The Nebula Awards: Which science fiction and fantasy books won?

Published Monday, June 15, 2026

Every year the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association honor the best in science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. This year's Nebula Awards were announced the beginning of June. A selection of the winners is below.

The Nebula Award for Novel

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter Cover image
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
by Stephen Graham Jones

This chilling historical novel is set in the nascent days of the state of Montana, following a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation looking for justice.

It begins when a diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall in 2012. What is unveiled is a slow massacre, a nearly forgotten chain of events that goes back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow, told in the transcribed interviews with Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar and unnaturally long life over a series of confessional visits.

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Nominees

When We Were Real, by Daryl Gregory
Katabasis
, by R.F. Kuang
Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor (
The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh
Sour Cherry, by Natalia Theodoridou
Wearing the Lion, by John Wiswell

The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

Into the Wild Magic book cover
Into the Wild Magic
by Michelle Knudsen

Eleven-year-old Bevvy spends her time avoiding other kids, playing with her neighbor’s kittens, and escaping into her fantasy novels. When new girl Cat arrives at school, Bevvy thinks she may finally have found a friend, until Cat provokes Bevvy’s worst tormentor and leaves her alone to deal with the consequences. Later, on Bevvy’s doorstep, Cat’s apology is cut short when a car with dark windows rolls up. Bolting into a nearby wood with Bevvy in tow, Cat proceeds to open a hole, in the air, just in time. Bevvy knows magic when she sees it, the kind in books, but the world the girls escape to—teeming with unicorns, sorcerers, and dragons—is shockingly, exhilaratingly real. It’s a world at war. Those who wield wild magic, in tune with nature, are pitted against dark sorcerers. As Bevvy’s role in the struggle grows, and her confidence with it, can she trust Cat to support her? Can she trust herself not to run? An acclaimed author builds a breathtaking and emotionally resonant world where magic and monsters are real and friendship and risk go hand in hand.

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Nominees

The Tower, by David Anaxagoras
Gemini Rising, by Jonathan Brazee
Wishing Well, Wishing Well
, by Jubilee Cho
Sunrise on the Reaping
, by Suzanne Collins
Goblin Girl, by K.A. Mielke

The Nebula Award for Novella

The River has roots book cover
The River Has Roots
by Amal El-Mohtar

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.

There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…

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Nominees

Disgraced Return of the Kap’s Needle, by Renan Bernardo
The Death of Mountains, by Jordan Kurella
Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz
But Not Too Bold, by Hache Pueyo
“Descent”, by Wole Talabi

Katherine Cropped Black And White
About the Author

Katherine is the Operations Coordinator and has been working at EPL since 2008. She loves books, especially ones with unique plots and those written so well that she can't put them down.