Nebula Award Finalists Announced

Because I forgot to do this, here's my initial reaction to the Nebula Award finalists, which can be found here.

In novel, I had a feeling everything I read was weak...and nothing I read made it onto the list. Partly because I could have sworn Network Effect (the Murderbot novel) was coming out in 2021 so I didn't look for it. Pleased for the field to see C.L. Polk's fantasy romance The Midnight Bargain in there, even if I'm personally allergic to the word "regency."

Novella, I liked "Tower of Mud and Straw" and also The Four Profound Weaves.

Novelette was very competitive this year. I would have nominated "The Pill" if I hadn't already had a full slate when I saw it. "Stepsister" was excellent and hit on my love of twisted fairy tales. The A.T. Greenblatt story is rare...a superhero story getting a Nebula nomination?

This year saw some excellent short stories, but what got nominated wasn't my first picks. "My Country Is a Ghost" is a truly moving exploration of immigration, however, and "Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse" is amusing in a dark way.

I didn't read much YA this year, so the Andre Norton is books entirely unfamiliar to me. I have heard that Little Badger's Elatsoe is absolutely fantastic, though. It's sitting on my tablet waiting to be read.

Game Writing saw no nods to the tabletop industry, which is unsurprising given how many major products were put off until 2021. Hades is almost certainly going to take the video game Hugo Discon III added and has a good chance here (I will, however, die on the hill I'm over that it is not a roguelike. Can't be a roguelike with real time combat, dangit).

Four video games and one interactive fiction book. The last, The Luminous Underground is a typically excellent Choice of Games production. I'm playing through Kentucky Route Zero right now, interesting storyline, trying not to let the graphics get in the way. Oh, and Blaseball, which is fantasy baseball as if it took place in Nightvale is completely free to play in browser. If you like baseball and clickers, check it out.