1990 in science fiction

Births

• Rie Qudan

Deaths

• Ed Emshwiller
• Donald A. Wollheim

Novels

• Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

Short stories

• "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson

Children's books

Comics

• Battle Angel Alita begins serialization in Business Jump magazine
• Hard Boiled, by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow
• Martha Washington, by Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons
• The Men in Black, by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers

Other books

• Expedition by Wayne Barlowe
• Man After Man by Dougal Dixon

Hugos

• Best novel: Hyperion, by Dan Simmons^[1]
• Best novella: The Mountains of Mourning, by Lois McMaster Bujold^[1]
• Best novelette: "Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another" by Robert Silverberg^[1]
• Best short story: " Boobs" by Suzy McKee Charnas^[1]
• Best related work: The World Beyond the Hill, by Alexei Panshin and Cory Panshin^[1]
• Best dramatic presentation: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, dir. by Steven Spielberg; Screenplay by Jeffrey Boam; Story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes; based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman^[1]
• Best professional editor: Gardner Dozois^[1]
• Best professional artist: Don Maitz^[1]
• Best original artwork: Cover of Rimrunners, by Don Maitz^[1]
• Best Semiprozine: Locus, ed. by Charles N. Brown^[1]
• Best fanzine: The Mad 3 Party, ed. by Leslie Turek^[1]
• Best fan writer: Dave Langford^[1]
• Best fan artist: Stu Shiffman^[1]

Nebulas

• Best novel: Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin^[2]
• Best novella: The Hemingway Hoax by Joe Haldeman
• Best novelette: " Tower of Babylon" by Ted Chiang^[2]
• Best short story: "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson^[2]

Other awards

• BSFA Award for Best Novel: Take Back Plenty by Colin Greenwood
• Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel: Hyperion by Dan Simmons
• Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film: Total Recall