The Mammoth Book of Nebula Awards SF - aka Nebula Awards Showcase 2011

382 Pages·2011·1.82 MB·English

by  Anderson Kevin J

Kevin J. Anderson is the author of more than a hundred novels, forty-seven of
which have appeared on national or international bestseller lists. He has over
twenty million books in print in thirty languages. He has won or been nominated
for numerous prestigious awards, including the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker
Award, the SFX Reader’s Choice Award, the American Physics Society’s Forum
Award and New York Times Notable Book.
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Constable & Robinson Ltd
55–56 Russell Square
London WC1B 4HP
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the USA as The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011
by Tor, a division of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 2011
First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2012
Copyright © The Science Fiction Writers of America, 2011
The right of The Science Fiction Writers of America to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise,
be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it
is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual
events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication Data is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-78033-429-5 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-78033-430-1 (ebook)
Printed and bound in the UK
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
COPYRIGHT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Introduction copyright © 2010 by WordFire, Inc.
“Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela” copyright © 2009 by Saladin Ahmed.
Originally published in Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Books, July 2009.
“I Remember the Future” copyright © 2008 by Michael A. Burstein. Originally
published by Apex Publications, November 2008.
“Non-Zero Probabilities” copyright © 2009 by N. K. Jemisin. Originally
published in Clarkesworld, November 2009.
“Going Deep” copyright © 2009 by James Patrick Kelly. Originally published in
Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2009.
“Bridesicle” copyright © 2009 by Will McIntosh. Originally published in
Asimov’s Science Fiction, January 2009.
“Spar” copyright © 2009 by Kij Johnson. Originally published in Clarkesworld,
October 2009.
“Neal Barrett, Jr.: Writer of Excellence, and My Brother” copyright © 2009 by
Joe R. Lansdale.
“Getting Dark” copyright © 2009 by Neal Barrett, Jr. Originally published by
Subterranean Press.
“The Gambler” copyright © 2008 by Paolo Bacigalupi. Originally published in
Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, October 2008.
“Vinegar Peace (or, the Wrong-Way, Used-Adult Orphanage)” copyright ©
2008 by Michael Bishop. Originally published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, July
2008.
“I Needs Must Part, the Policeman Said” copyright © 2009 by Richard Bowes.
Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December
2009.
“Divining Light” copyright © 2008 by Ted Kosmatka. Originally published in
Asimov’s Science Fiction, August 2008; artwork copyright © 2008. First
published in Asimov’s Science Fiction. Used by permission.
“A Memory of Wind” copyright © 2009 by Rachel Swirsky. Originally
published by Tor.com, November 2009.
“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast”
copyright © 2009 by Eugie Foster. Originally published in Interzone, February
2009.
Joe Haldeman introduction copyright © 2010 by Connie Willis.
“A !Tangled Web” copyright © 1981 by Joe Haldeman. Originally published in
Analog magazine.
The Women of Nell Gwynne’s copyright © 2009 by Kage Baker. Originally
published by Subterranean Press.
“Song for an Ancient City” copyright © 2008 by Amal El-Mohtar. Originally
published in Mythic Delirium 19, Summer/Fall 2008.
“Search” copyright © 2008 by Geoffrey A. Landis. Originally published in Helix
SF 10, October 2008.
“Fireflies” copyright © 2008 by Geoffrey A. Landis. Originally published in
Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2008.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION • Kevin J. Anderson
FINAL 2009 NEBULA BALLOT
SHORT STORY
“HOOVES AND THE HOVEL OF ABDEL JAMEELA” • Saladin Ahmed
“I REMEMBER THE FUTURE” • Michael A. Burstein
“NON-ZERO PROBABILITIES” • N. K. Jemisin
“GOING DEEP” • James Patrick Kelly
“BRIDESICLE” • Will McIntosh
Nebula Award Winner: “SPAR” • Kij Johnson
SFWA AUTHOR EMERITUS – NEAL BARRETT, JR.
NEAL BARRETT, JR.: WRITER OF EXCELLENCE, AND MY BROTHER • Joe R. Lansdale
“GETTING DARK” • Neal Barrett, Jr.
NOVELETTE
“THE GAMBLER” • Paolo Bacigalupi
“VINEGAR PEACE (OR, THE WRONG-WAY, USED-ADULT ORPHANAGE)” • Michael
Bishop
“I NEEDS MUST PART, THE POLICEMAN SAID” • Richard Bowes
“DIVINING LIGHT” • Ted Kosmatka
“A MEMORY OF WIND” • Rachel Swirsky
Nebula Award Winner: “SINNER, BAKER, FABULIST, PRIEST; RED MASK, BLACK MASK,
GENTLEMAN, BEAST” • Eugie Foster
SFWA DAMON KNIGHT GRAND MASTER
SFWA DAMON KNIGHT GRAND MASTER: JOE HALDEMAN • Mark Kreighbaum
Appreciation by Connie Willis
“A !TANGLED WEB” • Joe Haldeman
NOVELLA
Nebula Award Winner: THE WOMEN OF NELL GWYNNE’S • Kage Baker
RHYSLING AWARDS
“SONG FOR AN ANCIENT CITY” • Amal El-Mohtar
“SEARCH” • Geoffrey A. Landis
“FIREFLIES” • Geoffrey A. Landis
OTHER AWARDS
ABOUT THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY WRITERS OF AMERICA
ABOUT THE NEBULA AWARDS
COMPLETE LIST OF PAST NEBULA WINNERS
INTRODUCTION
Kevin J. Anderson
For forty-five years, the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of
America (SFWA) have been reading, pondering, dickering over, and selecting
the most exceptional works in the genre. Each year, they present the prestigious
Nebula Award for Best Novel, Novella (17,500-40,000 words), Novelette
(7,500-17,500 words), and Short Story (less than 7,500 words). The first
ceremonies, in 1965, honored works by Frank Herbert, Brian W. Aldiss, Roger
Zelazny, and Harlan Ellison. Not a bad start.
Throughout each year, the fifteen hundred or so members of SFWA send in
recommendations to call attention to works they find worthy of consideration. If
a story or novel receives enough recommendations within a year of publication,
the work is included on that year’s Preliminary Ballot. The full members of
SFWA vote on the shortlisted works to winnow them down to four candidates in
each category (a special jury can also add works that they feel slipped through
the cracks), and that’s the final Nebula ballot, from which the winners are
chosen.
Hence, the contents of this Showcase.
The genre’s rival award, the Hugo, is chosen by the readers and fans, the
equivalent of the People’s Choice Awards. The Hugo and Nebula audiences’
tastes don’t always agree, but both awards are an impressive feather in an
author’s cap. For me, the final ballots serve another vital purpose: providing SF
and fantasy readers with a cream-of-the-crop reading list.
When I grew up as a kid in small-town Wisconsin, with a whole section of the
public library devoted to science fiction (as denoted by little rocket stickers on
the spines), it was hard to know where to start. The section was daunting and
huge – six whole shelves filled with science fiction books! I could have begun at
the top and worked my way down, which would have made me very familiar
with Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke, but I would never have made it to Zelazny.