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Rating: 
Summary: very disappointing
Review: a collection of SCI-FI short stories , poems ext.. edited by the author conny willis.tee writings are from many genres of SCI-FI and by different writers, some are new and some are SCI-FI master from the old generation. most of the stories are very weak, and some are very peculiar the best things about the book, is that ther reader can always skip to the next story, and mabee to find something for is taste. i think this book is realy for SCI FI fanatic fans only, especially for those who are familiar with the NEBULA award organisation, and for conny willis's fans and friends (i'm not one of them)
Rating:
Summary: very disappointing
Review: a collection of SCI-FI short stories , poems ext.. edited by the author conny willis. tee writings are from many genres of SCI-FI and by different writers, some are new and some are SCI-FI master from the old generation. most of the stories are very weak, and some are very peculiar the best things about the book, is that ther reader can always skip to the next story, and mabee to find something for is taste. i think this book is realy for SCI FI fanatic fans only, especially for those who are familiar with the NEBULA award organisation, and for conny willis's fans and friends (i'm not one of them)
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, only a nodding acquaintance to SF
Review: A marked disappointment, considering the traditions of the Nebula books. It is possible that they are good stories but a large majority is not SF (in my book). The stories do (in general) improve as the reader progresses through the book,however even the best is only mediocre. The long introductions are just a waste of space (:-), and to add insult to injury,it contains an excerpt from a novel, and a whole spiel (some 10 pages) about a Nebula man of the year (or similar). Buy it if you must, my copy is going to be binned.
Rating: 
Summary: Good summary of the year
Review: Another collection of this long-running series that presents the award-winning fiction for the previous year. I'll comment on the individual stories: Jane Yolen, "Sister Emily's Lightship" -- I've never been a Yolen fan. While I find her prose professional enough, I've never read anything by her that would make me jump up and rush out to force someone to read it. This story is no exception. The premise of Emily Dickinson meeting an alien is too...precious, and Yolen's sole contribution to that premise in this story is to emphasize some of the ethereal and otherworldly quality of Dickinson's poetry, and that doesn't come until the end. Yeah, she did her Dickinson research, but so what? Other than the alien, there is no reason for this story to be science fiction (see "Abbess Phone Home" in the Turkey City Lexicon). James Patrick Kelly, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" -- Uses technology of the future to portray a true human characteristic. Vonda McIntyre, excerpt from The Moon and the Sun -- As someone who has not read this Nebula-winning novel, the excerpt presented here does exactly what it is supposed to do--whet your appetite for more. I had no idea what the subject of the book was before I read this, now I do, and have had a taste of how it is told. I'm not going to rush out and get it, but I'm much more interested now than I was before. Nancy Kress, "The Flowers of Aulit Prison" -- An excellent story with its basis in that most Phil Dickian question, "What is reality?" This is the kind of SF that I look for, where aliens help us understand, through them as a metaphor, a fundamental idea of life. That it has a plot, an unique setting, and fascinating characters makes it an award winner. I'm not giving anything away with this one, but just point you to it and say, "go read." Gregory Feeley, "The Crab Lice" -- I disliked the beginning of this story so much that I didn't even finish it. There was nothing for me to grab onto to orient myself in the story, and life is just too short. Nelson Bond, "The Bookshop" -- A nice little classic story, where every writer's fantasy comes true, but at a price, of course. You could do a collection of these ultimate library tales (Borges comes to mind). James Alan Gardner, "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Bloodstream" -- A great story, with some unique twists to alternate history (so much better than the Feeley). Michael Swanwick, "The Dead" -- An audacious story, and right up my alley. I liked it well enough, but there was something missing--I'm not sure what, maybe more of an explanation for the Donald character and his background. The anger that it stems from is good. Karen Joy Fowler, "The Elizabeth Complex" -- This could have been as bad as the Yolen, yet it works to some extent because of its experimental nature. I wouldn't want a steady diet of these things, but once was interesting. Jerry Oltion, "Abandon in Place" -- Wow, I liked this story a lot, even though it is so ridiculous that it is laughable. One must come at this as if reading a fairy tale--there is nothing plausible here. The science is bogus, the characters are straight wish-fulfillment from Heinlein days. But the mythology is strong, and if one has any remorse for the space program whatsoever, there's a good chance that it will tug the correct strings. Poul Anderson, "The Martyr" -- A classic from the latest grand master, a nice little mystery about why those infuriating aliens continue to treat us differently. All in all, this is a worthy volume to grab, especially if you don't want to dedicate the time to reading the Dozois' Year's Best or the magazines themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Good summary of the year
Review: Another collection of this long-running series that presents the award-winning fiction for the previous year. I'll comment on the individual stories: Jane Yolen, "Sister Emily's Lightship" -- I've never been a Yolen fan. While I find her prose professional enough, I've never read anything by her that would make me jump up and rush out to force someone to read it. This story is no exception. The premise of Emily Dickinson meeting an alien is too...precious, and Yolen's sole contribution to that premise in this story is to emphasize some of the ethereal and otherworldly quality of Dickinson's poetry, and that doesn't come until the end. Yeah, she did her Dickinson research, but so what? Other than the alien, there is no reason for this story to be science fiction (see "Abbess Phone Home" in the Turkey City Lexicon). James Patrick Kelly, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" -- Uses technology of the future to portray a true human characteristic. Vonda McIntyre, excerpt from The Moon and the Sun -- As someone who has not read this Nebula-winning novel, the excerpt presented here does exactly what it is supposed to do--whet your appetite for more. I had no idea what the subject of the book was before I read this, now I do, and have had a taste of how it is told. I'm not going to rush out and get it, but I'm much more interested now than I was before. Nancy Kress, "The Flowers of Aulit Prison" -- An excellent story with its basis in that most Phil Dickian question, "What is reality?" This is the kind of SF that I look for, where aliens help us understand, through them as a metaphor, a fundamental idea of life. That it has a plot, an unique setting, and fascinating characters makes it an award winner. I'm not giving anything away with this one, but just point you to it and say, "go read." Gregory Feeley, "The Crab Lice" -- I disliked the beginning of this story so much that I didn't even finish it. There was nothing for me to grab onto to orient myself in the story, and life is just too short. Nelson Bond, "The Bookshop" -- A nice little classic story, where every writer's fantasy comes true, but at a price, of course. You could do a collection of these ultimate library tales (Borges comes to mind). James Alan Gardner, "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Bloodstream" -- A great story, with some unique twists to alternate history (so much better than the Feeley). Michael Swanwick, "The Dead" -- An audacious story, and right up my alley. I liked it well enough, but there was something missing--I'm not sure what, maybe more of an explanation for the Donald character and his background. The anger that it stems from is good. Karen Joy Fowler, "The Elizabeth Complex" -- This could have been as bad as the Yolen, yet it works to some extent because of its experimental nature. I wouldn't want a steady diet of these things, but once was interesting. Jerry Oltion, "Abandon in Place" -- Wow, I liked this story a lot, even though it is so ridiculous that it is laughable. One must come at this as if reading a fairy tale--there is nothing plausible here. The science is bogus, the characters are straight wish-fulfillment from Heinlein days. But the mythology is strong, and if one has any remorse for the space program whatsoever, there's a good chance that it will tug the correct strings. Poul Anderson, "The Martyr" -- A classic from the latest grand master, a nice little mystery about why those infuriating aliens continue to treat us differently. All in all, this is a worthy volume to grab, especially if you don't want to dedicate the time to reading the Dozois' Year's Best or the magazines themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: History repeats itself: Two years ago I read Nebula Awards 31. The only story that engaged me was by Grand Master AE Van Vogt - a story written over 50 years ago. I don't remember much else about that volume. Nebula Awards 33 concludes with a story by Grand Master Poul Anderson written about 40 years ago. It's easily the best thing in the book. If I were to guess what this means about contemporary short science fiction, I would say the genre is not only short on new ideas, but it has lost the joy of the narrative. Indeed, little happens in many of these stories. And, as the earlier reviewer noted, many really aren't sf. Jane Yolen's award-winning story about Emily Dickinson and a spaceship is silly and unnecessary. Gregory Feeley's story is interesting, but there's no narrative. John Howard Gardner's story has perhaps the best science fictional idea. It deals with certain snake-like analogues in human blood which have a religious significance that affected society. But, it's just some conversational set-pieces with no narrative. Nancy Kress's piece starts good, gets better, and then just ends. (Is there a novel in the works?) The one story with spaceships is actually a ghost story. Science fiction and fantasy writers are perhaps entitled to pat themselves on the back from time to time - after all few others do. But editor Connie Willis's gushy endorsements do nobody any good. Rather than let the reader judge the stories, she keeps telling us how good they are. (No analysis is provided.) She makes the absurd claim that this volume is as good as the first volume, which contained much-anthologized classic works by Aldiss, Ellison and Zelazny. Willis mourns her inability to include all the nominees while including nine (!) gushy pages on Poul Anderson and about one apiece on each story. The volume concludes with a totally unnecessary (and, except for a piece by Kim Stanley Robinson, facile) collection of pieces about 1997. But who cares about 1997 in the middle of 1999? It includes about 10 pages ripped out from the award winning novel. (Why do this? The novel will probably have greater circulation than this collection.) Maybe K.D. Wentworth wouldn't have the ignominy of being the only short-story nominee left out had all this unnecessary material been tossed.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: History repeats itself: Two years ago I read Nebula Awards 31. The only story that engaged me was by Grand Master AE Van Vogt - a story written over 50 years ago. I don't remember much else about that volume. Nebula Awards 33 concludes with a story by Grand Master Poul Anderson written about 40 years ago. It's easily the best thing in the book. If I were to guess what this means about contemporary short science fiction, I would say the genre is not only short on new ideas, but it has lost the joy of the narrative. Indeed, little happens in many of these stories. And, as the earlier reviewer noted, many really aren't sf. Jane Yolen's award-winning story about Emily Dickinson and a spaceship is silly and unnecessary. Gregory Feeley's story is interesting, but there's no narrative. John Howard Gardner's story has perhaps the best science fictional idea. It deals with certain snake-like analogues in human blood which have a religious significance that affected society. But, it's just some conversational set-pieces with no narrative. Nancy Kress's piece starts good, gets better, and then just ends. (Is there a novel in the works?) The one story with spaceships is actually a ghost story. Science fiction and fantasy writers are perhaps entitled to pat themselves on the back from time to time - after all few others do. But editor Connie Willis's gushy endorsements do nobody any good. Rather than let the reader judge the stories, she keeps telling us how good they are. (No analysis is provided.) She makes the absurd claim that this volume is as good as the first volume, which contained much-anthologized classic works by Aldiss, Ellison and Zelazny. Willis mourns her inability to include all the nominees while including nine (!) gushy pages on Poul Anderson and about one apiece on each story. The volume concludes with a totally unnecessary (and, except for a piece by Kim Stanley Robinson, facile) collection of pieces about 1997. But who cares about 1997 in the middle of 1999? It includes about 10 pages ripped out from the award winning novel. (Why do this? The novel will probably have greater circulation than this collection.) Maybe K.D. Wentworth wouldn't have the ignominy of being the only short-story nominee left out had all this unnecessary material been tossed.
Rating:
Summary: Always Entertaining, Often Mind Blowing
Review: It really doesn't matter which volume of the Nebula Awards you pick up, you know that you're going to discover some great SF stories. That is certainly true of NEBULA AWARDS 33. Sure, you might find one or two that you don't care for, but those stories are probably the exception to the rule. Out of the works selected for inclusion in this volume, I found six of them to be outstanding, with a couple of them blowing me away.
The SF stories that I enjoy the most teach me about myself and the world around me. These stories did that and more. James Patrick Kelly's "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is a touching, thought-provoking look at our relationships with our children and our parents. "The Flowers of Aulit Prison" by Nancy Kress is immediately readable, enjoyable, and yet full of depth. With a title like "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream," you know you're NOT in store for a boring read! A masterful look at the battle between science and religion. Michael Swanwick's "The Dead" is a wonderfully disturbing look at the corporate world. And what can you say about Karen Joy Fowler's "The Elizabeth Complex," except that it's brilliant? (Man, this woman can write!) To end the volume, Willis hits a home run by picking Grand Master Poul Anderson's "The Martyr," a story that I just can't stop thinking about. 270 pages
Rating:
Summary: Always Entertaining, Often Mind Blowing
Review: It really doesn't matter which volume of the Nebula Awards you pick up, you know that you're going to discover some great SF stories. That is certainly true of NEBULA AWARDS 33. Sure, you might find one or two that you don't care for, but those stories are probably the exception to the rule. Out of the works selected for inclusion in this volume, I found six of them to be outstanding, with a couple of them blowing me away.
The SF stories that I enjoy the most teach me about myself and the world around me. These stories did that and more. James Patrick Kelly's "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is a touching, thought-provoking look at our relationships with our children and our parents. "The Flowers of Aulit Prison" by Nancy Kress is immediately readable, enjoyable, and yet full of depth. With a title like "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream," you know you're NOT in store for a boring read! A masterful look at the battle between science and religion. Michael Swanwick's "The Dead" is a wonderfully disturbing look at the corporate world. And what can you say about Karen Joy Fowler's "The Elizabeth Complex," except that it's brilliant? (Man, this woman can write!) To end the volume, Willis hits a home run by picking Grand Master Poul Anderson's "The Martyr," a story that I just can't stop thinking about. 270 pages
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