Nebula Awards Showcase 2006

by Gardner Dozois

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  THE 2005 NEBULA AWARDS FINAL BALLOT

  THE GREEN LEOPARD PLAGUE - WALTER JON WILLIAMS

  BASEMENT MAGIC - ELLEN KLAGES

  DRY BONES - WILLIAM SANDERS

  THE MASTERS SPEAK

  THE VOLUNTARY STATE - CHRISTOPHER ROWE

  GRAND MASTER ANNE MCCAFFREY: AN APPRECIATION - JODY LYNN NYE

  THE SHIP WHO SANG - ANNE McCAFFREY

  COMING TO TERMS - EILEEN GUNN

  EMBRACING-THE-NEW - BENJAMIN ROSENBAUM

  PALADIN OF SOULS (EXCERPT) - LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD

  ZORA AND THE ZOMBIE - ANDY DUNCAN

  FILM: THE YEAR IN REVIEW - KATHI MAIO

  TRAVELS WITH MY CATS - MIKE RESNICK

  RHYSLING AWARD WINNERS

  JUST DISTANCE - ROGER DUTCHER

  OCTAVIA IS LOST IN THE HALL OF MASKS - THEODORA GOSS

  THE COOKIE MONSTER - VERNOR VINGE

  IN MEMORIAM

  ABOUT THE NEBULA AWARDS

  PAST NEBULA AWARD WINNERS

  ABOUT THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY WRITERS OF AMERICA

  COPYRIGHT NOTICES

  Praise for previous volumes of Nebula Awards Showcase

  “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

  “An essential index of one year in SF and fantasy.”—Booklist

  “A stellar collection. . . . 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.”—SF Revu

  “While the essays offer one answer to the question of where does SF go now, the stories show that science fiction writers continue to re-examine 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

  “Very impressive.”—Off the Shelf

  “Presents the usual quality mix of literary SF and fantasy with critical essays.” —Publishers Weekly

  “Provocative essays. . . . [Jack] Dann’s introductions and story notes are knowledgeable, graceful, and to the point. Here’s another for the fan’s bookshelf.”—Kirkus Reviews

  Gardner Dozois was the longtime editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine , having won the Hugo Award for Best Editor over a dozen times during his tenure, and currently holds the position of Editor Emeritus with the magazine. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife.

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  Copyright © Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 2006 Additional copyright notices can be found on p. 373 All rights reserved

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  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The editor would like to thank the following people for their help and support: Jack Dann, Walter Jon Williams, Eleanor Wood, Susan Casper, Ellen Datlow, Gordon Van Gelder, Mark Kreighbaum, Brian Bienowski, Pamela Sargent, Vaughne Hanson, G. O. Clark, Mike Allen, Jack Williamson, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Betty Anne Hull, Ursula K. Le Guin, Brian W. Aldiss, Anne McCaffrey, Todd McCaffrey, Kathi Maio, Jody Lynn Nye, Harry Harrison, Eileen Gunn, Ellen Klages, Mike Resnick, Roger Dutcher, Theodora Goss, Diane Taylor, Susan Smith, Jennifer Brehl, Peter London, and special thanks to my editor, Ginjer Buchanan.

  INTRODUCTION

  GARDNER DOZOIS

  It’s been said so many times now that it’s become a sarcastic cliché on the lips of disappointed Nebula finalists who didn’t actually win the award, or who think that they have no chance of winning it, often said with a bitter, cynical, mocking smile: “It’s an honor just to be nominated!”

  But you know, it really is.

  Hundreds (if not thousands) of stories are published every year in the science fiction and fantasy genres, in the professional magazines, in anthologies, as novella chapbooks, in semiprozines, and as previously unpublished stories in single-author collections, in addition to those “published” (we really need a new word for this!) electronically online in any of dozens of e-zines and Web sites, some of them very far off the beaten track indeed (2004, for instance, saw first-rate stories published on the Web site of an association of electrical engineers, and as an advertisement for an upcoming novel on Amazon.com!) . . . and the brutal truth is that most of those hundreds of stories are going to vanish without a trace and never be heard from again. Most stories published (or “published”) during the year are not going to make it on to the Nebula Award ballot; most are
not going to arouse a lot of word-of-mouth buzz; most are not going to generate any fan letters or trigger flamewars on Internet bulletin boards, are not going to be reprinted later on (or perhaps ever be seen in any form again, from now until the end of the universe)—most are not even going to get reviewed. At all. Ever. (There are very few places that review genre short fiction, other than the newsmagazines Locus and Chronicle, and a couple of online venues such as Tangent Online and the Internet Review of Science Fiction.) For most writers, with most stories, publishing short fiction is like tying the story to an anvil and throwing it off the end of the dock into the sea. It sinks without even a splash, swallowed by black water, and, without a ripple, it is gone. You may grow old and die, and still never hear anything about that story ever again.

  (Nor, with 642 SF and fantasy novels published in 2004, according to Locus, is the situation necessarily any better with novels. How many of those novels even get reviewed? Let alone make it on to the Final Nebula Ballot? A considerably lesser number than 642, believe me.)

  On the other hand, for a story or a novel to make it on to the Final Nebula Ballot, it has to have impressed a number of the author’s peers enough for them to expend the time and effort required to nominate it in the first place, then seem worthy enough to an even larger number of the author’s peers that they’re willing to actually vote for it when the preliminary ballot comes out, over all the other choices available to them there. Unlike the vast majority of stories that came out that year, the hundreds of stories that were consigned to blank oblivion, it has been noticed. It’s been approved of, and judged worthy to be in competition to win an award by the harshest jury of all, a fellowship of other working writers who know all the tricks and who are not easy to fool.

  So it really is “an honor just to be nominated.” It really is. If you’re a finalist and you’re tempted to put on the mask of sophisticated blasé cynicism and sneer at that, embracing the idea that it’s only winning that counts, just ask all the authors who didn’t get nominated if they would change places with you if they could. Boy, would they! In a hot second.

  All the stories we’re bringing you in Nebula Award Showcase 2006 have been through this rugged peer-vetting system; the winners are here, of course (including an excerpt from the winning novel), and as many finalists as we could fit into the book. In an ideal world, we would be able to bring you all the finalists; back here in the real world, though, constraints on the length of the anthology make that, sadly, impossible, and I’ve been forced to choose among them—a tough choice, since they all deserve to be included.

  The stories that are here are a varied group, though, ranging from the hardest of hard science fiction to political/economic/sociological thrillers to speculations on the nature of the Posthuman Condition to gentle fantasy to creepy and exotic horror, with a few hard-to-classify stories thrown in along the way. Add insightful commentary on where the field’s come from and where it’s going by SFFWA Grand Masters Jack Williamson, Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Frederik Pohl, and Brian W. Aldiss, the year’s Rhysling Award-winning poetry, a classic story by new SFFWA Grand Master Anne McCaffrey and an appreciation of her by Jody Lynn Nye, lists of past winners and of this year’s finalists, and a review of the films on this year’s final ballot by the film reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Kathi Maio, and you have as good a snapshot of what the year in science fiction was like, in all its variety and richness of expression, in all its different forms, as you are likely to get anywhere. I hope you enjoy it!

  THE 2005 NEBULA AWARDS FINAL BALLOT

  NOVEL

  Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Eos, October 2003)

  Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow (Tor, February 2003)

  Omega, by Jack McDevitt (Ace, November 2003)

  Cloud Atlas: A Novel, by David Mitchell (Sceptre, January 2004)

  Perfect Circle, by Sean Stewart (Small Beer Press, June 2004)

  The Knight, by Gene Wolfe (Tor, January 2004)

  NOVELLA

  “Walk in Silence,” by Catherine Asaro (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, April 2003)

  “The Tangled Strings of the Marionettes,” by Adam-Troy Castro (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 2003)

  “The Cookie Monster,” by Vernor Vinge (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, October 2003)

  “The Green Leopard Plague,” by Walter Jon Williams (Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2003)

  “Just Like the Ones We Used to Know,” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Science Fiction, December 2003)

  NOVELETTE

  “Zora and the Zombie,” by Andy Duncan (SCI FICTION, Feb. 4, 2004)

  “Basement Magic,” by Ellen Klages (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 2003)

  “The Voluntary State,” by Christopher Rowe (SCI FICTION, May 2004)

  “Dry Bones,” by William Sanders (Asimov’s Science Fiction, May 2003)

  “The Gladiator’s War: A Dialogue,” by Lois Tilton (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2004)

  SHORT STORY

  “Coming to Terms,” by Eileen Gunn (Stable Strategies and Others, September 2004)

  “The Strange Redemption of Sister Mary Anne,” by Mike Moscoe (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2004)

  “Travels with My Cats,” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Science Fiction, February 2004)

  “Embracing-The-New,” by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Asimov’s Science Fiction, January 2004)

  “In the Late December,” by Greg van Eekhout (Strange Horizons, Dec. 22, 2003)

  “Aloha,” by Ken Wharton (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, June 2003)

  SCRIPTS

  The Incredibles, by Brad Bird (Pixar, November 2004)

  The Butterfly Effect, by J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress (New Line Cinema, January 2004)

  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, by Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry (Anonymous Content/Focus Features, March 2004)

  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien (New Line Cinema, December 2003)

  The fortieth annual Nebula Awards banquet was held at the Allegro Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, on April 30, 2005, where Nebula Awards were given in the categories of novel, novella, novelette, short story, script, and lifetime achievement (Grand Master). Four of the six winners, including new Grand Master Anne McCaffrey, were present to accept their awards in person. A “Service to SFFWA Award” was also given to Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Neil Gaiman was the elegant and eloquent Toastmaster.

  WALTER JON WILLIAMS

  Walter Jon Williams was born in Minnesota and now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His short fiction has appeared frequently in Asimov’s Science Fiction, as well as in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Wheel of Fortune, Global Dispatches, Alternate Outlaws, and in other markets, and has been gathered in the collections Facets and Frankensteins and Other Foreign Devils. His novels include Ambassador of Progress, Knight Moves, Hardwired, The Crown Jewels, Voice of the Whirlwind, House of Shards, Days of Atonement, Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire, a huge disaster thriller called The Rift, and a Star Trek novel, Destiny’s Way. His most recent books are the first two novels in his acclaimed modern space opera epic, “Dread Empire’s Fall,” Dread Empire’s Fall: The Praxis and Dread Empire’s Fall: The Sundering. Coming up are two new novels, Orthodox War and Conventions of War. He won a long-overdue Nebula Award in 2001 for his story “Daddy’s World,” and now has taken the award again with “The Green Leopard Plague.”

  About “The Green Leopard Plague,” the Nebula winner in the novella category, he says:

  “ ‘The Green Leopard Plague’ was the result of a collision of many ideas. I began with the notion of a postscarcity economy, and the dangers that this might pose to human liberty. To this was added another question relating to economics: How valuable is a human life that can be easily duplicated and reconstituted, and would the cri
me of murder then be any more serious than vandalism?

  “My two protagonists, in addition to whatever lives they may enjoy within the structure of the story, are examples of two conflicting philosophical points of view: Baudrillard’s ‘the self does not exist,’ versus Richard Rorty’s ‘I don’t care.’ To this I added scenery viewed in recent journeys to Palau and to Europe, the political situation in Transnistria, and the background of an earlier story, ‘Lethe,’ which I always thought deserved a sequel.

  “I would like to thank Ted Chiang for the ‘back-of-the-envelope’ calculations that showed my initial scientific solution to the problem in the story was bogus, and Dr. Stephen C. Lee, professor of biomedical nanotech, for fixing my problem once Ted had detected it.”

  THE GREEN LEOPARD PLAGUE

  WALTER JON WILLIAMS

  Kicking her legs out over the ocean, the lonely mermaid gazed at the horizon from her perch in the overhanging banyan tree.

  The air was absolutely still and filled with the scent of night flowers. Large fruit bats flew purposefully over the sea, heading for their daytime rest. Somewhere a white cockatoo gave a penetrating squawk. A starling made a brief flutter out to sea, then came back again. The rising sun threw up red-gold sparkles from the wavetops and brought a brilliance to the tropical growth that crowned the many islands spread out on the horizon.