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From: William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Nebula finalists 1983
Date: Sat, 18 May 2024 18:35:30 -0400
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Tony Nance wrote:
> On 5/13/24 8:33 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> On 13/05/2024 09.17, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> Another week, another round of Nebula finalists. This set is from the
>>> 1983 Nebula Awards, a year in which most people were blissfully unaware
>>> how badly the Soviets misjudged Able Archer.
>>>
>>> Which 1983 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
>>>
>>> No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop
>>> Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
>>> Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
>>> Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss
>>> The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
>>> The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by Philip K. Dick
>>
>> I bounced hard off of the Aldiss, 
> 
> Me too - on three different occasions. I haven't tried again in a long 
> time, but I'm not exactly super eager to do so, either.


Alas, I cannot say "just persist and you'll like it" as the series is 
largely consistent in  tone throughout the first two volumes.  As the 
world gets warmer, populations rise, and empires form the subject matter 
of course alters, but I can't say whether that would be enough to get 
you interested.

I've read the series four times, liking it more each time, especially as 
on  the last occasion I skipped the italicized parts of book three, 
which don't really work for me.  The third volume is darker (winter is 
coming, after all)and slimmer.

Though it is very definitely Aldiss, it is different in tone from most 
of his other work, except "The Malacia Tapestry" which has some of the 
same feel.


William Hyde