Nebula Award Winners and Nominations are Here!

[stonetools]

The 2011 Nebula Awards nominations were announced :

Novel
"Among Others," Jo Walton (Tor)
"Embassytown," China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey; Subterranean Press)
"Firebird," Jack McDevitt (Ace Books)
"God’s War," Kameron Hurley (Night Shade Books)
"Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti," Genevieve Valentine (Prime Books)
"The Kingdom of Gods," N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Full List:

LINK

the Winners for 2010 were also announced:

The 2010 Nebula Award Winners are:

Winning Novel: Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Spectra)

Also Nominated:
The Native Star by M.K. Hobson (Spectra)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit UK; Orbit US)
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
Echo by Jack McDevitt (Ace)
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)

Winning Novella: “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer ’10)

Also Nominated:
The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi (Audible; Subterranean)
“Iron Shoes” by J. Kathleen Cheney (Alembical 2)
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
“The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s 9/10)
“Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance” by Paul Park (F&SF 1-2/10)

Winning Novelette: “That Leviathan Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone (Analog 9/10)

Also Nominated:
“Map of Seventeen” by Christopher Barzak (The Beastly Bride)
“The Jaguar House by in Shadow” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s 7/10)
“The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara” by Christopher Kastensmidt (Realms of Fantasy 4/10)
“Plus or Minus” by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s 12/10)
“Pishaach” by Shweta Narayan (The Beastly Bride)
“Stone Wall Truth” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Asimov’s 2/10)

Winning Short Story (tie): “Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com 1/17/10) and “How Interesting: A Tiny Man” by Harlan Ellison (Realms of Fantasy 2/10)

Also Nominated:
“Arvies” by Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed 8/10)
“I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno” by Vylar Kaftan (Lightspeed 6/10)
“The Green Book” by Amal El-Mohtar (Apex 11/1/10)
“Ghosts of New York” by Jennifer Pelland (Dark Faith)
“Conditional Love” by Felicity Shoulders (Asimov’s 1/10)

LINK



Has anyone read any of these? Any recommendations?

[DiapDealer]

I like seeing the new nominations... but last year's winners were announced back in May or so.

I usually make a point reading most of the short-form nominations, but it's usually only coincidence if I've read the nominations for best novel (Nebula and/or Hugo).

[stonetools]

Oh I missed that back in May.
How were the short form nominations? Did you read any of those?

[DiapDealer]

Not a real strong year, for my money, but I did enjoy de Bodard's "Jaguar House, in Shadow" and Castro's "Arvies".

[flipreads]

Overall I think it's (the one just announced) an impressive, modern, and diverse list. There's still some works that's a holdover from the old guard (quite frankly fiction that I'm not too fond of), but for the most part, I really like this year's ballot.

For novels, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine was my favorite novel of 2011. I don't think many people heard of it because it was from a small press but Valentine's technique and compression is impressive.

For short story, I think everyone should read Ken Liu's "The Paper Menagerie" as it moved me to tears.

[xg4bx]

haven't read a single one of them. frankly i haven't heard of half the authors either.

[caleb72]

So Connie Willis racked up yet another Nebula? I own both books of the duology and I'm intending to read Blackout sometime this year if I can squeeze it in.

Edit: Didn't realise she also won the Hugo. On fire.

[ametzler]

Originally Posted by stonetools

The 2011 Nebula Awards nominations were announced :
[...]
Has anyone read any of these? Any recommendations?

I had read Blackout last year and had pre-ordered the Gollancz paperback edition of All Clear. I have just realized that the Spectra paperback has been available since October...

[Ninjalawyer]

The only book on that list that I intend to read is Embassytown, and I'm a big fan of science fiction. For some reason I find I enjoy the novels on the Hugo list every year far more than what's on the Nebula list.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

For some reason I find I enjoy the novels on the Hugo list every year far more than what's on the Nebula list.

I find the nominations for both usually intersect in at least a few instances... sometime several.

For the record... I'm only interested in the nominations. The winners, they could pull out of a hat as far as I'm concerned.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

The only book on that list that I intend to read is Embassytown, and I'm a big fan of science fiction. For some reason I find I enjoy the novels on the Hugo list every year far more than what's on the Nebula list.

Actually, I tend to agree with you in the idea that there is a higher hit rate for the Hugo list than the Nebula list. IMHO, I think it is because the Hugo award represents the pick of the readers (authors are allowed voting of course, but they are a tiny number compared to the readers as a whole) and the Nebula is the pick of the writers. As a result I think the Hugos tend to favor books that tend to be a bit more plot driven and are more fun. The Nebulas favor whatever the writers are looking for... which may not be plot driven stories.

That being said, any book that is on both lists is almost certainly worth a read.

--
Bill

[wallcraft]

SF Signals augmented the list with cover art and links, see FINALISTS: 2011 Nebula Awards (With Free Fiction Links!).

The Andre Norton Award finalists all include a young adult on the cover, but only two of the novel finalists has a human on the cover.

[shootingMaNs]

I read "Firebird" last month, and I thought it was one of McDevitt's best yet. I haven't read any of the others, but I would like to see Jack win an award for "Firebird."

[ametzler]

Originally Posted by ametzler

I had read Blackout last year and had pre-ordered the Gollancz paperback edition of All Clear. I have just realized that the Spectra paperback has been available since October...

Finished both now (after re-reading Blackout). In case it is not totally clear: Blackout and All Clear are not two novels, it is one novel published in two volumes.

It fits right in with Willis' other time traveling novels, the historical background was quite interesting for me. The trademark near-misses are essential to the plot. The timeline has gotten quite complicated.

I am not totally conviced the length was necessary, though. While it did not feel drawn out, the necessity for over a 1000 pages is not there either.

4 out of 5 stars. If you like Willis' style give it a try, if you do not know know it, consider checking To Say Nothing of the Dog first.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

haven't read a single one of them. frankly i haven't heard of half the authors either.

With the paywall that once restricted the field gone, that will increasingly become the norm.
The paywall kept the field small enough for the printing of paper books to be profitable. At no time, however, did it only restrict the sludge whilst finding all the gems. A bigger field in general will mean a wider variety of gems.