Escape Artists

Escape Pod => Science Fiction Discussion => Topic started by: wakela on March 14, 2007, 02:37:47 AM

Title: Nebulas
Post by: wakela on March 14, 2007, 02:37:47 AM
The nominees for the Nebula awars came out a while back. The SFSignal blog has links to get most of the short stories, novelettes, and novellas for free.
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/004870.html

Has anyone else read these?  I'd be interested in a discussion.  Overall, I'm disappointed over the lack of science fiction over fantasy, though I did enjoy most of them.
Title: Re: Nebulas
Post by: Anarkey on March 17, 2007, 12:15:40 AM
The nominees for the Nebula awars came out a while back. The SFSignal blog has links to get most of the short stories, novelettes, and novellas for free.
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/004870.html

Has anyone else read these?  I'd be interested in a discussion.  Overall, I'm disappointed over the lack of science fiction over fantasy, though I did enjoy most of them.

Alrighty, it took me a couple of days, but I worked my way through the short stories and I must say I'm underwhelmed.  I mean, it's not completely bad, I'm not wishing for my time back, but really, there isn't a single one of those stories I'd be willing to read twice.

Please, please, please tell me the pickings in novelettes and novellas are better.
Title: Re: Nebulas
Post by: wakela on March 17, 2007, 01:30:45 AM
Yeah, I didn't think too highly of the short stories, either.  I'm not even sure why "Pip and the Fairies" and the "The Woman in Schrödinger's Wave Equations" were considered SF or Fantasy.  And in "Helen Remembers the Stork Club" why would Helen of Troy be all nostalgic about a club that shut down 50 years ago?  She's like 3000 years old and she acts like a character from Sex in the City.  "Henry James" was more of an idea story, but the idea wasn't particularly new, and I think the publisher would have seen dollar signs instead of the end of his carreer.  I guess they were well written, but I read this stuff to escape.  Except for "Echo" (which I thought was kind of obtuse), all of these were set in modern times, and the characters faced modern times problems. 

"An End to All Things"  has only recently become available online, and I haven't had a chance to hit it, yet.

Of the Novelettes I liked three of them.  I'll hold off my comments until you (or anyone else) get a chance to read them.  I haven't read any of the Novellas yet.