2019 Nebula Award Nominees

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Here are the nominees for the 2019 Nebula Awards.

Here are the 2019 Nebula Award nominations

NOVEL
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller (Ecco; Orbit UK)
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Del Rey; Macmillan)
Witchmark by C.L. Polk (Tor.com Publishing)
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

NOVELLA
Fire Ant by Jonathan P. Brazee (Semper Fi)
The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean)
Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield (Tor.com Publishing)
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson (Tor.com Publishing)
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

NOVELETTE
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com Publishing)
The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly (Tor.com 7/11/18)
An Agent of Utopia by Andy Duncan (An Agent of Utopia)
The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births by José Pablo Iriarte (Lightspeed 1/18)
The Rule of Three by Lawrence M. Schoen (Future Science Fiction Digest 12/18)
Messenger by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne and R.R. Virdi (Expanding Universe, Volume 4)

SHORT STORY
Interview for the End of the World by Rhett C. Bruno (Bridge Across the Stars)
The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by Phenderson Djèlí Clark (Fireside 2/18)
Going Dark by Richard Fox (Backblast Area Clear)
And Yet by A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny 3-4/18)
A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/6/18)
The Court Magician by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed 1/18)

GAME WRITING
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch by Charlie Brooker (House of Tomorrow & Netflix)
The Road to Canterbury by Kate Heartfield (Choice of Games)
God of War by Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog, Orion Walker, and Adam Dolin (Santa Monica Studio/Sony/Interactive Entertainment)
Rent-A-Vice by Natalia Theodoridou (Choice of Games)
The Martian Job by M. Darusha Wehm (Choice of Games)

THE RAY BRADBURY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRESENTATION
The Good Place: “Jeremy Bearimy,” written by Megan Amram
Black Panther, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole
A Quiet Place, screenplay by John Krasinski, Bryan Woods, and Scott Beck
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman
Dirty Computer, written by Janelle Monáe and Chuck Lightning
Sorry to Bother You, written by Boots Riley

THE ANDRE NORTON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION OR FANTASY BOOK
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt; Macmillan)
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi (Rick Riordan Presents)
A Light in the Dark by A.K. DuBoff (BDL)
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (Random House)
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)
Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien (Henry Holt)

Notable is the dominance of Tor.com.

Surprisingly few of the fiction nominees are available to read for free on-line this time. I'll try to get around to those that are when I can.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The only piece of fiction I have already read is "The Rule of Three" by Lawrence M. Schoen. My review from Tangent:

"The Rule of Three" by Lawrence M. Schoen takes place in a remote village in China. An alien starship lands near the isolated community. The narrator learns about its arrival because he happens to be the grandson of one of the villagers, and the neighbor of his grandmother owns the only phone in the rural hamlet. He travels from the United States to China to investigate the extraterrestrial. The alien teaches him extraordinary powers. Unfortunately, it also announces that it must deal harshly with humanity's lack of connection with the sources of the things they use. The narrator uses his new skills to avoid catastrophe.

The author relates remarkable events in a realistic, matter-of-fact style. The portrait of life in a small Chinese town is convincing. The depiction of the alien is less so. It serves mostly as a symbol of the story's theme, that people should be closer to the origin of manufactured objects.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Continuing with the next novelette available on-line:

The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections

"The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections" by Tina Connolly

A baker can make goods which evoke memories when eaten. He is forced to work for a wicked aristocrat, and his wife is made to serve as the food taster for his creations, to ensure that he doesn't try use poison. The story takes place during a meal, with flashbacks as the wife tastes each item. It's a good story, and the flashback structure works well. There's no surprise that things are going to go badly for the villain.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

And the last novelette which is easily accessible to me:

The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births - Lightspeed Magazine

"The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births" by José Pablo Iriarte

The narrator is a teenager who can recall previous lives, at least in part. The protagonist has been both female and male in the past, so is not psychologically of a set gender, although in a male body now. An encounter with a man who has served a prison sentence for murder triggers memories of being the victim, and that the man is innocent. The narrator sets out to confront the real killer. The plot is not as melodramatic as it sounds, and the theme of gender identity is smoothly integrated into the story.

Of the three nominees is this category I can access, any one would be a decent choice. None of them stands out above the others.

 

[EJDeBrun]

Just finished Spinning Silver, which I'm expecting to win but that's not going to stop me from reading the rest of the field, especially The Poppy War and Calculating Stars.

Interested to see how the gaming category goes this year, especially since there are some odd choices in there.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Starting the short stories easily accessible:

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington

"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by Phenderson Djèlí Clark.

As the title indicates, this story relates the backgrounds of the nine slaves from whom George Washington obtained teeth to replace his own. This takes place in a world full of magic and supernatural creatures. Like a lot of the "list" stories I've been seeing lately, it's really a series of short-short stories with a related theme. With this kind of structure, it's inherently disjointed to some extent. Well-written, with imagination.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

And Yet - Uncanny Magazine

"And Yet" by A. T. Greenblatt

Told in second person. As an adult scientist, "you" go back to the haunted house you entered as a child, to test your theory of parallel universes. The house shows you scenes from various versions of your life. You have a chance to change a tragedy in your life. This wasn't bad, but it didn't really grab me.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies

"A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix E. Harrow

Some librarians are secretly witches, and some libraries contain secret books of magic. The narrator is one such witch. She tries to help a badly depressed teenager who reads fantasy to escape his unhappy life. Eventually she has to choose between giving him what he really needs or obeying the rules of her kind. This story is a love letter to books, particularly fantasy, and is thus likely to have a special appeal to those who read it. Beyond that, it's not bad.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Court Magician - Lightspeed Magazine

"The Court Magician" by Sarah Pinsker

A boy who learns stage magic is taught how to use real magic for the ruler of the land. Each time he uses the magic, he loses something. That's about the whole plot, so it's more of a character study than anything else.

That's the last of those I can read easily. I'm not in love with any of them, but all are worthy.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

And here are the winners:

2018 Nebula Awards Winners