posted
I forgot I had read this one recently, too. I'm not sure if each of these warrent their own thread or not, but I guess we'll find out.
So, 1967.
Best short story: "Aye, and Gomorrah," by Samuel R. Delany. Due to radiation concerns, people who work in space are neutered. On Earth, a whole new category of sexual fetish is created by people attracted to spacers, for various reasons. This story is about a group of spacers, and one particular girl and why she likes them. It is good.
Best novelette: "Gonna Roll the Bones," by Fritz Leiber. I've read "Ill Met in..." uh, I forget where, and it soured me on Leiber, because it was very Dungeons and Dragons. Despite predating said game, of course. But this story, about an old man who plays dice with the devil, is really neat. Very atmospheric.
Best novela: "Behold the Man," by Michael Moorcock. Jesus Christ was really a time traveler from the future, who came back to find Jesus despite being more or less an atheist. He takes on the role because, well, someone has to. And he really likes the idea of Jesus. This story is, I suppose, "edgy" and "risque." I would say that it is just one of many stories about time travelers visiting or becoming Jesus, but I can't actually think of any. Not a bad story, anyway. My favorite character is John the Baptist, a Jewish revolutionary who the main character betrays because history demands he be beheaded. Though perhaps "betray" is too strong a word. He makes no effort to save or assist him, let's say, even though by that time he has become influential.
Other stories: "Weyr Search," by Anne McCaffery. Another Pern story. I think both this and the novella from next year are actually in the Pern novel, or a Pern novel. Anyway, this one is before the Threads attack, and about a spot of feudal politics. It features little in the way of telepathic dragons, which is a plus, but, eh.
"Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes," by Harlan Ellison. A woman living a rough and wild life as a professional harlot gets stuck, post-death, in a slot machine. Enter a gambler. Misfortune follows. An interesting story, though I do not think I am as fond of Ellison's style as I used to think I would be.
"Mirror of Ice," by Gary Wright. In the future, bobsledding is an extreme sport, much more like auto racing than it is now. This is about one bobsledder who is considering retiring, and what he thinks is his last race. In the end, the lull of extreme sports pulls him back in. Not a bad story, but extreme bobsledding didn't really thrill me.
"The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D," by J. G. Ballard. A troupe of pilot-artists cut clouds into interesting shapes, in the midst of a decadent high society fling. Evocative.
Not included in the book: Best novel: The Einstein Intersection, by Samuel R. Delany. Never read it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Crazy nitpick, mentioned only because I saw someone else nitpick it once: SFWA, no "the," because Damon Knight apparently wanted to preserve the sense that it represented only some of the science fiction writers of American, and not all of them. I guess.
Registered: Mar 1999
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-------------------- "Nah. The 9th chevron is for changing the ringtone from "grindy-grindy chonk-chonk" to the theme tune to dallas." -Reverend42
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Uh, perhaps an explanation of thought processes is necessary there. See: Man offers to carry child of other man. Other Man thinks "Hmm, that would be difficult without a womb." News item about very odd gestation choice by fetus is floating around web. Aha! thinks OM.
Registered: Mar 1999
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