The New Hugo Winners, Volume II, Presented by Isaac Asimov, edited by Martin H Greenberg, Baen Books, 1991

Introduction

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

44th Convention, Atlanta.

Best Novella : 24 Views of Mount Fuji, by Hokusai. Roger Zelazny. Originally in Asimovs July 1985.

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 3rd : 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 3rd : Hi-tech espionage and environmental/big business shennanigans..
  • Flying Saucer Rock & Roll. Howard Waldrop. Originally in : Omni January 1985
      Story summarized in Dozois 3rd : 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.

45th Convention, Brighton.

Best Novella : Gilgamesh in the Outback. Robert Silverberg.
Originally in :

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:

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:

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 :

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.

46th Convention, New Orleams.

Best Novella : Eye for Eye. Orson Scott Card.
Originally in : Asimovs, March 1987

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:

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.

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:

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

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