Nebula Awards Showcase 2003, edited by Nancy Kress, is an elegantly presented trade paperback. The silver, black and sepia cover is both eye-catching and beautiful. Open these covers and see the year's best work by six writers chosen by their peers to represent the entire group known as the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.

This anthology, the 38th to mark the coveted Nebula Awards, is a virtual banquet of good reading. Look for such names as Catherine Anderson, James Patrick Kelly, Kelly Link, Severna Park, Mike Resnick and Jack Williamson.ÊNine writers offer commentary, and there is a list of past Nebula winners that make a To Be Read list of fine writing to cherish for years to come.

Let us now consider the stories. What happens when:Êan isolated tribe has genes with the cure for everything;Êan outbound starship full of colonists returns to base and is unable to land;Êa ghost moves into an occupied house and refuses to leave;Êa talking spaceship has a panic attack and goes into galactic overdrive;Êthe peaceful elephants on Neptune are invaded by Earthmen and turn the tables on them; andÊwhen the first chapters of a promising novel offer what looks like a fantasy/science fiction/mystery? How can a reader resist such attractions?

Nebula Awards Showcase 2003 is a reflection of everything that is good about science fiction and fantasy writing today. Every story offers a different perception of what our future holds. The writers deal imaginatively with such things asÊgene research, terraforming, space colonization andÊrobotic mining. Congratulations to these talented writers for their structured plots and carefully chosen words.

- Rambles
written by Jean Marchand
published 12 July 2003