THIRTY YEARS OF
NEBULA AWARD WINNERS

2001
Darwin's Radio, by Greg Bear. Ballantine, 1999.

A molecular biologist and a "virus hunter" unearth a flu-like disease that strikes only pregnant women that has been dornmant for millions of years.

2000
Parable of the Talents, by Octavia E. Butler. Seven Stories, 1998.

Continues the story of empath Lauren Olamina's struggle for survival in a future United States suffering from violence and decay.

1998
Forever Peace, by Joe Haldeman. Ace, 1997.

In the year 2034 the Ngumi War rages, fought by "soldierboys" --indestructible war machines run by remote control by soldiers hundreds of miles away, like Julian Class, who has become so burnt out by the genocide that he wonders if it might be worth dying just to stop living. Then Julian and his scientist lover, Dr. Amelia Harding, make a terrifying discovery that could literally put the universe back to square one.

1997
The Moon and the Sun, by Vonda McIntyre. Pocket, 1997.

A historical fantasy set in 1693 at the court of Sun King Louis XIV of France. When her brother Yves returns from a naturalist voyage with two sea monsters (one live, one dead), Marie-Josèphe is caught up in a battle of wills involving the fate of the living creature. The king intends to test whether the sea monster holds the secrets of immortality, but Marie-Josèphe knows the creature to be an intelligent, lonely being who yearns only to be set free.

1996
Slow River, by Nicola Griffith. Ballantine, 1995.

Lore van de Oest, the wealthy daughter of a powerful bioengineering magnate, is kidnaped, but escapes from her captors when she realizes her family isn't going to pay the ransom. Naked, alone, and wounded, she is saved by the brutally street-smart Spanner, who teaches Lore to survive by exploiting the Net (and human) weaknesses. But only Lore could heal her own scarred psyche . . . and only by confronting her devastating past.

1995
The Terminal Experiment, by Robert J. Sawyer. HarperPrism, 1995.

To test his theories of immortality, Dr. Peter Hobson creates three electronic clones of himself, who escape from his computer into the international electronic matrix, where one of them begins to kill.

1994
Moving Mars, by Greg Bear. TOR, 1993.

While opposing political factions on Mars battle for the support of colonists, scientists make a staggering scientific breakthrough that at once fuels the conflict and creates a united Mars front, as the technically superior Earth tries to take credit for it. Backed against a wall, colonial leaders are forced to make a monumental decision that changes the future of Mars forever.

1993
Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Bantam, 1993.

In the year 2026, as a group of 100 colonists attempt the terraforming of Mars, rivalries, loves, and friendships will form and fall to pieces-for there are those who will fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed. Followed by Green Mars (1994) and Blue Mars (1996).

1992
Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis. Bantam, 1992.

Journeying back in time to the year 1320, twenty-first-century Oxford woman Kivrin Engles arrives in the past on the eve of the outbreak of the Black Plague.

1991
Stations of the Tide, by Michael Swanwick. Morrow, 1991.

In this futuristic take on Shakespeare's "The Tempest", the planet of Miranda awaits an approaching cataclysm while Gregorian, a brilliant renegade scientist and busy wizard, arrives on the planet with plans to remake the dying world in his own evil image.

1990
Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Bantam, 1990.

Sequel to: A Wizard Of Earthsea (1975), The Tombs Of Atuan (1971), and The Farthest Shore (1972). In the twenty five years since The Tombs of Atuan Tenar has married, raised two children and been widowed. In Tehanu she adopts a maltreated and scarred child called Therru and journeys to the side of the dying mage Ogion.

1989
The Healer's War, by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. Doubleday, 1988.

Lt. Kitty McCulley, a nurse serving during the Vietnamese war, is having a difficult time with her nursing responsibilities and with her interactions with others. An elderly Vietnamese holy man gives her an amulet which allows her to see the "auras" of others. It helps her guide herself through the war and helps her find herself in the end.

1988
Falling Free, by Lois Mcmaster Bujold. Baen, 1988.

A secret, commercial, genetic-engineering project has produced a new species of human (quadies) who have two additional arms instead of legs, making them ideally suited to work in free fall. The corporation considers them property rather than workers since it was the corporation that actually made them. Leo Graf, a visiting welding instructor and engineer, sets out to free them.

1987
The Falling Woman, by Pat Murphy. Doherty, 1986.

Elizabeth Waters, an archeologist who abandoned her husband and daughter years ago to pursue her career, has the ability to see the shadows of the past, a gift that often leads her to incredible archeological discoveries and the realization that she might be going mad. Then on a dig in the Yucatan, the spirit of a Mayan priestess speaks to her. Suddenly Elizabeth's daughter Diane arrives, hoping to reconnect with her mother. As mother, daughter and priestess fall into the mysterious world of Mayan magic, it is clear one will be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.

1986
Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card. Doubleday, 1986.

Sequel to Ender's Game (Nebula Award Winner 1985). Followed by Xenocide (1991); Ender's Shadow (1999).

1985
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. Doherty, 1985.

Ender Wiggin is one of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens, known here as "buggers," Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers. Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender. Followed by: Speaker for the Dead (Nebula Award Winner 1986).

1984
Neuromancer, by William Gibson. Ace, 1984.

Cyberpunk tale of Case, the sharpest data thief in the Matrix, stealing encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a cure--for a price. Followed by: Count Zero (1986) and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988).

1983
Startide Rising, by David Brin. Bantam, 1983.

Sequel to: Sundiver (1980). A small Terran survey ship crewed by dolphins, humans and a monkey has discovered an ancient derelict fleet that just might be a clue to the fate of the first sentient species in the Five Galaxies, but the news of this discovery sends the other, older sentients into a frenzied effort to capture the ship for themselves, forcing the damaged and hunted Streaker to land on the water world of Kithrup to hide and make repairs. Followed by: The Uplift War (1987) and the New Uplift Trilogy featuring Brightness Reef (1995), Infinity's Shore (1996), and Heaven's Reach (1998).

1982
No Enemy But Time, by Michael Bishop. Timescape, 1982.

John Monegal's visions of mammoth creature and feral protohumans target him for a secret government time-travel experiment that hurls him back millions of years into the prehistoric era of his dreams. When his one link with his own time breaks down, he must join with the wary protohumans and share their endless struggle for survival.

1981
The Claw of the Conciliator, by Gene Wolfe. Timescape, 1981.

Volume 2 (after The Shadow of the Torturer, S&S, 1980) of the Book of the New Sun. Severian, a torturer exiled for falling in love with one of his victims and allowing her to take her own life rather than subject her to torture, continues his journey to Thrax, the city of his exile. Accompanied by Jonas, his not-quite-mortal companion, Severian is armed with his sword, Terminus Est, and a gem believed to be "The Claw of the Conciliator" a powerful relic of the legendary Master of Power. Followed by: The Sword of the Lictor (1981).

1980
Timescape, by Gregory Bendford. S&S, 1980.

In the year 1998, a group of scientists work desperately to communicate with their 1962 counterparts to warn them of an ecological disaster that will destroy the oceans of the future.

1979
The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke. HBJ, 1979.

In the mid-22nd century an engineer, the man who already built a bridge over the Straits of Gibraltar and now undertakes the project that will earn his name a place in history: the orbital Tower.

1978
Dreamsnake, by Vonda McIntyre. HM, 1978.

In the post-apocalyptic future, a young woman who travels the earth healing the sick with the help of her companion, the dreamsnake, is pursued by dark forces.

1977
Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. Ballantine, 1977.

Gateway opened on all the wealth of the Universe...and on reaches of unimaginable horror. The humans who rode the alien Heechee spacecraft stored on the planetoid couldn't know whether the trip would make them millionaires or corpses, so prospector Robinette Broadhead watched and waited....waited until he felt which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, wealthy and famous Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he has become. Book one of the Heechee Saga. Followed by Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980), Heechee Rendezvous (1984), The Annals of the Heechee (1987), and The Gateway Trip: Tales & Vignettes of the Heechee (1990).

1976
Man Plus, by Frederik Pohl. Random, 1976.

The Man Plus Project begins as a way to explore and colonize Mars by transforming humans into cyborgs. When the international situation on Earth starts to deteriorate alarmingly, it appears that a colony on Mars might be the only hope for survival of the human race. Volunteering to be the next transformed cyborg of the Man Plus Project, Roger Torroway is unaware that the Project is being secretly manipulated by an unknown group of shadowy planners. Prequel to: Mars Plus (1994).

1975
The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman. St. M., 1974.

Drafted into the ranks of Earth's interstellar warriors, Private William Mandella finds his fight against the Taurans secondary to the side-effects of faster-than-light space travel, which affects the rate at which he ages. He ages only months while home on Earth, centuries have passed. Followed by Forever Peace (Nebula Winner, 1997).

1974
The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Shevek, a brilliant scientist from the isolationist planet Anarres risks hostility and death when he tries to topple the walls of hatred and distrust between his home world, the wealthy planet Urras, and the rest of the civilized universe.

1973
Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke. HBJ, 1973.

Astronomers learn that the celestial object they have dubbed Rama is in reality a interstellar spacecraft. Now space explorers and scientists eagerly await mankind's first contact with alien intelligence. Rama II (1989), Garden of Rama (1991), Rama Revealed (1993).

1972
The Gods Themselves, by Isaac Asimov. Doubleday, 1972.

In the late 21st century, mankind is contacted obliquely by creatures living in a parallel universe, one in which the physical laws are slightly different. It is discovered that transferral of certain matter between these universes can release energy into each universe, and this results in the Electron Pump, a clean, unlimited energy source. But an outcast Earth scientist, a rebellious alien inhabitant of a dying planet, and a lunar-born human intuitionist who senses the imminent annihilation of the Sun, are among the few who believe that the Pump is not safe, that is equalizing the physical characteristics of the two universes, as well as transferring matter, and that this equalization will soon lead the sun to go supernova. They know the truth--but who will listen?

1971
A Time of Changes, by Robert Silverberg. Doubleday, 1971.

In Velada Borthan, the northern continent of the planet Borthan, the populace abides by the Covenant, a set of guidelines laid down over a thousand years ago, not long after the planet was settled by humans which dictates that the greatest sin one can imagine is "self-baring"--the sharing of thoughts and feelings with another. In fact, it is a breach of etiquette to even use a first-person singular pronoun. But on the southern continent, called Sumara Borthan, people do not hold to the Covenant. They use a drug there which is the supreme abomination to the northerners: it dissolves the wall between people and enables complete sharing of thoughts and emotions.

1970
Ringworld, by Larry Niven.

On his 200^th birthday, Louis Wu begins traveling around the globe, always ahead of the midnight line, in order to extend the event. He eventually finds himself in the company of a puppeteer, a strange alien race unseen by humans for several centuries, a Kzin diplomat named Speaker-to-Animals and a human woman named Teela Brown on an expedition to explore the most gigantic artificial world outside Known Space: the Ringworld. Followed by The Ringworld Engineers (1980) and The Ringworld Throne (1996).

1969
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Walker, 1969.

Human ambassador Genly Ai arrives on the icy planet Gethen (also called Winter) where the inhabitants are hermaphroditic: neither male nor female, but able to take on the characteristics of either during each sexual cycle. Genly's efforts to bring the planet into contact with the wider universe hinge on the connection between himself and a single Gethenian, Therem Harth rem ir Estraven.

Earlier Winners:

1968: Rite of Passage, by Alexei Panshin. Ace, 1968.
1967: The Einstein Intersection, by Samuel R. Delany.
1966: Babel-17, by Samuel R. Delaney. (tie) Gallancz, 1967 and Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. (tie) HBW, 1966.
1965: Dune, by Frank Herbert. Chilton, 1965.

Created and maintained by: Lynne M. Kennedy.

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