Science fiction writers are readers, too. Each year, members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will— as they read each short story, novelette, novella or novel in the genre—nominate the works that touch them, move them, or inspire them for a Nebula Award. The stories in NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2015 are the best of the best, the cream of the crop.

What struck me most about this collection was how many of the stories didn't seem like science fiction or even, to use the broader term coined by Robert Heinlein, speculative fiction. One reads like a legend or fairy tale, another like historical fiction, one like chick lit. Many of them are tragedies.

The very first story, "If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love" begins like a silly children's game, until you realize the truth really behind the ridiculous images.

"The Sounds of Old Earth" is a love song to nature and home, change and acceptance.

The nominated novelette "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind" is a love story shadowed by conspiracy, shaded by the effects of age and health on long-buried memories.

In all, the anthology contains twelve stories of varying lengths and two excerpts from novels. Editor Greg Bear has also included a selection of award-winning poems, tributes to masters of the genre, and a list of previous Nebula Award winners.

These are stories that go beyond entertainment. They haunt you. They make you wonder and question and imagine. If you're looking for light reading, space opera, or futuristic action-adventure tales, this anthology may not fit the bill. If you enjoy stories that challenge your conception of the world, that make you see life in the here and now a little differently, then NEBULA AWARDS SHOWCASE 2015 will feed your mind for a long time.