Sept. 11 Casts a Pall Over the Nebula
Written: Aug 26 '03 (Updated Aug 28 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A couple positively positive tales passing through the shadow of 9-11.
Cons: At $15.00 for four winners, two runners-up, and a lot of commentary, it ain’t cheap.
The Bottom Line: The best according to the best.
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| panguitch's Full Review: Nebula Awards Showcase 2002 Books |
It’s hard to say whether I place greater stock in the Nebula or Hugo. They’re the two premier science fiction awards, decided by two different constituencies. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the genre’s professional organization, decides the Nebula. Writers themselves voting among themselves, selecting a peer to honor. They ought to know their stuff. But the Hugo, decided by attendees of the annual World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), ostensibly represents the view of the genre’s fans. And aren’t the fans the ones whose opinions really count? On the down side, the SFWA can be a bit stuffy at times, like any professional (especially quasi-academic) society. And it’s not the average fan who regularly attends Worldcon. It’s a more involved breed.
But while there have been disappointing oversights, rarely is the winner of either award without merit. Which means you can conveniently keep tabs on the state of the art by following the nominations every year. This is important for those of us who can’t afford subscriptions to all the magazines of consequence. To say nothing of all the novels.
The easiest way to keep tabs on the Nebula is through the Nebula Awards Showcase, in which SFWA publishes the winners and a couple runners-up. The 2002 volume (which represents the awards given for the year 2000) was edited by Kim Stanley Robinson, and he takes a theme of relevance: What will be the role of SF now that the 21st century is here? The question is perhaps best answered by the pieces included in this collection.
Daddy’s World by Walter Jon Williams (Winner – Novelette)
The immediate relevance of SF is attested in Daddy’s World, a story about the blurring distinction between real life and virtual life. This is an age-old theme for SF, the merging of man and machine. In this case, a boy’s entire existence is rooted in virtual reality. The tale is dark, saddening. The human-computer interface is explored overtly, but allegorically we’re prompted to assess the degree to which our culture has downloaded itself into computers and is ceasing to exist outside of them.
Darwin’s Radio (excerpt) by Greg Bear (Winner – Novel)
Bear’s ability to grapple with moral issues is ideal for treating the current and near-future state of biological science. Our increasing ability to meddle with our make-up may give us too much confidence. Regardless of mapping the human genome, there’s still much we don’t understand, and Bear postulates about the problems we could unintentionally unloose. Where did the Modern Synthesis of Darwinism go wrong? Bear has some ideas and he’s stirring debate in scientific circles. But as shown in this excerpt, he’s still writing convincing characters who face these big issues on a personal level.
MACS by Terry Bisson (Winner – Short Story)
Capital punishment is painted in stark relief in Bisson’s story. The premise is that convicted murderers are cloned and the clones imprinted with the murderer’s mind. The victim’s families each get a clone which they can execute as they wish—in order to help them achieve closure. This satire will bring few laughs. It’s far too grotesque. Structurally the most daring of this year’s winners, Bisson writes in short segments, each in the voice of an interviewee. These are held together by the progress of the nameless, voiceless interviewer, eventually completing a picture of societal depravity.
Stellar Harvest by Eleanor Arnason (Nominee – Novelette)
This is a fun tale about media in the far future. Lydia Duluth is scouting out locations for a silly action show and becomes embroiled in a domestic dispute on a reptilian planet. Though the context is a change of pace from the near-future stories dominating this volume, the issues dealt with, especially gender and the relationship between art and reality, are very much ‘now’.
Goddesses by Linda Nagata (Winner – Novella)
This is my favorite story in the Showcase. Nagata has truly impressed me with her refreshing, positive take on near-future possibilities involving corporate globalization and the industrialization/consumerization of the third world. Her solution to one problem lies in the other: imagine corporations whose business it is to contract with governments (in this case India) to develop languishing provinces. The corporation’s revenue would be taxes. Their best strategy, to help the people they govern to develop genuinely strong economies able to participate with the rest of the world. Along the way, old environmental catastrophes would be cleaned up by subcontracted companies.
The idea is riveting, and the execution is delightful. The characters involved are not themselves ideals, but they do have ideals. And sometimes they have to decide between ideals. The picture is rosy, but not unrealistic. This optimism is refreshing in a genre often seen as pessimistic. And it’s that much sweeter for the fact that it concerns such pressing, present issues.
A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows by Gardner Dozois (Nominee – Novelette)
Dozois takes up a theme similar to Williams’s “Daddy’s World”. Choices between human and machine are prominent. Conscious machines rule space, Earth is controlled by modified humans, and the rest of us go on much the same as ever. Including Charles Czudak, the instigator of a radical movement to step back from technology, now retired and worn out. As Robinson points out, the deeper questions Dozois touches involve the legacy humanity and each individual may want to leave behind, whether through immortal technology or literature itself.
This is an appropriate question considering the introspection the events of 9-11 prompted. Indeed, that day is an interesting lens through which to view this collection of stories. Moreover, some of the notables of SFWA Robinson contacted for commentary submitted their thoughts after 9-11, and its impact on their words is reason enough to make special note of the 2002 Showcase.
While these six pieces aren’t new favorites for me (except maybe "Goddesses"), they’re very good work. Worthy of their recognition here. Until the day when the "Panguitch" is accepted as the gold standard of literary greatness, we’ll be well served by the Nebula.
- Panguitch
Recommended:
Yes
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