Comments: In 2005 the inevitable happened, as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took home the Best Script award. Given the massive success of the Lord of the Rings series of movies, this victory was pretty much assured from the moment that it reached the big screen, but one has to wonder if it was actually deserved. This is not to say that The Return of the King wasn't a good movie - there's no question that it was - but rather that when compared to its competition, it was simply not nearly as creative or imaginative. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was filled with thought provoking questions concerning identity and memory, and The Incredibles was a brilliantly witty story that inverted a number of superhero fiction tropes. The Return of the King, on the other hand, was a standard generic fantasy story. Granted, the source material is the reason that this sort of story has become standard in popular culture, but rehashing a classic book made nearly fifty years earlier is still rehashing a book made nearly fifty years earlier. The Return of the King was the safe choice, the bland choice, and the predictable choice. And by choosing it, the Nebula voters demonstrated that they are safe, bland, and predictable.
Best Novel
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
Other Nominees:
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
The Knight by Gene Wolfe
Omega by Jack McDevitt
Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart
Best Novella
The Green Leopard Plague by Walter Jon Williams
Other Nominees:
The Cookie Monster by Vernor Vinge
Just Like the Ones We Used to Know by Connie Willis
The Tangled Strings of the Marionettes by Adam-Troy Castro
Walk in Silence by Catherine Asaro
Best Novelette
Basement Magic by Ellen Klages
Other Nominees:
Dry Bones by William Sanders
The Gladiator's War: A Dialog by Lois Tilton
The Voluntary State by Christopher Rowe
Zora and the Zombie by Andy Duncan
Best Short Story
Coming to Terms by Eileen Gunn
Other Nominees:
Aloha by Ken Wharton
Embracing-the-New by Benjamin Rosenbaum
In the Late December by Greg van Eekhout
The Strange Redemption of Sister Mary Ann by Mike Moscoe
Travels with My Cats by Mike Resnick
Best Script
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson
Other Nominees:
The Butterfly Effect by J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry
The Incredibles by Brad Bird
Go to previous year's nominees: 2004
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2006
Book Award Reviews Home