The New Hugo Winners 1983-1985 (1989) - Plot & Excerpts
Still enjoying these collections, still marveling at Asimov's ego. His introductions are a little better than they were in the original Hugo series, with *slightly* more emphasis on the authors and the stories themselves. But Isaac still has that self-deprecating-but-not-really tone that says (to me, anyway) "I'm going to play up how egotistical I am to distract people from how egotistical I am." Don't get me wrong, the man had a LOT to be supremely proud of. But still, four of these books later and the tone wears a little thin.The stories? Oh yes, the stories. Very good, very interesting. "Cascade Point" by Timothy Zahn was one of the best hard-sci-fi stories I've read, although like most really good sci-fi it isn't so much the science that's fascinating, it's the effect the science has on the characters. "Blood Music" by Greg Bear is a horrifying little story about an alien takeover. And "Press Enter" by Varley was, and is, one of my favorite stories in any genre. I've read it SEVERAL times before, and it still gives me shudders. It kind of overwhelms the rest of the stories in the collection, not that I'm complaining.
and that takes my hugo short fiction reading up to 1985! This volume covers th 1983, 84, and 85 short fiction novellas, novellettes, and short stories. The novellettes were the strongest with all 3 winner being great (Connie Willis' "Fire Watch", Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild", Greg Bear's Blood Music"). Brin's short story "The Crystal Spheres" is a really interesting answer to why we haven't found any aliens yet. The novellas were a little disappointing although Varley's "Press Enter" had interesting characters.
What do You think about The New Hugo Winners 1983-1985 (1989)?
