It is extremely difficult to win a Hugo award. It is also extremely difficult to win a Nebula. These are like the Oscars and Golden Globes on the science fiction/fantasy writing side, and just like it is the extremely rare movie that gets both the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Movie, it is only stories of the highest caliber that get awarded both the Nebula and the Hugo. The Hugo is awarded at the annual Worldcon, voted on by fans. The Nebula is awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) voted on by its members, primarily professional writers. A piece that wins both, signifies that it had wide-spread fan appeal (fan votes) and also the highest regard by professionals in the field (voted on exclusively by SFWA member).

A novella is something just short of a novel (in word-count), and many of the world’s outstanding series started off as novellas, including Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game (the novella is the one that won all the awards, and then was extended into a novel, and finally a series). Some consider the novella the perfect size for a story…large enough to develop it, but with a word-count limit that still imposes writing discipline.

This anthology reprints four novellas, each of which has stood the test of time and each of which won both the Nebula and the Hugo. Some went on to win a plethora of other awards from around the world. For example, Mike Resnick’s The Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge may be one of the most awarded stories in science fiction, having won not only the Hugo and Nebula, but also the HOMer award, the SF Chronicle Award, and awards from countries including Spain, France and Croatia.

Here then are four of the most outstanding and most acclaimed novellas in science fiction, penned by Joe Haldeman, Lois McMaster Bujold, Mike Resnick, and Nancy Kress.

Beggars in Spain take place in a future where genetic engineering has become a reality, and society and culture face the consequences of genetic modifications. The story revolves around the existence of the Sleepless individuals genetically modified to not need sleep, who have greater potential for intelligence and accomplishment than ordinary humans, called Sleepers.

The Hemingway Hoax weaves together a story of an attempt to produce a fake Ernest Hemingway manuscript with themes concerning time travel and parallel worlds. The story is based on a real-life incident when Hemingway’s first wife Hadley lost a suitcase containing his manuscripts.

The Mountains of Mourning explores the concepts of justice and mercy when Miles Vorkosigan is sent to represent the empire in a far-flung rural village where a woman demands justice for the murder of her baby who was born healthy, but with a cleft lip and palate.

The Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge explores the meaning of human progress and decline, long after humans have disappeared from the Earth. An alien archeological expedition is sent to explore humanity’s rise and fall in its birthplace of Olduvai Gorge. Seven recounted stories based on artifacts found tell the tale of how humans rose and how they fell, and leave the aliens with an uneasy feeling about what the future may hold.