J.R. Johnson

Here we are, folks, with the final list of Nebula finalists! Uncanny Magazine did great, my good buddy Murderbot is here (yay!), and I love seeing the good people at Diabolical Plots recognized as well. 

Links to full text, excerpts, or reviews for shorts, novelettes and novellas included where (easily) accessible. Because I’ve got things to do, people, not least of which is to read these stories!

2020 Nebula Award Finalists

Novel

• Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
• The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)
• The Midnight Bargain, C.L. Polk (Erewhon)
• Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)
• Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tordotcom Publishing)

Novella

• “Tower of Mud and Straw,” Yaroslav Barsukov (Metaphorosis) Tower of Mud and Straw I – Yaroslav Barsukov – Metaphorosis Magazine
• Finna, Nino Cipri (Tordotcom Publishing) Read the First Two Chapters From Nino Cipri’s Finna | Tor.com
• Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom Publishing) Review: ‘Ring Shout,’ By P. Djèlí Clark : NPR
• “Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon,” Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora, Aurelia Leo) Ife-Iyoku, Tale of Imadeyunuagbon – Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
• The Four Profound Weaves, R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon) Gary K. Wolfe Reviews The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg – Locus Online
• Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom Publishing) Read an Excerpt From Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi | Tor.com

Novelette

• “Stepsister,” Leah Cypess (F&SF 5-6/20) Free novelette – STEPSISTER
• “The Pill,” Meg Elison (Big Girl, PM Press) 
• “Burn or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super,” A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny 5-6/20) Burn or The Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super – Uncanny Magazine
• “Two Truths and a Lie,” Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com 6/17/20) Two Truths and a Lie | Tor.com
• “Where You Linger,” Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Uncanny 1-2/20) Where You Linger – Uncanny Magazine
• “Shadow Prisons,” Caroline M. Yoachim (serialized in the Dystopia Triptych series as “The Shadow Prison Experiment,” “Shadow Prisons of the Mind,” and “The Shadow Prisoner’s Dilemma,” Broad Reach Publishing + Adamant Press) Shadow Prisons of the Mind – Lightspeed Magazine

Short Story

• “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse,” Rae Carson (Uncanny 1-2/20) Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse – Uncanny Magazine
• “Advanced Word Problems in Portal Math,” Aimee Picchi (Daily Science Fiction 1/3/20) Daily Science Fiction :: Advanced Word Problems in Portal Math by Aimee Picchi
• “A Guide for Working Breeds,” Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, Solaris) https://www.tor.com/2020/03/17/a-guide-for-working-breeds-vina-jie-min-prasad/
• “The Eight-Thousanders,” Jason Sanford (Asimov’s 9-10/20) Q&A with Jason Sanford – From Earth to the Stars
• “My Country Is a Ghost,” Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 1-2/20) My Country Is a Ghost – Uncanny Magazine
• “Open House on Haunted Hill,” John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 6/15/20) DP FICTION #64A: “Open House on Haunted Hill” by John Wiswell – Diabolical Plots

The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

• Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet)
• Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
• A Game of Fox & Squirrels, Jenn Reese (Holt)
• Star Daughter, Shveta Thakrar (HarperTeen)

Game Writing

• Blaseball, Stephen Bell, Joel Clark, Sam Rosenthal (The Game Band)
• Hades, Greg Kasavin (Supergiant)
• Kentucky Route Zero, Jake Elliott (Cardboard Computer)
• The Luminous Underground, Phoebe Barton (Choice of Games)
• Scents & Semiosis, Sam Kabo Ashwell, Cat Manning, Caleb Wilson, Yoon Ha Lee (Self)
• Spiritfarer, Nicolas Guérin, Maxime Monast, Alex Tommi-Morin (Thunder Lotus Games)

The Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Drama Presentation

• Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, Christina Hodson (Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Entertainment)
• The Expanse: “Gaugamela,” Dan Nowak (Amazon)
• The Good Place: “Whenever You’re Ready,” Michael Schur (NBC)
• Lovecraft Country Season 1, Misha Green, Shannon Houston, Kevin Lau, Wes Taylor, Ihuoma Ofordire, Jonathan I. Kidd, Sonya Winton-Odamtten (HBO Max)
• The Mandalorian: “The Tragedy,” Jon Favreau (Disney+)
• The Old Guard, Greg Rucka (Netflix)

* * *