The main difference between the two (other than the content, of which more below) is that this volume concentrates purely on the fiction, at the expense of the not insubstantial amount of commentary and analysis in the Nebula Awards series. Which for me means that as I’ve read all the stories, it’s going to spend about 45 minutes in my hands as I write this, before being put on the bookshelf.

Nancy Kress’s ‘The Erdmann Nexus’ won the Best Novella award, and appeared in Asimov’s October/November 2008 issue, and appears in this volume. When it appears originally I wrote :

Kress on top form with a strong story to start the issue. There is an intriguing setup, as an alien vessel far distant reacts to something very unexpected, and we then meet Henry Erdman, an elderly physicist living in an assisted living facilty. Just how can these two events be related – for related they clearly are, and as Henry is setting out to deliver a lecture at his old university, something stops him in his tracks. Has he had a mini-stroke, or some other cerebral event to worry about? The story progresses through Henry and his fellow residents as each of them finds themselves similarly affected, with the alien spaceship homing in on Earth, alarmed that something is happening in an altogether unexpected and alarming manner. As the cerebral events increase in frequency and impact, the residents realise that they are in fact sharing experiences, and what is happening is that the increasing global population of the elderly has caused a switch to be triggered, as the combined experience, wisdom and intelligence is beginning to merge together and to reach out to the rest of the universe. Those affected are offered an opportunity to become one with the greater cosmos, although not all take it, and those left behind are left wondering.It’s a clever story, handling the varied elderly protagonists well, and certainly a welcome change to see older people having a more positive role to play in SF than as Alzheimer’s patients, as has been the case recently.

One of the runner’s up appears in this volume – Ian McDonald’s ‘The Tear’ which appeared originally in ‘Galactic Empires’, edited by Gardner Dozois, and difficult to obtain as it was published by the Science Fiction Book Club in the US. I certainly rated it when I read it :

The volume closes with a lengthy, dense and rewarding story of the far future, very much in a Stephen Baxter/Alastair Reynolds.Humanity has long since left Earth, spreading far and wide, and in a variety of guises. Empires have come and gone, and whilst humanity is now in many guises, we are very much still recognisably human.The story starts on a waterworld, with a young man approaching his coming of age – one in which he will move from being a singleton, to one who has several seperate facets of himself on which to draw. As he enters this period of change, so does his planet, as the distant cousins who have recently encircled their world, flee an even alien enemy. Through this several stages of development, we track the challenges he faces, and, through is longevity, his perspective on the challenges for the human race.

Also a runner-up and in this volume, and also from Asimovs October/November 2008 (which I noted at the time was an excellent issue), is Robert Reed’s ‘Truth’. And I was fulsome in my praises :

One of the best stories I’ve read for quite some time. It’s a gripping, complex, multi-layered story with so much going for it. There are a number of three-dimensional characters in the story. There is a prisoner, held in a secretive military installation for many years. There are two investigators, one of whom is the main protagonist and who has taken over, as a matter of urgency, from her predecessor, who has recently died (and despite being dead, he comes across as a more real character than many cardboard cutout characters in a lot of SF). There is the chief officer of the prison, who has a large part to play, but even small camoes such as the US President, and a guard, come across as real people.The central conceit is an intruiging one : is the prisoner really someone from the future, a Muslim terrorist/freedom fighter come back a couple of centuries to unleash hell on the decadent west? Have the recent events, post-9/11, including the devastating nuking of New York, been the result of his work, and those of his colleagues? Are there more terrorists amongst us?The investigator begins to get to know the prisoner, as we find out more about the mess that the world is getting into, and its impact on the main characters is explored. The ending is a doozy, which left this reader needing a couple of minutes to recover.

To be consistent with my reviews of the previous Hugo anthologies, I’ll mention the other nomiated stories, even though they don’t appear in this volume, but make clear they don’t appear in this volume.

Charles Coleman Finlay’s ‘The Political Prisoner’ appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction’s August 2008, and it really didn’t grab me at the time:

Finlay’s earlier story ‘The Political Officer’ garnered praise in many quarters, to the extent it was a Hugo nomination, although it didn’t move me greatly. This time Nikomedes is under cover on an alien planet, and there some identity hiding, spy thriller espionage excitement and shootouts, but not really a grabber for me. You can whizz through the story like a knife through butter, which The Da Vinci Code did to great commercial effect, but the speed of it makes it difficult to engage with the characters and their challenges. For me, more suited to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, or Ian Fleming’s Cold War Spy Story Magazine.

In contrast, Benjamin Rosenbaum and Cory Doctorow’s ‘True Names’, which appeared in Lou Ander’s ‘Fast Forward 2′ did grab me :

The longest story in the volume by far, and a mind-boggler. How’s this for an opening :

‘Beebe fried the asteroid to slag when it left, exterminating millions of itself.. The asteroid was a high-end system: a kilometer-thick shell of femtoscale crystalline lattices, running cool at five degrees kelvin, powered by a hot coare of fissiles. Quintillions of qubits, loaded up with powerful utilities and the caconical release of Standard Existence. Room for plenty of Beebe.’

And it just gets better. What is Beebe you ponder? After being a single entity at risk of destruction ‘..Beebe became a probability as much as a person: smeared out across a heptillion random, generative varied selves, a multiplicitous grinding macrocosm of rod-logic and qubits that computed deliberately corrupted versions of Beebeself in order that this evolution might yield higher orders of intelligence, and more stable survival strategies, smarter more efficient Beebes that would thrive until the silent creep of entropy extinguished every sentience.’

Rosentorow takes us into a future that it hi-tech, silicon rather than biological, with intelligences spinning off multiple instances of self, against a background of a galactic-spanning threat, but makes the entities one with which we can engage, showing how we it could be possible to retain those complex states which makes us human rather than simply been on/off binary states.

It’s one of the most sfnal SF stories I’ve read for a while, and it’s one of the stories that is a ‘must read’ for any serious SF reader.

 

Elizabeth Bear’s ‘Shoggoths in Bloom’, from Asimovs March 2008, won the Best Novella award. Whilst I found it clever, I wouldn’t have fingered it as a potential Hugo winner.

I’ve little knowledge of the Cthulhu mythos, so apologies if I’m missing a trick here. The story features shoggoths, jelly like creatures off the Maine coast. A young black academic visits to study the creatures, and it being the 1930s we find out a lot about being a black American at that time, with another war on the way. The academic finds out that it is not the race that evolves, but individual shoggoths – and he is offered an opportunity to offer leadership to the largely unthinking creatures he has been studying, who exist simply to obey. But rather than taking that opportunity, it is to France he heads, making that same evolutionary step himself.A clever story, with perhaps even more for Lovecraftian students. (I recall reading The Mountains of Madness, and by golly it gave me the willies!)

A runner-up in this category and also in this volume was John Kessel’s ‘Pride and Prometheus’ was orignally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in January 2008, but didn’t really grab my attention, with my review stating:

What I believe the younger generation call a “mash-up”. Kessel puts the Bennet family from Pride and Prejudice together with Victor Frankenstein. Kessel does a more than passable rendition of the writing style of Miss Austen, which will doubtless please those who like their fiction written in a style now two centuries old, although it can at times err on the pastiche, and I for one was reminded of the classic French & Saunders pisstake on such costume dramas on TV (“You suppose? You suppose? Madam, I find you very suppository!”)

The two unmarried Bennet daughters, Mary and Kitty, are in London, the younger, prettier, out to catch herself a man, like Mr Darcy, of some six thousands pounds per year. However, it is Mary who is smitten – by Mr Frankenstein. The creature also lurks, and the story leads a leisurely pace until a dreadful denoument, when young Kitty dies of a fever, and her body is resurrected by Frankenstein, to furnish the creature with a mate.Actually, this is a false denouement, as we find through means of a newspaper clipping a year hence, of the likely fate of several of the characters, although this rather wraps up the story post-haste and with less satisfaction than one would like.

Similarly a runner-up to Bear, and in this volume is James Alan Gardner’s ‘The Ray-Gun : a love story’, which appeared in Asimovs March 2008 issue when I opined:

Another clever and classy story. The central character is an alien weapon, which finds its way to Earth, and into the hands of a young nerdy guy. We follow him as the forces now at his power guide his development, through first love, through to increasingly obsessive behaviour. However, the weapon has more than simply brute force, and the understates unsettling nature of that very alien power finds a way to protect itself, that sees humanity once again as a small player in a big game.

The other two runners-up to Bear were Bacigalupi and Resnick, and if you had asked me ahead of reading the stories, I’d have been fairly confident that Bacigalupi would have provided the goods to tickle my fancy, ahead of Resnick. The opposite was the case. Go figure! Please note they don’t appear in this volume, but are here for the sake of completeness!

Paolo Bacigalupi’s ‘The Gambler’ appeared in Fast Forward 2, but didn’t really grab me as much as his stories normally do :

Bacigalupi explores the world of hi-tech internet media, through the eyes of someone working, but somewhat detached, from the hyper-obsessed American culture. One of the stars of his news gathering corporation gets a hot story and generates enough traffic to their site to guarantee bonuses all round. Having left a lot behind in his native Laos, Ong finds himself, instead of writing niche stories with low levels of footfall, he has a chance to hit the big time in being pitched in with a major celebrity from his home country and with, seemingly, a lot in common. However, it turns out that the celebrity has very much embraced the modern culture of the US, and he has to take a gamble on which route to take.

Mike Resnick’s ‘Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders’ appeared in Asimovs January 2008 and I wrote:

At the other end of the age range, is a very, very satisfying story from Resnick. Two old guys, sharing a flat in a retirement complex, are getting very near to the end of their lives and their almost life-long friendship. With creaking joints and failing organs, they reflect on their moment of first meeting, in the magic store which they visited as children. They reflect on that time, as young boys when all was possible, and indeed, Alastair Baffle seemed to suggest that even more was possible. Maury Gold is determined to see if the shop is still there. Against all the odds, of course, as he is 92, so the shop must be long gone. Nate Silver reluctantly accompanies him, and they find that not only is the shop still there, but so is the owner, and Mr Baffle appears to be not a year older. It appears that Baffle has much more to offer than sleight of hand tricks, and Gold is quite willing to take what is on offer, whilst Silver less so. It’s an extremely effective but gentle and subtle story.

 
In the Best Short Story category Ted Chiang’s ‘Exhalation’, from Eclipse 2, was the winner. But sadly the story doesn’t appear in this volume!

As you expect from Chiang, an inventive and expertly crafted tale. He smoothly posits a humanity in which lungs are replaced when empty of air, in a society constrained within a finite dome. What is not finite, in fact, is the oxygen which they breathe, and we follow one scientist as he explores the nature of their reliance on oxygen, and the implications of a supply that will not last much longer. One to be instantly re-read to savour the quality. And if you like short SF, and don’t have a copy of Chiang’s ‘Stories of Your Life’ collection, then I would suggest you rectify that situation.

Kij Johnson’s ’26 Monkeys’ appeared in Asimovs July 2008 issue, but didn’t grab me, and hasn’t upon re-reading it.

In which Aimee inherits a circus act involving 26 monkeys which disappear onstage. It’s a strange life for Aimee, but one that is a passing phase in her life, as she must pass on the act, but with it having changed her and her life. More of an F&SF kind of story, than a ‘mov’s.

And similarly, Mary Robinette Kowal’s ‘Evil Robot Monkey’ appeared in The Solaris Book of Science Fiction 2, and at the time I was similarly not whelmed

..very much a story from someone who has yet to breakout of the semipro ranks. A monkey with a digital implant, making it more human than simian, is upset by some schoolchildren who come to visit. Erm, that’s it.

The story has been subsequently anthologised in the year’s best volumes, so clearly I’m missing something!

Also a runner-up in this category, and also in the volume, and one which I did go for, was Michael Swanwick’s ‘From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled…’ which appared in Asimovs, February 2008, whence I writ:

The opening paragraph is a doozy – it describes the titular city on Europa, and does so quite beautifully across several sentences, and then kicks into a higher gear as the narrator describes herself : a simulation of one of the humans killed in the destruction of the city, and then the story starts with a “Here’s what it was like…”It’s an opening that you could use over the first month of a Science Fiction Writing 101 course, and the rest of the story lives up to that standard. The narrator, Rosamund, is embedded in the hi-tech suit of one of the survivors of the meteorite strike – Carlos, her lover. She has to care for him using the suit’s advanced medical capabilities to get him to the point of being in a state to be brought back to consciousness, and we follow them as she guides him, and one of the strange, definitely non-human race on the planet. In order to escape the armed warriors of his race, Uncle Vanya has to undergo the unkindest cut of all – “The first thing we have to do is castrate you..” is the kind of line you can only come up with after some years in the business. Swanwick takes the unlikely trio through an alien world, effectively getting across the alieness of Uncle Vanya through his speech patterns, and cleverly intertwining the action with backstory.And the ending is just terrific – with Rosamund left embedded in the spacesuit, hanging up in a locker. It’s a story that is simply top class.

And a nominee in this category which didn’t make it into the volume is Mike Resnick’s ‘Article of Faith’ which appeared in Baen’s Universe, October 2008, and which I have yet to read.

In Conclusion

So there you have it. A clutch of stories from a couple of years ago, voted upon by ‘the fans’, in contrast to the Nebula Awards, voted upon by ‘the writers’. The stories in this volume come from a limited range of sources, far more mainstream science fiction than the literary, and increasingly speculative Nebulas. If you likes your SF to be SF (and if you’re a guy of a certain age), or if you know one such guy and want to buy him a book, the Hugo Awards would be a great choice. To choice a technical term we librarians use (I’m not sure if it was Dewey or Ranganathan who coined the term), there’s a shitload of quality SF between the covers of this volume. Now, I wonder if Prime will use that quote on next year’s volume.

Amazon US |
Amazon UK

The book came via Southwark Libraries, and I am trying not to think of how many hands this book has been in. I spent a year working in a public library, and believe me, you do not want to know about the condition in which many public library books are returned. Suffice to say that I have been a librarian for 20+ years and I do not use a public library. But I digress..

We shall draw a discreet veil over the cover, very much in the manner of the discreet veil thrown across the coverbabe’s lissome form. The book contains the Hugo Award winners for the Best Short Story, Best Novellette and Best Novella, for the years 1992, 1993 and 1994 (1992 thru 1994 for American readers), with linking text from Gregory Benford.

In this novella, subsequently turned into a novel, In-utero genetic modification allows for removal of the need for sleep. The Sleepless grow up academically gifted and gradually become cut off from a resentful society. I read it some years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, but skipped it in this volume.
available on FictionWise

Other nominees:

• And Wild for to Hold. Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Jul 1991; What Might Have Been? Vol. 3: Alternate Wars*)
• The Gallery of His Dreams. Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Pulphouse/Axolotl; Asimov’s Sep 1991)
• Griffin’s Egg. Michael Swanwick (Legend; St. Martin’s)
• Jack. Connie Willis (Asimov’s Oct 1991)

Best Novelette: Gold. Isaac Asimov. (Analog, September 1991.)

A sentimental choice perhaps? Read some twenty years later it feels a little leaden, belonging to a decade or two earlier perhaps? The story ponders the nature of the muse, in which a director who is used to computer-assisted actors takes on a script with purely dialogue – no description or characterisation whatsoever. What can the famous director make of such a script?

Other nominees:

• Dispatches from the Revolution. Pat Cadigan (Asimov’s Jul 1991)
• Fin de Cyclé. Howard Waldrop (Night of the Cooters: More Neat Stories* 1990; Asimov’s mid-Dec 1991)
• Miracle. Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec 1991)
• Understand. Ted Chiang (Asimov’s Aug 1991)

Best Short Story: A Walk in the Sun. Geoffrey Landis (Asimovs, October 1991.)

A pilot is stranded on the Moon following a botched landing, and is left with no means of survival – oxygen and food are no problem, but her spacesuit is solar-powered, and night is falling. How can she survive until help arrives?

Other nominees:

• Buffalo. John Kessel (F&SF Jan 1991)
• Dog’s Life. Martha Soukup (Amazing Stories Mar 1991)
• In the Late Cretaceous. Connie Willis (Asimov’s mid-Dec 1991)
• One Perfect Morning, With Jackals. Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Mar 1991)
• Press Ann. Terry Bisson (Asimov’s Aug 1991)
• Winter Solstice. Mike Resnick (F&SF Oct/Nov 1991)

Probably my pick of the volume. Interestingly, very unlike a lot of Lucius Shepard’s work – I would not think many could rightly guess the authorship if read without knowing who had written the story. The early part is in some places suggestive of Cordwainer Smith, but then (which I feel weakens it slightly) it moves towards a dramatic conclusion which reminded me of the finale of Outlands, with Sean Connery as the space station cop. Some of the dialogue between the main characters is acutely observed, far beyond the norm for SF.

Other nominees:

• Protection. Maureen F. McHugh (Asimov’s Apr 1992)
• Stopping at Slowyear. Frederik Pohl (Pulphouse/Axolotl; Bantam Spectra)
• The Territory. Bradley Denton (F&SF Jul 1992)
• Uh-Oh City. Jonathan Carroll (F&SF Jun 1992)

Best Novelette: The Nutcracker Coup, by Janet Kagan. (Asimovs, December 1992).

Ethnologists somewhat inadvertently and indirectly bring the question of ‘human’ rights onto a planet (named Rejoicing) in which the indigenous population are cowed by the ruler.

Other nominees:

• Danny Goes to Mars. Pamela Sargent (Asimov’s Oct 1992)
• In the Stone House. Barry N. Malzberg (Alternate Kennedys*)
• Suppose They Gave a Peace… Susan Shwartz (Alternate Presidents*)
• True Faces. Pat Cadigan (F&SF Apr 1992)

Best Short Story: Even the Queen, by Connie Willis. (Asimovs, April 1992).

An extremely well written piece of storytelling, focussing on the relationships between and across generations of female members of a family. The biological issue in question, and the opportunity to have a choice in the matter, is the fulcrum upon which the story balances.

Other nominees:

• The Arbitrary Placement of Walls. Martha Soukup (Asimov’s Apr 1992)
• The Lotus and the Spear. Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Aug 1992)
• The Mountain to Mohammed. Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Apr 1992)
• The Winterberry, Nicholas A. DiChario (Alternate Kennedys)

Another extremely good read. A vividly described desert canyon is the setting for a tour party, drawn up of a variety of races. Politics and religion play a part in the interactions, and lithe, nubile nymphettes engage the main character in troilistic naughtiness which leaves him nonplussed (and tired). The story gradually builds up to an inevitable crisis, and its a hold onto your hats ride from there on in, in stark constrast to the sedate donkey trekking at the beginning. Really good stuff, and deceptively well written.

Other nominees:

• An American Childhood. Pat Murphy (Asimov’s Apr 1993)
• Into the Miranda Rift. G. David Nordley (Analog Jul 1993)
• Mefisto In Onyx. Harlan Ellison (Omni Oct 1993; Mark V. Ziesing)
• The Night We Buried Road Dog. Jack Cady (F&SF Jan 1993)
• Wall, Stone, Craft. Walter Jon Williams (F&SF Oct/Nov 1993; Axolotl)

Best Novelette: Georgia on My Mind, by Charles Sheffield, (Analog, January 1993).

Those working in IT, or with an interest in Babbage’s early experiments in ‘computing’ will particularly enjoy this. A scientist stumbles upon some evidence that takes him to New Zealand, and potentially to even stranger shores (and if you know NZ then you know that that must mean some really strange shores). The use of 100yr old diary entries is handled well, with an odd sentence here and there moving the story forward quite suddenly. Read closely. Enjoy. I did.
available online on FictionWise

Other nominees:

• Dancing on Air. Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Jul 1993)
• Deep Eddy. Bruce Sterling (Asimov’s Aug 1993)
• The Franchise. John Kessel (Asimov’s Aug 1993)
• The Shadow Knows. Terry Bisson (Asimov’s Sep 1993)

Best Short Story: Death on the Nile, by Connie Willis (Asimovs, March 1993).

SF? Horror? Crime? Fantasy? Agatha Christie? All of these, and more.

Other nominees:

• England Underway. Terry Bisson (Omni Jul 1993)
• The Good Pup. Bridget McKenna (F&SF Mar 1993)
• Mwalimu in the Squared Circle. Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Mar 1993)
• The Story So Far. Martha Soukup (Full Spectrum 4*)

Conclusion

Pretty damn good value for money: all the above for the price of a pint of beer. Something there for most people, I would imagine. Six of the nine stories I had read previously, their having been collected in Years Best anthologies. Of the three I hadn’t read the Lucius Shepard and Harry Turtledove were particularly enjoyable – good stories of a good length. I would say that with the exception of the Asimov story, the remainder could all be put forward quite happily as being very good examples of short SF and worthy of their status as Hugo Winners. And if the Asimov story isn’t quite that good, then look from where the bulk of the stories originated.

If you are looking for more information about Hugo Winners (and other Awards) then get yourself over to the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards which I used to get the details of the nominees against which to put the winners in context.

This book is as yet unread, but I have previously read a number of the stories, albeit some time ago, when I was generally providing very succint story summaries. These ‘aide-memoire’ summaries are included below, awaiting a proper read of this volume.

The Last of the Winnebagos. Connie Willis.
Originally in Asimovs, July 1988. When reading this in Dozois’ 6^th I summarized : “A jackal is splattered across an Arizona highway. No big deal? It is if there has been a catastrophic something or other that has wiped out most of the animal population”. Subsequent to creating this page, when reviewing Nebula Awards 24 I wrote : “For those of you who don’t know, Willis’ story is a near-future one in which she vividly portrays the individual human loss which, as she says in her introduction, is often missing in post-catastrophe stories. In a near-future eco-shambles, mutating viruses have wiped out a lot of the canina population, the roads are jammed with huge water tankers but little other traffic, and (as per the title) the huge RV’s are an endangered species (no loss there, as the problem with such vehicles has got a lot worse since the story was written). A journo/photographer has to cope with the loss of his dog, and his relationship, and the owners of the Winnebago are in a perpertual state of grief over their departed dog.”

Other Nominees

• The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians, Bradley Denton. Originally in F&SF, June 1988.
• Journals of the Plague Years, Norman Spinrad. Originally in Full Spectrum.
• The Scalehunter’s Beautiful Daughter, Lucius Shepard. Originally in Asimovs September 1988. My short aide-memoire summary after reading it in Dozois 6^th was : ‘Immobile but still-living dragon and inhabitants thereof’.
• Surfacing, Walter Jon Williams. Originally in Asimovs, April 1988. When reviewing this in Dozois’ 6^th I wrote: Anthony Maldalena is keeping himself busy by studying the communication of, and communicating with, both the whales and the ‘Deep Dwellers’ of the remote planet he has ‘run away’ to. A Kyklops, using a human body, controlled through an n-dimensional interface is interested in his work, but he keeps himself to himself. Philana Telander, a young researcher with interests similar to his turns up. After becoming lovers it transpires that Philomena is another alter-ego of the Kyklops, from birth implanted with a device that allows it to enter her body and experience and record her memories/emotions etc. The couple decide to fight to remove the Kyklops, and also make first contact with the Deep Dwellers of the planet.

Best Novelette

Schrodinger’s Kitten. George Alec Effinger.
Originally in : Omni, September 1988. Aide memoire summary from Dozois 6th/Wollheim’s 1989 : Multiple-realities relating to a girl awaiting her would-be attacker. Subsequent to the initial creation of this page, when reading Nebula Awards 24 I wrote : ‘Effinger very effectively illustrates quantum theory through the eyes of a young arab girl, waiting, knife in hand, for a possible assailant. We see possible resolutions to the scenario, which include one in which she is rescued by a Westerner and lives a long life married to Heisenberg.’

Other nominees:

• ‘Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance?’, Howard Waldrop. Originally in : Asimovs, August 1988. Aide-memoire summary : Some band, some music, some reunion. (As an aide-memoire it fails miserably, as it doesn’t help with any recall whatsoever!)
• The Function of Dream Sleep, Harlan Ellison. Originally in : Asimovs, mid-December 1988.
• Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus, Neal Barrett Jr. Originally in : Asimovs, February 1988. Subsequent to writing this page, when reviewing Nebula Awards 24 I wrote : ‘typical of Barrett’s work. In a post-apocalyptic USA, an unlikely trio drive across the wilderness, offering ‘sex – tacos – dangerous drugs’. As you might guess, Ginny Sweethips is the ‘sex’, although exactly what she offers (is she human or android?) is deliciously unclear at the start.’
• Peaches for Mad Molly, Steven Gould. Originally in : Analog, February 1988. Aide memoire : ‘Bruce lives on the outside of a skyscraper – him and many others – on account of not being able to live inside. Cyberpunk mountaineers, I s’pose’.

Best Short Story.

Kirinyaga. Mike Resnick.
Originally in : tba. Story summarized when read in Dozois 16^th : Kenya recreated in an orbiting spaceship.

Other nominees:

• The Fort Moxie Branch, Jack McDevitt. Originally in : Full Spectrum. Subsequent to creating this page, when reviewing Nebula Awards 24 I wrote: ‘a classy little tale of a struggling writer who is visited by a very strange library – one which collects novels which would otherwise lost works of fiction. He is flattered by the suggestion that the unpublished novel of his he is about to bin, is deemed worthy for inclusion in the library, but refuses the offer, determined to find a market for his work if it is truly of such a signal honor.’
• The Giving Plague, David Brin. Originally in : Interzone #23, Spring 1988.
• Our Neural Chernobyl, Bruce Sterling. Originally in : F&SF, June 1988. Story summarized when read in Dozois 16^thSpoof book-review of the history of science in the late 1990s/2000s.
• Ripples in the Dirac Sea, Geoffrey A. Landis. Originally in : Asimovs, October 1988.
• Stable Strategies for Middle Management, Eileen Gunn. Originally in : Asimovs, October 1988. Story summarized when read in Dozois 16^th : Bio-engineering turns businesswoman into v. nasty insect-type. It’s a dog-eat-dog situation.

The Mountains of Mourning, Lois McMaster Bujold.
Originally in : Analog, May 1989. Review to follow.

Other nominees:

• The Father of Stones, Lucius Shepard. Originally in Asimovs, September 1989.
• Time-Out, Connie Willis. Originally in : Asimovs, July 1989.
• Tiny Tango, Judith Moffett. Originally in : Asimovs, February 1989. Dozois 7th aide-memoire : Botanist with AIDS, meltdown of nuclear plant.
• A Touch of Lavender, Megan Lindholm. Originally in : Asimovs, November 1989.

Best Novelette

Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another, Robert Silverberg.
Originally in : Asimovs, June 1989. Dozois 7th aide-memoire : Francisco Pizzaro and Socrates are reconstructed digitally.

Other nominees:

• At the Rialto, Connie Willis. Originally in : Omni, October 1989. Dozois 7th aide-memoire : Quantum Physics at a convention
• Dogwalker, Orson Scott Card. Originally in : Asimovs, November 1989.
• Everything But Honor, George Alec Effinger. Originally in : Asimovs, February 1989.
• For I Have Touched the Sky, Mike Resnick. Originally in: F&SF, December 1989. Dozois 7th aide-memoire : Another Kirinyaga story – young girl wants to learn, but the old ways are powerful, and unforgiving.
• The Price of Oranges, Nancy Kress. Originally in : Asimovs, April 1989. Dozois 7th aide-memoire : Harry Kramer nips back in time from a particularly unpleasant future to get oranges for his friend, and a husband for his grand-daughter.

Best Short Story

Boobs, Suzy McKee Charnas.
Originally in : Asimovs, July 1989. Review to follow.

Other nominees :

• Computer Friendly, Eileen Gunn. Originally in : Asimovs, June 1989.
• Dori Bangs, Bruce Sterling. Originally in : Asimovs, September 1989. Dozois 7th aide-memoire : Alternate History with a rock and roll angle based on a wife for rock journalist Lester Bangs.
• The Edge of the World, Michael Swanwick. Originally in Full Spectrum 2. Dozois 7th aide-memoire : Three adolescents go to the End of the World and start climbing down it.
• Lost Boys, Orson Scott Card. Originally in : F&SF, October 1989.
• The Return of William Proxmire, Larry Niven. Originally in : What Might Have Been 1: Alternate Empires.

The Hemingway Hoax, Joe Haldeman.
Originally in : Asimovs, April 1990. Dozois 8th aide-memoire : Multiple realities that starts out as a literary hoax.

Other nominees:

• Bones, Pat Murphy. Originally in : Asimovs, May 1990.
• Bully!, Mike Resnick. Originally in : Axolotl.
• Fool to Believe, Pat Cadigan. Originally in : Asimovs, February 1990.
• A Short, Sharp Shock, Kim Stanley Robinson. Originally in : Asimovs, November 1990.

Best Novelette

The Manamouki, Mike Resnick.
Originally in : Asimovs, July 1990.

Review to follow.

Other nominees.

• A Braver Thing, Charles Sheffield. Originally in : Asimovs, February 1990). Dozois 8th aide-memoire : Physicist about to get Nobel Prize for work carried about by old friend.
• The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk, Dafydd ab Hugh. Originally in : Asimovs, August 1990. Dozois 8th aide-memoire : Stylish Post Holocaust story in which sentient animals now have the edge over the remaining humans.
• Over the Long Haul, Martha Soukup. Originally in : Amazing Stories, March 1990.
• Tower of Babylon, Ted Chiang. Originally in : Omni, November 1990. Hillalum joins the effort to build a tower to the roof of the world, a project many generations in the making.

Best Short Story.

Bears Discover Fire, Terry Bisson.
Originally in : Asimovs, August 1990. Dozois’ 8th aide-memoire : Bears discover fire. But Bisson doesn’t explain whether, having achieved this evolutionary leap, their toiletting behaviours are similarly changed.

• Cibola, Connie Willis. Originally in : Asimovs, December 1990. Dozois 8th aide-memoire : The Seven Cities of Cibola – Denver, USA.
• Godspeed, Charles Sheffield. Originally in : Analog, July 1990.
• The Utility Man, Robert Reed. Originaly in : Asimovs, Nov 1990.
• VRM-547, W.R. Thompson. Originally in : Analog, February 1990.

Introduction

The book contains the winning entry for each category from the 44^th Convention in Atlanta, the 45^th Convention in Brighton, and the 46^th Convention in New Orleans.

This book is as yet unread, but I have previously read a number of the stories, albeit some time ago, when I was generally providing very succinct story summaries. These ‘aide-memoire’ summaries are included below, awaiting a proper read of this volume.

Not yet read, but in the meantime why not visit an interesting website in which you can see all 24 views, the inspiration for the story.

Other Nominees

• Green Mars. Kim Stanley Robinson Originally : Asimov’s Sept 1985
  My short aide-memoire summary in Dozois #3 : Mountaineering on Mars.
• The Only Neat Thing to Do. James Tiptree Jr Originally : F&SF Oct 1985
  My short aide-memoire summary in Dozois #3 : Young Croati starts the story as a spoilt brat who uses her parent’s money to give her spaceship a deep space capacity. On her travels she comes across a microscopic alien with which she becomes intimately acquainted, and with whom her very future is predicated.
• Sailing to Byzantium. Robert Silverberg Originally : Asimov’s Feb 1985
  My short aide-memoire summary : Advanced civilization recreates great cities from history, with short-timers and virtually immortal constructs.
• The Scapegoat. C. J. Cherryh Originally : Alien Stars

Best Novelette : Paladin of the Lost Hour. Harlan Ellison.
Originally in : Universe 15

Not yet read.

Other nominees:

• Dogfight. Michael Swanwick and William Gibson Originally in : Omni July 1985.
  Aide-memoire summary from Dozois #3 : Deke’s a wetware VR game player who takes a local wheelchair-bound World War I biplane scenario champ on. He wins the VR battle, but little else

• The Fringe. Orson Scott Card. Originally in : F&SF October 1985.
  Dozois #3 aide-memoire : A wheelchair-bound teacher in small farming community puts the finger on bootleggers.
• A Gift from the Graylanders. Michael Bishop. Originally in : Asimovs September 1985
• Portraits of His Children. George R.R. Martin. Originally in : Asimovs November 1985

Best Short Story : Fermi and Frost. Frederik Pohl. Originally in : Asimov’s Science Fiction, January 1985

Story summarized when read in Dozois 3^rd : Nuclear folly finally leaves the world a shattered place, thus solving Fermi’s Paradox. A young boy finds himself in Iceland, sufficiently far away from the fallout to provide a glimmer of hope through the nuclear winter. And perhaps to seeing the bigger future that Fermi pondered.

Other nominees:

• Dinner in Audoghast. Bruce Sterling. Originally in : Asimov’s May 1985
  Story summarized in Dozois 3^rd : Hi-tech espionage and environmental/big business shennanigans..
• Flying Saucer Rock & Roll. Howard Waldrop. Originally in : Omni January 1985
  Story summarized in Dozois 3^rd : Doo-wop showaddywaddy.
• Hong’s Bluff. William F. Wu Originally in : Omni March 1985
• Snow. John Crowley. Originally in : Omni November 1985

Of note

If you want to see how these winners and nominees sit with other well-regarded stories from 1988, then you can read my reviews of Dozois 3rd and Wollheim 1986, Carr #15, or compare the winners and nominees of the Nebula Awards from that year, as listed on the LocusMag website.

Silverberg has great fun, in a Philip Jose Farmer ‘Riverworld’ way. He postulates an afterlife, a hell in which Great People from throughout history, are brought together. Ancient history furnishes Gilgamesh, heroic giant with rippling muscles, who comes across HP Lovercraft and RE Howard, the latter who comes over all girlie and homo-erotic. Gilgamesh has fallen out with his comrade in arms of olde, and the conclusions features the pair brought together in hand to hand combat.

Other nominees:

• Eifelheim. Michael F. Flynn Originally in : Analog Nov 1986
• Escape from Kathmandu. Kim Stanley Robinson. Originally in : Asimov’s Sept 1986
  Carr #16 aide-memoire : A ‘madcap Himalayan farce’ involving a yeti and President Jimmy Carter.
• R&R. Lucius Shepard. Originally in Asimovs April 1986
  Dozois 4th aide-memoire : If war is hell, then future war is more hellish. Mingolla finds a short spell of R&R to be anything but restful in an intense few days. Vivid and draining.
• Spice Pogrom. Connie Willis. Originally in : Asimov’s Oct 1986

Best Novelette : Permafrost. Roger Zelazny.
Originally in : Omni April 1986.

On a frozen moon, a murderer returns to the scene of his crime. However, he finds his victim has in fact become one with the moon itself, and the tables are horribly turned, as he is uploaded to the HQ AI, and the person who uploaded himself as the AI prior to his death, is thus able to return to a human body and to leave the planet with the girl, leaving the bad guy and the frozen victim to vent their anger on each other ad infinitum.

Other nominees:

• The Barbarian Princess. Vernor Vinge. Originally in : Analog Sept 1986
• Hatrack River. Orson Scott Cardtext Originally in : Asimov’s August 1986
  Carr #16 aide-memoire : Rural 19th century America, with homesteaders helped by Little Peggy’s second sight.
• Thor Meets Captain America. David Brin Originally in : F&SF July 1986
• The Winter Market. William Gibson. Originally in : Stardate Mar/Apr 1986; Interzone #15 Spring 1986

Best Short Story : Tangents. Greg Bear.
Originally in : Omni January 1986

An elderly mathematician, who has fled his youthful fame and misdeeds, is seeking contact with another dimension. A young boy who has an immediate rapport for the work, proves the catalyst to the success of his experiments.

Other nominees :

• The Boy Who Plaited Manes. Nancy Springer. Originally in : F&SF Oct 1986
• Rat. James Patrick Kelly. Originally in : F&SF June 1986
• Robot Dreams. Isaac Asimov. Originally in : Asimov’s mid-Dec 1986
• Still Life. David S. Garnett. Originally in : F&SF Mar 1986

Of note

If you want to see how these winners and nominees sit with other well-regarded stories from 1986, then you can read my reviews of Dozois 4th and Wollheim 1987, Carr #16, or compare the winners and nominees of the Nebula Awards #22.

Young Mick has been brought up in an orphanage. Not the nicest of places, but made worse by the fact that he has a strange innate power which enables him to visit fatal diseases and ill health upon others. As a young man he has an itinerant life, but his family find him – a very strange family who have been selectively inbreeding to hone the abilities which he has in spades. He flees his family and his betrothed, rescued by others who have his best interests at heart.

Other nominees:

• The Blind Geometer. Kim Stanley Robinson. Originally in : Asimovs, August 1987.
  Robinson’s story is a fascinating one, the POV character being a mathematician blind since birth. He is at the cutting edge of some very complex n-dimension geometry, and he finds himself being used by a colleague and others to investigate some theory whose practical uses may have military applications. The world-view of the protagonist is expertly handled, down to some very clever handling of some of the story structure.
• the Forest of Time. Michael F. Flynn. Originally in : Analog, June 1987
• Mother Goddess of the World. Kim Stanley Robinson. Originally in : Asimovs October 1987
  Dozois 5th aide-memoire : Climbing Everest without oxygen, but with a sherpa with abilities similar to the ATV Champions
• The Secret Sharer. Robert Silverberg. Originally in : Asimovs September 1987.

Best Novelette : Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight. Ursula K Le Guin. Originally in : The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1987.

When I read in Dozois 5th I noted : Young Myra falls out of the sky into a very strange dreamland, and is befriended by coyotes, chipmunks and other spiritual animals.

Other nominees.

• Dinosaurs. Walter Jon Williams. Originally in : Asimovs, June 1987
  Dozois 5th aide-memoire : Interplanetary peace negotiations
• Dream Baby. Bruce McCallister Originally in : Asimovs, October 1987
  Dozois 5th aide-memoire : Medic in ‘Nam starts to suffer from premonitions regarding her comrades, and is transferred to a special unit with others with similar talents.
• Flowers of Edo. Bruce Sterling. Originally in : Asimovs, May 1987
  Dozois 5th aide-memoire : A steampunk? Tokyo with electricity impacting on the society
• Rachel in Love. Pat Murphy. Originally in : Asimovs, April 1987.
  Dozois 5th aide-memoire : A scientist writes his dead daughter’s brain pattern onto one of the chimps he has been raising and studying. After his death the chimp, to all intents and purposes the daughter, battles for her survival.

Best Short Story : Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers. Lawrence Watt-Evans. Originally in : Asimovs July 1987

Some 15 years after its publication I picked up this issue of Asimovs, and wrote of this story : Harry’s hamburger emporium is in the middle of nowhere, and wouldn’t appear to offer much in the way of prospects for a young teenager. However, night-time in when the business at Harry’s picks up, and his clientele is quite peculiar. For Harry’s is located at a juxtaposition point for a huge number of alternate Earth’s, and his hambrugers attract those who are able to criss-cross the multiverses. His young night-time helper has his horizons broadened (particularly by the babes from the Earth in which wandering around topless and in tight jeans is normal behaviour). However, just as he is about to bum a life to another, any other, Earth, a wise word or two is whispered in his ear : there is enough beauty and strangeness is this one Earth to last a lifetime.

Other nominees:

• Angel. Pat Cadigan. Originally in : Asimovs May 1987
  Dozois 8th aide-memoire : Angel is an outcast from another planet, who befriends a human heamaphrodite. Angel is finally hunted down by a fellow ET, leaving the hero/ine to find other such outcasts.
• Cassandra’s Photographs. Lisa Goldstein. Originally in : Asimovs August 1987
• The Faithful Companion at Forty. Karen Joy Fowler. Originally in : Asimovs July 1987
  Dozois 8th aide-memoire : The Lone Ranger and his faithful sidekick and Displacement Theory.
• Forever Yours, Anna. Kate Wilhelm. Originally in : Omni July 1987
  Dozois 8th aide-memoire : A graphologist gets involved, intimately, with a love affair across time.
• Night of the Cooters. Howard Waldrop. Originally in : Omni, April 1987.
  Dozois 8th aide-memoire : HG Wells’ Martian visitors land in Texas, and some good ol’ boys give them more trouble than they can handle.

If you want to see how these winners and nominees sit with other well-regarded stories from 1987, then you can read my reviews of Dozois 5th, or Nebula Awards #23

US pbk (amazon.com)

Scroll down, gentle reader, to find what treasures this volume contains.

1983 41st Convention. Baltimore.

Best Novella: Souls. Joanna Russ. Originally in F&SF Jan 1982.

The tale of Abbess Radegunde, a gifted child who travelled widely and is now quite unorthodox in her ways. A young boy who helps the Abbess tells of the time when Norsemen arrived at the abbey and the Abbess used her wiles and powers to prevent them sacking and pillaging.

But even her clever use of psychology can not prevent blood being spilled. However, the return of her people (starfarers) enable the true person within the Abbess to return home. A strong, vivid story.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “Another Orphan”, John Kessel (F&SF Sep 82)
• “Brainchild”, Joseph H. Delaney (Analog Jun 82)
• “The Postman”, David Brin (Asimov’s Nov 82)
• “To Leave a Mark”, Kim Stanley Robinson (F&SF Nov 82)
• “Unsound Variations”, George R.R. Martin (Amazing Jan 82)

Best Novelette: Fire Watch. Connie Willis. Originally in Asimovs, February 1982.

A student finds his practicum thrust upon him at short notice: time travel back to the Second World War, to help St. Paul’s Cathedral survive the blitz.

Bartholemew struggles with some of the language and customs, finding it difficult to recall the facts poured into him prior to his trip. He develops a suspicion about one of the other men on Fire Watch, believing him to be a Nazi spy attempting to burn down the cathedral. The final night of his visit reveals the truth.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “Aquila”, Somtow Sucharitkul (Asimov’s Jan 18 82)
• “Nightlife”, Phyllis Eisenstein (F&SF Feb 82)
• “Pawn’s Gambit”, Timothy Zahn (Analog Mar 29 82)
• “Swarm”, Bruce Sterling (F&SF Apr 82)

Best Short Story: Melancholy Elephants. Spider Robinson.

An unlikely plot-line for an SF story: copyright legislation going through Congress. A young woman attempts to get a key Congressman on her side, arguing that to extent the copyright legislation would be a death to creativy, for there is only a finite number of musical notes, and of words. The development of computer systems has enabled new works of art to be checked against preceding works, resulting in less creativity.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “The Boy Who Waterskied to Forever”, James Tiptree Jr (F&SF Oct 82)
• “Ike at the Mike”, Howard Waldrop (Omni Jun 82)
• “Spider Rose”, Bruce Sterling (F&SF Aug 82)
• “Sur”, Ursula K. Le Guin (The New Yorker Feb 1 82; The Compass Rose (revised))

In retrospect the Russ and Willis are well-written and create a believable setting, without perhaps having that ‘special something’, and the Robinson short story does not offer much beyond the basic premise of the story – which would have been better placed perhaps in an editorial somewhere, rather than a story.

1984 42nd Convention. Anaheim.

Best Novella: Cascade Point. Timothy Zahn. Originally in Analog, December 1983.

Captain Paul Durriken has some reservations when he finds out that amongst the passengers on his tramp starmer are a psychiatrist who plans to treat a patient during the cascade points during the journey.

Space travel uses cascade points to traverse great distances, but most people elect to sleep during these transitions, rather than see the ghostly images of alternates to themselves which appear during the process. The captains reservations are well-placed, but for the wrong reasons. It transpires that the psychiatrist has some illicit metal in some of his equipment, which badly distorts the cascade point transitions. The ship ends up at its correct destination, but in alternate universe. The journey back is difficult and dangerous.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “Hardfought”, Greg Bear (Asimov’s Feb 83) -
• “Hurricane Claude”, Hilbert Schenck (F&SF Apr 83)
• “In the Face of My Enemy”, Joseph H. Delaney (Analog Apr 83)
• “Seeking”, David R. Palmer (Analog Feb 83)

Best Novelette: Blood Music. Greg Bear. Originally in Analog, June 1983.

One of the key stories from the 1980s IMHO.

Vergil Ulam has been experimenting with nano-technology – injecting medically applicable biochips into his bloodstream. The initial results are beneficial to him: his eyesight becomes 20-20, he is fitter and leaner.

But the consequences are far beyond his wildest dreams. The collective power of the microscopic beings in his veins is increasingly beyond his control, and when they being to start exploring further afield, his friend has to make a difficult choice. But by then the genie is very much out of the bottle, and Fermi’s theorem is shown to be true: there is no need to look outward for new universes to explore.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “Black Air”, Kim Stanley Robinson (F&SF Mar 83)
• “The Monkey Treatment”, George R.R. Martin (F&SF Jul 83)
• “The Sidon in the Mirror”, Connie Willis (Asimov’s Apr 83)
• “Slow-Birds”, Ian Watson (F&SF Jun 83)

Best Short Story. Speech Sounds. Octavia E. Butler. Originally in Asimovs, December 1983.

A very classy short story. Humanity has been ravaged by a virus? which has taken away the power of speech and produced stroke-like symptoms in many. An ex-school teacher falls in with a bearded man who helps her escape an unpleasant bus journey. But having evidently found someone upon whom she can rely, a sudden burst of violence shatters that future. But the two young children whom she almost deserts can speak, as she can.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “The Geometry of Narrative”, Hilbert Schenck (Analog Aug 83)
• “The Peacemaker”, Gardner Dozois (Asimov’s Aug 83)
• “Servant of the People”, Frederik Pohl (Analog Feb 83)
• “Wong’s Lost and Found Emporium”, William F. Wu (Amazing May 83)

In retrospect: the Zahn story is a little to heavy on the technical detail, perhaps overlong, and reads more like a 1950s story than a 1980s story. For the 1980s the projected computing facilities on the spaceship or somewhat bizarre. Greg Bear’s nominated Hardfought is in my opinion, a far more satisfactory story (it won the Nebula award, and the Zahn story was not listed). Blood Music is a worthy winner in its category, against particularly strong competition in the shape of Connie Willis’ The Sidon in the Mirror, and Ian Watson’s Slow Birds. And Speech Sounds is a very worthy winner in its category.

1985 43rd Convention Melbourne.

Best Novella: Press Enter. John Varley. Originally in Asimovs, May 1984.

Some echoes of Blood Music, in the general theme of humanity being responsible for creating something which it cannot control.

Victor Apfel is a fucked-up Vietnam veteran, leading a quiet life. All that changes when his next door neighbour is found dead, slumped at his computer terminal.

Suicide would appear to be the obvious answer, but Victor Kluge is somewhat out of the ordinary. Lisa Foo is brought in to sort out the hacking activities which Kluge was involved in. Like Apfel, she too has old, deep scars.

Kluge, is transpires, had gone beyond normal hacking, to getting into some very deep waters, and those waters threaten to suck in Apfel and Foo.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “Cyclops”, David Brin (Asimov’s Mar 84)
• “Elementals”, Geoffrey A. Landis (Analog Dec 84)
• “Summer Solstice”, Charles L. Harness (Analog Jun 84)
• “Valentina”, Joseph H. Delaney & Marc Stiegler (Analog May 84)

Best Novelette: BloodChild. Octavia E. Butler. Originally in Asimovs, June 1984.

Butler follows up her Hugo-winning Speech Sounds from the year before with a story which is about as far different as you can possibly get. The former was a near-future story in which a virus has threatened the stability of society. This is a far-future story which looks at a disturbing symbiotic relationship between humans and the native race on a planet.

The terrans who landed on the planet are perfect hosts for the young of the native race, and a complex relationship between the two races has developed.

Other nominees in the category were:

• “Blued Moon”, Connie Willis (Asimov’s Jan 84)
• “The Lucky Strike”, Kim Stanley Robinson (Universe 14)
• “The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule”, Lucius Shepard (F&SF Dec 84)
• “Return to the Fold”, Timothy Zahn (Analog Sep 84)
• “Silicon Muse”, Hilbert Schenck (Analog Sep 84)
• “The Weigher”, Eric Vinicoff & Marcia Martin (Analog Oct 84)

Best Short Story: The Crystal Spheres. David Brin. Originally in Analog, January 1984.

The Greeks evidently believed that each of the planets in the solar system were encased in a crystal sphere, and Brin takes this as a starting point for a far-future humanity which shattered our own crystal sphere when first travelling outwards from Earth.

Humanity has struggled since then, as every habitable planet found in the galaxy has similarly been encases, but whilst it is possible to shatter the spheres from the inside, they cannot be broken from the outside.

The spheres have thus been acting as greenhouses/playpens, enabling the native life to develop at its own pace without interference or worse from spacefaring races.

Other nominees in this category were:

• “The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything”, George Alec Effinger (F&SF Oct 84)
• “Ridge Running”, Kim Stanley Robinson (F&SF Jan 84)
• “Rory”, Steven Gould (Analog Apr 84)
• “Salvador”, Lucius Shepard (F&SF Apr 84)
• “Symphony for a Lost Traveler”, Lee Killough (Analog Mar 84)

In reptrospect: Press Enter and Bloodchild will be shoo-ins for future anthologies of the best of the 1980s.

Conclusion

Several very strong stories in the collection, some of which are absolute essentials for anyone wanting to read some of the best sf of the 1980s. Get yourselves over to Alibris and buy a copy for your bookshelves.

If you are looking for more information about Hugo Winners (and other Awards) then get yourself over to the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards which I used to get the details of the nominees against which to put the winners in context.

Barry B. Longyear. Enemy Mine. (Asimovs, Sept 1979)
review to follow

Other nominees :

• Hilbert Schenck. The Battle of the Abaco Reefs. (F&SF Jun 1979)
• Ted Reynolds. Ker-Plop. (Asimov’s Jan 1979)
• Donald Kingsbury. The Moon Goddess and the Son. (Analog Dec 1979)
• Orson Scott Card. Songhouse (Analog Sep 1979)

Best Novelette :

George R.R. Martin. Sandkings. (Omni Aug 1979)
review to follow

Other nominees :

• Vonda N. McIntyre. Fireflood. (F&SF Nov 1979)
• Barry B. Longyear. Homecoming. (Asimov’s Oct 1979)
• Larry Niven & Steve Barnes. The Locusts. (Analog Jun 1979)
• John Varley. Options. (Universe 9)
• Christopher Priest. Palely Loitering. (F&SF Jan 1979)

Best Short Story :

George R.R. Martin. The Way of Cross and Dragon. (Omni June 1979)
review to follow

Other nominees :

• Ted Reynolds. Can These Bones Live? (Analog Mar 1979)
• Connie Willis. Daisy, In the Sun. (Galileo Nov 1979)
• Edward Bryant. giANTS. (Analog Aug 1979)
• Orson Scott Card. Unaccompanied Sonata. (Omni Mar 1979)

For those of you so inclined, there follows a list of links to other volumes which attempted to identify the best short stories of 1975 :

• Nebula Awards #15
• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9 edited by Terry Carr, 1980
• The 1980 Annual World’s Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur Saha, 1980
• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year, Ninth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois 1979

Gordon R. Dickson. Lost Dorsai. (Destinies v2 #1 Feb/Mar 1980)
review to follow

Other nominees :

• Harlan Ellison. All the Lies that Are My Life. (F&SF Nov 1980; Underwood-Miller)
• Thomas M. Disch. The Brave Little Toaster. (F&SF Aug 1980)
• George R. R. Martin. Nightflyers. (Analog Apr 1980)
  Far future in which researchers are hired to crew a spaceship to seek the legendary Volcryn. The ship’s master has an initially ghostly presence on the ship, with an even ghostlier presence behind him – his uploaded mother. This malevolent presence takes a dislike to the crew members, and bad things start to happen.
  A cross between HAL of 2001, Alien, and Norman Bates, in which the tight drama as crew members are despatched is contrasted by the aeon slow sedate pace of the Volcryn as they pass by, unaware of our insignificant presence.
• Lisa Tuttle & George R. R. Martin. One-Wing. (Analog Jan,Feb 1980)

Best Novelette :

Gordon R. Dickson. The Cloak and the Staff. (Analog Aug 1980)
review to follow

Other nominees :

• Michael Shea. The Autopsy. (F&SF Dec 1980)
• John Varley. Beatnik Bayou. (New Voices III: The Campbell Award Nominees)
• Keith Roberts. The Lordly Ones. (F&SF Mar 1980)
• Barry B. Longyear. Savage Planet. (Analog Feb 1980)
• Howard Waldrop. The Ugly Chickens. (Universe 10)
  A researcher finds evidence that the Dodo may have survived a little longer in the Deep South, ah say, may have survived a little longer. But not that much longer. Damn those finger lickin’ recipes.

Best Short Story :

Clifford D. Simak. Grotto of the Dancing Deer. (Analog Apr 1980)
Prehistoric cave paintings, but is one of the local volunteers more directly connected to the paintings? The story also won the equivalent Nebula.

Other nominees :

• Jeff Duntemann. Cold Hands. (Asimov’s Jun 1980)
• Jeff Duntemann. Guardian. (Asimov’s Sep 1980)
• Robert Silverberg. Our Lady of the Sauropods. (Omni Sep 1980)
• Susan C. Petrey. Spidersong. (F&SF Sep 1980)

For those of you so inclined, there follows a list of links to other volumes which attempted to identify the best short stories of 1976 :

• Nebula Awards #16
• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #10 edited by Terry Carr, 1981
• The 1981 Annual World’s Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur Saha, 1981
• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year, Tenth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois 1981

Poul Anderson. he Saturn Game. (Analog Feb 2 1981)
review to follow

Other nominees :

• John Varley. Blue Champagne. (New Voices 4)
• David R. Palmer. Emergence. (Analog Jan 5 1981)
• Phyllis Eisenstein. In the Western Tradition. (F&SF Mar 1981)
• Vernor Vinge. True Names. (Binary Star #5)
• Kate Wilhelm. With Thimbles, With Forks and Hope (Asimov’s Nov 23 1981)

Best Novelette :

Roger Zelazny. Unicorn Variation. (Asimov’s Apr 13 1981)
review to follow

Other nominees :

• Parke Godwin. The Fire When It Comes. (F&SF May 1981)
• George R. R. Martin. Guardians. (Analog Oct 12 1981)
• Michael Bishop. The Quickening. (Universe 11)
• Edward Bryant. The Thermals of August. (F&SF May 1981)

Best Short Story :

John Varley. The Pusher. (F&SF Oct 1981)

Other nominees :

• Somtow Sucharitkul. Absent Thee from Felicity Awhile. (Analog Sep 14 1981)
• George Florance-Guthridge. The Quiet. (F&SF Jul 1981)
• Gene Wolfe. The Woman the Unicorn Loved. (Asimov’s Jun 8 1981)

For those of you so inclined, there follows a list of links to other volumes which attempted to identify the best short stories of 1977 :

• Nebula Awards #17 – not in my collection yet
• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #11 edited by Terry Carr, 1982 – not in my collection yet
• The 1982 Annual World’s Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur Saha, 1982

The 1973 Hugos get a whole volume to themselves. The volume contains all four winning stories, and I have cut and pasted summaries of stories which I have previously read. At some point in pico-time I shall read those I have yet so to do, and put summaries/reviews in to fill the blanks.

Ursula K Le Guin. The Word for World is Forest. (Again, Dangerous Visions)
-

Other nominees :

• Gene Wolfe. The Fifth Head of Cerberus. (Orbit 10)
  When I read this in Terry Carry’s choice of the year’s best SF I wrote:
  Editor Carr picks this out as being the novella of the year, and puts it forward as a classic. I think time has shown Carr to have been correct.
  Wolfe now stands head and shoulders over the vast majority of his contemporaries (and there are more than three decades of contemporaries!) and it is a rare treat to finally get round to reading such a classic. Carr points out the world-building, but for me it is the humanity in the story which particularly attracts. One of Wolfe’s techniques is to engage the reader with the protagonist by sticking rigidly to that character’s viewpoint throughout, and this story is no exception.
  In a story redolent of Charles Dickens, we are acquainted with the early years of a young boy, unnamed, who is being raised with his twin brother, David, primarily by an AI housed in a robotic mechanism, known fondly by them as Mr Million. Their father is a mysterious person whom they see little, and there are further mysteries – the fate of the aborignals on the planet which the boys forebears, settlers from Earth, may or may not have made extinct.
  The boy’s life changes when his presence is requested by his father on a nocturnal basis. His father names him ‘Number Five’ and carried out strange experiments, aided with hallucinogenic drugs.
  As the story unfolds, various revelations unfold, some of which, such as the true nature of Mr Million and the emotion he feels at one point, are particularly striking.
  As they boys grow older, their true nature is revealed (clones!) and a grimly gothic patricidal finale sees the young man imprisoned, only to return to the family home to follow in his father’s search for self-knowledge.
  
• Frederik Pohl. The Gold at the Starbow’s End. (Analog Mar 1972)
  Desperate times, desperate measures. A carefully selected ten person crew head for Planet Aleph, Alpha Centauri against a backdrop of rioting and political and economic difficulties. Their ten year journey is intended to give them lots of time to think and to stretch the limits of their minds. In fact there destination is not Aleph, but a more post-human destination. Are they humanity’s saviours?
• Joe Haldeman. Hero. (Analog Jun 1972)
  The first novella which formed the beginning of the novel ‘The Forever War’. Elite human troops are prepared for combat with the alien threat in truly inhospitable conditions. William Mandella survives the training and the first contact with the aliens, a brutal massacre of largely unarmed enemy.
• Jerry Pournelle. The Mercenary. (Analog Jul 1972)

Best Novelette :

Poul Anderson. Goat Song. (F&SF February 1972)
Far future in which mankind is controlled/governed by SUM, an AI. SUM offers life after death, but the protagonist, grief-stricken after the death of his love, petitions the Dark Queen, the representative of SUM on Earth, to recreate her. (Follows in many respects the Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.)

Other nominees

• Harlan Ellison. Basilisk. Harlan Ellison (F&SF Aug 1972)
• Gardner Dozois. A Kingdom by the Sea. (Orbit 10)
  A slaughter-house worker, who jobs it is to despatch the cattle upon arrival, very quickly falls apart and becomes disconnected from the reality of his situation. The sense of disconnection again is one that appears in other stories, and the reader is very adeptly brought into the mind of Mason. Good writing once again. [Available on Fictionwise]
• James Tiptree Jr. Painwise. (F&SF Feb 1972)
• William Rotsler. Patron of the Arts. (Universe 2)
  A lengthy story, in which a new artform, the sensatron cube, enables those with the rarest of talents to create three dimensional ‘sculptures’ which have an emotional impact on the viewer, provides a wealthy art patron to have his beautiful wife immortalised. However, the artist’s model and the model find themselves drawn together. The story takes a surprising twist at the end, when artist and model appear to have disappeared into another dimension, leaving only the final piece of art for the patron to marvel at.

Best Short Story :

R.A. Lafferty. Eurema’s Dam. (‘New Dimensions 2)
Young Albert despairs of himself as being intellectually challenged. Everyone else is much brighter than he. But what the lacks in smarts he makes up in cunning, and his particularly unique ability is to create machines, far cleverer than himself, to do his bidding. But his track record in this department is not a good one, as whilst creations are invariably wonderful in their complexity and intelligence, they do not make him a happy or successful person. Until we reach the end of this blackly ironic tale, in which he finally sees the rest of the world as being there for the taking.

Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth. The Meeting. (F&SF Nov 1972)
Pohl finished this story on which he had made notes some fifteen years previously with the late Kornbluth. Harry Vladek and his wife have a son who is severely handicapped. Medical developments mean that a brain transplant is an option – will they take the healthy brain from a road traffic accident victim for their own son? But with the brain of another boy in the body of their son – will it be their son?

Other Nominees

• James Tiptree Jr. And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side. (F&SF Mar 1972)
• Joanna Russ. When It Changed. (Again, Dangerous Visions)
• Robert Silverberg. When We Went to See the End of the World. (Universe 2)
  Against a backdrop of a society crumbling into crime and anarchy, the dinner party set swop notes of the latest de rigeur holiday destination : the end of the the world.

For those of you so inclined, there follows a list of links to other volumes which attempted to identify the best short stories of 1972 :

• 1973 Nebula Awards
• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #1 edited by Terry Carr, 1973
• The 1973 Annual World’s Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur Saha, 1972
• Best SF: 1972, edited by Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss, 1972
• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year, Second Annual Collection, edited by Lester Del Rey 1972

‘Hugo Winners Volume III’ followed (not unsurprisingly) the first two volumes of collected Hugo award-winners, and appeared in a confusing variety of editions, primarily on account of its large size. The edition in (my sticky, eager) hand is the hardback UK edition published by Dennis Dobson in 1979. As your Earth days are restricted to only 24hrs, and as I have a range of other duties which prevent me reading the stories herein at the present moment in time, I shall, as ever, list the contents, drawing on older reviews/summaries of mine which I may have made in reading the stories in other locations.

The book was an eBay purchase, and originated, as evidenced by the stamps inside the book, from the rather posh Whitgift School in Surrey, so hopefully the volume will have launched a lifelong interest in SF in some of the alumni of that august establishment.

The previous volume finished with coverage of the 28th Convention held in Heidelberg in 1970, but neglected to include (or indeed mention, other than in the appendices) Fritz Leiber’s Hugo winning novella ‘Ship of Fools’ from that year (on account of editor Isaac Asimov having not attended the con). Having recognised this omission, this volume consequently starts with reference to that Convention, and includes the story at the start of this volume. Although, readers may we be confused, as the contents page just lists the Leiber story under the heading for that convention, leaving the casual reader the impression that this story was the only winner in Heidelberg (whilst the previous volume gives said reader the impression that the only winner was Samuel R. Delany’s ‘Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones’).

My anal retentiveness on such matters has resulted in my going to great lengths to get a hold of a copy of Volume II from the quantum Earth in which Asimov had no fear of flying and did indeed remember and include Leiber’s story. In this alternate volume Asimov alludes to an infamous event at a strip joint after the awards ceremony, in the style for which he is famous, thus :

there was a young stripper named Eva
who did bump, grind and get in a fever
so hard was she workin
she shook loose her merkin
and finished her act on a split beaver

Fritz Leiber. Ill met in Lankhmar. (F&SF Apr 1970)
-

Other nominees :

• Dean R. Koontz. Beastchild. (Venture Aug 1970)
• Harlan Ellison. The Region Between. (Galaxy Mar 1970)
• Fritz Leiber. The Snow Women. (Fantastic Apr 1970 [nomination withdrawn])
• Clifford D. Simak. The Thing in the Stone. (If Mar 1970)
• Robert Silverberg. The World Outside. (Galaxy Oct/Nov 1970)

Best Short Story.

Theodore Sturgeon. Slow Sculpture. (Galaxy Feb 1970)
-

Other nominees :

• Ben Bova & Harlan Ellison. Brillo. (Analog Aug 1970)
• R. A. Lafferty. Continued on Next Rock. (Orbit 7)
• Keith Laumer. In the Queue. (Orbit 7)
• Gordon R. Dickson. Jean Duprès. (Nova 1)

Poul Anderson. The Queen of Air and Darkness. (F&SF April 1971)
Also won Nebula Best Novella. Anderson describes vividly a very alien planet and its inhabitants, and how their lives are threatened by, and how they threaten the lives of, the explorers from Earth. Magic and science come face to face .

Other nominees

• John Brunner. Dread Empire. (Fantastic Apr 1971)
• Larry Niven. The Fourth Profession. (Quark/4)
  Available on Fictionwise. Aliens, known as The Monks due to their habits (the ones they wear, as opposed to living a life of poverty and prayer) arrive in the USA. One Monk turns up in Frazer’s bar and during the course of some serious drinking, offers him what would appear to be education tablets. The following day the Secret Service arrive and Frazer struggles to recall the content of the tablets he swallowed, before he realises that he has to ensure that the aliens plans do not mean trouble for Earth.
• Arthur C. Clarke. A Meeting with Medusa. (Playboy Dec 1971)
  Falcon, surviving an airship crash (more than surviving!) is the logical choice for a balloon-drop visit to Jupiter’s atmosphere. Lots of science stuff for the discerning Playboy reader (“I only read it for the fiction, darling!”). Whilst only a runner-up for a Hugo, the story won a Nebula the following year due to that award’s somewhat flexible definition of what could be counted in on each year’s ballot.
• Gardner Dozois. A Special Kind of Morning. (New Dimensions 1)
  Available on Fictionwise. Told, with utter believability, from the perspective of a far-future veteran, the narrative describes how, even in the face of more mechanised and arms-length warfare, the need for men to get their hands bloodied during combat will remain, and the challenge of facing up to the necessity of committing such brutal and intimate acts will remain.

Best Short Story.

Larry Niven. Inconstant Moon. (‘All the Myriad Ways’)
If you haven’t read this classic short story, why not buy it for a few cents from FictionWise before your read the next sentences? The moon becomes very, very bright. Romantic perhaps? But if moonlight is simply reflected sunlight, then what has happened to the sun? And if the reflected sunlight is very bright on the side of Earth facing away from the sun, what about those on the side of the Earth facing the sun? Niven describes vividly a couple facing their last night on Earth.

Other Nominees

• George Alec Effinger. All the Last Wars at Once. (Universe 1)
  Bleak, dark look at man’s inhumanity to man and the societal demarcation and polarisation which in this story lead to a most violence conclusion.
• Clifford D. Simak. The Autumn Land.
• Stephen Tall. The Bear with the Knot on His Tail. (F&SF May 19710
  The Bear in question being the constellation from which a musical message of distress appears to emanate. A ship, including a lovey-dove husband and wife team, arrive on planet mere hours before it’s sun goes nova and destroys the planet.
  Contact is finally made with the egg-like inhabitants in a scene from which Close Encounters could have drawn inspiration – with a crew member using a guitar to match musical notes with the aliens.
  It being so close to the sun going nova there is no chance of evacuation, and the ovoids appear to be succeeding in preventing the crew escape. However a consignment of ovoid eggs (as in chicken eggs) and documentation is loaded just in time. Reads more 1950s than 1970s.
• Ursula K. Le Guin. Vaster than Empires and More Slow. (New Dimensions 1)
  Set in the author’s Hainish universe, a team of planetary surveyors struggle against a most insidious enemy – the very planet upon which they have landed. The interplay between the individuals is well observed and described.
• R.A. Lafferty. Sky. (New Dimensions 1)
  Decaying, subterranean darkness can be replaced by aerial freedom through the use of psychotropic drugs.

For those of you so inclined, there follows a list of links to other volumes which attempted to identify the best short stories of 1971 :

• 1972 Nebula Awards
• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #1 edited by Terry Carr, 1972
• The 1972 Annual World’s Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur Saha, 1972
• Best SF: 1971, edited by Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss, 1972
• Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year, First Annual Collection, edited by Lester Del Rey 1972

Introduction

‘Hugo Winners Volume II’ followed the first collection of award-winners, but was published in two separate volumes in paperback in the UK in order to keep each volume down to a reasonable size.

Introduced, as was the first volume, by Isaac Asimov. The biggest ego in SF uses the introduction to regale the reader with regard to his editorship of the volumes, and his own two Hugos.

Scroll down for details of winners (summaries to follow)

Weyr Search. Anne McCaffrey. (Analog Oct 1967)

Summary.

Riders of the Purple Wage. Philip Jose Farmer. (Dangerous Visions)

Summary.

Other nominees

• Damnation Alley. Roger Zelazny (Galaxy Oct 1967)
• Hawksbill Station. Robert Silverberg (Galaxy Aug 1967)
• The Star Pit. Samuel R. Delany (Worlds of Tomorrow Feb 1967)

Best Novelette :

Gonna Roll the Bones. Fritz Leiber. (Dangerous Visions*)

Summary.

Other nominees :

• Faith of Our Fathers. Philip K. Dick (Dangerous Visions*)
• Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes. Harlan Ellison (Knight May 1967)
• Wizard’s World. Andre Norton (If Jun 1967)

Best Short Story :

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Harlan Ellison. (If Mar 1967)

Summary.

Other nominees :

• Aye, and Gomorrah… Samuel R. Delany. (Dangerous Visions*)
• The Jigsaw Man. Larry Niven (Dangerous Visions*)

Nightwings. Robert Silverberg (Galaxy Sep 1968)

Summary.

Other nominees :

• Dragonrider. Anne McCaffrey (Analog Dec 1967, Jan 1968)
• Hawk Among the Sparrows. Dean McLaughlin (Analog Jul 1968)
• Lines of Power. Samuel R. Delany (F&SF May 1968)

Best Novelette :

The Sharing of Flesh. Poul Anderson. (Galaxy Dec 1968)

Summary.

Other nominees:

• Getting Through University. Piers Anthony (If Aug 1968)
• Mother to the World. Richard Wilson (Orbit 3*)
• Total Environment. Brian W. Aldiss (Galaxy Feb 1968)

Best Short Story :

The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World. Harlan Ellison. (Galaxy Jun 1968)

Summary.

Other nominees:

• All the Myriad Ways. Larry Niven (Galaxy Oct 1968)
• The Dance of the Changer and the Three. Terry Carr (The Farthest Reaches*)
• Masks. Damon Knight (Playboy Jul 1968)
• The Steiger Effect. Betsy Curtis (Analog Oct 1968)

Ship of Shadows. Fritz Leiber. (F&SF Jul 1969)

Not included in this volume.

Other nominees :

• A Boy and His Dog. Harlan Ellison (The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World*)
• Dramatic Mission. Anne McCaffrey (Analog Jun 1969)
• To Jorslem. Robert Silverberg (Galaxy Feb 1969)
• We All Die Naked. James Blish (Three for Tomorrow*)

Best Short Story :

Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones. Samuel R. Delany. New Worlds Dec 1968)

Summary.

Other nominees:

• Deeper than the Darkness. Gregory Benford (F&SF Apr 1969)
• Not Long Before the End. Larry Niven (F&SF Apr 1969)
• Passengers. Robert Silverberg (Orbit 4 1968)
• Winter’s King. Ursula K. Le Guin (Orbit 5)

Introduction

Hugo Winners Volume II’ followed the first collection of award-winners, but was published in two separate volumes in paperback in the UK in order to keep each volume down to a reasonable size.

Introduced, as was the first volume, by Isaac Asimov. The biggest ego in SF uses the introduction to regale the reader with regard to his editorship of the volumes, and his own two Hugos.

Scroll down for details of winners (summaries to follow)

‘Hothouse’ series (collected as The Long Afternoon of Earth), Brian W. Aldiss (F&SF Feb, Apr, Jul, Sep, Dec 1961)

This volume is a little remiss in the contents page stating ‘no individual short story selections’, and nothing appearing to represent the year. Asimov’s introduction explains that the award for short fiction went to Aldiss’ series of linked stories which were put together in novel form as ‘The Long Afternoon of Earth’ (UK ‘Hothouse’). Surely it wouldn’t have been out of the question to have included one of the stories by way of an examplar? The first story in the series paints a lush, vivid picture of a far future Earth, which is largely covered by a gigantic banyan-tree, and the denizens, post-human and post-vegetable are woven together in a fantastic imaginative feat.

Other nominees:

• Lion Loose. James H. Schmitz (Analog Oct 1961)
• Monument. Lloyd Biggle Jr (Analog Jun 1961)
• Scylla’s Daughter. Fritz Leiber (Fantastic May 1961)
• Status Quo. Mack Reynolds (Analog Aug 1961)

The Dragon Masters. Jack Vance.

Summary to follow.

Other nominees:

• Myrrha. Gary Jennings (F&SF Sep 1962)
• The Unholy Grail. Fritz Leiber (Fantastic Oct 1962)
• When You Care, When You Love. Theodore Sturgeon (F&SF Sep 1962)
• Where Is the Bird of Fire?”. Thomas Burnett Swann (Science Fantasy Apr 1962)

No Truce with Kings. Poul Anderson.

Summary to follow.

Other nominees:

• Code Three. Rick Raphael (Analog Feb 1963)
• A Rose for Ecclesiastes. Roger Zelazny (F&SF Nov 1963)
• Savage Pellucidar. Edgar Rice Burroughs (Amazing Stories Nov 1963)

Soldier, Ask Not. Gordon R. Dickson.

Summary to follow.

Other nominees:

• Little Dog Gone. Robert F. Young (Worlds of Tomorrow Feb 1964)
• Once a Cop. Rick Raphael (Analog May 1964)

‘Repent, Harlequin’ said the Ticktockman. Harlan Ellison.

Now this is a story I can read, and read again and again. Short and pared to the bone, if I was editing an SF magazine, I would be tempted to staple a copy of this story to rejection letters as an example of what a short SF story should be. A Hugo and Nebula winner, and its themes of oppression and conformity are as pertinent today as they were forty years ago.

Other nominees:

• Day of the Great Shout. Philip José Farmer (Worlds of Tomorrow Jan 1965)
• The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth. Roger Zelazny (F&SF Mar 1965)
• Marque and Reprisal. Poul Anderson (F&SF Feb 1965)
• Stardock. Fritz Leiber (Fantastic Sep 1965)

The Last Castle. Jack Vance.

Summary to follow.

Other nominees:

• The Alchemist. Charles L. Harness (Analog May 1966)
• Apology to Inky. Robert M. Green Jr (F&SF Jan 1966)
• Call Him Lord. Gordon R. Dickson (Analog May 1966)
• The Eskimo Invasion. Hayden Howard (Galaxy Jun 1966)
• For a Breath I Tarry. Roger Zelazny (Fantastic Sep 1966)
• The Manor of Roses. Thomas Burnett Swann (F&SF Nov 1966)
• An Ornament to His Profession. Charles L. Harness (Analog Feb 1966)
• This Moment of the Storm. Roger Zelazny (F&SF Jun 1966

Best Short Story :

Neutron Star. Larry Niven (If Oct 1966)

Summary.

• Comes Now the Power. Roger Zelazny (Magazine of Horror #14 Winter 1966/67)
• Delusions for a Dragon Slayer. Harlan Ellison (Knight Sep 1966)
• Light of Other Days. Bob Shaw (Analog Aug 1966)
• Man In His Time. Brian W. Aldiss (Who Can Replace a Man?)
• Mr. Jester. Fred Saberhagen (If Jan 1966)
• Rat Race. Raymond F. Jones (Analog Apr 1966)
• The Secret Place. Richard McKenna (Orbit 1)