Back in 1965, a new Science Fiction award, The Nebula, showed up to give the Hugo Award some competition. The stories that won the Nebula Award and some of the nominees were collected in an anthology each year. Nebula Award Stories Number Two (1967) includes an Introduction and Afterword that puts the year of publishing into perspective.
Back in the 1960s, there were NOT a dozen different categories for stories (and later media). Things were pretty simple. Nebulas for BEST NOVEL went to Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes and Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany. Yes, it was a tie!
The Nebula for BEST NOVELLA went to Jack Vance’s classic “The Last Castle.” The Nebula for BEST NOVELETTE went to “Call Him Lord” by Gordon R. Dickson. The Nebula for BEST SHORT STORY went to Richard McKenna’s “The Secret Place.”
That’s it. Sweet and simple. Today the Award environment is messy and convoluted. And, I would argue, less effective at celebrating great SF stories. If you can find early Nebula Award anthologies, maybe the first dozen or so, they hold plenty of great stories for your enjoyment. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- 7 • Introduction (Nebula Award Stories 2) • (1967) • essay by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison
- 9 • The Secret Place • (1966) • short story by Richard McKenna
- 24 • Light of Other Days • [Slow Glass] • (1966) • short story by Bob Shaw
- 33 • Who Needs Insurance? • (1966) • novelette by Robin Scott Wilson [as by Robin S. Scott]
- 67 • Among the Hairy Earthmen • (1966) • short story by R. A. Lafferty
- 79 • The Last Castle • (1966) • novella by Jack Vance
- 137 • Day Million • (1966) • short story by Frederik Pohl
- 143 • When I Was Miss Dow • (1966) • short story by Sonya Dorman
- 155 • Call Him Lord • (1966) • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson
- 177 • In the Imagicon • (1966) • short story by George H. Smith [as by George Henry Smith]
- 184 • We Can Remember It for You Wholesale • (1966) • novelette by Philip K. Dick
- 206 • Man in His Time • (1965) • short story by Brian W. Aldiss
- 232 • Afterword: The Year in SF • (1967) • essay by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison (variant of Afterword: The Year in Science Fiction)
- 236 • Nebula Awards 1966 and Roll of Honor • (1967) • essay by uncredited
Sounds like a winner! I’ve always been intrigued by the Slow Glass idea! Flowers for Algernon is one of the few books I’ve read more than once! A true treasure!
Bob, I’m with you on both Slow Glass and FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON! Classics!
This ne goes back to the days when I read everything science fiction I could get my hands on. Today, not so much.
Hard to pick favorites here but Vance, Pohl, Dickson, and Dick stand out, and I always devoured any story by Lafferty. I loved Shaw’s “Slow Glass” concept but later stories in the series diminished its effect for me. McKenna was always good but not necessarily my cup of tea, I’m a great admirer of Aldiss’s writing but I can only take so much of him at one time.
All in all, a darned good anthology. Harrison and Aldiss were great editors but always felt like outliers to me. (And, yes,) the early Nebula anthologies are all worthwhile.)
Jerry, the arc of the Nebula yearly anthologies was up, up, up. Then, down, down, down. NEBULA AWARD STORIES, NUMBER TWO distills a year of SF into one handy volume. Today’s BEST SF anthologies are too long and too diffuse. Less is More…
Sounds good, at least the few I’ve read were good.
Jeff, the first 10-12 years of the Nebula Award anthologies were its Golden Age.
Flowers for Algernon is one of the greats!
Patti, I liked the book and the movie!
I read “Call Him Lord” and “Who Needs Insurance” fresh off the rack in ANALOG. Was that 1966 AD or 1966 BC?
Fred, the 1966 is right!
A great collection!
Scott, the early NEBULA AWARD volumes were all great!
Though even then, the arguable injustices kick in. Part of the reason McKenna beat Shaw for the best short story award was McKenna’s early death…
I think part of the reason for bugcrushing in BOTY anthologies (aside from the established award-driven ones, but them as well) is the notion that you can’t entice a reader to pay today’s prices without guaranteeing a long ride…
Todd, but some of us don’t want a Long Ride. We want a quality story. I get frustrated with 500+ page books filled with…filler!