by Kij Johnson
Published 2014 by Pyr®, an imprint of Prometheus Books
Nebula Awards Showcase 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA, Inc.). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Cover illustration © 2014 Raoul Vitale
Cover design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Nebula Awards Showcase 2014 / edited by Kij Johnson.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-61614-901-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-61614-902-4 (ebook)
1. Science fiction, American. 2. Fantasy fiction, American. I. Johnson, Kij, editor of compilation.
PS648.S3N385 2014
813’.0876208—dc23
2013045243
Printed in the United States of America
ALSO FROM PYR®:
Nebula Awards Showcase 2013
edited by Catherine Asaro
Nebula Awards Showcase 2012
edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel
For James Gunn
“Immersion,” copyright 2012 by Aliette de Bodard, first published in Clarkesworld Magazine, June 2012.
“Close Encounters,” copyright 2012 by Andy Duncan, first published in The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories, PS Publishing.
“After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall,” copyright 2012 by Nancy Kress, first published as a stand-alone book, After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Tachyon Press.
Excerpt from 2312, copyright 2012 by Kim Stanley Robinson, first published in 2312, Orbit US; Orbit UK.
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species,” copyright 2012 by Ken Liu, first published in Lightspeed Magazine, August 2012.
Excerpt from Fair Coin, copyright 2012 by E. C. Myers, first published in Fair Coin, Pyr Books.
“Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” copyright 2012 by Cat Rambo, first published in Near + Far, Hydra House.
“Gene Wolfe,” copyright 2013 by Michael Dirda.
“How to Read Gene Wolfe,” copyright 2002 by Neil Gaiman, first published in the World Horror Convention 2002 program book.
“Christmas Inn,” copyright 2006 by Gene Wolfe, first published as a chapbook by PS Publishing; reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agents, the Virginia Kidd Agency, Inc.
“The Library, After,” copyright 2012 by Shira Lipkin, first published in Mythic Delirium, vol. 24.
“The Curator Speaks in the Department of Dead Languages,” copyright by Megan Arkenberg, first published in Strange Horizons, June 27, 2011.
“Blue Rose Buddha,” copyright 2011 by Marge Simon, first published in The Mad Hattery, Elektrik Milk Bath Press.
INTRODUCTION
Kij Johnson
ABOUT THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY WRITERS OF AMERICA
ABOUT THE NEBULA AWARDS
2012 NEBULA AWARDS FINAL BALLOT
Nebula Award, Best Short Story
“Immersion”
Aliette de Bodard
Nebula Award, Best Novelette
“Close Encounters”
Andy Duncan
Nebula Award, Best Novella
“After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall”
Nancy Kress
Nebula Award, Best Novel
Excerpt from 2312
Kim Stanley Robinson
Nebula Award Finalist, Best Short Story
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species”
Ken Liu
Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy
Excerpt from Fair Coin
E. C. Myers
Nebula Award Finalist, Best Short Story
“Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain”
Cat Rambo
ABOUT THE DAMON KNIGHT MEMORIAL GRAND MASTER AWARD
“Gene Wolfe”
Michael Dirda
“How to Read Gene Wolfe”
Neil Gaiman
Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master: Gene Wolfe
“Christmas Inn”
ABOUT THE RHYSLING AWARDS
2012 Rhysling Award, Best Short Poem
“The Library, After”
Shira Lipkin
2012 Rhysling Award, Best Long Poem
“The Curator Speaks in the Department of Dead Languages”
Megan Arkenberg
2012 Dwarf Stars Award
“Blue Rose Buddha”
Marge Simon
PAST NEBULA AWARD WINNERS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE EDITOR
On the day I started writing this introduction, I learned that Frederik Pohl had died at the age of ninety-three. Pohl’s career in science fiction spanned most of seven decades and nearly every job title: fan, long- and short-form editor, agent, award juror, author, and coauthor. His first Nebula nomination came in 1966, and, in later years, he won twice. One of those works, the brilliant novel Gateway, won Hugo and Nebula both, as well as the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, among others. In fact, he was nominated for awards in this field a staggering 126 times. His importance to speculative fiction was recognized by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) when he won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award back in 1993; in the nearly twenty years since then, he continued to write, winning his final major award, a Hugo, in 2010. He is irreplaceable.
Frederik Pohl’s death had a powerful impact on me, but he was, of course, not the only person our field has lost recently. Joanna Russ was a unique voice; Jack Vance was another. The list goes on and on, back into history: there will never be another Andre Norton, Ray Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Theodore Sturgeon, C. L. Moore.
One piece of conventional wisdom is that our field is a graying field. The writers and the readers at its heart grow older; the In Memoriam lists at each year’s Nebula Awards banquet lengthens. And it is hard not to stare backward, ticking each loss from a roster of living greats.
There is a second conventional wisdom that pulls contrary to this current; that is, that the field is not graying but growing. In recent years, speculative-fiction storytelling has exploded across modes and media to fuel one-hundred-thousand-person conventions and rule the theatres. Even the cloistered garden that written SF sometimes seems to be is immeasurably vaster than it was fifty years ago, as millions of copies of speculative-fiction books are sold, generally categorized as young adult books regardless of their sophistication.
And all the new writers. A handful of this year’s nominees and recipients in the fiction categories have been nominated for Nebulas one or more decades ago, members of what might be considered an old guard; but the majority have appeared here only in the last few years. Ten of the fiction nominees were on the ballot for the first time; another seven have received multiple nominations, but only within the last four years. The writers and director of this year’s winner of the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation had not worked on a feature-length film before. This year’s Andre Norton Award–winner is a debut novel for its author.
Judging by this year’s b
allot, there is no dearth of new talent.
Will these works become part of speculative fiction’s canon? Will any of these authors have the profound effect on the genre that Fred Pohl did? We won’t know for decades—or longer—but my guess is yes. Fred Pohl and all the other writers, editors, publishers, and agents we have lost are irreplaceable, but that does not mean they will not be joined in the canon by others. The new writers of our field will evolve and find or perfect their voices, their visions; some will become, in their turn, irreplaceable.
We are a literature of change. It’s exciting to be reading speculative fiction at a time when the field seems to be looking at itself as much as the world and saying, “What now?”
The Nebula Awards Showcase 2014 reprints the winners of the short-story, novelette, and novella awards. It also includes excerpts from this year’s winning novel and this year’s winner of the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. In recognition of the new Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master, Gene Wolfe, the Showcase reprints a classic short story he has selected. Finally, it includes the three winners of the 2011 Rhysling Awards for speculative poetry. I hope you enjoy it all as much as I did.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (formerly known as the Science Fiction Writers of America; the original acronym “SFWA” was retained), includes among its members many active writers of science fiction and fantasy. According to the bylaws of the organization, its purpose “shall be to promote the furtherance of the writing of science fiction, fantasy, and related genres as a profession.” SFWA informs writers on professional matters, protects their interests, and helps them in dealings with agents, editors, anthologists, and producers of nonprint media. It also strives to encourage public interest in and appreciation of science fiction and fantasy.
Anyone may become an active member of SFWA after the acceptance of and payment for one professionally published novel, one professionally produced dramatic script, or three professionally published pieces of short fiction. Only science fiction, fantasy, horror, or other prose fiction of a related genre, in English, shall be considered as qualifying for active membership. Beginning writers who do not yet qualify for active membership but have published some qualifying professional work may join as associate members; other classes of membership include affiliate members (editors, agents, reviewers, and anthologists), estate members (representatives of the estates of active members who have died), and institutional members (high schools, colleges, universities, libraries, broadcasters, film producers, futurist groups, and individuals associated with such an institution).
Readers are invited to visit the SFWA website on the Internet at www.sfwa.org.
Shortly after the founding of SFWA in 1965, its first secretary-treasurer, Lloyd Biggle Jr., proposed that the organization periodically select and publish the year’s best stories. This notion evolved into an elaborate balloting process, an annual awards banquet, and a series of Nebula Awards anthologies.
Throughout every calendar year, members of SFWA read and recommend novels and stories for the Nebula Awards. The editor of the Nebula Awards Report (NAR) collects the recommendations and publishes them in the SFWA Forum and on the SFWA members’ private web page. At the end of the year, the NAR editor tallies the endorsements, draws up a preliminary ballot containing ten or more recommendations for each category, and sends it to all active SFWA members. Under the current rules, each work enjoys a one-year eligibility period from its date of publication in the United States. If a work fails to receive ten recommendations during the one-year interval, it is dropped from further Nebula Award consideration.
The NAR editor processes the results of the preliminary ballot and then compiles a final ballot listing the five most popular novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories. For purposes of the award, a novel is determined to be 40,000 words or more; a novella is 17,500 to 39,999 words; a novelette is 7,500 to 17,499 words; and a short story is 7,499 words or fewer. Additionally, each year SFWA impanels a member jury, which is empowered to supplement the five nominees with a sixth choice in cases where it feels a worthy title was neglected by the membership at large. Thus, the appearance of more than five finalists in a category reflects two distinct processes: jury discretion and ties.
A complete set of Nebula rules can be found at http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/rules/.
THE RAY BRADBURY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRESENTATION
The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation is not a Nebula Award, but it follows Nebula nomination, voting, and award rules and guidelines, and it is given each year at the annual awards banquet. Founded in 2009, it replaces the earlier Nebula Award for Best Script. It was named in honor of science fiction and fantasy author Ray Bradbury, whose work appeared frequently in movies and on television.
ANDRE NORTON AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy is an annual award presented by SFWA to the author of the best young adult or middle-grade science fiction or fantasy book published in the United States in the preceding year.
The Andre Norton Award is not a Nebula Award, but it follows Nebula nomination, voting, and award rules and guidelines. It was founded in 2005 to honor popular science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton.
NOVEL
Winner: 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Nominees:
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (DAW Books; Gollancz)
Ironskin by Tina Connolly (Tor)
The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
NOVELLA
Winner: “After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall” by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Press)
Nominees:
“On a Red Station, Drifting” by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
“The Stars Do Not Lie” by Jay Lake (Asimov’s Science Fiction, October–November 2012)
“All the Flavors” by Ken Liu (GigaNotoSaurus, February 1, 2012)
“Katabasis” by Robert Reed (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November–December 2012)
“Barry’s Tale” by Lawrence M. Schoen (Buffalito Buffet)
NOVELETTE
Winner: “Close Encounters” by Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories, PS Publishing)
Nominees:
“The Pyre of New Day,” Catherine Asaro (The Mammoth Book of SF Wars, Running Press)
“The Waves” by Ken Liu (Asimov’s Science Fiction, December 2012)
“The Finite Canvas” by Brit Mandelo (Tor.com, December 5, 2012)
“Swift, Brutal Retaliation” by Meghan McCarron (Tor.com, January 4, 2012)
“Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia,” Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, August 22, 2012)
“Fade to White” by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
SHORT STORY
Winner: “Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld, June 2012)
Nominees:
“Robot” by Helena Bell (Clarkesworld, September 2012)
“Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes” by Tom Crosshill (Clarkesworld, April 2012)
“Nanny’s Day” by Leah Cypess (Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 2012)
“Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream” by Maria Dahvana Headley (Lightspeed, July 2012)
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” by Ken Liu (Lightspeed, August 2012)
“Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain” by Cat Rambo (Near + Far, Hydra House)
RAY BRADBURY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRESENTATION
Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin (director); Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Abilar (writers) (Journeyman/Cinereach/Court 13/Fox Searchlight)
Nominees:
The Avengers, Joss Whedon (director); Joss Whedon and Zak
Penn (writers) (Marvel/Disney)
The Cabin in the Woods, Drew Goddard (director); Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard (writers) (Mutant Enemy/Lionsgate)
The Hunger Games, Gary Ross (director); Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray (writers) (Lionsgate)
John Carter, Andrew Stanton (director); Michael Chabon, Mark Andrews, and Andrew Stanton (writers) (Disney)
Looper, Rian Johnson (director); Rian Johnson (writer) (FilmDistrict/TriStar)
ANDRE NORTON AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
Winner: Fair Coin by E. C. Myers (Pyr)
Nominees:
Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill (Little, Brown)
Black Heart by Holly Black (Simon & Schuster/McElderry; Gollancz)
Above by Leah Bobet (Levine)
The Diviners by Libba Bray (Little, Brown; Atom)
Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst (Simon & Schuster/McElderry)
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (Random House; Doubleday UK)
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
Every Day by David Levithan (Alice A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Tu Books)
Railsea by China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
Above World by Jenn Reese (Candlewick)
Aliette de Bodard has also won a Locus Award, a British Science Fiction Association Award, and Writers of the Future. “Immersion” was first published in Clarkesworld Magazine.
In the morning, you’re no longer quite sure who you are.
You stand in front of the mirror—it shifts and trembles, reflecting only what you want to see—eyes that feel too wide, skin that feels too pale, an odd, distant smell wafting from the compartment’s ambient system that is neither incense nor garlic, but something else, something elusive that you once knew.
You’re dressed, already—not on your skin, but outside, where it matters, your avatar sporting blue and black and gold, the stylish clothes of a well-travelled, well-connected woman. For a moment, as you turn away from the mirror, the glass shimmers out of focus; and another woman in a dull silk gown stares back at you: smaller, squatter and in every way diminished—a stranger, a distant memory that has ceased to have any meaning.
