Re: Nebula Finalists 1985

On 2024-05-27, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

This week's Nebula finalists reaches the finalists of 1985! 1985 was
a golden age of Wham! songs, the Coen Brothers' first film debuted,
and a plucky David Miller transformed Ontario government. What of
1985's science fiction?
>
Which 1985 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
>
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Frontera by Lewis Shiner
Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein
The Integral Trees by Larry Niven
The Man Who Melted by Jack Dann
The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson
>
All but the Dann. I am very poorly read in Dann, even titles that became
the basis for hilarious games.

All of them, though for both the Dann and the Shiner I had to check
my bookshelves since I didn't remember them.

The Gibson is the only Favorite (a strong one); none of the other
novels come close.

Which 1985 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?
>
Press Enter by John Varley
A Traveler's Tale by Lucius Shepard
Marrow Death by Michael Swanwick
The Greening of Bed-Stuy by Frederik Pohl
Trinity by Nancy Kress
Young Doctor Eszterhazy by Avram Davidson
>
All but the Davidson.

Just the Varley.

Which 1985 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?
>
Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler
Bad Medicine by Jack Dann
Saint Theresa of the Aliens by James Patrick Kelly
The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule by Lucius Shepard
Trojan Horse by Michael Swanwick
>
All of them.

None of them!

>
Which 1985 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?
>
Morning Child by Gardner Dozois
A Cabin on the Coast by Gene Wolfe
Salvador by Lucius Shepard
Sunken Gardens by Bruce Sterling
The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything by George Alec Effinger
The Eichmann Variations George Zebrowski
>
All but the Zebrowski.

Just the Wolfe.

Chris