Note: 5/6 stories have legal and free links to read them.

THE 2026 NEBULA AWARD FINALISTS: NOVELETTES

RATED 92% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 4.2 OUT OF 5 

6 STORIES: 2 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 1 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF

The Nebula Award Finalists for Best Novelette were better on average than the Hugo Finalists this year. The only overlap was H.H. Pak’s wonderful story of motherhood, corporate control, and mass genocide on a generation starship. But as good that that is, the Nebula should go to Thomas Ha’s fabulous “Uncertain Sons,” which is also the same of his excellent first story collection.

The Nebula Awards are the second most important awards given in science fiction and fantasy. Unlike the Hugo Awards, which are given by popular vote, the Nebual Awards are voted on by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

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This is the first year that I am trying to review and rank all of the short fiction finalists, but I’ve read many of the Nebula Awards Anthologies.

• Nebula Awards
  • “Nebula Awards 22” edited by George Zebrowski. [1986] - 81%
  • “Nebula Awards 32” edited by Jack Dann. [1998] - 89%
  • “Nebula Awards Showcase 2001.” edited by Robert Silverberg. - 75%
  • “Nebula Awards Showcase 2010.” edited by Bill Fawcett. - 75%
  • “Nebula Awards Showcase 2015.” edited by Greg Bear. - 80%
  • “Nebula Awards Showcase 2016.” edited by Mercedes Lackey. - 75%
  • “Nebula Awards Showcase 60” edited by Stephen Kotowych. [2024] - 79%

Best Short Story

1. “Uncertain Sons”, by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, 2025) Great. A Gene Wolfean sci-fi quest story, revenge story. A young man carries the remnants of his father’s head in a backpack. The young man intends to destroy Behenna - the being, mountain, entity, creator - that killed his father. Also his father’s head is giving him advice. Shades of Vandermeer’s Annihilation or The Red Badge of Courage. Weird, strange, violent, and enthralling.
2. “Never Eaten Vegetables”, by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld 1/25) Great. A sentient transport ship’s ai has to deal with babies that need her when a small number of the embryos awake ahead of schedule. Years later, one of those who were born investigates why the corporation wants to destroy the ai that saved them. I found this a more interesting science fictional examination on abortion than more well know stories like Rabbit Test.
3. “We Begin Where Infinity Ends”, by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld 2/25) Good. A coming of age story where two boys are trying to adjust their streetlights to help fireflies, which are now an endangered species. Drama and complicated feels emerge when a smart young girl arrives. Great for the first 90% and then hampered by the obligatory wish-fulfillment ending coda. The author didn’t have the courage of writing to a media literate reader.
4. “The Name Ziya,” by Wen-Yi Lee (Reactor / Amazon) Good. A fantasy story about a mountain girl in a culture where they are born with magic names on their body. They sell the names and have them ripped off their body to fund opportunities like going to a prestigious school. A classic "poor kid goes to upper class school and becomes different" story, but with thinly veiled magical allegory.
5. “Our Echoes Drifting Through the Marsh”, by Marie Croke (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/9/25) Good. In the Whispermarsh, the dead become echo-bearing wooden statues. This place is made more dangerous by giant heron-like creatures that menace the main characters. Good idea, hampered slightly by overly stylized prose.
6. “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) Average. A story told in the reviews and comments attached to a fictional fantasy book series. The story explores the friendship of two women and the life of a writer. Some themes about queer youth, friendship, and the career of writing. Unfortunately, it is too tied up in the cutesy premise to be much of a story.

Prompt:
Create a deeply researched editorial-style infographic that transforms a highly complex topic into something understandable. Use premium visual design: a clean grid layout, bold typography, subtle gradients, a refined color palette, elegant icons, data visualizations, layered diagrams, and clear hierarchy. Prioritize peer-reviewed articles and respected publications as references.

The theme is Captain Kirk vs Captain Picard in Star Trek

Make the aspect ratio 4:3

Posted her to spark discussion and hopefully inspire people to read more short scifi.

THE 2026 HUGO AWARD FINALISTS: NOVELETTES 

RATED 83% POSITIVE. STORY SCORE = 3.8 OUT OF 5 

6 STORIES: 1 GREAT / 3 GOOD / 2 AVERAGE / 0 POOR / 0 DNF

In Science Fiction, the most prestigious awards are the Hugo Awards. Voted on by the fans who buy a voting membership and are given out at  The World Science Fiction Convention.  The 84th World Science Fiction Convention will take place on August 27-31, 2026 in Anaheim, California. The list of finalists just dropped.

The best thing I can say about this year’s Hugo Finalists for Best Novelette is that they are all fast reads. These stories all emphasize storytelling over complex prose structure. In doing so, they put their ideas and characters front and center. I appreciate that.

Once again every story is available online for free. The problem of the 2020s Hugo award persists in that people love free stuff, but most of the best stories are behind paywalls. I don’t know how the Hugo Awards will ever combat this … or even if they want to.

But I shouldn’t complain too much, there are some good stories worth reading here, with the HH Pak story being the most worthy of the name Hugo.

This is the sixth year that I am trying to review and rank all of the short fiction finalists.

• Novella. Stories of between 17,500 and 40,000 words. (Reviewed:  2024, 2023 & 2022)
• Novelettes. Stories of between 7,500 and 17,500 words (Reviewed: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 & 2021)
• Short Stories. Stories of less than 7,500 words. (Reviewed: 2025, 2024, 2022 & 2021)

Best Short Story

1. “Never Eaten Vegetables” by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld, Issue 220) Great.  A sentient transport ship’s ai has to deal with babies that need her when a small number of the embryos awake ahead of schedule. Years later, one of those who were born investigates why the corporation wants to destroy the ai that saved them. I found this a more interesting science fictional examination of abortion than more well known stories like Rabbit Test.
2. “Kaiju Agonistes” by Scott Lynch (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 62) Good. A fun alternate history where a monster - seeded thousands of years ago - is awakened by the dropping of the atom bomb. It tries to get humanity to learn from its violent attacks, but humanity isn’t listening. So the Messenger has to find another way.
3. “When He Calls Your Name” by Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 65) Good. A charming vampire/succubus story, closely inspired by the famous Dolly Parton song “Jolene.”
4. “The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For” by Cameron Reed (Reactor, April 2, 2025) Good. A trans-woman is sterile and can’t give the CEO the clone she requires, so that CEO finds a woman who will. Things go pear-shaped at the 2 must escape their home.
5. “The Millay Illusion” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 67) Average. Pleasant enough character study of an orphan girl who performs as a boy in the circus. She meets a young female magician who isn’t getting enough respect from the owners of circus, so she heads off to find her own success. 
6. “Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy” by Martha Wells (Reactor, July 10, 2025) Average. A well written part of a story. Some humans and an ai sneak aboard a corporate space station, but the ai is getting them problems. It has something on its mind. This feels like a vignette in an existing universe or a chapter in an unfinished novel. The Martha Wells fans obviously put this incomplete story here.