Nebula Awards Showcase 2003

Nebula Awards Showcase 2003 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Nancy Kress. It was first published in trade paperback by Roc/New American Library in April 2003.[1]

Nebula Awards Showcase 2003
Cover of first edition
EditorNancy Kress
Cover artistDavid Sandberg
LanguageEnglish
SeriesNebula Awards Showcase
GenreScience fiction
PublisherRoc/New American Library
Publication date
2003
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages231
ISBN0-451-45909-1
Preceded byNebula Awards Showcase 2002 
Followed byNebula Awards Showcase 2004 

Summary

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The book collects pieces that won or were nominated for the Nebula Awards for best novel, novella, novelette and short story for the year 2002, various other nonfiction pieces related to the awards, and the two Rhysling Award-winning poems for 2001, together with an introduction by the editor. Not all nominees for the various awards are included, and the best novel is represented by an excerpt.

Contents

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Reception

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The reviewer for Publishers Weekly, while nothing that "it's good to have the Nebula winners for a given year gathered in one place," questions "whether there's enough content here to justify such a book," answering "[o]n balance, ... yes, if only because of the unlikely juxtapositions," and concluding that "[i]n short, the variety of taste shown by the SFFWA continues to be striking and heartening." The critic feels, however, that "[t]his anthology series is finding a niche for itself by not competing with the two major best-of-the-year collections--Gardner Dozois's mammoth assembly that favors literary experimentation and David Hartwell's relatively compact selection of more traditional SF. Still, the two big anthologies are better bargains."[2]

Roland Green, writing in Booklist, rates the book "[a]s always, an honorable entry among the year’s anthologies. He notes that "[i]n this year’s selection, the short fiction often uses biology for scientific grounding," but singles out the non-fiction offerings for praise: "Terry Bisson’s essay on making a living with humorous fantasy is itself a humorous fantasy, and the other essayists on fantasy assimilate the boom in fantasy in both print and visual media." As the end of his assessment, the journal's young adult reviewer calls the book "a terrific collection for genre fans and YAs new to sf."[3]

The anthology was also reviewed by Sandra Lindow in SFRA Review #263-4, Gary K. Wolfe in Locus, #507, April 2003, and Patrick J. Swenson in Talebones #26, Summer 2003.[1]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Nebula Awards Showcase 2003 title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  2. ^ Nebula Awards Showcase 2003 (review) in Publishers Weekly, v. 250, iss. 12, March 24, 2003, p. 63.
  3. ^ Green, Roland. "Nebula Awards Showcase, 2003" (review) in Booklist, v. 99, iss. 15, April 1, 2003, p. 1384.