Mercedes Lackey - Nebula Awards Showcase 2016

I was unlucky—or was I lucky? Triggered by a disturbance in the flow of air, a nodule in the W chose that moment to burst open and a tiny spray of golden spores spewed out. I pulled back, but I thought I had felt something enter my nose, experienced a pinprick of escalation in the smell of rotting honey.

Unnerved, I stepped back even farther, borrowing some of the surveyor’s best curses, but only in my head. My natural instinct was always for concealment. Already I was imagining the psychologist’s reaction to my contamination, if revealed to the group.

“Some sort of fungi,” I said finally, taking a deep breath so I could control my voice. “The letters are made from fruiting bodies.” Who knew if it were actually true? It was just the closest thing to an answer.

My voice must have seemed calmer than my actual thoughts because there was no hesitation in their response. No hint in their tone of having seen the spores erupt into my face. I had been so close. The spores had been so tiny, so insignificant. I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead.

“Words? Made of fungi?” the surveyor said, stupidly echoing me.

“There is no recorded human language that uses this method of writing,” the anthropologist said. “Is there any animal that communicates in this way?”

I had to laugh. “No, there is no animal that communicates in this way.” Or, if there were, I could not recall its name, and never did later, either.

“Are you joking? This is a joke, right?” the surveyor said. She looked poised to come down and prove me wrong, but didn’t move from her position.

“Fruiting bodies,” I replied, almost as if in a trance. “Forming words.”

1965

Novel: Dune by Frank Herbert

Novella: “He Who Shapes” by Roger Zelazny and “The Saliva Tree” by Brian Aldiss (tie)

Novelette: “The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth” by Roger Zelazny

Short Story: “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison

1966

Novel: Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (tie)

Novella: “The Last Castle” by Jack Vance

Novelette: “Call Him Lord” by Gordon R. Dickson

Short Story: “The Secret Place” by Richard McKenna

1967

Novel: The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany

Novella: “Behold the Man” by Michael Moorcock

Novelette: “Gonna Roll the Bones” by Fritz Leiber

Short Story: “Aye, and Gomorrah” by Samuel R. Delany

1968

Novel: Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin

Novella: “Dragonrider” by Anne McCaffrey

Novelette: “Mother to the World” by Richard Wilson

Short Story: “The Planners” by Kate Wilhelm

1969

Novel: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Novella: “A Boy and His Dog” by Harlan Ellison

Novelette: “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones” by Samuel R. Delany

Short Story: “Passengers” by Robert Silverberg

1970

Novel: Ringworld by Larry Niven

Novella: “Ill Met in Lankhmar” by Fritz Leiber

Novelette: “Slow Sculpture” by Theodore Sturgeon

Short Story: No Award

1971

Novel: A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg

Novella: “The Missing Man” by Katherine MacLean

Novelette: “The Queen of Air and Darkness” by Poul Anderson

Short Story: “Good News from the Vatican” by Robert Silverberg

1972

Novel: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

Novella: “A Meeting with Medusa” by Arthur C. Clarke

Novelette: “Goat Song” by Poul Anderson

Short Story: “When It Changed” by Joanna Russ

1973

Novel: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Novella: “The Death of Doctor Island” by Gene Wolfe

Novelette: “Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand” by Vonda N. McIntyre

Short Story: “Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death” by James Tiptree Jr.

Dramatic Presentation: Soylent Green

1974

Novel: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Novella: “Born with the Dead” by Robert Silverberg

Novelette: “If the Stars Are Gods” by Gordon Eklund and Gregory Benford

Short Story: “The Day before the Revolution” by Ursula K. Le Guin

Dramatic Presentation: Sleeper by Woody Allen

Grand Master: Robert Heinlein

1975

Novel: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Novella: “Home Is the Hangman” by Roger Zelazny

Novelette: “San Diego Lightfoot Sue” by Tom Reamy

Short Story: “Catch That Zeppelin” by Fritz Leiber

Dramatic Presentation: Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder

Grand Master: Jack Williamson

1976

Novel: Man Plus by Frederik Pohl

Novella: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” by James Tiptree Jr.

Novelette: “The Bicentennial Man” by Isaac Asimov

Short Story: “A Crowd of Shadows” by C. L. Grant

Grand Master: Clifford D. Simak

1977

Novel: Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Novella: “Stardance” by Spider and Jeanne Robinson

Novelette: “The Screwfly Solution” by Racoona Sheldon

Short Story: “Jeffty Is Five” by Harlan Ellison

1978

Novel: Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Novella: “The Persistence of Vision” by John Varley

Novelette: “A Glow of Candles, A Unicorn’s Eye” by C. L. Grant

Short Story: “Stone” by Edward Bryant

Grand Master: L. Sprague de Camp

1979

Novel: The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke

Novella: “Enemy Mine” by Barry B. Longyear

Novelette: “Sandkings” by George R. R. Martin

Short Story: “GiANTS” by Edward Bryant

1980

Novel: Timescape by Gregory Benford

Novella: “Unicorn Tapestry” by Suzy McKee Charnas

Novelette: “The Ugly Chickens” by Howard Waldrop

Short Story: “Grotto of the Dancing Deer” by Clifford D. Simak

Grand Master: Fritz Leiber

1981

Novel: The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe

Novella: “The Saturn Game” by Poul Anderson

Novelette: “The Quickening” by Michael Bishop

Short Story: “The Bone Flute” by Lisa Tuttle [declined by author]

1982

Novel: No Enemy but Time by Michael Bishop

Novella: “Another Orphan” by John Kessel

Novelette: “Fire Watch” by Connie Willis

Short Story: “A Letter from the Clearys” by Connie Willis

1983

Novel: Startide Rising by David Brin

Novella: “Hardfought” by Greg Bear

Novelette: “Blood Music” by Greg Bear

Short Story: “The Peacemaker” by Gardner Dozois

Grand Master: Andre Norton

1984

Novel: Neuromancer by William Gibson

Novella: “Press Enter []” by John Varley

Novelette: “Blood Child” by Octavia Butler

Short Story: “Morning Child” by Gardner Dozois

1985

Novel: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Novella: “Sailing to Byzantium” by Robert Silverberg

Novelette: “Portraits of His Children” by George R. R. Martin

Short Story: “Out of All Them Bright Stars” by Nancy Kress

Grand Master: Arthur C. Clarke

1986