleanly into the genre archetypes that you've read a thousand times before.

Johnny Mnemonic by William Gibson is another punch of novelty that I enjoyed even as someone who wasn't enchanted by Neuromancer.

I seldom enjoy Poul Anderson, but The Saturn Game was structurally quite and might be the best thing I've read from him. A team of astronauts who are playing a fantasy roleplaying game begin to combine reality with fantasy as a mission goes awry: it's a really fun premise and while it doesn't entirely stick the landing, it's still an interesting journey.

The Quickening by Michael Bishop features a lot of standard apocalyptic hallmarks, but he's got the old formula humming. Similar to my experience of reading Stephen King's often overlooked Cell: we get an apocalypse that feels fresh and fleshed-out without resorting to wallowing in the kind of cliches that plague series like Deathlands and the Survivalist, etc, etc.

This collection loses some ground with me only in that it devotes space to an excerpt from Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolf instead of containing the winner of the Nebula for best short story. Not containing the winning story is pretty wild for a collection like this, and filling space with an excerpt, regardless of the quality of the novel, is kind of useless for me personally. Even if you don't already have a copy of Claw, what good is a preview like this?

[DoodleBug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good stories in here. While the politically left-leaning bias is evident, it's not as overpowering as it is in more modern stories; the focus here is on creating a good story, not pushing extreme socio-political messages.

I picked this collection up specifically for "Johnny Mnemonic" by Gibson, and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Much better than the movie.

[Greg Burrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big Haldeman fan but he didn't add much to this collection, his intro is nothing special. Well worth it for a good overview of early 80s sci-fi short stories.

[Zaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction to the collection is a little long and unwieldy but I quite enjoyed most of the stories.

Venice Drowned by Kim Stanley Robinson — Vivid and prescient, this is a sorrowful study in resilience in the face of loss. (4 stars)

The Quiet by George Florance-Guthridge — Clunky and predictable, this awkward tale of a vengeful aborigine spent most of its capital inventing a vocabulary. (2 stars)

Going Under by Jack Dann — This surprising, surreal and somewhat cynical story prompted me to look for more of the author’s work. (4 stars)

Johnny Mnemonic by William Gibson — Gibson’s cyperpunk future is gritty, electric and so fun to visit. The image of a cyborg war dolphin hooked on heroin is indelibly etched in my brain. (5 stars)

Zeke by Timothy Robert Sullivan — This peculiar tale of an empathetic alien creature is my favorite in the collection. (5 stars)

The Saturn Game by Paul Anderson — I ultimately couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief sufficiently to buy the fantasy role playing game that distracts the protagonist from their space mission in this well-constructed novella. (4 stars)

Disciples by Gardner Dozois — I didn’t get a lot out of a grumpy grifter witnessing The Rapture. (2 stars)

The Quickening — This strange and thought provoking description of a global reshuffling of the population stuck with me. (4 stars)

The Pusher — A troubling exploration of one man’s peculiar method of connecting with others in the face of time dilation. (4 stars)

The excerpt of The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe was intriguing enough to interest me in the full novel.

[Timothy]

10 stories:

(6/10 read)

* Venice Drowned (1981) • Kim Stanley Robinson
**** The Quiet (1981) • George Guthridge
** Going Under (1981) • Jack Dann
Johnny Mnemonic (1981) • William Gibson
Zeke (1981) • Tim Sullivan
** The Saturn Game (1981) • Poul Anderson
Disciples (1981) • Gardner Dozois
The Quickening (1981) • Michael Bishop
*** The Pusher (1981) • John Varley
***** The Claw of the Conciliator (Excerpt) (1981) • Gene Wolfe

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 07.06.85