Re: Nebula Finalists 1984

On 2024-05-20, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

This week in Which Nebula Finalists Have You Read?: 1984! The year in
which Brian Mulroney won a 211-seat majority, the Americans presumably
held some sort of federal election, and the UK was organizing funds for
overseas famine relief rather than doing their best to ensure famines
at home!
>
Note: if you've read Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction, First
Annual Collection, you've read a lot of the shorter pieces.
>
Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
>
Startide Rising by David Brin
Against Infinity by Gregory Benford
Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance
Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy
The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe
The Void Captain's Tale by Norman Spinrad
>
All but the Vance. I own the roleplaying game, though. I own a lot of
RPGs based on various Vance settings.

Also all but the Vance.  I read _Lyonesse_, but that was the last
Vance I read. I've read an amazing number of Vance novels (20+) for
not particularly liking his longer work!  Competent novels but nothing
better than good.

The Brin is a strong Favorite, the Wolfe is a favorite and MacAvoy is
a borderline Favorite.  I'll probably drop it from Favorites if I ever
clean out my Favorite Bookcase again (no longer done since all the
new entries are ebooks and don't take up any space).  The MacAvoy was
a nice combination of characters and computer technology at the time
but hasn't lasted as well as the other early works like _True Names_
or _Neuromancer_.

Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?
>
Hardfought by Greg Bear
Eszterhazy and the Autogondola-Invention by Avram Davidson
Her Habiline Husband by Michael Bishop
Homefaring by Robert Silverberg
The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis (or, the Astrogator's
 Testimony) by Michael Bishop
Transit by Vonda N. McIntyre
>
The Bear, the Bishop (as part of a fix-up), the Silverberg, and
the McIntytre (also as part of a fix-up).

None.

Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?
>
Blood Music by Greg Bear
Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
Blind Shemmy by Jack Dann
Cicada Queen by Bruce Sterling
Slow Birds by Ian Watson
The Monkey Treatment by George R. R. Martin
The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis
>
All of them and not just because of Dozois.

Just the novel form of the Bear (very good for the time).

Which 1984 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?
>
The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois
Cryptic by Jack McDevitt
Ghost Town by Chad Oliver
Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy
The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu
>
The Dozois, the McDevitt, and the Kennedy.

None

Chris