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2014 Nebula Award Winners Announced

Posted by Soulskill on from the unpuppie-awards dept.

Dave Knott writes: The winners of the 2014 Nebula awards (presented 2015) have been announced. The awards are voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and (along with the Hugos) are considered to be one of the two most prestigious awards in science fiction. This year's winners are:

Best Novel: Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer
Best Novella: Yesterday's Kin, Nancy Kress
Best Novelette: "A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i", Alaya Dawn Johnson
Best Short Story: "Jackalope Wives", Ursula Vernon
Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation: Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn
Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy: Love Is the Drug, Alaya Dawn Johnson
2015 Damon Knight Grand Master Award: Larry Niven
Solstice Award: Joanna Russ (posthumous), Stanley Schmidt
Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service Award: Jeffry Dwight

52 comments

  1. Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Most bloodthirsty fiction: The Qur'an

    1. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by techsoldaten · · Score: -1

      You stay anonymous with all that hate, the rest of us will keep civilization afloat.

      Seriously, Nancy Kress?

    2. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Having a constitution, accredited ambassadors and a seat in the U.N. does not prevent Saudi Arabia to jail women for driving or Iran from hanging homosexuals.

    3. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by penguinoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Having a constitution, accredited ambassadors and a seat in the U.N. does not prevent the US from spying on all its citizens and strip searching travelers and jailing people who own the wrong chemicals.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    4. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A nor assassinating innocent people.

    5. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Crashmarik · · Score: 3, Informative

      You stay anonymous with all that hate, the rest of us will keep civilization afloat.

      Seriously, Nancy Kress?

      I gotta go with you on the Nancy Kress nominee. A spacefaring disease that floats through space as a spore cloud is a stretch. You need to start with panspermia or convergent evolution to even start to think about it. Then there is the whole traveling interstellar distances and it targeting compatible worlds.

      Note I am biased, I haven't cared for her work since Beggars in Spain, which also completely broke suspension of disbelief.

    6. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you have a story involving humanoid aliens, something along the lines of panspermia seems like an unspoken assumption anyway. Hell, if you have a spacefaring lower life-form, panspermia seems like something of an biological inevitability.

    7. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I do not think that word means what you think it does.

    8. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1, Insightful

      As though stepping through an airport scanner compares to being thrown off a roof for one's sexual orientation.Small wonder that everyone is laughing at the moral equivalence liberals.

    9. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A spacefaring disease that floats through space as a spore cloud is a stretch.

      Maybe, but the idea goes back at least 35 years, with Hoyle & WIckramasinghe's non-fiction Diseases from Space. (Of course, just because the book is non-fiction doesn't mean that it's fact, it's speculation not written as a novel.)

    10. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      When you are a fat lardass standing up five seconds for a security check instead of on a cozy comfortable chair is worse than death at hand of the prophet himself.

    11. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh not those two gobshites.

      http://news.yahoo.com/alien-life-claim-far-convincing-scientists-163757104.html

    12. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Or the thread (as in 'thread from the sky', not this kind of thread) in the Anne McCaffery Pern novels.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    13. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by antiperimetaparalogo · · Score: 0

      As though stepping through an airport scanner compares to being thrown off a roof for one's sexual orientation.Small wonder that everyone is laughing at the moral equivalence liberals.

      And what you describe (i.e., invalidating any rightful criticism of Muslims, with this -ridiculous in my opinion- "moral equivalence") is always ridiculed by those unfortunate to live among, and inevitably oppressed by, Muslims!

      --
      Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
    14. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 1

      moral equivalence libertarians.

      FTFY

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    15. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Richard_at_work · · Score: 0

      How many people have been released from Guantánamo Bay without charge after multiple years of enforced captivity?

    16. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Triklyn · · Score: 2

      nope, i'd say libertarians don't really care what other people do over there, it's their own rights they're concerned about.
      get your own house in order... and all that.

      the liberals say, don't criticize, it's a cultural difference, the abnegation of their own moral standards to the altar of moral relativity.

      and the conservatives say, hey that's wrong... but protect your own people first, and that over there, is not my responsibility.

      as the west wing put so humorously.
      "Republicans want a huge military but they don't want to send it anywhere. The Democrats wants a small military and they want to send it everywhere."

    17. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2

      ,i>nope, i'd say libertarians don't really care what other people do over there, it's their own rights they're concerned about. get your own house in order... and all that.

      So, nothing to do with what GP was talking about then?

      "Republicans want a huge military but they don't want to send it anywhere. The Democrats wants a small military and they want to send it everywhere."

      That was a cute joke in the 90s. Sadly, recent history's kinda fucked that up, no?

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    18. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not hate, techsoldaten. You should educate yourself before you defend Islam. The entire religion conflicts with and is poison to what you think of as civilization. Here's a little something to get you started.

    19. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      "Republicans want a huge military but they don't want to send it anywhere. The Democrats wants a small military and they want to send it everywhere."

      Were you in a coma between 2001 and 2009?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    20. Re:Most bloodthirsty fiction by Triklyn · · Score: 1

      overwhelming majorities in both houses.

      we don't have distance to view that decade through the long lens of history yet.

      i'd say the idea still describes the character of the two parties during normal decades.

      give it a bit more time, though it's a tiny tiny amount, we've still got war fatigue... or pocketbook fatigue at least.

  2. Nebulous award by tomhath · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do the authors get fictitious awards?

    1. Re:Nebulous award by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Reply hazy, try again.

  3. Larry Niven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    'bout damn time.

    1. Re:Larry Niven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TANJ. Or at least, there's justice now.

    2. Re:Larry Niven by OzPeter · · Score: 1

      TANJ. Or at least, there's justice now.

      OTOH I read the award as "Knight Grand Master" and I had to check if this was the Nebula awards or something else.

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    3. Re:Larry Niven by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      It's peculiar though - he's not done a lot for several decades until having a recent flurry with the "World's" books. Which are OK, but hardly up to the standards of his previous work.

      I guess that the "Damon Knight Grand Master Award" is some sort of lifetime achievement award. [Googles]

      [It] is a lifetime honor presented annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to no more than one living writer of fantasy or science fiction. It was inaugurated in 1975 when Robert Heinlein was made the first SFWA Grand Master and it was renamed in 2002 after the Association's founder, Damon Knight, who had died that year.

      OK, fair enough. I read his most recent, "Bowl of Heaven" and thought "I've read this before. Several times." It's a fair enough book of the form, but it's hardly ground-breaking. Given that it came out of Niven and Benford, I was somewhat disappointed, and hadn't decided whether to get the second part.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    4. Re:Larry Niven by mgscheue · · Score: 1

      I disliked "Bowl of Heaven" enough that I'm not going to bother with the sequel. I was expecting something much better from Niven and Benford. The astoundingly poor (or non-existent) editing really killed it for me, too.

    5. Re:Larry Niven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      IMHO, Niven by himself is pretty awesome. Niven in collaboration? Not so much (with exceptions for Jerry Pournelle, but not for all of them).

      Steven Barnes? Forget it.

      But for "Ringworld" and "Ringworld Engineers", and the rest of Known Space; if he'd done nothing else with his life he still deserved the award.

      AC

    6. Re:Larry Niven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Footfall" introduced me to Niven, and I still think that it is a tour de force.

      The Pournelle collaborations yielded some good content.

  4. What Is Going On? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's been a lot of years since anything on this list has been worth reading. Very few of the nominees are even worth a look. Has TV finally dumbed people down enough to be happy with the books we're getting? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    1. Re:What Is Going On? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      The Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance) is pretty good. Not space monsters or aliens, but well written and entertaining.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:What Is Going On? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance) is pretty good. Not space monsters or aliens, but well written and entertaining.

      Are you sure about that?

    3. Re:What Is Going On? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 2

      The problem is, it ends without answers - which seems to be an issue with many authors these days (Alastair Reynolds, I'm looking at you - several good concepts either dropped or petering out). Why does this seem to be a trend these days?

    4. Re:What Is Going On? by RDW · · Score: 2

      Plenty of good books (Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Terry Pratchett, David Mitchell, Susanna Clarke, Joe Haldeman...) over the last decade on that list. What do you think is 'worth reading'?

    5. Re:What Is Going On? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps Stanislav Lem started it?

      At least in Lem's case, the lack of answers was exactly the point he wanted to make.

    6. Re:What Is Going On? by Zarjazz · · Score: 1

      Huh? That's the best response I can give without using spoilers but I'm not sure you've read all 3 books.

      As for the series I'm not sure I liked all of it, the later two books certainly dragged on slightly too long and probably should have been compressed into one novel. However the series as a whole, especially the first book, certainly know how to generate an incredibly creepy atmosphere with everyone lost in a strange world of paranoia and genuine weirdness.

    7. Re:What Is Going On? by rochrist · · Score: 1

      If he isn't, I am.

    8. Re:What Is Going On? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The OP is another bash the books without readin' em sci-fi fan

      Get a library card, read the books, form an opinion and dust off the brain, still not happy? Then they should write some short fiction that works for them, who knows, there could be a following.

    9. Re:What Is Going On? by JamesTRexx · · Score: 1

      Just read the summary at the link, but it feels to me like it's the plot of a horror B movie.
      The protagonists seem to be making the same dumb choices the teenagers do in the haunted house that gets them killed.
      Maybe it's good, but the summary didn't entice me to look further into it.

      --
      home
    10. Re:What Is Going On? by Whiteox · · Score: 1

      Ursula Le Guin's 'Lathe of Heaven' (I waited for the movie) was freaky and I liked it. Anything that takes you out of your headspace is good.
      I'm old school though. I'd rather re-read something I know I've forgotten than venture out there for stabs in the dark as often disappointment follows.
      These awards should be for those writers that can do this. There is no harm in not giving an award if it is undeserved.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
    11. Re:What Is Going On? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Just read the summary at the link, but it feels to me like it's the plot of a horror B movie. The protagonists seem to be making the same dumb choices the teenagers do in the haunted house that gets them killed. Maybe it's good, but the summary didn't entice me to look further into it.

      Judging a book by its blurb is only one step up from judging it by its cover.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  5. Met a couple of the Jurists by FreeUser · · Score: 3

    I met a couple of the Nebula folks at the Chicago Printer's Row Lit Fest yesterday. Very nice people, with a genuine interest in Sci Fi and deep knowledge of the Genre.

    A really nice change from the Hugo acrimony of weeks past. I'm delighted to see Niven in there ... he's certainly waited long enough! I'm even more delighted to see a number of books I haven't read yet winning ... looks like my pile of summer reading just got higher.

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  6. Why'd they end up in deserts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Anonymous terrorists read the Qu'ran with "al tiqquya" (ok to lie) n' convert by fire\sword's no religion of peace. Why do you think they ended up in the desert? They were DRIVEN there by the good people.

  7. Gratifying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Niven was a major influence on me as a budding SF author, and Schmidt was my editor on several Analog stories. Plus, Damon Knight was one of my instructors at Clarion back in 19[mumble][mumble].

    Very satisfying.

  8. You know its a bad year when... by Maury+Markowitz · · Score: 1

    Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation: Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn

    One guy wants something for some poorly explained reason. His boss yells at him. Fight a lot, do stupid things to fight back. Power of friendship wins. The end.

    Seriously, this was a Littlest Pony episode with bad in-jokes and worse acting. There wasn't a single other movie or TV show they could choose over this?

    Remind me to not read the various winners.

  9. Nancy Kress? by russotto · · Score: 1

    Stopped reading her when she gave her super-genius Sleepless the idiot ball. Doubt she's improved.

  10. Amusing spectacle to be sure, but Outstanding? no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apparently all it takes to win this award is a kick-a$$ soundtrack from when the voters were young ...

  11. next years' award, advance copy by elevative · · Score: 1

    2015 Best Novel: Seveneves, Neal Stephenson

    1. Re:next years' award, advance copy by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      2015 Best Novel: Seveneves, Neal Stephenson

      2015 Longest Novel: Seveneves, Neal Stephenson.

      Hopefully I'll have it finished by 2016 when they announce the result.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  12. Re:Amusing spectacle to be sure, but Outstanding? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TFS screwed it up: Guardians of the Galaxy, written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman.

    That said, I could think of far more deserving recipients than this script.

  13. Love for Niven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just as the answer to all things in the sports car category is "Miata," so is "Larry Niven" the answer to all things in the "Science Fiction Grand Master" category.