A Quick Look and Links to Reviews of the 2018 SFWA Nebula Award Nominations

The Nebula Award Nominees were announced today, and I wanted to throw a quick post up linking my reviews of the various nominated works, since I've gotten to a lot of the nominated works on this blog.  For those who are reading this blog and somehow unaware, the Nebula Awards are often considered one of the big two (sometimes three) SciFi/Fantasy Genre awards, with its difference from the Hugo Awards being that it is voted on by the members of the SciFi & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) instead of the general public or members of a convention (like the Hugos).



Best Novel Nominees:
The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin (Review Here)
Jade City by Fonda Lee (Review Here)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty (Review Here)
Autonomous by Annalee Newitz (Review Here)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss (Review Here)
Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly (Review Here)
Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory

I've reviewed six of the seven Best Novel nominees - and I've just taken Spoonbenders out from the library to complete the set - and the reviews are linked above.  Honestly, kind of unimpressed with this crop, with only The Stone Sky being among my Hugo Nominations* and the only other book particularly close to making my Hugo list was Six Wakes.  Amberlough I downright disliked, honestly.  I wonder if this will be the year Jemisin actually wins the Nebula, but would be unsurprised if The Strange Case or Autonomous takes the nod.

*Okay Honest Truth here: I didn't nominate The Stone Sky in my initial Hugo list, because I'm 99% sure it will make the list without my vote (same as The Obelisk Gate last year) and I had 7 books for 5 spots.  But if I wasn't gaming the nominations, it would've easily made my list over two books I've nominated.  

Best Novella Nominees:
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey (Review Here)
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages
And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker
Barry’s Deal by Lawrence M. Schoen
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Review Here)

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang (Review Here)

I've read four of these and reviewed three - I didn't review And Then There Were N-One, which is cute but unimpressive.  All Systems Red is on my Hugo Nomination List and was my favorite Novella of last year.  I actually liked the other of JY Yang's novellas (Red Threads of Fortune) better, but pending me reading Passing Strange and Barry's Deal, this is All Systems Red's award to lose.

Other Nominees Reviewed:
Want by Cindy Pon (Review Here)

Finally, Cindy Pon's "Want" was nominated for the Norton Award for best YA book.  I'm actually pretty disappointed one of my favorite books of the year, Sarah Rees Brennan's "In Other Lands" did not make this list - I expected it to have a better shot at the Norton Award than the Hugo Equivalent.  Alas.