Living Canon

Nebula Awards 1986: Complete list of winners

The 1986 Nebula Awards reminded the science fiction community that the genre’s greatest strength lies in its ability to blend hard ideas with profound human emotion. Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead, the sequel to his acclaimed Ender’s Game, took the Best Novel prize and proved that sequels could deepen and expand upon their predecessors in unexpected ways. Card’s exploration of ethics, xenology, and redemption resonated deeply with voters, cementing his status as one of the field’s most important voices during this period of remarkable creative output.

Beyond the novel category, the 1986 Nebula Awards showcased the genre’s depth across all lengths of fiction. Kate Wilhelm’s “The Girl Who Fell into the Sky,” Lucius Shepard’s “R&R,” and Greg Bear’s “Tangents” represented the range of storytelling that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America valued—from intimate character studies to mind-bending speculative concepts. These selections reflected a year when science fiction was simultaneously exploring the intimate and the cosmic, the realistic and the fantastical.

The Nebula Awards, voted on by active SFWA members rather than fan ballots, have long distinguished themselves as the field’s most writer-centric honor. The 1986 ceremony demonstrated why that distinction matters: these awards recognize the craft and innovation that peers respect, often celebrating work that pushes boundaries rather than merely entertains. Here are the year’s major category winners:

Best Novel

Best Novelette

Best Novella

  • R&R by Lucius Shepard

Best Short Story