|
Is the past fixed? Can we only learn from time – is time a fixed path, one we cannot alter?
In “Always” by Karen Joy Fowler, the Nebula Award for best short story, cults are indeed very strange, and their denizens perhaps even more so.
In his essay, “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” Barry N. Malzberg believes, like the SF critic John Clute, that SF is a “20 th Century thing,” much like the symphony was a “19 th Century thing.” Most anthologies do not have SF in them anymore, Malzberg argues, but fantasy. There is nothing but nostalgia anymore for SF – so why not dwell on what was?
Malzberg notes this is the 43 rd annual Nebula Award anthology – has there really been that many?
Kathleen Ann Goonan provides some of her own background to the history of SF with “Why I Write Science Fiction.”
In “Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter” by Geoff Ryman, which was a nominee for best novelette, Sith lives in the world of her father’s regime – as well as its death and destruction. But that reality is as unknown to her as ice conditions at the South Pole. She is merely trying to have her own life, her own memories.
“Stars Seen Through Stone” by Lucius Shepard, the Nebula Award nominee for novella, brings us to the backwoods/backwater town in western Pennsylvania called Black William. The town is rife with blue collar everything, including the river Polozny, close to which boasts a recording studio, of all things, called Soul Kiss Records. Into the life of Vernon, the studio proprietor, drifts a kid by the name of Joseph Stanky of McKeesport, Pa. The artist Stanky literally does his own thing, what Vernon refers to as “postmodern deconstructed blues,” of which the recording magnate dubs as having “cult potential.”
One day some kind of divine force intrudes, partially as the result of a composition of Stanky’s labeled “Stars Seen Through Stone,” and brings out some kind of personality “enhancement” to individuals in the local populace. All of a sudden, vocalists can sing with more vibe, painters have more definition, bakers create more tasty donuts, etc. What is the magic Stanky has created? What does it all mean?
In “Clubbing,” Ellen Asher, retired editor-in-chief of the Science Fiction Book Club, writes about her 34-year career at the club and some of the changes since. She rants about corporate stupidity (a redundancy), but also points out ways in which the club helped bring SF to the masses (not such a bad thing).
“What You Saw Was What You Got” by Howard Waldrop. This is a review of the year in films, and as a critic, Waldrop is far, far too forgiving.
“Pan’s Labyrinth: Dreaming With Eyes Wide Open” by Tim Lucas is a tribute to Guillermo del Toro and his film.
The Damon Knight Grand Master Award went to Michael Moorcock, and an appreciation is written by Kim Newman with a story selected by Michael, “The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius.”
“The New Golden Age: The Rise of Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy” by Gwenda Bond is included. Also, “Fountain of Age” by Nancy Kress, which won the Nebula Award for best novella, is included.
There is also a tribute to Ardath Mayhar by Joe R. Lansdale.
|
