Author: Newsroom
| From the time when the station wakes her up, Birdie Doran is on the clock. It’s just her and one or two others on Terracorp’s isolated outpost. So she slips into virtual reality, with the station creating adventures for her as she does repairs, routine maintenance, and checks the status on all the systems. But when Birdie discovers another abandoned station in walking distance of her own, she begins to question her isolation, and her own memories of what her job―and her life―really is. |
Kit Anderson says, “I’ve rummaged through the annual lists of Nebula Award finalists for a long time―they’ve introduced me to many of my favorite writers, and I’m honestly struggling to believe I’ll see my own book included when I go through the list again this year. I’m so grateful that Second Shift has been nominated for the Nebula Award in the inaugural comics category.”
“The Nebula Award’s introduction of the graphic novel category is a major milestone for the medium,” says Avery Hill Publisher Ricky Miller. “Comics has some of the best science fiction and fantasy stories in the world, and their long-awaited recognition by SFWA will connect them to new readers. We’re delighted that Kit Anderson’s fantastic debut graphic novel that tackles important questions about AI and reality has been recognised.”
The Nebula Award winners will be announced the first week of June. The full list of finalists is available here: https://locusmag.com/2026/03/
Praise for Second Shift:
“The story raises more questions than it answers, using speculative fiction to create a sense of the uncanny in the style of writers like Tillie Walden or Kelly Link. Readers who dig enigmas will relish the mysteries left unresolved in this high-tech ghost story.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“A hard SF exploration of isolation and reality on a harsh colony world. It’s deeply humane and fiercely intelligent, the ideal graphic novel for SF fans.”
– Paul Cornell (Dr Who, Primeval)
“A thought-provoking, beautifully illustrated graphic novel that will satisfy sci-fi fans eager for a story that will haunt them for days.” – Interstellar Flight Press
“If you are moved by subtle symbolism and like slow burn stories, you’ll find much to chew on in Second Shift. It might even make you look at our current world differently, as all good sci-fi does.” – The Beat
“A revelatory graphic novel about a woman navigating the spaces between reality and artifice in deep space.” – Foreword Reviews
“This sci-fi graphic novel opens conversations about corporate power, the exploitation of people and the environment, the limitations of AI, and the power of art that are all too pressing in our own non-fictional present.”
– International Journal of Comics Art
“A seductive, albeit melancholic, graphic novel that draws you in through the visuals before gripping your emotions and twisting them . . . a subversive emotional study about the effects of isolation and paranoia.”
– Monkeys Fighting Robots
