The best science fiction novellas of all time, ranked
Novellas are science fiction’s sweet spot: room for big ideas, short enough to read in an evening. From 440 award-recognized novellas, these are the 30 readers rate highest.
The highest rated: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, ★ 4.38 from 860+ ratings.
The ranking
1. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Nebula Award (2023) ·
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a 2022 solarpunk novella written by American author Becky Chambers and published by Tor.com on July 12, 2022.
2. A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Won the Hugo Award; finalist for the Locus and Nebula Awards (2022) ·
A tea monk meets a robot. The big question is what people actually need.
4. Artificial Condition
Won the Hugo and Locus Awards; finalist for the Nebula Award (2019) ·
It has a dark past - one in which a number of humans were killed.
5. To Be Taught, If Fortunate
Finalist for the Hugo and Locus Awards (2020) ·
Four explorers change themselves to meet the worlds they discover.
6. Rogue Protocol
Finalist for the Locus Award (2019) ·
"Sci-Fi's favorite antisocial AI is back on a mission.
7. All Systems Red
Won the Hugo, Locus and Nebula Awards (2018) ·
It hacked its programming. It would really rather watch television.
8. The Word for World is Forest
Won the Hugo Award; finalist for the Locus and Nebula Awards (1973) ·
Centuries in the future, Terrans have established a logging colony & military base named “New Tahiti” on a tree-covered planet whose small, green-furred, big-eyed inhabitants have a culture centered on lucid dreaming.
9. Elder Race
Finalist for the Hugo Award (2022) ·
A junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe.
10. The Plague Star
Finalist for the Locus Award (1986) ·
They seek a legendary ship. Its cargo can destroy worlds.
11. The Funeral March of the Marionettes
Finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards (1998) ·
An alien dance ends lives. One human wants to join.
12. The Dispatcher
Finalist for the Locus Award (2017) ·
One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back.
13. The Only Neat Thing to Do
Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards (1986) ·
A young explorer finds companionship. Their bond carries an unexpected danger.
14. This Is How You Lose the Time War
Won the Hugo, Locus and Nebula Awards (2020) ·
Two rival agents exchange letters across the battlefield of time.
15. Ogres
Finalist for the Hugo and Locus Awards (2023) ·
Ogres is a 2022 novella by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
16. The Walls of the Universe
Finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards (2007) ·
His double offers unlimited worlds. Home is not part of the bargain.
17. Silently and Very Fast
Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards (2012) ·
A machine shares a human's dreams. Neither lives entirely alone.
18. Wings of Sorrow and Bone
Finalist for the Nebula Award (2016) ·
Two young women join forces. A laboratory hides captive gremlins.
19. The Past Is Red
Finalist for the Hugo and Locus Awards (2022) ·
The Past Is Red is a 2021 fantasy novella by Catherynne M.
20. The Haunting of Tram Car 015
Finalist for the Locus, Nebula and Hugo Awards (2020) ·
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 is an alternate history science fantasy police procedural novella by American novelist P.
21. The Mountains of Mourning
Won the Hugo and Nebula Awards; finalist for the Locus Award (1990) ·
The Mountains of Mourning is a science fiction novella by American author Lois McMaster Bujold.
22. Eye for Eye
Won the Hugo Award; finalist for the Locus Award (1988) ·
Eye for Eye (1987) is a science fiction novella by Orson Scott Card.
23. Binti: Home
Finalist for the Hugo and Locus Awards (2018) ·
It's been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University.
24. Story of Your Life
Won the Nebula Award; finalist for the Hugo Award (1999–2000) ·
"Story of Your Life" is a science fiction novella by American writer Ted Chiang, first published in Starlight 2 in 1998, and later in 2002 in Chiang's collection of short stories, Stories of Your Life and Others.
25. Perfect State
Finalist for the Hugo Award (2016) ·
An emperor controls his world. One date proves less predictable.
26. Binti: The Night Masquerade
Finalist for the Hugo Award (2019) ·
Binti: The Night Masquerade is a science fiction novella written by Nnedi Okorafor.
27. The Black God's Drums
Finalist for the Locus, Nebula and Hugo Awards (2019) ·
Creeper, a scrappy young teen, is done living on the streets of New Orleans.
28. The Freeze-Frame Revolution
Finalist for the Locus Award (2019) ·
How do you stage a mutiny when you're only awake one day in a million? How do you conspire when your tiny handful of potential allies changes with each job shift?
30. San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats
Finalist for the Hugo Award (2013) ·
Fans gather for a convention. The dead arrive uninvited.
Not yet rated
These winners do not have enough ratings to rank yet.
- After the Siege by Cory Doctorow
- Amnesia by Jack Dann
- April Fool's Day Forever by Kate Wilhelm
- Big Boys Don't Cry by Tom Kratman
- Brainchild by Joseph H. Delaney
- Burn by James Patrick Kelly
- Clay's Pride by Bud Sparhawk
- Contact by Jerry Oltion & Lee Goodloe
- Cri de Coeur by Michael Bishop
- Dangerous Games by Marta Randall
- Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
- Descent by Wole Talabi
- Disgraced Return of the Kap's Needle by Renan Bernardo
- Emergence by David R. Palmer
- Fan by Geoff Ryman
- Fault Lines by Nancy Kress
- Flow by Arlan Andrews, Sr.
- Fool to Believe by Pat Cadigan
- Fugue State by John M. Ford
- Gas Fish by Mary Rosenblum
- Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance by Paul Park
- Homefaring by Robert Silverberg
- Hurricane Claude by Hilbert Schenck
- In Spirit by Pat Forde
- Jumping Off the Planet by David Gerrold
- Junction by Jack Dann
- Ker-Plop by Ted Reynolds
- Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet by He Xi
- Living Trust by L. Timmel Duchamp
- Marrow Death by Michael Swanwick
- Old Folks at Home by Michael Bishop
- On the Street of the Serpents by Michael Bishop
- Reality Check by Michael A. Burstein
- Sanctuary by Michael A. Burstein
- Seeking by David R. Palmer
- Son of the Morning by Phyllis Gotlieb
- Soon Comes Night by Gregory Benford
- Strangers by Gardner Dozois
- Sunrise West by William K. Carlson
- Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo by John Varley
- The Anvil of Jove by Gregory Benford & Gordon Eklund
- The Astronaut from Wyoming by Adam-Troy Castro & Jerry Oltion
- The Battle of the Abaco Reefs by Hilbert Schenck
- The Boolean Gate by Walter Jon Williams
- The Chaplain's Legacy by Brad R. Torgersen
- The God House by Keith Roberts
- The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis by Michael Bishop
- The Helper and His Hero by Matthew Hughes
- The Mars Girl by Joe Haldeman
- The Mars Ship by Robert Thurston
- The Mercurymen by C. C. MacApp
- The Plastic Abyss by Kate Wilhelm
- The Plural of Helen of Troy by John C. Wright
- The Silent Eyes of Time by Algis Budrys
- The Story Writer by Richard Wilson
- The Tangled Strings of the Marionettes by Adam-Troy Castro
- The Way of All Ghosts by Greg Bear
- The Women of Nell Gwynne's by Kage Baker
- Time Ablaze by Michael A. Burstein
- Transit by Vonda N. McIntyre
- True Names by Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow
- Wall, Stone, Craft by Walter Jon Williams
How we ranked
Novellas that won or were finalists for the Hugo, Nebula or Locus awards. The top 30 by weighted reader rating. Books are ranked by a weighted rating: each book’s average is blended with the library average as if it had 100 extra ratings, so a few enthusiastic votes cannot outrank a book thousands of readers love. Ratings are web-aggregated averages. The list updates automatically as new award results come in.