[1] The book collects pieces that won or were nominated for the Nebula Awards for novella, novelette and short story for the year 1984 and a couple nonfiction pieces related to the awards, together with an introduction by the editor.

Tom Easton in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact praises the anthology's contents, writing "[a]ll are excellent tales," highlighting the winning pieces by Bear and Dozois "for choice passages," as well as the nominated ones by Watson and Silverberg.

He notes that "Marta Randall's brief introduction puts the whole Nebula process in perspective.

289, February 1985 and William Marden in Fantasy Review, April 1985.

[1] The book placed twenty-second in the 1995 Locus Poll Award for Best Anthology.