Comments: The 1998 Nebula awards are more notable for who didn't win the Best Novel Award than for who did. Vonda N. McIntyre won for her excellent novel The Moon and the Sun, but sitting on the list of losing nominees is George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. Now, A Game of Thrones isn't the first book from a wildly popular series to lose an award, but looking back at this list it seems almost funny that it wasn't the winner, just because given the acclaim that the series has since garnered, one would assume that it had. It is also interesting to see how long ago this was: books eligible for this cycle of the Nebula Awards were published in 1997. That's sixteen years ago, and Martin just recently published volume five in the series for an average pace of less than one book every three years.
However, the 1998 Nebula awards were interesting for a happier although not entirely untarnished reason: writing by women seems to have been getting recognized more regularly in more recent years. Three of the four Nebula Awards went to works written by women, although only nine total entries were. This is a better situation, but not ideal, since the implication is that women could get on the ballot if their work is truly superior - resulting in the high winning percentage among female authors - but the bar for a woman to get on the ballot was still higher than it was for men.
Best Novel
The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre
Other Nominees:
Ancient Shores by Jack McDevitt
Bellwether by Connie Willis
City on Fire by Walter Jon Williams
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
King's Dragon by Kate Elliott
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
Best Novella
Abandon in Place by Jerry Oltion
Other Nominees:
. . . Where Angels Fear to Tread by Allen M. Steele
Chrysalis by Robert Reed
The Funeral March of the Marionettes by Adam-Troy Castro
Loose Ends by Paul Levinson
Primrose and Thorn by Bud Sparhawk
Best Novelette
The Flowers of Aulit Prison by Nancy Kress
Other Nominees:
The Copyright Notice Case by Paul Levinson
The Dog's Story by Eleanor Arnason
The Miracle of Ivar Avenue by John Kessel
Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream by James Alan Gardner
The Undiscovered by William SandersWe Will Drink a Fish Together . . . by Bill Johnson
Best Short Story
Sister Emily's Lightship by Jane Yolen
Other Nominees:
Burning Bright by K.D. Wentworth
The Crab Lice by Gregory Feeley
The Dead by Michael Swanwick
The Elizabeth Complex by Karen Joy Fowler
Itsy Bitsy Spider by James Patrick Kelly
Go to previous year's nominees: 1997
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1999
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