1985 Nebula Awards®
Presented at Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, California on April 26, 1986
Over 200 SFWA members and friends attended the banquet and the weekend of programming. The Locus Awards were presented prior to the Nebula banquet. Programming began on Saturday morning. A small crisis occurred during the presentation of the Nebula for novelette, but otherwise the ceremony went smoothly. Comic relief was provided by Connie Willis, whose critical observations concerning the Nebula ceremony’s lack of drama were very well received.
Best Novel
- Helliconia Winter by Brian W. Aldiss, published by Atheneum
- Blood Music by Greg Bear, published by Arbor House
- The Postman by David Brin, published by Bantam Spectra
- Winner: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, published by Tor
- The Remaking of Sigmund Freud by Barry N. Malzberg, published by Ballantine Del Rey
- Dinner at Deviant’s Palace by Tim Powers, published by Ace
- Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling, published by Arbor House
Best Novella
- “The Only Neat Thing to Do” by James Tiptree Jr., published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “Green Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson, published by Asimov’s Magazine
- Winner: “Sailing to Byzantium” by Robert Silverberg, published by Asimov’s Magazine
- “Green Days in Brunei” by Bruce Sterling, published by Asimov’s Magazine
- “The Gorgon Field” by Kate Wilhelm, published by Asimov’s Magazine
- “24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai” by Roger Zelazny, published by Asimov’s Magazine
Best Novelette
- “A Gift from the GrayLanders” by Michael Bishop, published by Asimov’s Magazine
- “The Fringe” by Orson Scott Card, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “Paladin of the Lost Hour” by Harlan Ellison, published by Twilight Zone
- Winner: “Portraits of His Children” by George R.R. Martin, published by Asimov’s Magazine
- “The Jaguar Hunter” by Lucius Shepard, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “Dogfight” by Michael Swanwick and William Gibson, published by Omni
- “Rockabye Baby” by S. C. Sykes, published by Analog
Best Short Story
- “Paper Dragons” by James P. Blaylock
- “Snow” by John Crowley, published by Omni
- “The Gods of Mars” by Gardner Dozois, Jack Dann, and Michael Swanwick, published by Omni
- “More Than the Sum of His Parts” by Joe Haldeman, published by Playboy
- Winner: “Out of All Them Bright Stars” by Nancy Kress, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “Flying Saucer Rock & Roll” by Howard Waldrop, published by Omni
- “Heirs of the Perisphere” by Howard Waldrop, published by Playboy
- “Hong’s Bluff” by William F. Wu, published by Omni