The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is holding its Nebula Awards conference in Los Angeles this weekend, and tonight, the group announced the winners of the 2019 Nebula Awards, which honor the best science fiction and fantasy writing from 2018.

Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Calculating Stars, the first installment of her Lady Astronaut series, took home the top honor. The novel (and its companion, The Fated Sky) are set in an alternate history in which an asteroid landed off the coast of North America in 1953, setting off a climate catastrophe. To prevent the extinction of the human race, various nations around the world kick-start an alternate space race to colonize the Solar System before it’s too late.

The book’s central character, Emma York, is a former WASP who served during World War II and finds herself — and her fellow female pilots — shut out of the selection process to become an astronaut, and fights to ensure that they’ll be part of the space program. In addition to last year’s The Fated Sky, Kowal has added to the world with a number of short stories — “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” (which won the 2014 Hugo Award), “We Interrupt This Broadcast,” “Rocket’s Red,” “The Phobos Experience,” and “Articulated Restraint.” Fans of the series can also expect two additional Lady Astronaut novels in the near future: The Relentless Moon will come out in 2020, while The Derivative Base will arrive in 2022.

Other winners tonight were Aliette de Bodard for her novella The Tea Master and the Detective; Brooke Bolander for her novelette The Only Harmless Great Thing; and Phenderson Djèlí Clark for his short story “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington.”

Here is the full list of winners (winners are bold). (We’ve linked our reviews and stories that are available online.)

NOVEL

• The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
• Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller (Ecco; Orbit UK)
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Del Rey; Macmillan)
• Witchmark by C.L. Polk (Tor.com Publishing)
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

NOVELLA

• Fire Ant by Jonathan P. Brazee (Semper Fi)
• The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
• The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean)
• Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield (Tor.com Publishing)
• Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson (Tor.com Publishing)
• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

NOVELETTE

SHORT STORY

GAME WRITING

• Black Mirror: Bandersnatch by Charlie Brooker (House of Tomorrow & Netflix)
• The Road to Canterbury by Kate Heartfield (Choice of Games)
• God of War by Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog, Orion Walker, and Adam Dolin (Santa Monica Studio / Sony / Interactive Entertainment)
• Rent-A-Vice by Natalia Theodoridou (Choice of Games)
• The Martian Job by M. Darusha Wehm (Choice of Games)

THE RAY BRADBURY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC PRESENTATION

• The Good Place: “Jeremy Bearimy,” written by Megan Amram
• Black Panther, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole
• A Quiet Place, screenplay by John Krasinski, Bryan Woods, and Scott Beck
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman
• Dirty Computer, written by Janelle Monáe and Chuck Lightning
• Sorry to Bother You, written by Boots Riley

THE ANDRE NORTON AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION OR FANTASY BOOK

• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt; Macmillan)
• Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi (Rick Riordan Presents)
• A Light in the Dark by A.K. DuBoff (BDL)
• Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (Random House)
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)
• Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien (Henry Holt)

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/19/18624664/nebula-awards-2019-winners-novels-books-novellas-kowal-calculating-stars-science-fiction-fantasy