The Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards

Book excerpt: Science fiction fans have voted for the Hugo Awards for best science fiction almost every year since 1953. Science fiction professionals have presented the Nebula Awards to their peers since 1965. In all this time, lists of winners have been widely available, but the losers have usually been ignored. In 1970 long-time fan Howard DeVore started publishing a complete listing of Hugo and Nebula awards, including the stories that were nominated but did not win. The fact that stories were nominated implied that they had considerable merit. Mr. DeVore felt that a complete listing would let fans compare them. The International Fantasy Awards may have inspired the Hugos, so he added them. DeVore brought out new editions year by year, publishing and distributing them himself with the aid of a number of devoted science fiction fans. By 1998 the task had grown to the point where Mr. DeVore happily relinquished the job to Advent. This edition includes introductory and historical essays explaining how each award got started and how nominees and winners are chosen, plus commentary in the yearly listings.