"SF Short- Intro to Nebula Award Stories 7" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nebula Award Stories 7)

Introduction

Each of the stories in this collection has been published in a book
or magazine labeled "Science Fiction." Each of- them was nomi-
nated for a Nebula Award by members of Science Fiction Writers
of America and appeared on one or both of the ballots in the
awards voting. All of them are, therefore, illustrious examples of
contemporary science fiction,' and as a special favor I am asking
those who read them to complete the following sentence in 25,000
words or less: "Science fiction is. . ." Send your responses to me.
There are no prizes, but I'll be grateful to have a stack of answers
ready for those who persist in asking me to define science fiction.
The fact is that science fiction, in this summation of 1971's best
writing, defies definition. Each of these stories reveals a dazzlingly
different facet of a literary genre whose facets are infinite. The
settings span the universe, the times range from remote begin-
nings to ultimate endings, and the themes probe man's environ-
ment within and. without and test his ethics and values with
problems as old as human consciousness and as new as the millen-
nium beyond tomorrow. The literary styles and narrative tech-
niques of these eleven authors are as varied as their subject

(Inasmuch as works of fantasy are also eligible for the Nebula Awards, this is a controversial statement. Next year's readers will be invited to distinguish
between science fiction and fantasy-in 25,000 words or more.)

matters. For the reader who is asking of this book, as Theodore
Sturgeon suggests, "Tell me a story," here is science fiction in.all of its
infinite variety.

In the months during which this book was planned and finally
assembled, I managed to become deeply indebted to a startling number
of people. Damon Knight, Poul Anderson and Theodore Sturgeon, busy
men with their own presses of responsibilities and deadlines, took on an
additional one of each in order to provide this book with special
features. The authors, each and every one of them, bore up under my
onslaught of forms and questionnaires with splendid patience, as did
their various editors, publishers and agents. Howard DeVore furnished
his usual invaluable assistance in supplying copies of books and
magazines; Dean McLaughlin did the same, and also permitted me to
bombard him, guinea pig fashion, with alpha and beta particles of ideas,
scraps of copy and potential contents pages, without snarling-much.
Edward Wood and George Price, of Advent: Publishers; Diane Cleaver,
of Doubleday; Judy-Lynn del Rey, of Galaxy/If; Edward Ferman, of
F&SF; Betty Ballantine, of Ballantine Books; editors Terry Carr,
Robert Silverberg, David Gerrold and Damon Knight; Fred Marcotte,
the staffs of the Ypsilanti Area Public Library and the Lincoln Library
of Springfield, Illinois-all took the time to provide the obvious answer
or help track down the elusive fact. I offer a special word of thanks to
the Los Angeles Convention Committee and its Publicity and
Publications Director, Fred Patten, for assistance in a project that at