Product Description
FBI Agent Robert Cavanaugh has been transferred from the organized crime unit to the slow-paced office in Maryland. When a nurse at a hospital notices an increase in fatal strokes among healthy black adults, the trail leads to a new strain of malaria that is fatal to those with the sickle-cell trait. There's no hard evidence of human intervention, but Cavanaugh must convince the FBI to look for the answers before it becomes an epidemic or even race war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Solid, satisfying thriller!
STINGER is a solid, satisfying read. It kept me pleasantly diverted during a long morning waiting for my car to be fixed.

Like many good thrillers, the plot and the characters are somewhat familiar but with a few unique elements of their own. The two key characters are Cavanaugh, an FBI agent who is a bit of a rogue and a closet idealist, and Melanie, a black female doctor. STINGER follows their search for the source of an epidemic of strokes among black people. They make an unlikely but ultimately effective pair of buddies.

STINGER is not great literature, nor even the best thriller I have ever read, but it is very good. If you want solid thrills and a plot that keeps you wondering until the very end, this is a good pick.

Gives an Itch to Read More Works by This Author
Let me start by saying that I'm not a fan of medical thrillers; to me, they tend to fall into two categories--overly technical labyrinths that have Tom Clancy Excruciating Detail Syndrome, or they get carried away into panicky melodrama.

"Stinger," however, is a great read.It's well-plotted, with authentic characterizations, and a basic premise that is both plausible and engaging.

Ms. Kress is to be commended for maintaining a balance among three very different worlds:government bureaucracy, police procedure, and epidemiology.Her descriptions of each of these worlds has enough detail to lend authenticity, but she still manages to keep the story moving briskly along.

The story unfolds in a way that both entices and rewards; we quickly come to care about the lead characters, and can identify with their internal conflicts that arise from a situation that is at first alarming, then horrifying, then paranoia-inducing.

The resolution of the story is clever and satisfying; at no point did I find myself gagging on contrivances or oversimplifications.In fact, I found myself admiring her ability to resolve a tricky setup.

Most importantly, this book makes me want to read more works by Nancy Kress.

A Fast-Paced Thrill Ride with Great Characters
Nancy Kress has taken a bold step.She's an award-winning science fiction writer who is universally recognized as one of the best in the genre.With `Oaths and Miracles' and now with `Stinger,' she has proven that she can standtoe-to-toe with the best of the thriller/suspense writers as well.

`Stinger' begins with Senator Malcolm Peter Reading, a presidential hopeful, collapsing during a speech.Reading, an African-American, dies in a matter of minutes.It is discovered that he had contracted malaria.Others quickly begin dying of malaria.Nearly all of them are African-American.Then the epidemic begins.

FBI agent Robert Cavanaugh and Dr. Melanie Anderson of the Centers for Disease Control quickly discover that the deaths are not accidents.Someone...or some country...has reintroduced malaria into America.The cards appear to be stacked against them: they have few clues and little time.To complicate matters, both Cavanaugh and Anderson are faced with personal and professional crises just as an answer is beginning to develop.

I have always appreciated two things about the writing of Nancy Kress:fascinating characters and scientific ideas a clod like me can understand.Cavanaugh acts exactly the way we think an FBI agent should - logical, methodical thinking, going through the proper steps at the proper time, etc, but Kress shows us that while the agent has everything together on the job, that doesn't necessarily mean every aspect of his life is in order.Melanie Anderson is an African-American woman who is mad as hell at what is happening.She's not perfect, yet we identify with her, hurt for her, and cheer for her.Two great characters.

`Stinger' is a great thrill-ride all the way to the very last page, but it is also chilling in another aspect.Although this book was published in 1998, it has some frightening parallels to the events surrounding Sept. 11.A real page-turner...and a real eye opener.

303 fast-moving pages

Black Americans Being Wiped Out ?
Maryland, USA. Are we dealing with an attempt to wipe out the black population by a biological weapon? Dr. Melanie Anderson of CDC thinks so. Malaria reading, named after Malcolm Peter Reading, a black Senator from Pennsylvania and a presidential hopeful, who died after suffering a stroke in the middle of his speech, continues to spread rapidly. What made Dr. Anderson so sure about the genocide attempt is that the disease seems to attack only t hose with sickle-cell trait, a predominantly black population.

Competent, but not great
Ms. Kress turns out a competent work of mystery here.The story is good, and we don't find out "whodunit" until the very end.My only complaint is that the characters were a bit cliche.Dr. Melanie Anderson was just about the angriest character I have ever seen.In my own humble opinion, I don't see how she could possibly have risen to a position of responsibility within the CDC with some of the know-nothing convictions she holds. Agent Cavanaugh is the quintessential "man afraid of commitment"

Read this book and be entertained for a few hours. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best short story collection I've ever read.
I read this short story collection and walked around the rest of the dayin a daze.Nancy Kress managed to blow me away almost every time.I hadloved her novels, but this was even better.She managed not to get caughtin a rut while maintaining a consistency of quality that was amazing.Ifyou want to know about technology and human nature, read this book.If youwant to know how to write short stories, read this book.If you want tospend a pleasant hour, day, or week reading, read this book.Just read it. It's that good. ... Read more

Product Description
As in her Hugo and Nebula-award winning Beggars in Spain, Dancing on Air finds Nancy Kress once more exploring the moral ambiguities of genetic engineering that have become her hallmark.This novella-length chapbook combines an intriguing murder mystery, involving a reporter's investigation into the competitive world of professional ballet, with the thought-provoking science fiction we have come to expect from Nancy Kress.This story is among her finest work.BACK COVER: Like Walter Miller's "The Darfsteller," [Dancing on Air] follows the future of an artform through ethical quagmires. - Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine

Every so often there comes a story which works the old magic that first drew me to the genre as a reader. Dancing on Air is one of those stories. - James Patrick Kelly

From her novel An Alien Light to this novella, Dancing on Air, Nancy Kress has again and again made bizarre viewpoints utterly compelling. No matter how peculiar the future is that Kress imagines, her characters face it with human and humane feeling. She is a writer's writer. - Tony Daniel

Nancy Kress is one of the best damn storytellers ever. - Jack McDevitt ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not Free SF Reader
A Science Fiction Story

Bioengineered ballet breakdown.


4.5 out of 5

A true classic in the genre
I am normally pretty stingy with giving 10's to books, but this chapbook of one of Kress' strongest novellas surely deserves the rating.

Kress never fails to deliver utterly believable characters while driving plots forward with her straight-forward style of prose."Dancing on Air" is no exception.

Upong starting the book I was immediately put off by the fact that it is narrated by an intelligence-enhanced dog.There are, of course, countless novels using this device, and I'd say all but Simak's "City" are completely forgettable. (I would include "Watchers" and "Lives of the Monster Dogs" in the "forgettable" category.) But, I trusted Ms. Kress to deliver and was ultimately rewarded.Kress' narrator choice turns out to be wonderful.The dog is impossible to dislike and presents a point of view so objective as to be unquestionable and yet filled with raw emotion as could only come from a dog or perhaps a small child.

If you are a fan of short fiction, don't miss this one!!! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Thought provoking stories.
It is an interesting change reading the scifi written by a woman, I can certainly see and feel a difference in the stories. Besides that, very interesting stories and well written. I have found the second story in this book is my favorite so far, very unique. Recommended for any serious scifi collection.

A magnificent anthology of thirteen tales
Written by multiple award-winning author Nancy Kress, "Nano Comes to Clifford Falls And Other Stories" is a magnificent anthology of thirteen tales, with a foreword from author Mike Resnick. From exploring the human condition to just making readers laugh, Kress' writing flows with versatility; readers are in for something different with every story. "Nano Comes to Clifford Falls: And Other Stories" is highly recommended for community library fiction collections. ... Read more

Product Description
In a genetically altered future America that is overrun by beautiful and super-intelligent people, the entire planet faces destruction in the face of overpopulation and unemployment. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Bleak but Provocative Middle for the Beggar's Trilogy
BEGGARS & CHOOSERS is more disturbing than satisfying, as perhaps the middle book of a trilogy should be.I'm looking forward to the conclusion in BEGGARS RIDE.

First person narration is delivered from several characters, mostly Livers.The only one returning from BEGGARS IN SPAIN is the Lucid Dreamer, Drew Arlen. It's fitting, not getting any direct view from a sleepless or a supersleepless.It makes for balance, credibility, mystery, and food for thought.My recommendation is to dig in and enjoy this book.

not as good as the first but interesting
The second book in the series is interesting, but it goes too far in making pessimistic assumptions about human interaction, and the characters are not really believable.

ok
One of the most compelling features of the Beggars trilogy is that the specific technological achievements in it are not required for the themes to ring true.However in this book humanity has nigh-infinite cheap energy, reliable eugenics for intelligence and aesthetics in humans, and robots that replace nearly all labor.You can guess where that leads.

Super Reader
Beggars and Choosers is set some time after Beggars in Spain, and the focus has moved on to one of the new generation, Miranda.

Here, society has changed remarkably into people that work, and those that don't, with the former providing basic levels of care and substitence to the rest. This society is beginning to break down, and the Sleepless exist on their own gated island fortress. One of the latter becomes involved with Miranda's plans for the future of society.

Doesn't Measure Up
I read this after reading "The Beggars of Spain," and it doesn't measure up to the greatness of the first novel.

None of the main characters measure up to the Leisha Camden, who ends up with a minor role before being written out of the novel.For me, Leisha Camden carried the first novel, and having the direct sequel with her not as main character disappointed me.Of the characters in the new novel, none of them approached the joy or gentle reflectiveness of Leisha.

The philosophical questions raised by first novel, of all the beggars in Spain, are neatly sidestepped and ignored in the second novel.Miranda ends up making the same mistakes her grandmother made, but in a different way.It just struck me a super-genius might learn something from the past?Kress really didn't write the level of super-genius intelligence well, unlike the first novel where she managed to do so by perfectly capturing emotional issues that would grip you regardless of intelligence.I found her super-genius behavior to be emotionally stupid in this book, and it just turned the whole thing to trash for me.

No complaints with the setting, though the dramatic pace was slow, especially in Oleinta, New York.Maybe I'm over-reacting a bit at giving this two stars, but compared with the first novel (which I read on the same day as this one) this book is short-sighted and mediocre. ... Read more

Product Description
“One of the best of the year...a compelling novella about a once-famous actress and her devoted manager who get much more publicity of an unfortunate sort when they inadvertently become embroiled with an act of biological terrorism with potentially world-changing results.” —Gardner Dozois, Locus ... Read more

Product Description
New Dreams for Old is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by Mike Resnick, showing the depth and range that has not only made him a popular seller, but also placed him fourth (and climbing) on the all-time award list of all science fiction writers living and dead (as compiled by Locus).

This book contains award winners and nominees. It contains two stories that are currently in development by Hollywood. It contains stories that have won readers polls, that have won foreign prizes, and a few that are just out-and-out hilarious.

Most of these stories constitute recent work. One of them—"Travels With My Cats"—was a 2005 Hugo Award-winner and a Nebula nominee, while another —"A Princess of Earth"—was also a 2005 Hugo nominee. The story "Robots Don’t Cry" was a 2004 Hugo nominee the previous year. Also included are the Hugo and Nebula nominee "For I Have Touched the Sky," Hugo nominee "Mwalimu in the Squared Circle," and Hugo winner "The 43 Antarean Dynasties." This collection also includes two novellas that have never seen print outside of the members-only Science Fiction Book Club.

Are there really elephants on Neptune? What does Old MacDonald of nursery-rhyme fame actually grow on his farm? Is there much difference between pruning elderly flowers and elderly people? A trio of award nominees, "The Elephants on Neptune," "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," and "Hothouse Flowers," provide the answers.

This is a collection of enormous range and the highest quality. More to the point, every story will not only make the reader think, but feel.

The collection is introduced by Nancy Kress, herself a multiple Hugo and Nebula winner, and a monthly columnist for Writer's Digest. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

One of our Greatest
"New Dreams for Old" is a delightful joy to read. Mike Resnick is truely one of our greatest living writers. Certainly on par with Bradbury, Asimov and even Mark Twain. He writes with deceptive ease and clairity in a truely orginal and American voice. This is an awesome collection and I hope Pyr collects more of his short works.

A particularly notable feature of a diverse, satisfying collection demonstrating Resnick's prowess.
Mike Resnick's NEW DREAMS FOR OLD is a diverse short story collection which challenges the notion that science fiction collections can be dry and predictable. Here are funny stories juxtaposed with hard science, novellas that have previously been available only to members of the Science Fiction Book Club, and ten Hugo nominees. The author's introduction to each story which describes its inspirational foundations makes for a particularly notable feature of a diverse, satisfying collection demonstrating Resnick's prowess.

A great, underrated writer
Resnick is a great writer. At his best, he rivals Asimov and Bradbury. Even when he's not at his best, he's a solid, thoughtful artist. But anyone interested in Africa, women's rights, technology, should read his Kirinyaga stories. And Elephants on Neptune presages, and updates, Gaiman, Gibson, and all the other G's. Really a wonderful treat. ... Read more

Product Description
"Anyone who has ever doubted the psychological link between fantasy and life will be quickly corrected by this insightful and highly recommended novel".--Roger C. Schlobin, "Fantasy Newsletter". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great early book
I first read this book over two decades ago while a girl in my teens, and it continues to echo around in my head.I'm glad to finally see it back in print.

The previous reviewer gives a good summary of the plot.However, I've always viewed the book to be strongly allegorical without being preachy:where can a woman find happiness?Kirila grows bored with "childish activities" and begins her quest.She joins a community based on scientific principles, joins another based on religion, spends decades doing the "married to a stereotypical male who likes sports" lifestyle...but in the end finds out what really is at the Heart of her World.

I recommend it to teenaged girls (both chronologically and at heart) who enjoy fantasy.Think of this as a girl-centered coming-of-age story.

Very good fantasy novel
A reprint of Kress' twenty-year-old first novel, this is the story of Princess Kirila of Castle Kiril. In a land that's perpetually at peace, Kirila tries her hand at the usual things a Princess does, like hunting and creating a tapestry. After her eighteenth birthday, she gets increasingly moody and short-tempered, taking it out on the castle staff. One day, she decides to go on a solo Quest to find the True Heart of the World. All she knows is that it is somewhere to the north, and it has to do with the Tents of Omnium.

Kirila soon comes upon a talking dog, with blue-black fur, named Chessie. He says he was a human prince who was turned into a dog by a wizard. Chessie is also going to the Tents of Omnium, the only place to get unenchanted. They spend some time at the Quirkian Hold, something like a monastery, whose purpose is to make order of all things in the universe. Their four clans are Up, Down, Strange and Charmed. Some feel that is enough to explain everything, while others feel that the Model of Forces may need some revision by adding another clan.

Later, they meet Prince Larek of Castle Talatour. He is handsome, single and totally obsessed with jousting. The castle is the smallest, most poorly maintained castle Kirila has ever seen. Nevertheless, she accepts Larek's marriage proposal. Chessie continues his Quest to the Tents of Omnium.

Twenty-five years later, after Kirila has borne a couple of children, buried Larek, who lost a battle with a wild boar, and started to experience middle age and arthritis, Chessie returns. He got almost to Omnium, but was stopped by a sort of magical force field. On the spur of the moment, Kirila decides to continue the Quest. After several adventures, they reach the Tents of Omnium, where Chessie returns to human form.

This novel is really good. It starts off with some tongue-in-cheek humor, then gets a lot better. Here is a first-rate combination of psychology and fable that is quite entertaining. ... Read more

Product Description
Caught in the Crossfire
A human colony settles on a distant planet, a colony formed by Jake Holman-- a man trying to escape a dark past. But as this diverse group of thousands comes to terms with their new lives on a new world, they make a startling discovery: primitive humanoid aliens. There are only a few isolated villages, and the evidence seems to indicate they aren't native to the planet--despite the aliens living in thatched huts and possessing only primitive tools.

When a handful of human colonists finally learn the truth, they will face the toughest decision of their lives, a decision that could determine not just the fate of their new home, but the fate of all humanity.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Okay Warm Up Diet Space Opera
*Spoiler free review*The book has a decent premise and the author knows her craft-- the prose is well written so no problems there.

The story is on the meh side though.It feels like it had the potential to be a little more epic in scope and just missed.There isn't enough gravity and depth with the stakes, characters, and worldbuilding.

I did like the character centric focus of the book and the interactions with the various aliens along with the first contact aspect, that was okay...

If someone is new to sci-fi or perhaps 11-17 yrs old, this would be a GREAT introductory book for them.I feel as if this is a diet low calorie space opera.Or if we were exercising our sci-fi muscles, this book would be a warm up.

Compared to Peter F. Hamilton, Kevin Anderson, David Drake, David Weber, etc. etc. this book just doesn't carry the same weight.Not to say its a bad book.The story is enjoyable and the writing makes it a pleasant read.Just saying that this book is 'light' when compared to other works.

But I did enjoy it and I had no problems finishing it.

Adequate First Contact Tale; 3.5 Stars
A solid but unexceptional first contact story.A group of colonists from Earth discover that their chosen planet has a small population of sentients who are also not natives of the colony planet.The humans find themselves in the middle of an interplanetary war between 2 other species.The plotting is moderately clever because of Kress' inversion of one of the usual plot devices.In many books, the usual device is human conflict with some kind of eusocial, usually insectoid, colony species.This is often accompanied by alliance with other individualistic species.In this book, the human allies are somewhat pacifistic colony-type plants and the enemies an aggressive mammaloid species.Kress also includes a number of human Quaker colonists to reflect this theme.
Readers who enjoy this theme should look at Joan Slonczewski's neglected Still Forms on Foxfield.

Flawed yet fabulous
To say that this is not Kress' best, but that it is another one of her good ones, is yet to say that it is very good indeed.Like all of her novels, her prose is fluid, her outlook is humane, and her characterizations are strong.Perhaps she could have plotted more scenes for Mira City, with its transplanted multicultural groups.However, instead we get a small cast of characters interacting with hyperintelligent alien plant-type beings and just enough intergalactic intrigue to make this an action-packed psychological techno-thriller that falls just short of "first rate."Well worth reading.The Sparrow

First Kress book, and probably last.
Reading the various reviews, I was looking forward to an interesting book on the struggles of travelling to and settling on a uninhabited planet, and then getting into first encounters.After reading it, I wouldn't use the word "interesting".It was fairly dull and uninspired.But it did help me fall asleep on several nights.

Usually I try to figure out why a book was written.What is the point of the book.A fun story is legitimate.Maybe some interesting technology.Colorful characters.Better if there is philosophical or moral dilemmas, or some sort of analogy.I am not sure any of that was present in this.There was some religious commentary, but it didn't really go anywhere.

OMG, what a piece of crap
I'll preface this by saying that I actually like a lot of Nancy Kress's writing (I've read the Beggars series, as well as a lot of her short stories and novellas).One of the things I've always thought she did best was character development.

So imagine my surprise when every single character in this novel can be neatly described in a single, overblown, melodramatic sentence.Jake, the charismatic billionaire tortured by a Dark Secret.Gwen, the lesbian environmentalist who buries herself in her work because after the death of her partner she doesn't believe she can Ever Love Again.Shipley, the religious leader who cannot reach his own daughter.

Plotwise, the book is a mess, with a lot of haphazard elements thrown in and no particular direction.Right off the bat, a privately funded colony made up of groups so disparate in nature that, even absent the aliens showing up, you can tell will be having some sort of major civil war in about five years.Equal parts Chinese refugees, Native American wannabees, Quakers, tree huggers, and Saudis seeking to establish a traditional Muslim society.Yeah, clearly everyone's going to get along there.

And there's no ending.

Other than that, it's awesome. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of unabridged readings chronicles the lives of people striving to survive as aliens rule Earth. In HOW MUSIC BEGINS by JAMES VAN PELT, a junior high school band director struggles to keep the band members spirits up after they have been shanghaied, by unknown and unseen aliens, and confined to a dormitory and practice auditorium. In OKANOGGAN FALLS, by CAROLYN IVES GILMAN, a housewife subtly resists the forceable relocation of her townspeople by an alien military captain. Finally, in order to stay alive, a woman must make dogs act correctly for aliens in LAWS OF SURVIVAL by NANCY KRESS. Read by Vanessa Hart and Tom Dheere. 224 minutes. ... Read more

Product Description
It's 2345.

THE FUTURE NEEDS HEROES!

They must reach back in time to find them.

WHAT IF THEY COME FOR YOU?

In 2345 there is no war, no pollution, no disease, no crime--but utopia has a price. . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Teens Taken to the Future
In the twenty-fourth century, the Earth is a happy and healthy place.War and disease have been wiped out.It is a utopia.Humanity has become peaceful and calm.So when mysterious aliens nicknamed Givers came and gave humanity the ability to reach the stars with transporters, humans were no longer prepared to face the dangers of a new frontier.As special problems arise, they search in time for special individuals with "grit" and bring them forward to help out.Because teleporters don't seem to work with adults, teenagers are the ones yanked to the future.

This first volume has two teens from 1999 yanked to the future to join two others from even further in the past.Their mission, if they accept it, is to teleport to a lost colony and find a secret hidden there by a dying ship's captain.Another alien race also seems to know about the secret and are sending their own people.

The secret concerns one of the steps humanity must take before the Givers will convey even more powerful secrets and abilities.It would not be good for the more belligerent aliens to gain the secret first.

A pretty good start to this series with some nice explanations for the story's framework.Interesting aliens and an important deadline add to the mix and make the book move fairly quickly.A very pleasing read that helps recapture some of the wonder of early science fiction.

A book about heroes
Yanked! tells an exciting story about teenagers from our time confronted with difficult challenges.Not only do they have to deal with a otherworldly situation (literally), but they also have to cope with people from the past and future who have very different views on life: a boy from the past who is a violent, dishonest fellow who is willing to trade people for property, and a robot from the future that can't deal with anything outside its normal experience.How the heroes from our time manage to achieve their goals in spite of these obstacles makes a fine tale.

Excellent writer, bad choices
As a teacher and writer of young adult novels, I have to say that I was very excited by the idea that one of the most brilliant authors of speculative fiction, Nancy Kress, was going to try her hand at a young adult novel.Using David Brin's setup (and when will he get around to writing one, hmmm?), Kress unfortunately populates her story with overly simplistic characters, motivations, and plot events.The novel reads as if she's slumming, and completely oblivious of the revolution in young adult fiction that has taken place in the last twenty years.Anybody who has read Cynthia Voigt's "The Runner" or any of Chris Crutcher's books would know that you don't write down to kids -- you write up to them.What makes it even worse is that within the origins of science fiction YA novels, Robert Heinlein set an example of complexity that makes them classic reads for young and old even today -- and, one suspects, for decades to come.What makes all this still worse is that Nancy Kress is married to one of the masters of today's science-fiction YA form, Charles Sheffield, whose Jupiter novels are absolutely first-rate reading.Having said all that, I do think there are some worthwhile moments in the novel: the rescue scene of the baby is done well, as is the overall tricking of the aliens.The main female protagonist rings a little truer than the male protagonist, although both are thoroughly cliched.The supporting cast is a bit less stereotyped, although not by much.Essentially, I would guess Kress got the novel past an editor who had no clue what YA novels are like these days (which her complaint about the marketing would seem to support).Hopefully, she will either give them up or bring her formidable talent into full play next time.

An Insult to Our Youth
If this book is an example of what "Young Adult" readers think is good (see the high marks by Rebecca), I would be insulted. I think young readers of science fiction are more likely to have limitations of attention span than a need to identify with shallow characters and weak plots. I could (and have!) re-read classic "youth" fiction from Heinlein like Podykane of Mars, Starman Jones, and Citizen of the Galaxy as an adult and they still entertain. For other readers to review it poorly, then say it would be great for youthful readers, is unfair to our youth.

A cool science fiction thriller.
Sharon and Jason are two ordinary teens from New York City. Along with a group of kids from the past, and the near future, they are sent to 2339 to combat an alien menace threatening to destroy an Earth that is now made up completely of pacifists. Now, Sharon and Jason must reach within themselves to find the courage to be heroes and save the humanity of the future. This was a page-turner, edge-of-your-seat science fiction thriller that also gives you a lot to think about. Highly reccomended. ... Read more

Product Description
A perfect match-the all-time top Nebula Award winner edits this year's volume of the celebrated series honoring the Nebula Awards. The coveted Nebula Awards are the only SF awards bestowed annually by the writers' own demanding peers, the Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Each Nebula Awards collection showcases the year's Nebula-winning fiction, top selections from the ballot-including work not collected in other best-of-the-year anthologies-and intriguing essays written expressly for each volume. Nebula Awards 33 features prizewinning fiction by Vonda N. McIntyre, Jerry Oltion, Nancy Kress, and Jane Yolen; the Rhysling Award winners for best SF poetry; classic stories by Grand Master Poul Anderson and Author Emeritus Nelson Bond; and original essays by Jack Williamson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ellen Datlow, Sheila Williams, Cynthia Felice, Michael Cassutt, Geoffrey Landis, Beth Meacham, Wil McCarthy, and Christie Golden. This excellent compendium is, as was said of last year's volume, "a must-read for both serious and casual SF fans alike."Amazon.com Review
The annual NebulaAwards are given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers ofAmerica to honor the best novel, novella, novelette, and short storyof the previous year.Nebula Awards 33 editor and six-timeNebula winner Connie Willis reveals her love of the Nebula collectiontradition:

"In those 33 eventful years, I've won NebulaAwards and lost them (or, as this year's toastmaster, Michael Cassutt,put it, I've been 'differently victorious'). And I've read another 31Nebula Awards collections and all the stories in them.... Andyou know what? I'm just as dazzled, just as awed and impressed, by theNebula Award stories as I was that first time."

Nebula Awards 33 features Jane Yolen's Best Short Story winner,Sister Emily's Lightship, a tale of poetic inspiration from thestars; The Flowers of Aulit Prison, Nancy Kress's winner forBest Novelette, which beautifully examines the persistence of memory;the Best Novella winner, Jerry Oltion's Abandon in Place, anextraordinary space-ghost story; and an excerpt from VondaN. McIntyre's lush historical fantasy The Moon and the Sun,which took Best Novel honors.

A terrific selection of "differentlyvictorious" pieces rounds out this outstanding collection, along withthe essays, author profiles (of Nelson Bond and Poul Anderson), andRhysling Award winners (for science fiction poetry) we've come toexpect in the Nebula series. The Nebula nominees represent some of thebest science fiction and fantasy published each year, and NebulaAwards 33 is full of high-caliber writing, great ideas, andfascinating insight into the minds and hearts of the nominatedauthors. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Always Entertaining, Often Mind Blowing
It really doesn't matter which volume of the Nebula Awards you pick up, you know that you're going to discover some great SF stories.That is certainly true of NEBULA AWARDS 33.Sure, you might find one or two that you don't care for, but those stories are probably the exception to the rule.Out of the works selected for inclusion in this volume, I found six of them to be outstanding, with a couple of them blowing me away.
The SF stories that I enjoy the most teach me about myself and the world around me.These stories did that and more.

James Patrick Kelly's "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is a touching, thought-provoking look at our relationships with our children and our parents."The Flowers of Aulit Prison" by Nancy Kress is immediately readable, enjoyable, and yet full of depth.With a title like "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream," you know you're NOT in store for a boring read!A masterful look at the battle between science and religion.Michael Swanwick's "The Dead" is a wonderfully disturbing look at the corporate world.And what can you say about Karen Joy Fowler's "The Elizabeth Complex," except that it's brilliant?(Man, this woman can write!)

To end the volume, Willis hits a home run by picking Grand Master Poul Anderson's "The Martyr," a story that I just can't stop thinking about.

270 pages

Good summary of the year
Another collection of this long-running series that presents the award-winning fiction for the previous year. I'll comment on the individual stories:

Jane Yolen, "Sister Emily's Lightship" -- I've never been a Yolen fan. While I find her prose professional enough, I've never read anything by her that would make me jump up and rush out to force someone to read it. This story is no exception. The premise of Emily Dickinson meeting an alien is too...precious, and Yolen's sole contribution to that premise in this story is to emphasize some of the ethereal and otherworldly quality of Dickinson's poetry, and that doesn't come until the end. Yeah, she did her Dickinson research, but so what? Other than the alien, there is no reason for this story to be science fiction (see "Abbess Phone Home" in the Turkey City Lexicon).

James Patrick Kelly, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" -- Uses technology of the future to portray a true human characteristic.

Vonda McIntyre, excerpt from The Moon and the Sun -- As someone who has not read this Nebula-winning novel, the excerpt presented here does exactly what it is supposed to do--whet your appetite for more. I had no idea what the subject of the book was before I read this, now I do, and have had a taste of how it is told. I'm not going to rush out and get it, but I'm much more interested now than I was before.

Nancy Kress, "The Flowers of Aulit Prison" -- An excellent story with its basis in that most Phil Dickian question, "What is reality?" This is the kind of SF that I look for, where aliens help us understand, through them as a metaphor, a fundamental idea of life. That it has a plot, an unique setting, and fascinating characters makes it an award winner. I'm not giving anything away with this one, but just point you to it and say, "go read."

Gregory Feeley, "The Crab Lice" -- I disliked the beginning of this story so much that I didn't even finish it. There was nothing for me to grab onto to orient myself in the story, and life is just too short.

Nelson Bond, "The Bookshop" -- A nice little classic story, where every writer's fantasy comes true, but at a price, of course. You could do a collection of these ultimate library tales (Borges comes to mind).

James Alan Gardner, "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Bloodstream" -- A great story, with some unique twists to alternate history (so much better than the Feeley).

Michael Swanwick, "The Dead" -- An audacious story, and right up my alley. I liked it well enough, but there was something missing--I'm not sure what, maybe more of an explanation for the Donald character and his background. The anger that it stems from is good.

Karen Joy Fowler, "The Elizabeth Complex" -- This could have been as bad as the Yolen, yet it works to some extent because of its experimental nature. I wouldn't want a steady diet of these things, but once was interesting.

Jerry Oltion, "Abandon in Place" -- Wow, I liked this story a lot, even though it is so ridiculous that it is laughable. One must come at this as if reading a fairy tale--there is nothing plausible here. The science is bogus, the characters are straight wish-fulfillment from Heinlein days. But the mythology is strong, and if one has any remorse for the space program whatsoever, there's a good chance that it will tug the correct strings.

Poul Anderson, "The Martyr" -- A classic from the latest grand master, a nice little mystery about why those infuriating aliens continue to treat us differently.

All in all, this is a worthy volume to grab, especially if you don't want to dedicate the time to reading the Dozois' Year's Best or the magazines themselves.

very disappointing
a collection of SCI-FI short stories , poems ext.. edited by the authorconny willis.

tee writings are from many genres of SCI-FI and bydifferentwriters, some are new and some are SCI-FI master from the oldgeneration.

most of the stories are very weak, and some are verypeculiar

the best things about the book, is that ther reader can alwaysskip to the next story, and mabee to find something for is taste.

i thinkthis book is realy for SCI FI fanatic fans only, especially for those whoare familiar with the NEBULA award organisation, and for conny willis'sfans and friends (i'm not one of them)

Disappointing
History repeats itself:Two years ago I read Nebula Awards 31.The only story that engaged me was by Grand Master AE Van Vogt - a story written over 50 years ago.I don't remember much else about that volume.

NebulaAwards 33 concludes with a story by Grand Master Poul Anderson writtenabout 40 years ago.It's easily the best thing in the book.If I were toguess what this means about contemporary short science fiction, I would saythe genre is not only short on new ideas, but it has lost the joy of thenarrative.Indeed, little happens in many of these stories.And, as theearlier reviewer noted, many really aren't sf. Jane Yolen's award-winningstory about Emily Dickinson and a spaceship is silly and unnecessary. Gregory Feeley's story is interesting, but there's no narrative.JohnHoward Gardner's story has perhaps the best science fictional idea.Itdeals with certain snake-like analogues in human blood which have areligious significance that affected society.But, it's just someconversational set-pieces with no narrative.Nancy Kress's piece startsgood, gets better, and then just ends.(Is there a novel in the works?) The one story with spaceships is actually a ghost story.

Science fictionand fantasy writers are perhaps entitled to pat themselves on the back fromtime to time - after all few others do.But editor Connie Willis's gushyendorsements do nobody any good.Rather than let the reader judge thestories, she keeps telling us how good they are.(No analysis isprovided.)She makes the absurd claim that this volume is as good as thefirst volume, which contained much-anthologized classic works by Aldiss,Ellison and Zelazny.

Willis mourns her inability to include all thenominees while including nine (!) gushy pages on Poul Anderson and aboutone apiece on each story.The volume concludes with a totally unnecessary(and, except for a piece by Kim Stanley Robinson, facile) collection ofpieces about 1997.But who cares about 1997 in the middle of 1999?Itincludes about 10 pages ripped out from the award winning novel.(Why dothis?The novel will probably have greater circulation than thiscollection.)Maybe K.D. Wentworth wouldn't have the ignominy of being theonly short-story nominee left out had all this unnecessary material beentossed.

Disappointing, only a nodding acquaintance to SF
A marked disappointment, considering the traditions of the Nebula books. It is possible that they are good stories but a large majority is not SF (in my book). The stories do (in general) improve as the reader progressesthrough the book,however even the best is only mediocre. The longintroductions are just a waste of space (:-), and to add insult toinjury,it contains an excerpt from a novel, and a whole spiel (some 10pages) about a Nebula man of the year (or similar). Buy it if you must, mycopy is going to be binned. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Brain Rose - good read but not up to Kress' standards...
I absolutely adore Nancy Kress: maybe that's why I feel somewhat put down by this novel.Don't get me wrong: it's good, just not quite good enough for somebody used to N.K. consistent excellence.
The story starts off slow and unfortunately stays slow: there are many moments of "shattering revelations": where characters turn ashen pale, look shocked, space out with shock, pass out, suffer minor self inflicted injuries in the process of absorbing absolutely shattering information... etc., etc. ... Only when the reader is invited to participate in the knowledge of whatever caused all those extreme reactions, the news turns out very obscure and not really that shocking...
I will not attempt to summarize the plot - it is involved and unique enough to be ill-served by second hand renditions.A lot of it is pretty complex and insightfulsocial futurism. I thought that the idea of Gaesist movement was brilliant and intriguing.And, unfortunately a lot of it is just a weird mambo-jumbo of pseudo philosophy, pseudo science, pseudo who-knows-what... At the end, the conclusion does nothing to justify intricate buildup of suspense and tension and hardly anything is "explained" - in ordinary sense...
Still:very good, solid read - excellent social writing, excellent character buildup.Medical part of things: as always with Kress: systematically and quite impressively researched, and extrapolated with gusto to fit the plot - yet not quite water- tight to the end - or maybe it's just a medical professional in me looking for inconsistencies....
Overall:good read but not as good as I came to expect from N.K.Better luck next time...

A Book That Has Stuck With Me For 7 Years Now
While I know this book has gone out-of-print and was never widly read I would have trouble thinking of a better science fiction book to recomend.Very intellegent and fairly well written. Kress is just a damn good writer. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Good yarn
Nice read in this page turner.The heroine is heroic and the hero is a nice guy. The dogs are OK too.Much better than the average Sci-Fi book.

A disappointment from Nancy Kress
I was very disappointed by this book.I found it at the library, and was excited to see the newest from Kress.I've read most of her previous books and looked forward to getting into this one.However, it turned out to be cliched, with thinly written characters and a predictable plot.I expected far better from Kress.I hope that she will return to her usual style (e.g., the fascinating conceptual and literary qualities in the Probability Moon series), and avoid this screenplay, mainstream style in future.I'll still pick up her next book, but I'll scrutinize it more carefully before I get excited!

Something new for Kress
Though not typical of Kress' hard science fiction novels, I enjoyed this book. I don't know if Kress is attempting a switch to more "mainstream" stuff, but I think it was successful. You probably won't convince the more hard core scifi folks of the books merits, but this was better than say Greg Bears attempts to leave the genre. I rank it up there with the popular stuff that Preston/Childs or Rollins has put out. I haven't been disappointed in her stuff yet.

BIG Dissapointment
As a fan of Nancy Kress who has enjoyed her previous works I was very dissapointed with this book which I did not finish because it was boring, stilted and pointless.

Not Nancy's Best
Dogs is well written--it kept me turning the pages--but the plot is so twisty I had no idea who did what and why at the end of the book. There are lots of ambiguous clues that are not tied up at the end. Perhaps I missed something, but I'm not willing to wade through the book again to find that one definitive point.

Even so, I'm still one of Nancy's biggest fans. ... Read more