Here are the finalists for this year’s Nebula Awards

A stellar list of 2022's well-deserving nominees

Here are the finalists for this year’s Nebula Awards
Image: Andrew Liptak 

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association has announced the finalists for this year's Nebula Awards, one of the genre's biggest prizes. The organization is made up of science fiction / fantasy professionals, and each year since 1966, its members have selected their favorite works of the past calendar year in a variety of categories.

Here's the list: I've added links to the stories that were published online:

Nebula Award for Novel

  • Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (Cryptid; Tor) [my  review]
  • Spear, Nicola Griffith (Tordotcom)
  • Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
  • Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
  • Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)
  • The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Nebula Award for Novella

  • A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
  • Bishop’s Opening”, R.S.A. Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)
  • I Never Liked You Anyway, Jordan Kurella (Vernacular)
  • Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
  • High Times in the Low Parliament, Kelly Robson (Tordotcom)

Nebula Award for Novelette

Nebula Award for Short Story

  • Destiny Delayed”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Asimov’s 5–6/22) (Listen here)
  • “Give Me English”, Ai Jiang (F&SF 5–6/22)
  • Rabbit Test”, Samantha Mills (Uncanny 11–12/22)
  • Douen”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 3/22)
  • Dick Pig”, Ian Muneshwar (Nightmare 1/22)
  • D.I.Y”, John Wiswell (Tor.com 8/24/22)

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

  • Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion, K. Tempest Bradford (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)
  • The Scratch Daughters, H. A. Clarke (Erewhon)
  • The Mirrorwood, Deva Fagan (Atheneum)
  • The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester, Maya MacGregor (Astra Young Readers)
  • Every Bird a Prince, Jenn Reese (Henry Holt)

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

  • Andor: “One Way Out”, Beau Willimon (Lucasfilm, Disney+)
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once, Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (A24, AGBO, IAC Films)
  • Nope, Jordan Peele (Universal Pictures)
  • Our Flag Means Death, David Jenkins, Eliza Jiménez Cossio, Zadry Ferrer-Geddes, William Meny, Maddie Dai, Alyssa Lane, John Mahone, Simone Nathan, Natalie Torres, Zackery Alexzander Stephens, Alex J. Sherman, Jes Tom, Adam Stein, Yvonne Zima (Dive, HBO Max)
  • The Sandman: Season 1, Neil Gaiman, Lauren Bello, Vanessa Benton, Mike Dringenberg, Sam Kieth, Catherine Smyth-McMullen, Heather Bellson, Jim Campolongo, Jay Franklin, Austin Guzman, Alexander Newman-Wise, Ameni Rozsa, David Goyer, Allan Heinberg (DC Entertainment, Netflix)
  • Severance, Dan Erickson, Chris Black, Andrew Colville, Amanda Overton, Anna Ouyang Moench, Helen Leigh, Kari Drake, and Mark Friedman. (Endeavor Content, Red Hour Films, Apple TV+)

Nebula Award for Game Writing

  • Elden Ring, Hidetaka Miyazaki, George R.R. Martin (FromSoftware, Bandai Namco)
  • Horizon Forbidden West, Ben McCaw, Anna Kitain (Guerilla Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Journeys through the Radiant Citadel, Ajit George, F. Wesley Schneider, Justice Ramin Arman, Dominique Dickey, Basheer Ghouse, Alastor Guzman, D. Fox Harrell, T.K. Johnson, Felice Tzehuei Kuan, Surena Marie, Mimi Mondal, Mario Ortegón, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Pam Punzalan, Erin Roberts, Stephanie Yoon, Terry H. Romero (Wizards of the Coast: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Ed.)
  • Pentiment, Kate Dollarhyde, Zoe Franznick, Märten Rattasepp, Josh Sawyer (Obsidian Entertainment, Xbox Game Studios)
  • Stray, Steven Lerner, Vivien Mermet-Guyenet, Colas Koola (BlueTwelve Studio, Annapurna Interactive)
  • Vampire: The Masquerade: “Sins of the Sires”, Natalia Theodoridou (Choice of Games, Paradox Interactive)

What have you read off of this list? Any favorites?

Personally, I was thrilled to see The Mountain in the Sea and Babel get nominated for Best Novel: that's a hard toss-up! Andor's episode "One Way Out" was also pretty spectacular. I haven't read up on any of those shorter works, except for Becky Chambers's novella. I'll have to do some reading in the near future.

Andrew