The latest award winning novels and stories voted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America including Joe Haldeman, Gene Wolfe, Jack McDevitt and Nancy Kress

2007 Nebula Award Final Ballot

The Science Fiction Writers of America present their annual Awards at the Nebula Awards Banquet in Austin, Texas on April 26,2008. The nominees are listed below with an analysis of some voting trends and history.

Nebula, Best Novel:

Odyssey - Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov06)

The Accidental Time Machine - Joe Haldeman (Ace, Aug07)

The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, May07)

The New Moon's Arms - Nalo Hopkinson (Warner Books, Feb07)

Ragamuffin - Tobias Buckell (Tor, Jun07)

Statistically, Jack McDevitt should be favourite, having won last year. Of the 75 winners who had won previously, 15 have gone to a winner from the previous year --the modal average. Of those 15 winners, 5 were for Best Novel. However, the McDevitt has had only lukewarm reviews, whereas first-time winners have taken the novel award on 22 occasions, including 15 first-time nominees, so Tobias Buckell and Michael Chabon can take encouragement from this.

Nebula, Best Novella:

"Kiosk" - Bruce Sterling (F&SF, Jan07)

"Memorare" - Gene Wolfe (F&SF, Apr07)

"Awakening" - Judith Berman (Black Gate 10, Spr07)

"Stars Seen Through Stone" - Lucius Shepard (F&SF, Jul07)

"The Helper and His Hero" - Matt Hughes (F&SF, Feb07 & Mar07)

"Fountain of Age" - Nancy Kress (Asimov's, Jul07)

There are four veterans against first-time nominees Matt Hughes and Judith Berman, either of whom could follow in the footsteps of the previous first-time Nebula winners whose success came in the novella category. It has been 10 years since Nancy Kress won a Nebula, but 21 since Lucius Shepherd's only success, also in this category. But it has been 26 years since Gene Wolfe last won, while Bruce Sterling has never won in 10 attempts. It is these lasttwo who are the likely favourites.

Nebula, Best Novelette:

"The Fiddler of Bayou Teche" - Delia Sherman (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Viking Juvenile, Jul07)

"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter" - Geoff Ryman (F&SF, Nov06)

"The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs Of North Park After the Change" - Kij Johnson (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Viking Juvenile, Jul07)

"Safeguard" - Nancy Kress (Asimov's, Jan07)

"The Children's Crusade" - Robin Wayne Bailey (Heroes in Training, DAW, Sep07)

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" - Ted Chiang (F&SF, Sep07)

"Child, Maiden, Mother, Crone" - Terry Bramlett (Jim Baen's Universe 7, June 2007)

Bramlett and Johnson are all debut nominees, while Delia Sherman debuted last year. There are also two previous multiple winners in this category -- Kress and Ted Chiang, whose career nine stories have yielded him three Nebula winners, making him a strong contender. However, there have been 27 debut winners in this category, more than in any other, and Geoff Ryman has been nominated four times unsuccessfully since 1987, so may well be a favourite.

Nebula, Best Short Story:

"Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse" - Andy Duncan (Eclipse 1: New Science Fiction And Fantasy, Night Shade Books, Oct07)

"Titanium Mike Saves the Day" - David D. Levine (F&SF, Apr07)

"Captive Girl" - Jennifer Pelland (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, Fall06 Issue #2)

"Always" - Karen Joy Fowler (Asimov's, apr/may07)

"Pride" - Mary Turzillo (Fast Forward 1, Pyr, February 2007)

"The Story of Love" - Vera Nazarian (Salt of the Air, Prime Books, Sep06)

There are three debut contenders in this category -- Levine, Nazarian and Pelland, two previous winners in Turzillo and Fowler, and five-time loser Andy Duncan, who with Fowler on eight nominations, must be a strong contender, especially as there have been 23 first-time winners in this category.