On the Downhill Side

"On the Downhill Side," by Harlan Ellison.

Found in: Nebula Award Stories 8
Length: 16 pages
Genre: Fantasy

Blurb: I honestly have no idea. The story might be about love. There are ghosts, New Orleans, a unicorn and lots of confusion. Though the confusion is mostly mine.

When It Changed

"When It Changed," by Joanna Russ

Found in: Nebula Award Stories 8
Length: 9 pages
Genre: SciFi

Blurb: A society of women face a change.

Note: For more SciFi tackling gender issues see The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin.

The Last Question

"The Last Question," by Isaac Asimov

Found in: The Last Question
Length: N/A
Genre: SciFi

Blurb: The evolution of man and computers.

Note: A friend linked me to this after the xkcd comic A Bunch of Rocks because of the similarities.

Patron of the Arts

"Patron of the Arts," by William Rostler

Found in: Nebula Award Stories 8
Length: 22 pages
Genre: SciFi

Blurb: A new form of art brings about a new art visionary. This story is about relationships, the worth of art, and people.

Note: I love this story.

Shaffery Among the Immortals

"Shaffery Among the Immortals," by Frederik Pohl

Found in: Nebula Award Stories 8
Length: 16 pages
Genre: SciFi?

Blurb: Shaffery is a well educated scientist who would love nothing more than to be famous. However, the problem is he can never seem to actually do any science. This causes some issues in his life.

Note: While there is certainly science in this fiction, it's not really SciFi in the traditional sense.

A Meeting with Medusa

"A Meeting with Medusa," by Arthur C. Clarke

Found in: Nebula Award Stories 8
Length: 46 pages
Genre: SciFi with some steampunk

Blurb: Far in the future, Commander Falcon has misadventures in a zeppelin on Earth, and then later travels to Jupiter to be the first human in the atmosphere of a gas giant and discovers interesting things about the planet and himself.

Nebula Award Stories 8

Nebula Award Stories 8 edited with an intro by Isaac Asimov. 1973

Genre: SciFi

1. "A Meeting With Medusa," by Arthur C. Clarke
2. "Shaffery Among the Immortals," by Frederik Pohl
3. "Patron of the Arts," by William Rotsler
4. "When It Changed," by Joanna Russ
5. "On the Downhill Side," by Harlan Ellison
6. "The Fifth Head of Cerberus," by Gene Wolfe
7. "When We Went to See the End of the World," by Robert Silverberg
8. "Goat Song," by Poul Anderson