Each year, the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association choose the winners of the Nebula Awards in seven categories, including novelette (17,500 to 40,000 words). As a SWFA member, I get to read them and vote for the one I consider most deserving. Voting is closed, and the awards will be presented June 8.
One of the six nominees for Best Novella is a work of whimsical science fiction, and the rest take place in what Tolkien called secondary world fantasies: worlds that are different from our own in some way. The length allows for delightful explorations of these disparate worlds.
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom) — A retelling of a Japanese myth about family abuse is situated in the further abuse of corporate farming, and it recounts disturbing violence with lyrical writing.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK) — A knight, a half-fairy, and a changeling walk into a story … and something luminous happens, although fairies and humans mix disastrously. The sorrow is palpable and deftly told.
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee (Tordotcom) — In a faraway land, rocs are trained to hunt and kill manticores, who terrorize its people. Well-told and richly detailed, following a familiar formula.
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (Tordotcom) — It’s billed as “a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter.” Exactly.
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom) — Cleric Chih returns to the Singing Hills Abbey, and war mammoths are menacing the gate. This installment in the Singing Hills Cycle is a quiet story about grief, memory, and family, with a beautiful twist at the end. It’s almost my vote for the Nebula, and if it’s your vote, I can’t quibble at all.
Linghun by Ai Jiang (Dark Matter Ink) — Ghosts sometimes visit the homes in a special town, and the families who cannot move on from a loved one’s death move there — where they neglect their lives as their emotions grow more ugly. This fantasy takes the saddest stages of grief to their logical end and illuminates their toxicity with incision. Original and heartbreaking.
Sue Burke 