Nebula Awards 2025 (SciFi/Fantasy)
These are the finalists for the 2025 Nebula Awards. Winners to be announced in May. Put on by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. https://nebulas.sfwa.org/
Rakesfall
Author(s):
Description:
"Some stories take more than one lifetime to tell. There are wrongs that echo through the ages, friendships that outpace the claws of death, loves that leave their mark on civilization, and promises that nothing can break. This is one such story. Annelid and Leveret met as children in the middle of the Sri Lankan civil war. They found each other in a torn-up nation, peering through propaganda to grasp a deeper truth. And in a demon-haunted wood, another act of violence linked them and propelled their souls on a journey throughout the ages. No world can hold them, no life can bind them, and they'll never leave each other behind" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Cha
Asunder
Author(s):
Hall, Kerstin (Writer and editor)
Description:
"Karys Eska is a deathspeaker, locked into an irrevocable compact with Sabaster, a terrifying eldritch being--three-faced, hundred-winged, unforgiving--who has granted her the ability to communicate with the newly departed. She pays the rent by using her abilities to investigate suspicious deaths around the troubled city she calls home. When a job goes sideways and connects her to a dying stranger with some very dangerous secrets, her entire world is upended. Ferain is willing to pay a ludicrous sum of money for her help. To save him, Karys inadvertently binds him to her shadow, an act that may doom them both. If they want to survive, they will need to learn to trust one another. Together, they must journey to the heart of a faded empire, all the while haunted by arcane horrors, and the unquiet ghosts of their pasts. And all too soon, Karys knows her debts will come due" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Hal
A sorceress comes to call
Author(s):
Description:
"Cordelia knows her mother is... unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms--there are no secrets in this house--and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers. When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Kin
The book of love : a novel
Author(s):
Description:
"Late one night, Laura, Daniel, and Mo find themselves confused and disembodied, blinking under the fluorescent lights of their high school music room. They are greeted by the man they know as their music teacher, who restores the ghostly teens to their corporeal forms with a flick of his fingers and explains: nearly a year ago they went missing from their hometown, the small seaside community of Lovesend, Massachusetts, and have long been presumed dead. Which they are. Desperate to reclaim their lives, the teenagers agree to the terms of a deal that their teacher proposes. Laura, Daniel, and Mo--and a mysterious fourth soul who crossed back over with them--will compete to remain in the mortal realm. They will be given a series of magical tasks; in the meantime, they may return to their families and friends, but they can tell no one where they have been. In the end, there will be winners and losers: Two will remain. Two will return. But their resurrection has attracted the notice of several supernatural figures, all with their own agendas. As Laura, Daniel, and Mo grapple with love, loss, and heartbreak in the lives they left behind, these mysterious others begin to arrive, engulfing Lovesend in danger and chaos, and it becomes imperative that the teens solve the mystery of their deaths to avert the looming disaster" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Lin
Someone you can build a nest in
Author(s):
Description:
"Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth. However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she's found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen's eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don't think about love that way. Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she's about to confess, Homily reveals why she's in the area: she's hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere? Eating her girlfriend isn't an option. Shesheshen didn't curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily's twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk. And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Wis
The butcher of the forest
Author(s):
Description:
"At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic. Veris Thorn--the only one to ever enter the forest and survive--is forced to go back inside to retrieve the tyrant's missing children. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of the past. One day is all Veris is afforded. One misstep will cost everything" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Moh
The tusks of extinction
Author(s):
Description:
"When you bring back a long-extinct species, there's more to success than the DNA. Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out, again. The late Dr. Damira Khismatullina, the world's foremost expert in elephant behavior, is called in to help. While she was murdered a year ago, her digitized consciousness is uploaded into the brain of a mammoth. Can she help the magnificent creatures fend off poachers long enough for their species to take hold? And will she ever discover the real reason they were brought back?" -- Publisher website.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Nay
Lost ark dreaming
Author(s):
Description:
"Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region's survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers' most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level. There are also those who were left for dead in the Atlantic, only to be reawakened by an ancient power, and who seek vengeance on those who offered them up to the waves. Three lives within the towers are pulled to the fore of this conflict: Yekini, an earnest, mid-level rookie analyst; Tuoyo, an undersea mechanic mourning a tremendous loss; and Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the highest levels of governance. They will need to work together if there is to be any hope of a future that is worth living--for everyone" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Oku
Wicked
Author(s):
Motion picture adaptation of (work):
Description:
Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart. The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads, and their lives take very different paths. Glinda's unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba's determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences for her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Format:
DVD
Call Number:
Music
Star trek, lower decks. The final season
Author(s):
Description:
In The Fifth And Final Season, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos is tasked with closing "space potholes" subspace rifts which are causing chaos in the Alpha Quadrant. Pothole duty would be easy for Jr. Officer Mariner, Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford...if they didn't also have to deal with an Orion war, furious Klingons, diplomatic catastrophes, murder mysteries and scariest of all: their own career aspirations. This 2-disc collection includes every outrageous adventure along with over 25 minutes of exclusive special features!
Format:
DVD
Call Number:
Comedy
I saw the TV glow [Blu-ray]
Author(s):
Tonner-Connolly, Brandon,
Description:
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show, a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen's view of reality begins to crack.
Format:
DVD
Call Number:
Horror
Dune. Part two
Author(s):
Motion picture adaptation of (work):
Description:
"...[T]he mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee" --Container.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
SciFi/Fantasy
Dune. Part two
Author(s):
Motion picture adaptation of (work):
Description:
"...[T]he mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee" --Container.
Format:
DVD
Call Number:
SciFi/Fantasy
Daydreamer
Author(s):
Description:
Split between two worlds, his real one, in which he's a lonely, bullied kid, and a magical realm called the Sanctuary, eleven-year-old Charles finds reality and imagination colliding when evil moves into his apartment building, and he must harness the power of his creativity to save both worlds.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Cam
Braided
Author(s):
Description:
When her older sister Rapunzel returns home but is not what she expected, Princess Cinna must risk everything for a sister with whom she may having nothing in common except their long, magical hair.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Cyp
Benny Ramírez and the nearly departed
Author(s):
Description:
Twelve-year-old Cuban American Benny must help the ghost of his rich, famous, and morally bankrupt musician grandfather cross over to the other side before the New Year's Eve deadline.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Iri
Puzzleheart
Author(s):
Description:
When nonbinary twelve-year-old Perigee tries to reunite their dad with his estranged mother, they end up facing off against their grandmother's mysterious sentient "puzzle house," which has a dangerous agenda all its own.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Ree
Moonstorm
Author(s):
Description:
Hwa Young was just ten years old when imperial forces destroyed her rebel moon home. Now, six years later, she is a citizen of the very empire that made her an orphan. Desperate to shake her rebel past, Hwa Young dreams of one day becoming a lancer pilot, an elite group of warriors who fly into battle using the empire’s most advanced tech--giant martial robots. Lancers are powerful, and Hwa Young would do anything to be the strong one for once in her life. When an attack on their boarding school leaves Hwa Young and her classmates stranded on an imperial space fleet, her dreams quickly become a reality. As it turns out, the fleet is in dire need of pilot candidates, and Hwa Young--along with her brainy best friend Geum, rival Bae, and class clown Seong Su--are quick to volunteer. But training is nothing like what they expected, and secrets--like the fate of the fleet’s previous lancer squad and hidden truths about the rebellion itself--are stacking up. And when Hwa Young uncovers a conspiracy that puts their entire world at risk, she’s forced to make a choice between her rebel past and an empire she’s no longer sure she can trust.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Lee