Re: Nebula finalists 1983

Tony Nance wrote:

On 5/13/24 8:33 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

On 13/05/2024 09.17, James Nicoll wrote:

Another week, another round of Nebula finalists. This set is from the
1983 Nebula Awards, a year in which most people were blissfully unaware
how badly the Soviets misjudged Able Archer.
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Which 1983 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
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No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop
Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by Philip K. Dick

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I bounced hard off of the Aldiss,

 Me too - on three different occasions. I haven't tried again in a long time, but I'm not exactly super eager to do so, either.

Alas, I cannot say "just persist and you'll like it" as the series is largely consistent in  tone throughout the first two volumes.  As the world gets warmer, populations rise, and empires form the subject matter of course alters, but I can't say whether that would be enough to get you interested.
I've read the series four times, liking it more each time, especially as on  the last occasion I skipped the italicized parts of book three, which don't really work for me.  The third volume is darker (winter is coming, after all)and slimmer.
Though it is very definitely Aldiss, it is different in tone from most of his other work, except "The Malacia Tapestry" which has some of the same feel.
William Hyde