Nebula Awards 27


Nebula Awards 27 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by James Morrow, the second of three successive volumes under his editorship. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Harcourt Brace in April 1993.

Summary

The book collects pieces that won or were nominated for the Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story for the year 1992, various nonfiction pieces related to the awards, and tributes to recently deceased author Isaac Asimov, together with the two Rhysling Award-winning poems for 1991 and one of the two for 1992, and an introduction by the editor. Not all nominees for the various awards are included.

Contents

  • "Introduction"
  • "Science Fiction for What? Remarks on the Year 1991"
  • "Guide Dog"
  • "Ma Qui"
  • "Three Scenes from Stations of the Tide"
  • "In Memoriam: Isaac Asimov"
  • "Introducing Isaac"
  • "Asimov: The Last Questions"
  • ""
  • "Farewell, Farewell"
  • "Standing in Line with Mister Jimmy"
  • "The Dark"
  • "They're Made Out of Meat"
  • "Precessing the Simulacra for Fun and Profit"
  • "Auteurs at Work? The Fantastic Films of 1991"
  • "Eighteen Years Old, October Eleventh"
  • "The Aging Cryonicist in the Arms of His Mistress Contemplates the Survival of the Species While the Phoenix Is Consumed by Fire"
  • "Buffalo"
  • "Getting Real"
  • "the button, and what you know"
  • "Beggars in Spain"
  • "About the Nebula Awards"
  • "Selected Titles from the 1991 Preliminary Nebula Ballot"
  • "Past Nebula Award Winners"

    Reception

According to the reviewer for Kirkus Reviews, "he fiction here is first-rate, especially the winners." The reviewer notes that the representation of the best novel winner "by three excerpts- -a choice that might not work for every novel,... captures Swanwick's hallucinatory future to good effect." Bisson's comic dialogue and Stewart's poem are cited as examples that "effectively illustrate the unusually wide variety of approaches- -and general excellence--of the rest" of the contributions. Warren's assessment of the year in film is rated as "knowledgeable," Sterling's "attempt to foresee the fictional shape of the 90's" as "suitably provocative," and the lists of recommended books and stories as perhaps "the most valuable feature here," an "excellent way for the occasional reader to get a sample of the current trends in sf, especially since only two entries here are in other 'best-of-the-year' collections for 1991."
The anthology was also reviewed by Russell Letson in Locus no. 390, July 1993, Joseph Milicia in The New York Review of Science Fiction, July 1993, and Tom Easton in Analog [Science Fiction and Fact], October 1993.

Awards

The book placed eighth in the 1994 Locus Poll Award for Best Anthology.