THE DATA
The best science fiction books that never won an award
Losing an award does not make a book any less loved. These are the highest-rated science fiction books in our library that were finalists but never won any of the four major awards, and the authors with the most nominations still waiting for a win.
966books in the library were finalists or poll picks but never won
★ 4.51Project Hail Mary, the best-rated book never to win
12finalist nominations for Ian McDonald, without a single win
The most-loved books that never won
Books with at least 500 ratings, highest rated first.
| # | Book | Rating | Finalist for |
|---|
| 1 | Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir | ★ 4.51 | 2022 Hugo |
| 2 | Leviathan Falls
James S. A. Corey | ★ 4.48 | 2022 Locus |
| 3 | The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
Becky Chambers | ★ 4.43 | 2022 Hugo, 2022 Locus |
| 4 | The Hyperion Cantos
Dan Simmons | ★ 4.41 | 1992 Arthur C. Clarke |
| 5 | A Closed and Common Orbit
Becky Chambers | ★ 4.36 | 2017 Arthur C. Clarke, 2017 Hugo |
| 6 | Caliban's War
James S. A. Corey | ★ 4.35 | 2013 Locus |
| 7 | 11/22/63
Stephen King | ★ 4.35 | 2012 Locus |
| 8 | There Is No Antimemetics Division
QNTM | ★ 4.35 | 2026 Arthur C. Clarke |
| 9 | Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman | ★ 4.34 | 2026 Arthur C. Clarke |
| 10 | Nona the Ninth
Tamsyn Muir | ★ 4.33 | 2023 Hugo, 2023 Nebula |
| 11 | Persepolis Rising
James S. A. Corey | ★ 4.29 | 2018 Locus |
| 12 | Leviathan Wakes
James S. A. Corey | ★ 4.27 | 2012 Hugo, 2012 Locus |
| 13 | Ender's Shadow
Orson Scott Card | ★ 4.27 | 2000 Locus |
| 14 | Harrow the Ninth
Tamsyn Muir | ★ 4.22 | 2021 Hugo |
| 15 | Parable of the Sower
Octavia E. Butler | ★ 4.19 | 1995 Locus, 1995 Nebula |
| 16 | To Be Taught, If Fortunate
Becky Chambers | ★ 4.18 | 2020 Hugo, 2020 Locus |
| 17 | Gideon the Ninth
Tamsyn Muir | ★ 4.18 | 2020 Hugo, 2020 Nebula |
| 18 | The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Becky Chambers | ★ 4.18 | 2016 Arthur C. Clarke |
| 19 | Rogue Protocol
Martha Wells | ★ 4.16 | 2019 Locus |
| 20 | Babylon's Ashes
James S. A. Corey | ★ 4.14 | 2017 Locus |
Always a finalist, never a winner
Authors with the most finalist nominations in these categories and no wins yet. Many have won other awards, or in other categories.
About this data
Award records come from the Science Fiction Awards Database and cover the Novel and Novella categories of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Ratings are web-aggregated averages, counted only for books with at least 100 ratings. Everything updates automatically as new results are added. You are welcome to cite this page; please link back to it.
