• Nebula Finalists 1984

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Mon May 20 14:14:01 2024
    This week in Which Nebula Finalists Have You Read?: 1984! The year in
    which Brian Mulroney won a 211-seat majority, the Americans presumably
    held some sort of federal election, and the UK was organizing funds for overseas famine relief rather than doing their best to ensure famines
    at home!

    Note: if you've read Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction, First
    Annual Collection, you've read a lot of the shorter pieces.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?

    Startide Rising by David Brin
    Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
    Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance
    Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy
    The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
    The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad

    All but the Vance. I own the roleplaying game, though. I own a lot of
    RPGs based on various Vance settings.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?

    Hardfought by Greg Bear
    Eszterhazy and the Autogondola-Invention by Avram Davidson
    Her Habiline Husband by Michael Bishop
    Homefaring by Robert Silverberg
    The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis (or, the Astrogator's
    Testimony) by Michael Bishop
    Transit by Vonda N. McIntyre

    The Bear, the Bishop (as part of a fix-up), the Silverberg, and
    the McIntytre (also as part of a fix-up).

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?

    Blood Music by Greg Bear
    Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Blind Shemmy by Jack Dann
    Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling
    Slow Birds by Ian Watson
    The Monkey Treatment by George R. R. Martin
    The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis

    All of them and not just because of Dozois.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?

    The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois
    Cryptic by Jack McDevitt
    Ghost Town by Chad Oliver
    Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy
    The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
    Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu

    The Dozois, the McDevitt, and the Kennedy.


    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Mon May 20 15:14:43 2024
    While poking through ISFDB entries for these stories, I discovered there
    were _two_ volumes of Ace's The Endless Frontier anthology series I
    never saw. I blame bimetallism.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Robert Woodward@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Mon May 20 09:48:23 2024
    In article <v2flr8$ksi$1@reader1.panix.com>,
    jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

    This week in Which Nebula Finalists Have You Read?: 1984! The year in
    which Brian Mulroney won a 211-seat majority, the Americans presumably
    held some sort of federal election, and the UK was organizing funds for overseas famine relief rather than doing their best to ensure famines
    at home!

    Note: if you've read Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction, First
    Annual Collection, you've read a lot of the shorter pieces.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?

    Startide Rising by David Brin
    Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
    Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance
    Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy
    The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
    The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad

    All but the Vance. I own the roleplaying game, though. I own a lot of
    RPGs based on various Vance settings.


    I have read the Vance, plus the Brin, MacAvoy, and the Wolfe

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?

    Hardfought by Greg Bear
    Eszterhazy and the Autogondola-Invention by Avram Davidson
    Her Habiline Husband by Michael Bishop
    Homefaring by Robert Silverberg
    The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis (or, the Astrogator's
    Testimony) by Michael Bishop
    Transit by Vonda N. McIntyre

    The Bear, the Bishop (as part of a fix-up), the Silverberg, and
    the McIntytre (also as part of a fix-up).


    Definitely the Davidson, don't recognize the others.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?

    Blood Music by Greg Bear
    Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Blind Shemmy by Jack Dann
    Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling
    Slow Birds by Ian Watson
    The Monkey Treatment by George R. R. Martin
    The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis

    All of them and not just because of Dozois.


    I think I have read the Bear, don't believe I have read the others.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?

    The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois
    Cryptic by Jack McDevitt
    Ghost Town by Chad Oliver
    Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy
    The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
    Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu

    The Dozois, the McDevitt, and the Kennedy.

    I don't remember reading the Oliver, but I should have.

    --
    "We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
    Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ‹-----------------------------------------------------
    Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

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  • From Robert Woodward@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Mon May 20 09:54:03 2024
    In article <v2fpd3$8c$1@reader1.panix.com>,
    jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

    While poking through ISFDB entries for these stories, I discovered there
    were _two_ volumes of Ace's The Endless Frontier anthology series I
    never saw. I blame bimetallism.

    I have just discovered that I don't have the 3rd volume (but do have the
    4th). I blame the closing of my favorite bookstore in 1990.

    --
    "We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
    Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ‹-----------------------------------------------------
    Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to Michael F. Stemper on Mon May 20 19:37:54 2024
    In article <v2g7lj$4rvh$1@dont-email.me>,
    Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 20/05/2024 09.14, James Nicoll wrote:
    This week in Which Nebula Finalists Have You Read?: 1984! The year in
    which Brian Mulroney won a 211-seat majority, the Americans presumably
    held some sort of federal election, and the UK was organizing funds for
    overseas famine relief rather than doing their best to ensure famines
    at home!

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?

    Startide Rising by David Brin
    Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
    Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance
    Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy
    The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
    The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad

    Brin, Wolfe, and Spinrad. I've reread the Brin several times, along
    with the other two Uplift books. I found the long/short/borrowed/blue
    sun stuff impenetrable, and remember nothing about the Spinrad.

    It was one of two books set in a distant future. Lead is a space
    caption of a space ship powered by a woman's space orgasms. In Space.

    There was some ambitious slang. And sex. In Space.

    I have a faint memory this did not sell well but I may be thinking
    of the other book in the sequence, Child of Fortune, about which
    all I remember is liking it at the time. Also, "did not sell well"
    is not a review, except of sales, because many factors can tank
    a book and only a few are due to the book itself.

    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Chris Buckley@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Tue May 21 02:08:16 2024
    On 2024-05-20, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
    This week in Which Nebula Finalists Have You Read?: 1984! The year in
    which Brian Mulroney won a 211-seat majority, the Americans presumably
    held some sort of federal election, and the UK was organizing funds for overseas famine relief rather than doing their best to ensure famines
    at home!

    Note: if you've read Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction, First
    Annual Collection, you've read a lot of the shorter pieces.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?

    Startide Rising by David Brin
    Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
    Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance
    Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy
    The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
    The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad

    All but the Vance. I own the roleplaying game, though. I own a lot of
    RPGs based on various Vance settings.

    Also all but the Vance. I read _Lyonesse_, but that was the last
    Vance I read. I've read an amazing number of Vance novels (20+) for
    not particularly liking his longer work! Competent novels but nothing
    better than good.

    The Brin is a strong Favorite, the Wolfe is a favorite and MacAvoy is
    a borderline Favorite. I'll probably drop it from Favorites if I ever
    clean out my Favorite Bookcase again (no longer done since all the
    new entries are ebooks and don't take up any space). The MacAvoy was
    a nice combination of characters and computer technology at the time
    but hasn't lasted as well as the other early works like _True Names_
    or _Neuromancer_.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?

    Hardfought by Greg Bear
    Eszterhazy and the Autogondola-Invention by Avram Davidson
    Her Habiline Husband by Michael Bishop
    Homefaring by Robert Silverberg
    The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis (or, the Astrogator's
    Testimony) by Michael Bishop
    Transit by Vonda N. McIntyre

    The Bear, the Bishop (as part of a fix-up), the Silverberg, and
    the McIntytre (also as part of a fix-up).

    None.

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?

    Blood Music by Greg Bear
    Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Blind Shemmy by Jack Dann
    Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling
    Slow Birds by Ian Watson
    The Monkey Treatment by George R. R. Martin
    The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis

    All of them and not just because of Dozois.

    Just the novel form of the Bear (very good for the time).

    Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?

    The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois
    Cryptic by Jack McDevitt
    Ghost Town by Chad Oliver
    Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy
    The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
    Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu

    The Dozois, the McDevitt, and the Kennedy.

    None

    Chris

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