Subject: Gene Wolfe's "Ziggurat"

From: John Boston <jboston at delphi.com>
Date: Thu, 02 May 1996 23:54:03 +0000

A few days ago someone wondered why this novella wasn't nominated for
the Hugo.  After reading it, so do I.  It is one of the best Wolfe pieces I
have read in a long time, on a place with his best novellas of the 70s and
early 80s ("The Death of Doctor Island," "Seven American Nights," etc.):
beautifully written, beautifully characterized, plain and straightforward
on top and disturbingly ambiguous underneath.  It was originally in FULL
SPECTRUM 5; I just read it in David Hartwell's YEAR'S BEST SF, and it makes
most of the other contents seem like, gee, I don't know, like a bunch of
goddamn pulp fiction or something.

John Boston

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From: Tombesh <tombesh at aol.com>
Date: Fri, 03 May 1996 03:32:34 +0000

Perhaps "The Ziggurat" wasn't nominated because not enough people saw it in
time to nominate it. I've noticed that in recent years, the vast majority
of short fiction nominees come from the magazines, not from anthologies. In
another category, the novelette, I thought Greg Egan's "Wang's Carpets" was
a stronger story than either "TAP" or "Luminous," which were both
nominated, and both of which ran in Asimov's. That anthology, NEW LEGENDS,
contained several very strong, award-worthy stories, but none were
nominated in any category. I prefer to believe this is because far fewer
people saw them than read the magazines, as opposed to thinking that Hugo
nominators are mostly boneheads.

Tom

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From: darkstar <darkstar at hntp2.hinet.net>
Date: Sun, 05 May 1996 22:05:57 +0000

Could someone please post info on where "The Ziggurat" was initially
published?  Thanks in advance.

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From: Tombesh <tombesh at aol.com>
Date: Tue, 07 May 1996 17:36:19 +0000

"The Ziggurat" appeared in the Bantam anthology FULL SPECTRUM 5, published
in mid-95. I think a mass market paperback edition will be out later this
year. The volume is well worth your time. The HarperPrism anthology YEAR'S
BEST SF, edited by David Hartwell, and which appeared in bookstores last
month, includes "The Ziggurat."

Tom