Speaker for the Dead

1986 novel by Orson Scott Card

Not to be confused with Speaker of the Dead.

Speaker for the Dead

Cover of first edition (hardcover)

Author| Orson Scott Card
Cover artist| John Harris
Language| English
Series| Ender's Game series
Genre| Science fiction
Publisher| Tor Books

Publication date

| March 1986
Publication place| United States
Pages| 415
Award| Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1987)
ISBN| 0-312-93738-5
OCLC| 13201341
Preceded by| Ender's Game
Followed by| Xenocide

Speaker for the Dead is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, an indirect sequel to the 1985 novel Ender's Game. The book takes place around the year 5270, some 3,000 years after the events in Ender's Game. However, because of relativistic space travel at near-light speed, Ender himself is only about 35 years old.

This is the first book to describe the Starways Congress, a high standpoint legislature for the human space colonies, and the Hundred Worlds, the planets with human colonies that are tightly intertwined by Ansible technology, which enables instantaneous communication across any distance.

Like Ender's Game, the book won the Nebula Award (1986)[1] and the Hugo Award (1987).[2] Speaker for the Dead was published in a slightly revised edition in 1991. It was followed by Xenocide and Children of the Mind.

## Setting

[edit]

Some years after the eradication of the Formic species (in Ender's Game), Ender Wiggin writes a book called The Hive Queen, describing the life of the Formics as described to him by the dormant Formic Queen whom he secretly carries. As humanity uses light-speed travel to establish new colonies, Ender and his sister Valentine age slowly through relativistic travel. Ender's older brother, the now-aged Hegemon of Earth, Peter Wiggin, recognizes Ender's writings in The Hive Queen, and requests Ender write for him once he dies. Ender agrees and authors The Hegemon. These two books, written under the pseudonym "Speaker for the Dead", launch a new spiritual movement of Speakers for the Dead, who have authority to investigate and eulogize a person and their work after their death. The Hive Queen also shifts societal opinion about the Formic war, leading humanity to view Ender Wiggin, previously a hero, as responsible for a tragic and cruel xenocide, 'xeno-', meaning alien, and '-cide', referring to the act of killing, together meaning the act of killing populations of aliens (comparable to genocide).

Three thousand years after the Formic xenocide, humans have spread across the Hundred Worlds, ruled by Starways Congress. A Brazilian Catholic human colony called Milagre is established on the planet Lusitania (1886 S.C.). The planet is home to a sentient species of symbiotic forest dwellers. The colonists (who primarily speak Portuguese) dub them "Pequeninos" (Little Ones) but they are often referred to as "piggies" due to their porcine snouts. Their society is matriarchal and gender-segregated, and their belief system centers around the trees of the forests. The Pequeninos prove to be of great interest to scientists. Since humans had destroyed the only sentient species they had encountered (the Formics), special care is taken to ensure no similar mistakes are made with the Pequeninos. The human colony is fenced in, strictly regulated to limit contact with the Pequeninos to a handful of scientists, and forbidden to share human technology or culture with them.

Shortly after the colony's founding, many of the colonists die from the Descolada virus (Portuguese for "uncoiled"), which alters DNA and causes terrible pain, rampant cancerous growth of fungus and even extra limbs, decay of healthy tissue, and death. The xenobiologists Gusto and Cida von Hesse manage to create a treatment for the virus before succumbing to it themselves (1936 S.C.), leaving behind their young daughter Novinha.

## Synopsis

[edit]

Ender's Game series

Chronology

In chronological order

Earth Unaware
Earth Afire
Earth Awakens
The Swarm
The Hive
The Queens
"Mazer in Prison"
"The Polish Boy"
"Teacher's Pest"
"Pretty Boy"
"Cheater"
Ender's Game
'Recruiting Valentine'
A War of Gifts
Ender's Shadow
'The League War'
Children of the Fleet
Ender in Exile
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant
Shadows in Flight
"Investment Counselor"
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
The Last Shadow

In publication order

Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
First Meetings
Shadow of the Giant
A War of Gifts: An Ender Story
Ender in Exile
Shadows in Flight
Earth Unaware
Earth Afire
Earth Awakens
The Swarm
Children of the Fleet
The Hive
The Last Shadow
The Queens

* v
* t
* e

Chart

Short Stories

|   |

Novels

|   |

Comics

|   |

Audioplay

|   |

Film

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  | First Meetings
(in the Enderverse)
(2002 (2003)) | Ender's Game

Investment Counselor
The Polish Boy
Teacher's Pest

|  | Formic Wars:
Burning Earth
(2011)

Formic Wars:
Silent Strike
(2012)
First Formic
War Trilogy |  | Earth Unaware
(2012)

Earth Afire
(2013)
Earth Awakens
(2014)
|  | War of Gifts
(2010) | Mazer in Prison

Recruiting Valentine
The League War
War of Gifts
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| OSCs InterGalactic
Medicine Show
(2008) | Mazer in Prison

Cheater
Pretty Boy
A Young Man with
Prospects
| | | | Second Formic
War Trilogy |  | The Swarm
(2016)

The Hive
(2019)
The Queens
(TBA)
| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | |  | Mazer in Prison
(2005)

| Mazer in Prison
(2010)

| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |  | The Polish Boy
(2002)

| Cheater
(2006)

|  | Pretty Boy
(2006)

| | | | |  | Teacher's Pest
(2003)

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| Ender's Shadow
(1999)

[note 1]
Ender's Shadow: | Battle School
(2009)

Command School
(2010)
Ultimate collection
(2012)

|  | Ender's Game
Alive
(2013)

Recruiting Valentine
(2009)

The League War
(2010)

|  | Ender's Game
(1977)

Ender's Game
(1985)
[note 1]
Ender's Game: | Battle School
(2009)

Command School
(2010)
Ultimate collection
(2012)

Ender's Game
(2013)
|  |  | Ender's Stocking
(2007)

A War of Gifts
(2007)
[note 1]

War of Gifts
(2009)

| | | | | | | |
| |
The Shadow Trilogy
| [note 2][note 3]

| Shadow of the Hegemon
(2001)

Shadow Puppets
(2002)
Shadow of the Giant
(2005)
|  | Ender's Homecoming
(2008)

A Young Man with
Prospects (2007)
Ender in Flight
(2008)
The Gold Bug
(2007)
| Ender in Exile
(2008)

[note 2]
Ender in Exile
(2011)

Gold Bug
(2010)
| Fleet School
| [note 4]

| Children of the Fleet
(2017)

...
(TBC)

| | | | |
| | |  | Governor Wiggin
(2017)

| | | | |
| | |  | Investment Counselor
(1999)

| | | | |  | Renegat
(2017)

| Shadows in Flight
(2012)

| | | |
| |   |

Speaker for the Dead
(2011)
Gloriously Bright
(1991)

The Speaker Trilogy | [note 3]

| Speaker for the Dead
(1986)

Xenocide
(1991)
Children of the Mind
(1996)
| | |
| Messenger
(2018)

| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| The Last Shadow
(2021)

| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | |

1. ^ a b c The events of Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow and A War of Gifts take place in roughly the same time period.
The events of A War of Gifts only take place during the time at Battle School).
2. ^ a b The events of Ender in Exile and the Shadow Trilogy take place in roughly the same time period.
\- First part of Ender in Exile (2/3) takes place during the Shadow Trilogy.
\- Last part of Ender in Exile (1/3) takes places after Shadow of the Giant.
3. ^ a b Note on the following (maybe not yet so common) Trilogies:
"Speaker Trilogy": Original set of sequels to Ender's Game, also referred to as:
\- "Ender Quartet" (Ender's Game combined with "Speaker Trilogy"), also referred to as:
\- "Ender Quintet" ("Ender Quartet" combined with Ender in Exile).
"Shadow Trilogy": Original set of sequels to Ender's Shadow, also referred to as:
\- "Bean Quartet"/"Shadow Quartet" (Ender's Shadow combined with "Shadow Trilogy"), also referred to as:
\- "Bean Quintet"/"Shadow Quintet" ("Bean Quartet" combined with Shadows in Flight), could be referred to as:
\- "Bean Sextet"/"Shadow Sextet" ("Bean Quintet" combined with The Last Shadow)
4. ^ Title is also mentioned in regard to a possible sequel for the film.

* v
* t
* e

Eight years after the Descolada virus has been brought under control, Xenologer Pipo and his thirteen-year-old son and apprentice Libo have developed a friendship with the Pequeninos. They allow Novinha to join their science team as the colony's only xenobiologist after she passes the test at age thirteen. After accidentally sharing information about human genders with a male Pequenino named Rooter, the scientists find Rooter's body eviscerated with a sapling planted within it. Guessing this may be a torturous sacrificial ritual, restrictions on studying the Pequeninos are enforced, barring the humans from asking questions directly to Pequeninos.

A few years later, Novinha discovers that every lifeform on Lusitania carries the Descolada virus which, though lethal to humans, appears to serve a beneficial purpose to native lifeforms. When Pipo learns of this, he suddenly has an insight, and before he tells the others, races off to talk to the Pequeninos. Libo and Novinha find Pipo's body cut open just as Rooter's had been, but with no sapling planted. As Pipo's death appears unprovoked, the Pequeninos are now considered a threat by the Starways Congress and restrictions on studying them are tightened. Distraught, Novinha makes a call for a Speaker for the Dead for Pipo. She is in love with Libo but fears that if he sees her files of research he will make the same discovery as Pipo and meet the same fate. She marries another colonist, Marcos Ribeira, so as to lock her files from being opened.

Andrew Wiggin, unbeknownst by others to be the Ender Wiggin responsible for the Formic xenocide, lives innocuously on the planet Trondheim. He responds to Novinha's call, parting with his sister, Valentine, who had traveled with him but is now settled with a family. He travels with an artificial intelligence named Jane who communicates with Ender through a jewel earring; she was born in the Ansible network that enables faster-than-light communications and keeps her existence secret. After relativistic travel, Ender arrives at Lusitania 22 years later (1970 S.C.), finding that Novinha canceled her request for a Speaker five days after sending it. In the intervening time, Libo died in the same manner as Pipo, and Marcos succumbed to a chronic illness. Novinha's eldest children, Ela and Miro, have requested a Speaker for Libo and Marcos. Ender, gaining access to all of the appropriate files, learns of tension since Pipo's death: Novinha has turned away from xenobiology to study crop growth and had a loveless abusive relationship with Marcos; Miro has secretly worked with Libo's daughter Ouanda to continue to study the Pequeninos, breaking the law to share human technology and knowledge with them. Miro and Ouanda have fallen in love. With Ender's arrival, Miro tells him that one of the Pequeninos, Human, has taken a great interest in Ender, and Ender becomes aware that Human can hear messages from the Formic Hive Queen. Ender discovers that Marcos was infertile: all six of Novinha's children were fathered by Libo. Ender also learns what Pipo had seen in Novinha's data.

As word of Miro's and Ouanda's illegal sharing of human technology with the Pequeninos is reported to Congress, Ender secretly meets with the Pequeninos. They know his true identity and they implore him to help them be part of civilization, while the Formic Queen tells Ender that Lusitania would be an ideal place to restart the hive, as her race can help guide the Pequeninos. Congress orders Miro and Ouanda to be sent off-planet for penal action and the colony be disbanded. Ender delivers his eulogy for Marcos, revealing Novinha's infidelity. Miro, distraught to learn that he is Ouanda's half-brother, attempts to escape to the Pequeninos, but he suffers neurological damage after he tries to cross the electrified fence. Ender reveals to the colony what Pipo learned: every life form on Lusitania is paired with another through the Descolada virus, so that the death of one births the other. In the case of the Pequeninos, they become trees when they die. The colony leaders agree to rebel against Congress, severing their Ansible connection and deactivating the fence, allowing Ender, Ouanda, and Ela to go with Human to speak to the Pequenino wives, to help establish a case to present to Congress.

The Pequenino wives help Ender corroborate the complex life cycle of the Pequeninos, affirming that the death ritual Pipo observed was to help create "fathertrees" who fertilize the Pequenino females to continue their race. The Pequeninos believed they were honoring Pipo, and later Libo, by helping them become fathertrees, but Ender explains that humans lack this "third life", and if the Pequeninos are to cohabitate with humans, they must respect this difference. To affirm their understanding and agreement, Ender is asked to perform the ritual of giving Human "third life" as a fathertree.

Miro recovers from most of the physical damage from his encounter with the fence, but he is partially paralyzed; Ender transfers Jane to him, and she becomes Miro's companion. Valentine and her family decide to travel from Trondheim to Lusitania to help with the revolt and will arrive in some decades due to relativistic travel; Ender sends Miro to meet them halfway. Novinha finally absolves herself of her guilt for the death of Pipo and Libo. She and Ender marry. Ender plants the Hive Queen as per her request, and he writes his third book, a biography of the life of the Pequenino Human.

## Film adaptation

[edit]

At the Los Angeles Times Book Festival on April 20, 2013, Card stated that he did not want Speaker for the Dead to be made into a film: "Speaker for the Dead is unfilmable," Card said in response to a question from the audience. "It consists of talking heads, interrupted by moments of excruciating and unwatchable violence. Now, I admit, there's plenty of unwatchable violence in film, but never attached to my name. Speaker for the Dead, I don't want it to be filmed. I can't imagine it being filmed."[3]

## Influence

[edit]

Card wrote in his introduction to the 1991 edition that he had received letters from readers who conducted "Speakings" at funerals.[4]

## Reception

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2022)

|

David Langford reviewed Speaker for the Dead for White Dwarf #91, and stated that "Despite token guilt at his genocide of the sensitively named alien 'buggers;' (previous book), Ender never suffers for his triumphs - even though Card is strong on suffering for everyone else, and happily cripples a young boy to add needless excitement to the finale. I was impressed by this thoughtful SF adventure, but with reservations ..."[5] AudioFile reviewed the book as "giving life to the emotional and intellectual challenge of the story" and described it as "brilliant and compelling".[6] Publishers Weekly described it as a "rich and ambitious novel" but "overlong".[7]

### Awards

[edit]

* Nebula Award winner, 1986[1]
* Hugo Award winner, 1987[2]
* Locus Award winner, 1987[2]
* John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 1987[2]
* Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis winner, 1989

## See also

[edit]

* List of Ender's Game characters
* Orson Scott Card bibliography

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "1986 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
2. ^ a b c d "1987 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
3. ^ Bloomekatz, Ari (April 20, 2013). "Orson Scott Card talks film, adaptation of 'Ender's Game'". Los Angeles Times.
4. ^ Card, Orson Scott (1991). Speaker for the Dead (revised ed.). New York: Tor Books. p. x.
5. ^ Langford, Dave (July 1987). "Critical Mass". White Dwarf (91). Games Workshop: 11.
6. ^ "SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD". AudioFile.
7. ^ "Speaker for the Dead". Publishers Weekly.

## External links

[edit]

* Quotations related to Orson Scott Card at Wikiquote
* About the novel Speaker for the Dead from Card's website Archived 2008-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
* Speaker for the Dead at Worlds Without End
* Speaker for the Dead title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

* v
* t
* e

Works by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game series

Books|

| Ender Series|

* Ender's Game (1985)
* Speaker for the Dead (1986)
* Xenocide (1991)
* Children of the Mind (1996)
* Ender in Exile (2008)

|

Shadow Saga|

* Ender's Shadow (1999)
* Shadow of the Hegemon (2001)
* Shadow Puppets (2002)
* Shadow of the Giant (2005)
* Shadows in Flight (2012)
* The Last Shadow (2021)

Formic Wars|

* Earth Unaware (2012)
* Earth Afire (2013)
* Earth Awakens (2014)
* The Swarm (2016)
* The Hive (2019)
* The Queens (TBA)

* First Meetings (2002)
* A War of Gifts: An Ender Story (2007)
* Children of the Fleet (2017)

Short stories|

* "Ender's Game" (1977)
* "Gloriously Bright" (1991)
* "Investment Counselor"
* "The Polish Boy"
* "Teacher's Pest"
* "Mazer in Prison"
* "Pretty Boy"
* "Cheater"
* "A Young Man with Prospects"
* "The Gold Bug"
* "Ender's Stocking"
* "Ender's Homecoming"
* "Ender in Flight"
* "Renegat"
* "Governor Wiggin"
* "Messenger"

Other media|

* Comics
* Film

Characters|

* Ender Wiggin
* Formics
* Jane

The Tales of Alvin Maker

Books|

* Seventh Son (1987)
* Red Prophet (1988)
* Prentice Alvin (1989)
* Alvin Journeyman (1995)
* Heartfire (1998)
* The Crystal City (2003)

Other media|

* "Prentice Alvin and the No-Good Plow" (poem, 1989)
* Red Prophet: The Tales of Alvin Maker (comic book, 2006)

The Worthing series

Books|

* Capitol (1979)
* Hot Sleep (1979)
* The Worthing Chronicle (1983)
* The Worthing Saga (1990)

Other works

Homecoming Saga|

* The Memory of Earth (1992)
* The Call of Earth (1992)
* The Ships of Earth (1994)
* Earthfall (1995)
* Earthborn (1995)

Women of Genesis|

* Sarah (2000)
* Rebekah (2001)
* Rachel and Leah (2004)
* The Wives of Israel (TBA)

Mithermages series|

* Sandmagic (1979)
* Stonefather (2008)
* The Lost Gate (2011)
* The Gate Thief (2013)
* Gatefather (2015)

Mayflower series|

* Lovelock (1994)
* Rasputin (TBA)

The Empire duet|

* Empire (2006)
* Hidden Empire (2009)

The Pathfinder series|

* Pathfinder (2010)
* Ruins (2012)
* Visitors (2014)

Standalone novels|

* A Planet Called Treason (1979)
* Songmaster (1980)
* Hart's Hope (1983)
* Saints (1984)
* Wyrms (1987)
* Treason (1988)
* The Abyss (1989)
* Lost Boys (1992)
* Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996)
* Treasure Box (1996)
* Stone Tables (1997)
* Homebody (1998)
* Enchantment (1999)
* Magic Street (2005)
* Invasive Procedures (2007)
* Bully and the Beast (TBA)

Story collections|

* Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1980)
* Cardography (1987)
* The Folk of the Fringe (1989)
* Maps in a Mirror (1990)
* Keeper of Dreams (2008)

Other works|

* Listen, Mom and Dad (1977)
* Ainge (1981)
* Saintspeak (1981)
* Eye for Eye (1987)
* Loom (1990)
* The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
* The Dig (1995)
* NeoHunter (1996)
* Magic Mirror (1999)
* Robota (2003)
* An Open Book (2004)
* Ultimate Iron Man (2005)
* Advent Rising (2005)
* InterGalactic Medicine Show (2005)
* Hamlet's Father (2011)
* Firefall (2014)

* v
* t
* e

Hugo Award for Best Novel

Retro|

* The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White (1939)
* Slan by A. E. van Vogt (1941)
* Beyond This Horizon by Anson MacDonald (1943)
* Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber (1944)
* Shadow Over Mars by Leigh Brackett (1945)
* The Mule by Isaac Asimov (1946)
* Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein (1951)
* Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1954)

1950s|

* The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1953)
* They'd Rather Be Right (aka: The Forever Machine) by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley (1955)
* Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956)
* The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (1958)
* A Case of Conscience by James Blish (1959)

1960s|

* Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (1960)
* A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1961)
* Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (1962)
* The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1963)
* Here Gather the Stars (aka: Way Station) by Clifford D. Simak (1964)
* The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber (1965)
* Dune by Frank Herbert / ...And Call Me Conrad (aka: This Immortal) by Roger Zelazny (1966)
* The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (1967)
* Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (1968)
* Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner (1969)

1970s|

* The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1970)
* Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971)
* To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer (1972)
* The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973)
* Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974)
* The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975)
* The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976)
* Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1977)
* Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978)
* Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979)

1980s|

* The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1980)
* The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1981)
* Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh (1982)
* Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov (1983)
* Startide Rising by David Brin (1984)
* Neuromancer by William Gibson (1985)
* Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1986)
* Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987)
* The Uplift War by David Brin (1988)
* Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh (1989)

1990s|

* Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1990)
* The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (1991)
* Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (1992)
* A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge / Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993)
* Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994)
* Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (1995)
* The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (1996)
* Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997)
* Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1998)
* To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1999)

2000s|

* A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (2000)
* Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (2001)
* American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2002)
* Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer (2003)
* Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004)
* Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2005)
* Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2006)
* Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2007)
* The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008)
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009)

2010s|

* The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi / The City & the City by China Miéville (2010)
* Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011)
* Among Others by Jo Walton (2012)
* Redshirts by John Scalzi (2013)
* Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2014)
* The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (2015)
* The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (2016)
* The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (2017)
* The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018)
* The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)

2020s|

* A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (2020)
* Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021)
* A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (2022)
* Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (2023)
* Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel

1980s|

* Titan by John Varley (1980)
* The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge (1981)
* The Many-Colored Land by Julian May (1982)
* Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov (1983)
* Startide Rising by David Brin (1984)
* The Integral Trees by Larry Niven (1985)
* The Postman by David Brin (1986)
* Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987)
* The Uplift War  by David Brin (1988)
* Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh (1989)

1990s|

* Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1990)
* The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1991)
* Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (1992)
* Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993)
* Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994)
* Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (1995)
* The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (1996)
* Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1997)
* The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons (1998)
* To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1999)

2000s|

* Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (2000)
* The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin (2001)
* Passage by Connie Willis (2002)
* The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (2003)
* Ilium by Dan Simmons (2004)
* The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson (2005)
* Accelerando by Charles Stross (2006)
* Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2007)
* The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008)
* Anathem by Neal Stephenson (2009)

2010s|

* Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (2010)
* Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011)
* Embassytown by China Miéville (2012)
* Redshirts by John Scalzi (2013)
* Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey (2014)
* Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (2015)
* Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (2016)
* Death's End by Liu Cixin (2017)
* The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi (2018)
* The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)

2020s|

* The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders  (2020)
* Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021)
* A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (2022)
* The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (2023)
* System Collapse by Martha Wells (2024)

* Best Novel (1971–1981)
* Best SF Novel (1980–present)
* Best Fantasy Novel (1978–present)
* Best First Novel (1981–present)
* Best Horror Novel (1989–1997, 1999, 2017–present)
* Best Young Adult Book (2003–present)
* Best Novella (1973–present)
* Best Novelette (1975–present)
* Best Short Story (1971–present)

* v
* t
* e

Nebula Award for Best Novel

1966–1980|

* Dune by Frank Herbert (1966)
* Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1967)
* The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany (1968)
* Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin (1969)
* The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1970)
* Ringworld by Larry Niven (1971)
* A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg (1972)
* The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (1973)
* Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke (1974)
* The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975)
* The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1976)
* Man Plus by Frederik Pohl (1977)
* Gateway by Frederik Pohl (1978)
* Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre (1979)
* The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (1980)

1981–2000|

* Timescape by Gregory Benford (1981)
* The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (1982)
* No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop (1983)
* Startide Rising by David Brin (1984)
* Neuromancer by William Gibson (1985)
* Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1986)
* Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (1987)
* The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy (1988)
* Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (1989)
* The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (1990)
* Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (1991)
* Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick (1992)
* Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (1993)
* Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1994)
* Moving Mars by Greg Bear (1995)
* The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer (1996)
* Slow River by Nicola Griffith (1997)
* The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre (1998)
* Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman (1999)
* Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (2000)

2001–2020|

* Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear (2001)
* The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro (2002)
* American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2003)
* Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (2004)
* Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2005)
* Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (2006)
* Seeker by Jack McDevitt (2007)
* The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (2008)
* Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin (2009)
* The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (2010)
* Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (2011)
* Among Others by Jo Walton (2012)
* 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (2013)
* Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2014)
* Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (2015)
* Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2016)
* All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2017)
* The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2018)
* The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019)
* A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker (2020)

2021–present|

* Network Effect by Martha Wells (2021)
* A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (2022)
* Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang (2023)
* The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (2024)

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

*[OCLC]: Online Computer Library Center number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template