# This Year's Nebula Winners... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397 "2009-04-26T11:13:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/1 "2009-04-26T11:13:08Z")
The 2008 Nebulas were announced last night: Novel: _Powers_ by Ursula K. Le Guin Novella: “The Spacetime Pool” by Catherine Asaro Novelette: “Pride and Prometheus” by John Kessel Short Story: “Trophy Wives” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Script: _WALL-E_ by Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon and Pete Docter I haven’t read _Powers_ since it’s a YA book and by Le Guin. With regard to YA I’ll wait for the masses to filter the decent from the metric tonnes of manure there. For Le Guin on the other hand I’ve had far too many bad encounters with terrible books by her; hopefully as a YA book it shares more in common with \*A Wizard of Earthsea \*than with _Tehanu_. I was kind of hoping Pratchet would win given how weak the nominee field seemed but _Making Money_ wasn’t one of his best efforts anyway. “Trophy Wives” and “Pride and Prometheus” were interesting efforts. I thought that the concepts in “Trophy Wives” needed a lot more room to be explored though I don’t know if it would have made things better or worse. I bet John Kessel grinds his teeth any time someone mentions _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_. Doing his as a sequel to _Pride and Prejudice_ that fits into the middle of _Frankenstein_ was an interesting literary game. And then there’s “The Spacetime Pool”. I swear to god Asaro must have compromising photos of a third of the SFWA to get a second Nebula. Her first was for _The Quantum Rose_ which I’d put down a very close second for the worst novel to have won the award and “The Spacetime Pool” was just as bad as that. It’s stuff that would have been barely acceptable in the 1950’s and these days just stands out more. There’s a young woman transported from Earth to a psuedo-medieval setting by a handsome prince who informs her that there is a prophecy that she will marry him or his evil brother and whoever she marries will kill the other one. Predictability with painfully tin-eared dialog ensues. Okay, I should say the plot is exactly what you would predict from the above; the details are shocking because you would never believe an author could write something that terrible. Like when the Evil Emperor has captured our beautiful, courageous, and smart Mary Sue… er… heroine, locked her in a tower, and tells her that the combination to door is the answer to a math problem he provides. Really. I suppose it could have been worse. They could have given another Nebula to Robert J. Sawyer like they’re almost certain to do with the Hugo this year… ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/2 "2009-04-26T12:06:22Z")
Ooh, cool. I read _Gifts_ (apparently something of a prequel to Powers) years ago and really liked it. I’ll have to find this one! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/3 "2009-04-26T15:57:37Z")
Having voted for the Nebulas, I find the list of winners disappointing. I only read two of the novel nominees, so I can’t comment on the quality of the Leguin, but it does look to me that she won a name recognition as much as anything else. I only read the Pratchett and McDevitt, and I’ve heard some very good things about **Little Brother**. But a lot of SFWAns (me included) have issues with Cory Doctorow. Catherine Asario is a good friend, but I don’t think her story was as good as Benford’s “Dark Heaven” or Finlay’s “The Political Prisoner.” I had trouble finishing it; it read too much like a romance novel with some science fictional trappings. I didn’t much care for “Pride and Prometheus.” Kessel merely mashed up two novels, but didn’t really do much other than have us recognize elements from each. He’s done this sort of literary things much better (e.g., "Another Orphan’). At the same time, you had some very strong stories like “Kaleidoscope,” “The Ray Gun: A Love Story,” and “Baby Doll” that had much more to say than Kessel. The short story category was the weakest I’ve seen. The only story in it I thought was Nebula worthy was “Mars: A Traveler’s Guide,” which is a masterpiece of storytelling. The rest were all pretty weak. It’s odd that **Wall-E** beats out **The Dark Knight** , but I don’t really object. Bother were great. Though why there was no recognition for “Silence in the Library/Garden of the Dead,” I can’t understand. I suspect the winners were a function of the balloting method. The Australian ballot has its strengths, but it tends toward the more mainstream story or the author with the best name recognition (too many voters don’t read all the works; it almost certainly hurt Doctorow). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/4 "2009-04-26T15:58:39Z")
I should add that this is the last year under the current Nebula voting system. There’s a new system in place for next year, but I think that will cause problems of its own. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/5 "2009-04-26T22:44:30Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Having voted for the Nebulas, I find the list of winners disappointing. > > I only read two of the novel nominees, so I can’t comment on the quality of the Leguin, but it does look to me that she won a name recognition as much as anything else. I only read the Pratchett and McDevitt, and I’ve heard some very good things about **Little Brother**. But a lot of SFWAns (me included) have issues with Cory Doctorow. McDevitt would have been interesting. I find him to be a lot like Bujold; fun space opera with some clever hooks but not incredibly deep. As for Doctorow everything I’ve heard about Little Brother has kept me away from that book; even the free copy on the web. > [@](#): > > Catherine Asario is a good friend, but I don’t think her story was as good as Benford’s “Dark Heaven” or Finlay’s “The Political Prisoner.” I had trouble finishing it; it read too much like a romance novel with some science fictional trappings. “The Political Prisoner” was the best of the novella nominees I read and I wasn’t incredibly impressed with it. It was just some solid storytelling. > [@](#): > > I didn’t much care for “Pride and Prometheus.” Kessel merely mashed up two novels, but didn’t really do much other than have us recognize elements from each. He’s done this sort of literary things much better (e.g., "Another Orphan’). At the same time, you had some very strong stories like “Kaleidoscope,” “The Ray Gun: A Love Story,” and “Baby Doll” that had much more to say than Kessel. I know what you’re getting at. I’m kind of suspicious that the vote had more to do with the other _Pride and Prejudice_ mash-up that came out recently than it did with Kessel’s work. He was able to integrate them both smoothly and perhaps his desire to do that limited his storytelling options. > [@](#): > > I suspect the winners were a function of the balloting method. The Australian ballot has its strengths, but it tends toward the more mainstream story or the author with the best name recognition (too many voters don’t read all the works; it almost certainly hurt Doctorow). So you think few voters looked at _Little Brother_ despite the fact that Doctorow offered it free on the web? That goes against common wisdom though I wasn’t aware that there was antipathy there. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/6 "2009-04-27T07:46:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I only read the Pratchett and McDevitt, and I’ve heard some very good things about **Little Brother**. But a lot of SFWAns (me included) have issues with Cory Doctorow. Little Brother was absolute, utter crap. Not only was the story kind of stupid, but the main character was perfect at everything. And the technical explanation asides were tiring. And a lot of them weren’t even remotely realistic. I realize the book takes place “20 minutes in the future” (the year wasn’t said, but it was obviously supposed to be 2010), but very little of the technical stuff was on the mark. Gait recognition cameras didn’t even exist when he wrote the book in 2008, we’re supposed to believe they’re in public schools in 2010? And he makes 24 look realistic with his portrayal of anti-terrorist forces. I think the final straw was the fact that the plot hinges on Microsoft giving away free Xbox 720 systems in Fall 2009 because console video games were being given up en masse so kids could play Flash games and do GPS treasure hunting. The idiocy of someone even presenting that idea with a straight face made me twitchy for days after I read that part. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/7 "2009-04-27T12:57:59Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > So you think few voters looked at _Little Brother_ despite the fact that Doctorow offered it free on the web? That goes against common wisdom though I wasn’t aware that there was antipathy there. Who knows? I do know, though, that authors who piss off other SFWA members find it hard to win awards. And the Australian ballot setup would tend to make it hard for a cutting edge author like Doctorow. A couple of friends spoke very highly of the book, but I didn’t have time to read it. Doctorow, OTOH, has shown himself to be both obnoxious and hypocritical. That didn’t help his chances. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/8 "2009-04-27T16:21:05Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > I suppose it could have been worse. They could have given another Nebula to Robert J. Sawyer like they’re almost certain to do with the Hugo this year… Given that he’s [not among the nominees](http://www.thehugoawards.org/), I don’t see how that’s so likely. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/9 "2009-04-27T17:20:28Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > So you think few voters looked at _Little Brother_ despite the fact that Doctorow offered it free on the web? That goes against common wisdom though I wasn’t aware that there was antipathy there. SFWA makes all the nominated works available electronically to its members. That way nobody gets an advantage for putting it out for free. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/10 "2009-04-27T18:34:45Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Who knows? I do know, though, that authors who piss off other SFWA members find it hard to win awards. […] Doctorow, OTOH, has shown himself to be both obnoxious and hypocritical. That didn’t help his chances. What’s the story with regard to Cory? How did he pariah himself with the Nebula people? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/11 "2009-04-27T18:54:25Z")
Basically, there was a pirate site publishing people’s works without their permission. SFWA sent out warnings to the site in the name of its members. However, one of the works listed was one of Doctorow’s and happened to be in the public domain. This was a mistake and SFWA admitted it and took it off the list. Doctorow went ballistic. He accused SFWA of bullying the site (which was clearly in the wrong with most of what they were doing) and made such a big stink that the organization had to give up going after pirate websites – making it harder for its for its members to get any satisfaction when pirated (sites will often ignore a single author’s complaints and refuse to take their work down even when notified by requiring bogus paperwork or by just plain ignoring them). Then Doctorow took an article written by Ursula Leguin and put it onto his website, misrepresented its meaning, and claimed it was not copyrighted because he stole . . . _found_ it on a website. [As she put it](http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Note-OpenLetter.html), “While Doctorow was making a huge fuss over an honest mistake, which when discovered was immediately redressed, he was publishing another writer’s work without asking permission and in clear violation of copyright.” Doctorow eventually took the piece down, still claiming that taking an entire article is fair use if the article is short enough, something that is really unsupportable. There are many in SFWA who are particular upset over how he forced the organization to give up protecting its members copyrights and I’m sure that will hurt his chances for quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-years-nebula-winners/494397/12 "2009-04-27T21:59:27Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Given that he’s [not among the nominees](http://www.thehugoawards.org/), I don’t see how that’s so likely. I could have sworn he had another novel slipped into the finalists. Well that’s a bullet dodged.