Nebula Awards Showcase 2014-Kij Johnson (editor)

Nebula Awards Showcase 2014 Kij Johnson (editor) Pyr, May 20 2014, $18.00 ISBN: 9781616149017 The Nebula Awards Showcase annual collection is always an entertaining anthology that provides readers with those tales selected by the by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as the best, in this case of 2012, in the two genres. Included are the enjoyable short story winner sci fi tale “Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard and two of the other five finalists (“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” by Ken Liu and “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain” by Cat Rambo). The Best Novelette (fascinating survivor saga of “Close Encounters” by Andy Duncan) and the Best Novella (excellent eco-thriller “After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall” by Nancy Kress) are strong entries. Fans will read excerpts from the Best Novel (taut terraforming “2312” by Kim Stanley Robinson) and the eerie winner of the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (“Fair Coin” by E.C. Myers). Finally the great Gene Wolf received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master recognition; with his short story “Christmas Inn” and two essays paying homage to this superstar by Michael Dirda and Neil Gaiman added to the anthology. Rounding out the compilation are 2012 Rhysling Awards, Best Short Poem (“The Library, After” by Shira Lipkin) and Best Long Poem (“The Curator Speaks In The Department of Dead Languages” by Megan Arkenberg); and the 2012 Dwarf Stars Award went to Marge Simon for “Blue Rose Buddha”. With a list of past winners as well, this is a great book though I personally would prefer more of the complete shorter works that many of us do not get a chance to read rather than extracts from the longer winners. Harriet Klausner