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2006 Nebula Awards

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the in-the-news-today dept.

Embedded Geek writes "Locus is reporting on the winners of the 2006 Nebula Awards (as determined by voting by fellow SF authors). Joe Haldeman picked up the Novel award for Camouflage while Kelly Link took home both the Novella ("Magic for Beginners") and Novelette ("The Faery Handbag"). Off the printed page, Joss Whedon beat out Battlestar Galactica with his script for Serenity. You can check out the final ballot here or look at past winners here."

5 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder about the Nebulas by edremy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I look over the list and see two contenders that shouldn't even be on an awards list, much less win (Haldeman and McDevitt, the former is slipping and the latter hasn't had a decent book since The Hercules Text), yet another in an unending series (give it a rest Terry), and one that's so obscure that even Amazon doesn't carry it (Ryman).

    I haven't seen Wright's fantasy anywhere (despite living in Virginia about an hour from his home), although I'd buy it based on the wonderful Golden Age, so I can't speak to it.

    At least to me the only entry on that list worthy of the award is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but I suspect it's simply too strange for most of the folks to vote for. But it's everything an award like this *should* recognize- beautiful world building, wonderful characters and a prose style that really sets the tone for a different world. (I can't remember the last piece of fiction with laugh-out-loud footnotes). It's not an easy read, but it's a *great* read nonetheless.

    There's simply so many other good books published in the last year to have this list. If you want fantasy, where's The Prince of Nothing series? I don't know if Banks' The Algebraist is eligible since it was published in England earlier, but even though it's not Banks' best it still outclasses almost the entire list. Olympos wasn't perfect, but again should have been up there.

    --
    "Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
  2. I'm not so sure.... by supercrisp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I love Haldeman, and I loved the Strange and Norrell novel. BUT, I can't really trust taste when Serenity beats out BSG. That seems so klazy to me. I've read a lot of Haldeman, and his stuff is damn good, but it just seems to lack the psychological depth of the S&N novel. Like a lot of male-written SF, Haldeman's characters often seem to be little more than mouthpieces for an ideology or polemic, but no one is as transparent in that way as Orson Scott Card.

  3. Lost meets the west wing in space != good SF by cargoculture · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'd take Serenity over the nonsensical mysticism of BSG any day of the week. Sure the miniseries started out with some interesting SF concepts - I particularly liked the idea that Cyclons put out so much viral spam that any open network is doomed - but subsequently it;s mishandled every single one of them. It's competantly made and everything, but it's SF aspects are it's weakest.

  4. Re:This award is bogus... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    They're on crack, but not because they neglected China. He's a smart guy and really personable, but I made it halfway through Perdido Street Station before just giving up. There wasn't a single interesting or new thing going on in any part of the story. Ugh.

  5. Kelly Link by X_Caffeine · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm thrilled to hear that Kelly Link did so well, maybe this will translate into some new readers.

    For the uninitiated, I like to describe her as a sort of "female Neil Gaiman" for her similar fairy-tale sensibilities. But really I find her writing much more mature and abstract.

    Her first short story collection, Stranger Things Happen, is now available as a free download under the Creative Commons.

    --
    // I will show you fear in a handful of jellybeans.