INTRODUCTION

This book is the second in a series that shows promise of
continuing far into the very future which science fiction
authors so lovingly write about. It is a creature born of
inspiration, the product of the writers who are members of
the organization known as the Science Fiction Writers of
America.
SFWA is a new group, possibly the newest organization of
professional writers  in  the  world,  an honor that surely
matches the material it deals with. The first SFWA bulletin is
dated January 1965; by January of 1967 the membership list
stood at 266, all of them working, selling writers, since the
requirements for membership specify just that.
Each year the members of SFWA nominate and vote for
the stories and books that they consider the best produced
during that year. In the spring, in simultaneous banquets in
California and New York, the Nebula awards are presented.
These handsome objects are more than just physical prizes,
being tokens of achievement and worth from their associates
to the deserving authors.
Because of length, the award-winning novel cannot be pre-
sented here, but that is the only exception. Here are the
prl7e winning novella, novelette and short story, as well as a
ha"d-picked selection from among the runners-up. Here is
good fiction, by writers chosen by writers.
This volume closes with a panoramic look at the year in
science fiction, at the books and stories and the books about
science fiction that are slowly beginning to make their pres-
ence felt.
We, the editors, enjoyed our work, and our hope is to pass
some of that enjoyment on to you, the reader.
Brian W. Aldiss
Harry Harrison