Starting with this year’s Nebula Awards, Nerds of a Feather is planning to more widely cover the awards scene within the science fiction and fantasy genre than we have in the past. There will still be Hugo Awards coverage, of course. That isn’t going away. There will just be more.
My view of awards is that each award is designed to recognize and reward excellence in a particular field and through the lens of a particular awards body. The Hugo Awards are nominated by and voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Society at a particular time and reflect the tastes, preferences, and prejudices of those members. The Nebula Awards are nominated by and voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. It is more of a professional organization in terms of who is eligible to join.
The Nebula Awards have history, longevity, and from my perspective - prestige within the genre. This is a significant award.
Congratulations to all of the finalists.
Nebula Award for Novel
The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
The Water Outlaws, S.L. Huang (Tordotcom; Solaris UK)
Translation State, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The Terraformers, Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK)
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi (DAW, Gollancz)
Witch King, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)
Nebula Award for Novella
The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom)
“Linghun”, Ai Jiang (Linghun)
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee (Tordotcom)
The Mimicking of Known Successes, Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Mammoths at the Gates, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
Nebula Award for Novelette
“A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair”, Renan Bernardo (Samovar 2/23)
I Am AI, Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
“The Year Without Sunshine”, Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny 11-12/23)
“Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down The Moon”, Angela Liu (Clarkesworld 6/23)
“Saturday’s Song”, Wole Talabi (Lightspeed 5/23)
“Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9-10/23)
Nebula Award for Short Story
“Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont”, P.A. Cornell (Fantasy 10/23)
“Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200”, R.S.A Garcia (Uncanny 7-8/23)
“Window Boy”, Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 8/23)
“The Sound of Children Screaming”, Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare 10/23)
“Better Living Through Algorithms”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 5/23)
“Bad Doors”, John Wiswell (Uncanny 1-2/23)
Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, Moniquill Blackgoose (Del Rey)
The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern, J. Dianne Dotson (Android)
Liberty’s Daughter, Naomi Kritzer (Fairwood)
The Ghost Job, Greg van Eekhout (Harper)
Nebula Award for Game Writing
The Bread Must Rise, Stewart C Baker, James Beamon (Choice of Games)
Alan Wake II, Sam Lake, Clay Murphy, Tyler Burton Smith, Sinikka Annala
(Remedy Entertainment, Epic Games Publishing)
Ninefox Gambit: Machineries of Empire Roleplaying Game, Yoon Ha Lee,
Marie Brennan(Android)
Dredge, Joel Mason (Black Salt Games, Team 17)
Chants of Sennaar, Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel (Rundisc, Focus Entertainment)
Baldur’s Gate 3, Adam Smith, Adrienne Law, Baudelaire Welch, Chrystal Ding, Ella McConnell,
Ine Van Hamme, Jan Van Dosselaer, John Corcoran, Kevin VanOrd, Lawrence Schick,
Martin Docherty, Rachel Quirke, Ruairí Moore, Sarah Baylus, Stephen Rooney,
Swen Vincke (Larian Studios)
Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Nimona, Robert L. Baird, Lloyd Taylor, Pamela Ribon, Marc Haimes, Nick Bruno, Troy Quane,
Keith Bunin, Nate Stevenson (Annapurna Animation, Annapurna Pictures)
The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time”, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin (HBOMax)
Barbie, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach (Warner Bros., Heyday Films,
LuckyChap Entertainment)
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley,
Michael Gilio, Chris McKay (Paramount Pictures, Entertainment One, Allspark Pictures)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham
(Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Avi Arad Productions)
The Boy and the Heron, Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli, Toho Company)
The SFWA noted that Martha Wells declined a nomination for her novel System Collapse.
