March 15, 2024, 11:58am
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association has announced the finalists for the 59th Annual Nebula Awards, recognizing some of the best SFF writing from 2023. SFWA is also honoring Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising) with the 40th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, recognizing her lifetime achievement in science fiction and fantasy.
It’s a truly stellar list (pun sort of intended) this year, although not without some category confusion—there’s at least one book nominated for YA that I (and others) wouldn’t necessarily consider a ‘young adult’ novel so much as a regular ol’ SFF novel that happens to feature a teen protagonist. But a similar mix-up happened with Chuck Tingle and the the Stoker Awards this year and the award committee stepped in to adjust, so who knows what might happen here. I’m also personally thrilled to see some Voyage into Genre authors on the lists!
Also, in a classy move, Martha Wells declined her nomination as a novel finalist this year for her Murderbot novel System Collapse (which she also did in 2022 when one of her Murderbot novellas was nominated) citing that the series “has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community.”
The Nebula Awards will be held in Pasadena on June 8th as part of the 2024 Nebula Conference, so there’s still plenty of time to read up if you missed any of these fabulous stories last year. Congratulations to all of the nominees!
Best Novel
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang (Tordotcom and Solaris UK)
Translation State by Ann Leckie (Orbit US and Orbit UK)
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz (Tor and Orbit UK)
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi (DAW and Gollancz)
Witch King by Martha Wells (Tordotcom)
Best Novella
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom)
Linghun by Ai Jiang (Linghun, Dark Matter INK)
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee (Tordotcom)
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
Best 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)
Best 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 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)
Best 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 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)