The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced their annual awards to honor the best science fiction and fantasy writing from 2018.  The organization was founded in 1965 with a charter membership of 78 writers.  It now has over 1500 members among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy.  The Nebula Awards have been given each year since for the best novel, novella, novelette and short story; other categories were added over the years.  This year’s nominees are a particularly rich selection.

               

The winner of Best Novel was “The Calculating Stars” by Mary Robinette Kowal.  It is set in an alternate version of American history after an asteroid lands off the coast of North America in 1953 setting off a climate disaster.  With a future where life on this planet will be impossible, the nations of the world race to start a space program to colonize the Solar System. 

               

Its heroine is Emma York who served during World War II as a pilot.  Her husband is an engineer working with NASA and she is determined that women will be included in this space program.  Fighting against prejudice, she recruits other female pilots and they campaign and compete to be included.  Fans of the movie, “Hidden Figures” will love this story of persistence and enjoy the insider details of the early space program.   There is a sequel, “The Fated Sky” about the first settlements on the moon and Mars.

               

Other nominees for Best Novel are “The Poppy War” by R. F. Kuang, “Blackfish City” by Sam J. Miller, “Spinning Silver” by Naomi Novik, “Witchmark” by C. L. Polk and “Trail of Lightning” by Rebecca Roanhorse.

               

The Best Novella was Aliette de Bodard’s “The Tea Master and the Detective,” and the Best Novelette is “The Only Harmless Great Thing” by Brooke Bolander.

               

Competition for the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book was stiff.  The nominees were “Aru Shah and the End of Time” by Roshani Chokshi, “A Light in the Dark” by A.K. Duboff, “Tess of the Road“ by Rachel Hartman, “Dread Nation” by Justina Ireland and “Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword” by Henry Lien.  The winner was “Children of Blood and Bone” by Tomi Adeyemi.

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” won the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation.

               

The library will be closed this weekend for the Memorial Day holiday and will re-open on Tuesday, May 28^th from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.  If you run out of something to read or watch, or the weather interferes with your holiday outings, just remember the WVDELI, Axis 360 and Hoopla are available online 24/7.