Nebula Awards Showcase 2010

Table of Contents

 

 

“Would serve well as a one-volume text for a course in contemporary science fiction.”

“Reading all of
Nebula Awards Showcase 2002
is a way of reading a bunch of good stories. It is also a very good way to explore the writing of tomorrow.”

—John Clute,
SciFi.com

“Conveys a sense of the vitality and excitement that have characterized the field’s internal dialogues and debate over the last few years. One of the most entertaining Nebula volumes in years.”

—
Locus

“The vast majority of the stories included are simply wonderful, and absolutely deserve recognition. . . . Bottom line: This year’s
Nebula Showcase
actually succeeds in showcasing a great variety of truly good work. Read it now.”

—InterGalactic Medicine Show

“The annual
Nebula Awards Showcase
anthologies always have something interesting to offer up. . . . There are plenty of solid, entertaining pieces in this anthology.”

—
Subterranean

“As always, a fine anthology.”

—Alternative Worlds

“Stellar . . . this is not only a must read for anyone with an interest in the field, but a pleasure to read. . . . That’s more reassuring than surprising, of course, given that this collection has little if any agenda besides quality writing, but it is reassuring to see that so many fresh voices are so much fun . . . worth picking up.”

—SFRevu

“While the essays offer one answer to the question of where does SF go now, the stories show that science fiction writers continue to reexamine their vision of the future. It’s a continuing dialogue, and by including critical essays along with the stories, the
Nebula Awards Showcase 2002
does more to present the SF field as an ongoing conversation and discussion of ideas than any of the other best of the year anthologies. It’s a worthy contribution and a good volume to have on your shelf.”

—SF Site

“Every fan will have their favorites; there’s pretty much something for everyone. . . . Overall
Nebula Awards Showcase 2006
gets it right. I judge it a keeper.”

—SciFiDimensions

“Invaluable, not just for the splendid fiction and lively non-fiction, but as another annual snapshot, complete with grins and scowls.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

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First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library,
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First Printing, April 2010

Copyright © Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 2010

Additional author copyrights and permissions can be found on pages 419-20.
All rights reserved

 

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In the works of fiction published in this volume, names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

 

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eISBN : 978-1-101-18627-5

W
elcome.

Putting together the Nebula Award anthology is an activity that has been rather thought-provoking. Looking at the amazing list of past, and reading the current, winners has made me think back to a life spent reading and working with Science Fiction and Fantasy. A personal history that begins as a very young boy under a shade tree struggling to learn to read with
Tom Swift
books and growing up following and then creating in what has become a media-conquering genre. You can’t turn on the television without finding a ghost, alien, or advanced technology on the screen, and those are the reality shows. Science Fiction has sure come a long way.

In this Nebula Awards anthology we take a look at the long and starlit road. Included among the stories of this anthology are a number of articles in which we take a look back at the evolution of Science Fiction writing, mostly as seen on a very personal level, over the last century. Each of these articles covers a decade or era in the history of SF.

Fortunately many of them are written by the very authors who wrote and shaped the genre during that time. So, among them you will find the esteemed and prolific Robert Silverberg telling you about the fifties and Lynn Abbey explaining the explosion of shared-world anthologies in the eighties.

This collection also has the privilege of including along with all four Nebula Award-winning works an excerpt from the Andre Norton Award winner’s novel, the amazingly creative Joss Whedon’s acceptance speech for the Bradbury Award, and more SF insights from the three esteemed winners of the Solstice Award that is now given for Service to the Science Fiction community. Finally, we feature at the end a short story by Grand Master Harry Harrison that is introduced by TOR publisher Tom Doherty.