2026 Nebula Nominees

[psocoptera]

I have my laptop back! There is much rejoicing and also catching up! The one thing I will say about having my battery and remaining functional port fail more or less simultaneously is that I only had to pay the open-the-case fee once, yay efficiency, otherwise I do not recommend it.

Anyways! Some things have happened, such as the Nebula nominees coming out! Here, or below the cut with my comments.



Best Novel

When We Were Real, by Daryl Gregory (Saga)
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK)
Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz)
The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh (Tor; Orbit UK)
Sour Cherry, by Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House; Wildfire)
Wearing the Lion, by John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia)

I have read three of these, When We Were Real, Katabasis, and The Incandescent, and will be Hugo-nominating Incandescent. I've heard a lot of good things about Sour Cherry although I'm not sure I want to read a Bluebeard story at this time.

Best Novella

“Disgraced Return of the Kap’s Needle, by Renan Bernardo (Dark Matter INK)”
“The River Has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia)”
“The Death of Mountains, by Jordan Kurella (Lethe)”
“Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)”
“But Not Too Bold, by Hache Pueyo (Tordotcom)”
““Descent”, by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld 5/25)”

Why are there so many quotation marks here, and why don't I feel like dealing with them. I've read the El-Mohtar and Newitz novellas and am nominating both; I've had the Bernardo on my to-read list for awhile and more recently the Kurella but haven't gotten there yet.

Best Novelette

““Our Echoes Drifting Through the Marsh”, by Marie Croke (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/9/25)”
““Uncertain Sons”, by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons)”
““We Begin Where Infinity Ends”, by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld 2/25)”
“The Name Ziya, by Wen-Yi Lee (Tor)”
““Never Eaten Vegetables”, by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld 1/25)”
““The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends”, by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 3-4/25)”

I don't think I've read any of these. I guess I started "The Name Ziya" and never finished it.

Best Short Story

““Through the Machine”, by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed 5/25)”
““Six People to Revise You”, by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny 1-2/25)”
““The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead”, by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25)”
““In My Country”, by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25)”
““Because I Held His Name Like a Key”, by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)”
““Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything”, by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25)”

I liked the Dawson and Seiberg stories, don't think I've read the rest? No, wait, I think I read the Ha. Interesting to not see Mills' "Self Care for the End of Days" here, casting further doubt on my sense that it was a forerunner.

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Sinners, by Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros Pictures)*
Severance: “Chikhai Bardo”, by Dan Erickson & Mark Friedman (Apple TV+)*
Pluribus: Season One, by Vince Gilligan (Apple TV+)*
Superman, by James Gunn (Warner Bros Pictures)*
KPop Demon Hunters, by Danya Jimenez, Maggie Kang, & Hannah McMechan (Netflix)*
Murderbot: Season One, by Chris Weitz (Apple TV+)

This seems like an entirely reasonable ballot, dare I hope for as much from the Hugos?

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

The Tower, by David Anaxagoras (Recorded Books)
Gemini Rising, by Jonathan Brazee (Semper Fi Press)
Wishing Well, Wishing Well, by Jubilee Cho (Atthis Arts)
Into the Wild Magic, by Michelle Knudsen (Candlewick)
Goblin Girl, by K.A. Mielke (self-published)
Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)

I haven't even heard of any of these except for the Hunger Games installment; no Among Ghosts I guess.

Best Game Writing

Spire, Surge, and Sea, by Stewart C. Baker (Choice of Games)
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, by Guillaume Broche, & Jennifer Svedberg-Yen (Kepler Interactive), Developer: Sandfall Interactive, Sandfall S.A.S.
Hollow Knight: Silksong, by Ari Gibson & William Pelen (Team Cherry)*
Dispatch, by Ashley Jeffalone, Suzee Matson, Chris Rebbert, Chad Rhiness, & Pierre Shorette (AdHoc Studios)
Hades II, by Greg Kasavin (Supergiant Games)
Blue Prince, by Tonda Ros (Raw Fury, Developer: Dogubomb)

Sure, is this a category now?

Best Comic

Second Shift, by Kit Anderson (Avery Hill)
Carmilla Volume 3: The Eternal, by Amy Chu (Berger)
Helen of Wyndhorn, by Tom King (Dark Horse)
Fishflies, by Jeff Lemire (Image)
Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone, by Jessica Maison (Wicked Tree)
Strange Bedfellows, by Ariel Slamet Ries (HarperAlley)
The Flip Side, by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond)
The Stoneshore Register, by G. Willow Wilson (Berger)

Huh, lots here I hadn't heard of. The only one I've read is Second Shift. I have Strange Bedfellows on my to-read list and might add The Flip Side (not to be confused with Flip, a different book).

Best Poem

“Though You Always Are”, by Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge (Everything Endless)
"They Said Robots Are”, by Casey Aimer (Penumbric 6/25)
“The World To Come”, by Jennifer Hudak (Strange Horizons 12/22/25)
“The Mourning Robot”, by Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/25)
“To Be the Change”, by Nico Martinez Nocito (Strange Horizons 3/10/25)
“Care for Lightning”, by Mari Ness (Uncanny 1-2/25)

Two things are true: a) I would like to be engaged with sff poetry but b) I so far haven't been. Hm.