Nebula Finalists 2009

[James Nicoll]

2009: Minecraft is released, the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, and
the common vernacular now includes the term "alt-right".

Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?

Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Superpowers by David J. Schwartz

The McDonald, the McDevitt, the Pratchett, and the Schwartz.


Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?

The Spacetime Pool by Catherine Asaro
Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
Dark Heaven by Gregory Benford
The Duke in His Castle by Vera Nazarian
The Political Prisoner by Charles Coleman Finlay

Just the Benford and the Finlay.


Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?

Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel
Baby Doll (translation of Baby Doll) by Johanna Sinisalo
Dark Rooms by Lisa Goldstein
If Angels Fight by Richard Bowes
Kaleidoscope by K. D. Wentworth
Night Wind by Mary Rosenblum
The Ray-Gun: A Love Story by James Alan Gardner

Just the Kessel, the Bowes, and the Gardner.


Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?

Trophy Wives by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson
Don't Stop by James Patrick Kelly
Mars: A Traveler's Guide by Ruth Nestvold
The Button Bin by Mike Allen
The Dreaming Wind by Jeffrey Ford
The Tomb Wife by Gwyneth Jones

None.

Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Script's Film Have You Seen?
WALL-E by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, and Peter Docter
Stargate Atlantis: The Shrine by Brad Wright
The Dark Knight by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer

WALL-E and The Dark Knight.


I am struck by how poorly reprinted some of these stories are. Also, appalled at my low hit rate, given that the SFBC, RT, and PW were all funnelling books to me by the wheelbarrow load.

[Paul S Person]

Post by James Nicoll
2009: Minecraft is released, the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, and
the common vernacular now includes the term "alt-right".
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Superpowers by David J. Schwartz
The McDonald, the McDevitt, the Pratchett, and the Schwartz.
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?
The Spacetime Pool by Catherine Asaro
Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
Dark Heaven by Gregory Benford
The Duke in His Castle by Vera Nazarian
The Political Prisoner by Charles Coleman Finlay
Just the Benford and the Finlay.
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?
Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel
Baby Doll (translation of Baby Doll) by Johanna Sinisalo
Dark Rooms by Lisa Goldstein
If Angels Fight by Richard Bowes
Kaleidoscope by K. D. Wentworth
Night Wind by Mary Rosenblum
The Ray-Gun: A Love Story by James Alan Gardner
Just the Kessel, the Bowes, and the Gardner.
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?
Trophy Wives by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson
Don't Stop by James Patrick Kelly
Mars: A Traveler's Guide by Ruth Nestvold
The Button Bin by Mike Allen
The Dreaming Wind by Jeffrey Ford
The Tomb Wife by Gwyneth Jones
None.

None of the above.

Post by James Nicoll
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Script's Film Have You Seen?
WALL-E by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, and Peter Docter
Stargate Atlantis: The Shrine by Brad Wright
The Dark Knight by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer
WALL-E and The Dark Knight.

Same here.

WALL-E was delightful. Although I'm not sure the humans depicted could
actually make a go of it.

The Dark Knight was ... loud. Very loud. So load that the bits with
Bruce Wayne were a welcome relief because they weren't so loud.

And I think the story punted on the two boats resolution. I may not
have actually guessed it, but it was obvious that way too much time
was being spent on the bad guys -- that is, that we were being led
down a garden path to a Big Surprise which failed because, after the
buildup, it wasn't a surprise.

Oh, and a better title would be "The Fate of Harvey Dent". Since
that's who the film was actually about.

Advertising itself as Heath Ledger's last movie when Heath Ledger's
actual last movie, /The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus/, was still in
the late stages of being made, was, of course, unforgivably coarse and
exploitative.

All of that IMHO, of course.

Post by James Nicoll
I am struck by how poorly reprinted some of these stories are. Also, appalled at my low hit rate, given that the SFBC, RT, and PW were all funnelling books to me by the wheelbarrow load.

Perhaps the voters were mostly drunk at the time. That appears to be
the explanation why many films whose trailers present an entire screen
of film festival awards turn out, when seen, to be ... losers.

[Robert Woodward]

Post by James Nicoll
2009: Minecraft is released, the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, and
the common vernacular now includes the term "alt-right".
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Superpowers by David J. Schwartz
The McDonald, the McDevitt, the Pratchett, and the Schwartz.

None

Post by James Nicoll
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?
The Spacetime Pool by Catherine Asaro
Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
Dark Heaven by Gregory Benford
The Duke in His Castle by Vera Nazarian
The Political Prisoner by Charles Coleman Finlay
Just the Benford and the Finlay.

IIRC, the Asaro and the Finlay (which might had been a Bujold fanfiction
story before being extensively rewritten).

Post by James Nicoll
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novelettes Have You Read?
Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel
Baby Doll (translation of Baby Doll) by Johanna Sinisalo
Dark Rooms by Lisa Goldstein
If Angels Fight by Richard Bowes
Kaleidoscope by K. D. Wentworth
Night Wind by Mary Rosenblum
The Ray-Gun: A Love Story by James Alan Gardner
Just the Kessel, the Bowes, and the Gardner.

None?

Post by James Nicoll
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Short Stories Have You Read?
Trophy Wives by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson
Don't Stop by James Patrick Kelly
Mars: A Traveler's Guide by Ruth Nestvold
The Button Bin by Mike Allen
The Dreaming Wind by Jeffrey Ford
The Tomb Wife by Gwyneth Jones
None.

None?

[Chris Buckley]

Post by James Nicoll
2009: Minecraft is released, the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, and
the common vernacular now includes the term "alt-right".
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Superpowers by David J. Schwartz
The McDonald, the McDevitt, the Pratchett, and the Schwartz.

Just the Doctorow and the Pratchett. The Pratchett is typical good
Pratchett, but not exceptional. The Doctorow is typical Doctorow,
less attractive to me.

Perhaps I should read _Brasyl_. Has it held up through the years? There
are many more non-American/English societies in SF now.

Nothing shorter as usual. No films.

Chris

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by James Nicoll
2009: Minecraft is released, the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, and
the common vernacular now includes the term "alt-right".
Which 2009 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Cauldron by Jack McDevitt
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Superpowers by David J. Schwartz
The McDonald, the McDevitt, the Pratchett, and the Schwartz.

"Little Brother" and "Cauldron".

Lynn