Book Review: 2018 NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE, Edited by Jane Yolen
As usual, I’m behind and am just now getting to write up these thoughts on the 2018 Nebula Awards Showcase, edited by Jane Yolen for Pyr. Until April when the 2019 showcase comes out, it is the latest of annual volumes published since 1966 to reprint the nominated and winning stories for the previous year. Though this past year’s winners might be more in the forefront of your mind, revisiting – or discovering – the stories in the 2018 showcase (published 2016 and 2017) could be even more rewarding. I had read many of the stories at their original appearance, and going back to these again for a second or third time felt in some cases like meeting old friends, and in a few cases felt like appreciating something wondrous that I had somehow missed on that read a couple years back.
Reading Rangers: Shorts #1 – 2017 Nebula Finalist Short Stories
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ReadingRangersShorts12017NebulaFinalistShortStories/ReadingRangersShorts1–2017NebulaFinalistShortStories.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSHello again, Rangers! We’re so excited about this new subcast of Reading Rangers! One of our most requested subjects from our annual listener survey was discussions of short fiction, and so we’ve decided to deliver with Reading Rangers: Shorts! Woohoo! On a bi-monthly basis, a rotating cast of team members will sit down and discuss language, themes, structure, and more about whatever short stories they feel like talking about, including award finalists, anthologies, magazine issues, and classic works. In this first episode, Trish, Elizabeth, and Brandon dive right into the 2017 Nebula Finalists for Best Short Story! Stories of identity, marginalization, virtual reality, AI, robots, and wind-up dolls make up this year’s list of finalists, so strap on your hats, grab your binoculars, and lets range through some speculative fiction, shall we? We hope you enjoy the episode!
Book Review: Nebula Awards Showcase 2017
Since the Nebula Awards’ inception some combination of its winners and nominees has been annually published together in a collection edited by a major genre figure. Unlike typical anthologies or collections, the content isn’t chosen by the editor, but by the members of the Science Fiction Writers of America. Therefore the responsibilities of the editor (this year Julie E. Czerneda) appear minimal, mainly to write the introduction and decide on which category might have its nominees included. Individual stories also include introductions by the authors providing insight into the creation of their work. Nebula Awards Showcase 2017 thus offers an ideal and affordable digest for seeing what members of the speculative fiction field view as its current best representations. For readers who somehow manage to keep up with all corners of the genre, the collection provides a nice summation and reminder of the current vibe, views, and insights that have gained notice. For the casual or new reader, it offers an opportunity to discover some talented writers and powerful stories.
? of the Week: What do you think of the Nebula Awards finalists?
If you don’t know already, the Nebula Awards finalists were announced a little while ago. It’s an interesting list, to say the least, and it has sparked some interesting responses across the blogosphere. But what do you all think about the list? Feel free to leave a comment. Here are our brief responses: Shaun Overall, I’m happy with the list, though there are certainly some anomalies there. A lot of repeat names, some works that I didn’t think would make it to such a list anyway and a few things I saw coming from a mile away. As others here will mention, there are an extraordinary amount of women and a fair shake of POCs here — something I can’t help appreciating because such things tend to drive certain people in this community up the wall. The only glaring omission is in a category that nobody really cares about anyway: dramatic presentation. For all its criticism of vision over substance, I find it difficult to understand why the genre community has completely neglected to include Cloud Atlas on the list. If any film deserves genre’s recognition, it’s that one. Such is life… Julia I’m quite excited about this year’s list. I think there is a wealth of strong work on the ballot. I look forward to seeing the winners, and I think that this year, no matter who wins, I’ll probably be really happy with the outcome. I would like to add that the fact that some people are being ridiculous and getting upset because non-white and non-male people are nominated makes me like this ballot even more. Paul I will be terse. I am very pleased by the Novel ballot. 4 out of the 6 are by women. An epic fantasy written by a woman, too. Interestingly, five of the six novel nominees are Fantasy, too. Only 2312 sits there defending SF. Adam I think it is one of the stronger lists of the past few years, especially in the short fiction categories. I would like to see more diversity in the short story category though, as far as the publications represented. Five out of the six stories come from either Lightspeed or Clarkesworld. Jen I’m *really* happy about this list of nominees – over half are women!! Yay women in SF&F! That’s about all I can reliably comment on though as I’ve only either read or watched 4 of the nominations. Now it’s your turn!
The 2012 Nebula Awards Nominees
You’ve probably already seen the announcement, but in case you haven’t, here are the nominees for the Nebulas: Novel Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed (DAW; Gollancz ’13) Ironskin, Tina Connolly (Tor) The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK) The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc) Glamour in Glass, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor) 2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK) Novella On a Red Station, Drifting, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press) After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Nancy Kress (Tachyon) “The Stars Do Not Lie,” Jay Lake (Asimov’s 10-11/12) “All the Flavors,” Ken Liu (GigaNotoSaurus 2/1/12) “Katabasis,” Robert Reed (F&SF 11-12/12) “Barry’s Tale,” Lawrence M. Schoen (Buffalito Buffet) Novelette
Episode 50 — NebulaFail 2010
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.archive.org/download/TheSkiffyAndFantyShow3.8–NebulaAwardsFail2011/Sandf–Episode3.8–NebulaFail2011.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThe Nebulas have been announced, and we’re not very happy. For this episode, Adam returns for a testosterone-filled rant about the nominees and the winners, our preferred candidates, and the things we actually enjoyed this time around. Our episode might be a tad on the controversial side, but that’s the way (uh huh, uh huh) we like it. (Episode 3.8 was originally schedules to be an episode of Torture Cinema, but we forgot about the Nebulas and decided we needed to talk about them. Torture Cinema will be next week.) Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 50 — Download (MP3) Intro and Discussion: NebulaFail 2010 (0:00 – 34:51) Publisher’s Weekly Coverage of the Nebulas Adam’s Editorial on the Nebulas Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
