Comments: 1971 was the first year in which the Nebula Awards returned a "No Winner" result, with "No Winner" being the leading vote getting in the Best Short Story category. This result seems to have been the result of some confusion, and also caused some moderate controversy. It seems that some voters turned in a "No Winner" vote with the intention of abstaining rather than choosing no winner. We'll never know for certain if rectifying this confusion would have resulted in a winner for the award, as many of the voters from thirty-plus years ago are no longer with us, and of those who are, it seems unlikely that they would remember exactly how they voted after all these years.
The controversy resulted when Isaac Asimov, announcing with winner for the Best Short Story award, mistakenly announced the author who probably should have won the award: Gene Wolfe who had been nominated for The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories. Asimov was quickly informed of the error, and changed the announcement, but the mistaken announcement caused him a fair amount of embarrassment. This result, which seemingly resulted from confusion on the part of some voters, seems to indicate that even five years after they were first created, the Nebula Awards was still experiencing some growing pains.
Best Novel
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Other Nominees:
And Chaos Died by Joanna Russ
Fourth Mansions by R.A. Lafferty
The Steel Crocodile by D.G. Compton
Tower of Glass by Robert Silverberg
The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker
Best Novella
Ill Met in Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 1)
Other Nominees:
April Fool's Day Forever by Kate Wilhelm
The Fatal Fulfillment by Poul Anderson
The Region Between by Harlan Ellison
A Style in Treason by James Blish
The Thing in the Stone by Clifford D. Simak
The Snow Women by Fritz Leiber
Best Novelette
Slow Sculpture by Theodore Sturgeon (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 1)
Other Nominees:
The Asian Shore by Thomas M. Disch
Continued on Next Rock by R.A. Lafferty
Dear Aunt Annie by Gordon Eklund
The Second Inquisition by Joanna Russ
The Shaker Revival by Gerald Jonas
Best Short Story
No Winner
Other Nominees:
By the Falls by Harry Harrison
A Cold Dark Night With Snow by Kate Wilhelm
The Creation of Bennie Good by James Sallis
A Dream at Noonday by Gardner Dozois
Entire and Perfect Chrysolite by R.A. Lafferty
In the Queue by Keith Laumer
The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe
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