Science-fiction anthologies always interest me. ( )

I only read the award-winning stories from this compilation:
* Jackalope Wives (short story) by Ursula Vernon
* A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i (novelette) by Alaya Dawn Johnson
* Yesterday's Kin (novella) by Nancy Kress

I enjoyed the stories I read, and I'm sure I would have enjoyed (at least some of) the rest of the compilation too, had I decided to read it. However, my reason for getting this out of the library was to read more of the Nebula Award Winners, so I stuck with just those.

They were all enjoyable, though they didn't always portray humanity in a flattering light. One of the things I liked was that though there was often a "humanity as a whole can be mean" type of feel, the heroines also served as examples that individual people can be beacons of hope in the darkness of mob mentality. (Side note: all three of the award-winners for this year featured female main characters.) ( )

Well, the book does what it says on the cover - a reprinting of the "winning and nominated stories of the Nebula Awards, voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)" for this year. Most of the science fiction and fantasy stories were well written and original. However, there were a few that re-hashed old stuff (boring and over-done) and some I just found completely strange for this type of collection (i.e. the very weak sci-fi story that revolves around gay porn).

( )