The shortest and longest award-winning science fiction novels
The shortest award-winning science fiction novel in our library is The Big Time at 128 pages; the longest is Anathem at 937. The typical winner runs 375 pages. Here are the shortest and longest winners, for when you want a quick read or a book to live in for weeks.
The shortest award-winning novels
Every one of these won at least one of the four major awards.
1. The Big Time
Won the Hugo Award (1958) ·
The Big Time is a short science fiction novel by American writer Fritz Leiber.
2. The Einstein Intersection
Won the Nebula Award; finalist for the Hugo Award (1968) ·
The Einstein Intersection won the Nebula Award for best science fiction novel of 1967.
3. Deep Wheel Orcadia
Won the Arthur C. Clarke Award (2022) ·
Deep Wheel Orcadia is a science-fiction novel by Harry Josephine Giles.
4. Double Star
Won the Hugo Award (1956) ·
One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was — as usual — in a bar, drinking away his troubles as he watched his career go down the tubes.
5. Remake
Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Hugo Award (1996) ·
Remake is a 1995 science fiction novel by Connie Willis.
6. This Immortal
Won the Hugo Award (1966) ·
This Immortal, serialized as ...And Call Me Conrad, is a science fiction novel by American author Roger Zelazny.
7. They'd Rather Be Right
Won the Hugo Award (1955) ·
One of 3 novels by early Hugo winner Mark Clifton, exploring ideas re closed vs.
8. The Lathe of Heaven
Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards (1972) ·
“The Lathe of Heaven” ; 1971 ( Ursula Le Guin received the 1973 Locus Award for this story) George Orr has a gift – he is an effective dreamer: his dreams become reality when he wakes up.
9. A Case of Conscience
Won the Hugo Award (1959) ·
The citizens of the planet Lithia are some of the most ethical sentient beings Father Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez has ever encountered.
10. Babel-17
Won the Nebula Award; finalist for the Hugo Award (1967) ·
During an interstellar war one side develops a language, Babel-17, that can be used as a weapon.
11. Annihilation
Won the Nebula Award (2015) ·
An expedition enters a landscape that does not want to be understood.
12. Way Station
Won the Hugo Award (1964) ·
Way Station is a 1963 science fiction novel by American writer Clifford D.
The longest award-winning novels
| Book | Pages | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Anathem Neal Stephenson | 937 | Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke and Hugo Awards (2009) |
| Quicksilver Neal Stephenson | 927 | Won the Arthur C. Clarke Award; finalist for the Locus Award (2004) |
| Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson | 918 | Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke and Hugo Awards (2000) |
| A Deepness in the Sky Vernor Vinge | 792 | Won the Hugo Award; finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke, Locus and Nebula Awards (2000) |
| Dune Frank Herbert | 787 | Won the Hugo and Nebula Awards (1966) |
| Perdido Street Station China Miéville | 710 | Won the Arthur C. Clarke Award; finalist for the Nebula and Hugo Awards (2001–2003) |
| Blue Mars Kim Stanley Robinson | 689 | Won the Hugo and Locus Awards; finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award (1997) |
| Cyteen C. J. Cherryh | 680 | Won the Hugo and Locus Awards (1989) |
| The Years of Rice and Salt Kim Stanley Robinson | 669 | Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke and Hugo Awards (2003) |
| Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson | 640 | Won the Nebula Award; finalist for the Hugo and Locus Awards (1993–1994) |
| Green Mars Kim Stanley Robinson | 640 | Won the Hugo and Locus Awards; finalist for the Nebula Award (1994–1995) |
| Children of Time Adrian Tchaikovsky | 608 | Won the Arthur C. Clarke Award (2016) |
Page counts come from English print editions and vary by edition.
Looking for short reads beyond the winners? See short sci-fi you can finish in a weekend and the best novellas, ranked.
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.