INTRODUCTION

This book is the result of a happy inspiration. When Science
Fiction Writers of America was a few months old, Lloyd
Biggle, its Secretary-Treasurer, proposed an annual SFWA
anthology as a means of raising money. When Doubleday's
Lawrence P. Ashmead agreed to publish the book, we realized
that with our share of the royalties (ten per cent), we could do
something rather handsome in the way of awards for the best
stories of the year. The anthology project, first as small as a
man's hand, rapidly grew into an annual ballot of SFWA's
members to choose the best stories, an annual series of Nebula
Awards, and an annual Awards Banquet. In the process, we
lost sight of the original objectivewe've spent all our advance
royalties and more on the trophies.
We are proud of these trophies. They were designed by Judith
Ann Lawrence, James Blish's wife, from a sketch by my wife,
Kate Wilhelm. Each consists of a spiral nebula made of metallic
glitter, and a specimen of rock crystal, both embedded in a.
block of clear Lucite. They are strikingly beautiful, hand-made,
and costly.
The 1965 Nebulas were presented to the winners on March
II, 1966, at the Overseas Press Club in New York and at
McHenry's Tail 0' the Cock in Beverly Hills, California. Frank
Herbert and Harlan Ellison received their awards at the
California banquet; Roger Zeiazny and Brian Aldiss (who flew
from England to be present) in New York.
Many of us regretted that several previous attempts to found an
organization of professional science fiction writers came to
nothing. If times had been more propitious, we might have had
the first of these annual awards and anthologies more than ten
years ago. But it may be, after all, that this is precisely the right
time to begin.
Forty years before our banquet in March 1966, Hugo
Gernsback launched the first science fiction magazine in the
world. Since then we have seen science fiction grow from its
primitive beginnings into a flourishing, vigorous, and increas-
ingly respected field of literature.
The stories in this bookthe award-winners (except for the
novel) plus four distinguished runners-upshow the quality of
modern science fiction, its range, and, I think, its growing
depth and maturity. Science fiction has come a long way.
DAMON KNIGHT, Former President
Science Fiction Writers of America