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Who has won the most Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel?

Lois McMaster Bujold and Robert A. Heinlein share the record for the most Hugo Awards for Best Novel, with 4 each. Here is every author who has won science fiction’s two biggest novel awards more than once, and the rare writers who won in back-to-back years.

4Hugo Best Novel wins for Lois McMaster Bujold and Robert A. Heinlein
4Nebula Best Novel wins for Ursula K. Le Guin
3 in a rowN. K. Jemisin’s Hugo streak, 2016 to 2018

Most Hugo Awards for Best Novel

AuthorWinsWinning novels
Lois McMaster Bujold4The Vor Game (1991), Barrayar (1992), Mirror Dance (1995), Paladin of Souls (2004)
Robert A. Heinlein4Double Star (1956), Starship Troopers (1960), Stranger in a Strange Land (1962), The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1967)
Connie Willis3Doomsday Book (1993), To Say Nothing of the Dog (1999), Blackout/All Clear (2011)
N. K. Jemisin3The Fifth Season (2016), The Obelisk Gate (2017), The Stone Sky (2018)
Vernor Vinge3A Fire Upon the Deep (1993), A Deepness in the Sky (2000), Rainbows End (2007)
Arkady Martine2A Memory Called Empire (2020), A Desolation Called Peace (2022)
Arthur C. Clarke2Rendezvous with Rama (1974), The Fountains of Paradise (1980)
C. J. Cherryh2Downbelow Station (1982), Cyteen (1989)
David Brin2Startide Rising (1984), The Uplift War (1988)
Fritz Leiber2The Big Time (1958), The Wanderer (1965)
Isaac Asimov2The Gods Themselves (1973), Foundation's Edge (1983)
Joe Haldeman2The Forever War (1976), Forever Peace (1998)
Kim Stanley Robinson2Green Mars (1994), Blue Mars (1997)
Neil Gaiman2American Gods (2002), The Graveyard Book (2009)
Orson Scott Card2Ender's Game (1986), Speaker for the Dead (1987)
Roger Zelazny2This Immortal (1966), Lord of Light (1968)
Ursula K. Le Guin2The Left Hand of Darkness (1970), The Dispossessed (1975)

Most Nebula Awards for Best Novel

AuthorWinsWinning novels
Ursula K. Le Guin4The Left Hand of Darkness (1970), The Dispossessed (1975), Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea (1991), Powers (2009)
Joe Haldeman3The Forever War (1976), Forever Peace (1999), Camouflage (2006)
Arthur C. Clarke2Rendezvous with Rama (1974), The Fountains of Paradise (1980)
Connie Willis2Doomsday Book (1993), Blackout/All Clear (2011)
Frederik Pohl2Man Plus (1977), Gateway (1978)
Greg Bear2Moving Mars (1995), Darwin's Radio (2001)
Kim Stanley Robinson2Red Mars (1994), 2312 (2013)
Lois McMaster Bujold2Falling Free (1989), Paladin of Souls (2005)
Orson Scott Card2Ender's Game (1986), Speaker for the Dead (1987)
Samuel R. Delany2Babel-17 (1967), The Einstein Intersection (1968)
Vonda N. McIntyre2Dreamsnake (1979), The Moon and the Sun (1998)

Back-to-back winners

Counts include every Best Novel winner, science fiction and fantasy, so the totals match the official records. Fantasy titles are not linked because this library covers science fiction.

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.

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