The Complete List of all Nebula Award Winners for the Best SFF Novels of this Millennium

In Vajra Chandrasekera's ambitious debut, reality itself becomes unstable as cosmic forces intrude upon the everyday world. Protagonist Moshe Khatif, grappling with missing memories and newfound abilities, finds himself pursued by the enigmatic figure known as "The Saint." As Moshe unravels the secrets of his past, he's drawn into a realm where the mundane and the miraculous collide. Blending elements of urban fantasy, cosmic horror, and magical realism, Locus Mag dubbed this novel "a truly superb book that transports you somewhere else."

This tale follows Robin Swift, an orphan from Canton and raised in London, destined for Oxford's renowned Royal Institute of Translation, a.k.a. Babel – the epicenter of linguistic magic that underpins British colonial power. Navigating the tension of his Chinese heritage and British upbringing, Robin is caught between loyalties to Babel and his homeland. The emergence of a mysterious clandestine society and a brewing war with China forces Robin to question whether oppressive systems can be transformed from within, or if real revolution demands violence.

In an alternate-history Cairo, Fatma el-Sha'arawi is a skilled agent in the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. When a series of mysterious murders and disappearances threatens to destabilize the city, she is tasked with solving the case and discovers a dangerous conspiracy that could lead to the end of the world. With the help of her colleagues and a powerful djinn, Fatma must use all of her skills and knowledge to stop the conspirators before it's too late.

In the fifth book (and first full-length novel) of the "Murderbot Diaries" series, the rogue SecUnit is back in action. When its human friends are kidnapped, Murderbot must infiltrate a heavily guarded facility to rescue them. Along the way, it must navigate a maze of dangerous obstacles and face off against some old enemies. But as Murderbot uncovers more about the conspiracy that threatens its friends, it must also confront its own feelings of vulnerability and the limitations of its own programming. This Nebula winner also took home the top prize for the Hugo and Locus Awards.

In a world where public gatherings have been outlawed, Luce, a former rock musician turned clandestine street performer, and Rosemary, a talent scout who has never experienced live, in-person interaction, must navigate the dangers of a surveillance state to bring people together through the power of music.

Another alternate history tale, a meteorite strikes Earth, destroying much of the East Coast and causing a climate crisis that threatens to make the world inhospitable. Now, humanity must look to the stars for its survival. The book’s hero, mathematician and pilot Elma York, becomes a leading advocate for space exploration and fights against sexism and racism to become one of the first female astronauts—most certainly a deviation from the real version of the American mid-century space race.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where cataclysmic "Seasons" wreak havoc on the planet, the final installment in Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy follows Essun, an orogene with the power to manipulate geological energy, and her daughter Nassun, as they grapple with their fractured relationship and the fate of the world. Essun hopes to harness a power to end the Seasons forever, while Nassun, embittered by her experiences and under the guidance of her father's killer, plans to use the same power to destroy the world that has caused her so much pain.

In this Nebula, Crawford, and Locus Award-winning novel, an ancient coven of witches is engaged in an apocalyptic war with a tech startup. On either side of the conflict are two childhood friends: Patricia, a powerful witch and Laurence, a brilliant engineer. The pair must decide whether to put their love for one another ahead of their loyalty to their factions, with only the fate of their world at stake. The highly influential novel was also a finalist for the Hugo Award and made Paste’s 50 Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) List. Economics blogger Noah Smith called it “one of the most beautiful novels ever written.”

Agnieszka is a young woman who lives in a village on the edge of a dark and dangerous forest. When the village's protector, a wizard named Dragon, chooses her to serve him for 10 years, she must learn to harness her own magical powers to save her friends and her home. Fans of a modern fairy tale with a twist will be delighted by Uprooted.

Following in the footsteps of 11 previous expeditions, all of which have ended in disaster, a bold team of scientists embark on a journey to a mysterious and deadly zone known as Area X. As they explore the allegedly abandoned area, they begin to unravel the secrets of its past and confront the horror that lies at its center. Fans of the book should also check out the 2018 movie adaptation which features an all-star cast including Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac.