'Blackout/All Clear' wins Nebula Award for Best Novel

The Science Fiction Writers of American (SFWA) announced the winners of this year’s slate of Nebula Awards during an awards banquet Saturday night in Washington, D.C. and “Blackout/All Clear” by Connie Willis received the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Interestingly, “Blackout/All Clear” is actually one novel that was released in two parts by Spectra Publishing. “Blackout” was the first part, released on Feb. 2, 2010, and “All Clear” was the second part, released on Oct. 19, 2010.

The other nominees for Best Novel this year included:
- Native Star by M.K. Hobson
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
- Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette
- Echo by Jack McDevitt
- Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

The Nebula Awards, which are voted on by the SFWA’s membership and are given annually to recognize the best science fiction and fantasy fiction published in the U.S. during the previous year, were also given in three other categories, i.e., best novelette, best novella and best short story. There are also three special awards – the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and the Solstice Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field.

This year’s Best Novella award went to “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky.

The winner for Best Novelette went to “That Leviathan Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone.

There was a time for Best Short Story with awards going to “Ponies” by Kij Johnson and “How Interesting: A Tiny Man” by Harlan Ellison.

The Ray Bradbury Award went to the movie “Inception,” and the Andre Norton Award went to “I Shall Wear Midnight” by Terry Pratchett.

This year’s Nebula for Best Novel is just one of many Sci-Fi awards that she has received over the years. By my count, she’s published 14 novels and six short story collections.

Her novels include:
- Water Witch (1982, with Cynthia Felice)
- Lincoln’s Dreams (1987)
- Light Raid (1989, with Cynthia Felice)
- Doomsday Book (1992)
- Impossible Things (1993)
- Remake (1994)
- Uncharted Territory (1994)
- Bellwether (1996)
- Promised Land (1997, with Cynthia Felice)
- To Say Nothing of the Dog (1998)
- Passage (2001)
- Inside Job (2005)
- Blackout (2010)
- All Clear (2010)

Her short story collections include:
- Fire Watch (1984)
- Impossible Things (1993)
- Futures Imperfect (1996)
- Even the Queen: And Other Short Stories (1998)
- Miracle and Other Christmas Stories (1999)
- The Winds of Marbel Arch and Other Stories: A Connie Willis Compendium (2007)

In the end, how many of the books mentioned above have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.