Nebula Awards 2013: Complete list of winners

The 2013 Nebula Awards showcased science fiction and fantasy’s remarkable range, from sprawling space opera to deeply personal narratives that fit in a handful of pages. Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice claimed the award for Best Novel, introducing readers to an unforgettable protagonist—a fragment of an artificial intelligence that once inhabited thousands of bodies. The novel’s exploration of identity, consciousness, and empire through a distinctly queer lens marked a significant moment for the genre, and the Nebula win foreshadowed the acclaim that would follow at the Hugo Awards and beyond. Around it, the year’s other winners demonstrated the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s commitment to recognizing voices across the field’s full spectrum of form and perspective.

That commitment crystallized in the shorter categories, where storytellers pushed genre conventions in unexpected directions. Aliette de Bodard’s The Waiting Stars brought Vietnamese-influenced worldbuilding to the forefront of science fiction, while Rachel Swirsky’s Best Short Story winner, If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love, proved that speculative fiction’s most cutting emotional truths could emerge in stories barely a few thousand words long. Nalo Hopkinson’s Sister Mine added another essential voice to the Best Young Adult category, rounding out a slate that felt genuinely diverse both in aesthetics and in the authors behind the work.

Below, explore all the winners and finalists from the 2013 Nebula Awards—a year that helped set the stage for the genre’s continued evolution toward greater inclusivity and formal experimentation.

Best Novel

• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Best Novelette

• The Waiting Stars by Aliette de Bodard

Best Novella

• The Weight of the Sunrise by Vylar Kaftan

Best Short Story

• If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love by Rachel Swirsky

Best Young Adult

• Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson