2017 Nebula Awards Nominees

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced their nominations for the 2017 Nebula Awards. The Awards are announced in May. Follow this link for more information: https://www.tor.com/2018/02/20/announcing-the-2017-nebula-awards-nominees/

Nominations for Best Novel

Amberlough, by Lara Elena Donnelly

In Amberlough, amidst rising political tensions, three lives become intertwined with the fate of the city itself. The Smuggler: By day, Aristide Makricosta is the emcee for Amberlough City’s top nightclub. By night, he moves drugs and refugees under the noses of crooked cops. The Spy: Covert agent Cyril DePaul thinks he’s good at keeping secrets, but after a disastrous mission abroad, he makes a dangerous choice to protect himself…and hopefully Aristide too. The Dancer: Streetwise Cordelia Lehane, burlesque performer at the Bumble Bee Cabaret and Aristide’s runner, could be the key to Cyril’s plans―if she can be trusted. As the twinkling marquees lights yield to the rising flames of a fascist revolution, these three will struggle to survive using whatever means ― and people ― necessary. Including each other.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, by Theodora Goss

Based on some of literature’s horror and science fiction classics, this is the story of a remarkable group of women who come together to solve the mystery of a series of gruesome murders—and the bigger mystery of their own origins. Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes. But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein. When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.

Spoonbenders, by Daryl Gregory

A generations-spanning family of psychics–both blessed and burdened by their abilities–must use their powers to save themselves from the CIA, the local mafia and a skeptic hell-bent on discrediting them in this hilarious, tender, magical novel about the invisible forces that bind us. The Telemachus family is known for performing inexplicable feats on talk shows and late-night television. Teddy, a master con-man, heads up a clan who possess gifts he only fakes: there’s Maureen, who can astral-project; Irene, the Human Lie Detector; Frankie, gifted with telekinesis; and Buddy, the clairvoyant. But when, one night, the magic fails to materialize, the family withdraws to Chicago where they live in shame for years. Until: as they find themselves facing a troika of threats (CIA, Mafia, an unrelenting skeptic), Matty, grandson of the family patriarch, discovers a bit of the old Telemachus magic in himself. Now, they must put past obstacles behind them and unite like never before. But will it be enough to bring The Amazing Telemachus Family back to its amazing life?

The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin

 
Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty

On a space ship far from earth, someone is murdering the crew. And the crew’s newly awakened clones will have to find their killer–before he strikes again! Maria Arena awakens in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood. She has no memory of how she died. This is new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died. Maria’s vat is one of seven, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it can awaken. And Maria isn’t the only one to die recently…

Jade City, by Fonda Lee 

FAMILY IS DUTY. MAGIC IS POWER. HONOR IS EVERYTHING. Jade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. It has been mined, traded, stolen, and killed for — and for centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their magical abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion. Now, the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon’s bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the districts under their protection. Ancient tradition has little place in this rapidly changing nation. When a powerful new drug emerges that lets anyone — even foreigners — wield jade, the simmering tension between the Kauls and the rival Ayt family erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones — from their grandest patriarch to the lowliest motorcycle runner on the streets — and of Kekon itself. Jade City begins an epic tale of family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of jade and blood.

Autonomous: A Novel, by Annalee Newitz

When anything can be owned, how can we be free. Earth, 2144. Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate, traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood, fabricating cheap scrips for poor people who can’t otherwise afford them. But her latest drug hack has left a trail of lethal overdoses as people become addicted to their work, doing repetitive tasks until they become unsafe or insane. Hot on her trail, an unlikely pair: Eliasz, a brooding military agent, and his robotic partner, Paladin. As they race to stop information about the sinister origins of Jack’s drug from getting out, they begin to form an uncommonly close bond that neither of them fully understand. And underlying it all is one fundamental question: Is freedom possible in a culture where everything, even people, can be owned?