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Slow River

Nicola Griffith
Nebula 1996

Brilliant example of science fiction's ability to lead us into the future and dissolve old ideas into future probabilities. "Older people were immigrants in their own country. They had not been born to the idea of rapid change, not like us."

Fascinating depiction of a futuristic and evolved waste water treatment facility. Nothing is wasted and instead of technology fighting against nature, natural processes are amplified and enhanced to clean up the past's pollution. (For an update on the state of this technology today, see our Greywater site.)

Personally, this book radically changed my feelings and attitudes about lesbians and gay relationships. Books have the magic-like ability to let us see people in deeper ways than our rushed and superficial lifestyles often permit. When this happens (as it does so beautifully in this case), the wonderfulness of basic humanity shines and we recognize differences for what they really are: insignificant.

I found myself feeling sad at the end, wishing the story would continue. The characters felt like friends and it was too soon to say, "Good-bye." Nevertheless, I don't understand how this won over two other '96 Nebula finalists, Diamond Age and Expiration Date.

Since the SFWA obviously consists mainly of writers, I speculate that this vote reflects appreciation for writing courage and creativity rather than the general sf public's more highly valued quality, basic reading enjoyment.

Parental discression: mature, 20+.

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