Thoughts on the 2019 Hugo Nominations

The 2019 Hugo Award nominations were announced today, so I thought I'd throw out a few initial thoughts.


Best Novel

• The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
• Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)
• Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
• Space Opera, by Catherynne M. Valente (Saga)
• Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Macmillan)
• Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

(I've read all but one of these already, and own three of them. I bounced hard off Space Opera and couldn't finish it, but I can see how it ended up on the list.)


Best Novella

• Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com publishing)
• Beneath the Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing)
• Binti: The Night Masquerade, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com publishing)
• The Black God’s Drums, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com publishing)
• Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, by Kelly Robson (Tor.com publishing)
• The Tea Master and the Detective, by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press / JABberwocky Literary Agency)

(This ratio's even better: I own four of these, although only one was on my own ballot. Actually I suppose that's one and a half, since I nominated a different Murderbot novella.)

Best Novelette

• “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018)
• “The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections,” by Tina Connolly (Tor.com, 11 July 2018)
• “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth,” by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com, 19 September 2018)
• The Only Harmless Great Thing, by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com publishing)
• “The Thing About Ghost Stories,” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
• “When We Were Starless,” by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld 145, October 2018)

(I know I've already read at least four of these, and three were on my ballot. I may have read a fourth, but if so it didn't make enough of an impression on me for me even to remember it.)

Best Short Story

• “The Court Magician,” by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed, January 2018)
• “The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society,” by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
• “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” by P. Djèlí Clark (Fireside Magazine, February 2018)
• “STET,” by Sarah Gailey (Fireside Magazine, October 2018)
• “The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine 23, July-August 2018)
• “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, February 2018)

(I've read five of these and nominated two. Two more were on my longlist.)

Best Series

• The Centenal Cycle, by Malka Older (Tor.com publishing)
• The Laundry Files, by Charles Stross (most recently Tor.com publishing/Orbit)
• Machineries of Empire, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
• The October Daye Series, by Seanan McGuire (most recently DAW)
• The Universe of Xuya, by Aliette de Bodard (most recently Subterranean Press)
• Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)

(This is where the bulk of my reading will have to be done. I did read most of the October Daye series the last time it was on the ballot, and I already own Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire books.)

Best Related Work

• Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
• Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, by Alec Nevala-Lee (Dey Street Books)
• The Hobbit Duology (documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan (YouTube)
• An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000, by Jo Walton (Tor)
• www.mexicanxinitiative.com: The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 (Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, John Picacio)
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon (Tin House Books)

(I'm not even sure how you'd judge Archive of Our Own, but I guess I'll have to take a crack at it. This is really a mishmash of nominees, and I'm wondering if the Hugo committee shouldn't take a look at tightening up the definition for this category.)

Best Graphic Story

• Abbott, written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä, colours by Jason Wordie, letters by Jim Campbell (BOOM! Studios)
• Black Panther: Long Live the King, written by Nnedi Okorafor and Aaron Covington, art by André Lima Araújo, Mario Del Pennino and Tana Ford (Marvel)
• Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
• On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden (First Second)
• Paper Girls, Volume 4, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher (Image Comics)
• Saga, Volume 9, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

(I've got two of these and nominated one, although I'm disappointed that Simon Stalenhag's The Electric State didn't make the ballot.)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Annihilation, directed and written for the screen by Alex Garland, based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer (Paramount Pictures / Skydance)
• Avengers: Infinity War, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Studios)
• Black Panther, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, directed by Ryan Coogler (Marvel Studios)
• A Quiet Place, screenplay by Scott Beck, John Krasinski and Bryan Woods, directed by John Krasinski (Platinum Dunes / Sunday Night)
• Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley (Annapurna Pictures)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman (Sony)

(Lots of time saved here--I've already seen all of these, and four of them were on my ballot.)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• The Expanse: “Abaddon’s Gate,” written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Simon Cellan Jones (Penguin in a Parka / Alcon Entertainment)
• Doctor Who: “Demons of the Punjab,” written by Vinay Patel, directed by Jamie Childs (BBC)
• Dirty Computer, written by Janelle Monáe, directed by Andrew Donoho and Chuck Lightning (Wondaland Arts Society / Bad Boy Records / Atlantic Records)
• The Good Place: “Janet(s),” written by Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan, directed by Morgan Sackett (NBC)
• The Good Place: “Jeremy Bearimy,” written by Megan Amram, directed by Trent O’Donnell (NBC)
• Doctor Who: “Rosa,” written by Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall, directed by Mark Tonderai (BBC)

(*winces and wishes The Good Place would fall into a black hole*)
(Seriously? No The Handmaid's Tale, The Man in the High Castle, The Haunting of Hill House, or Star Trek: Discovery? I'm glad one episode of The Expanse could make it if the entire Season 3 couldn't make the Long Form ballot, which was always a long shot. I guess two episodes of Doctor Who is okay, especially since from everything I read these two were generally acknowledged to be the best. And Janelle Monae is a delightful surprise. But The Good Place? I hated it the last time I had to watch it, and I'll watch these to be fair, but I'll be gritting my teeth the entire time.)


Best Editor, Short Form

• Neil Clarke
• Gardner Dozois
• Lee Harris
• Julia Rios
• Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
• E. Catherine Tobler

(Three of these were on my ballot, but since Gardner Dozois [RIP] is there, I think everybody else is gunning for second place.)

Best Editor, Long Form

• Sheila E. Gilbert
• Anne Lesley Groell
• Beth Meacham
• Diana Pho
• Gillian Redfearn
• Navah Wolfe

(Two of these were on my ballot.)

Best Professional Artist

• Galen Dara
• Jaime Jones
• Victo Ngai
• John Picacio
• Yuko Shimizu
• Charles Vess

(I only had one of these. There are three new names this time around.)

Best Semiprozine

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews
• Fireside Magazine, edited by Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, social coordinator Meg Frank, special features editor Tanya DePass, founding editor Brian White, publisher and art director Pablo Defendini
• FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, executive editors Troy L. Wiggins and DaVaun Sanders, editors L.D. Lewis, Brandon O’Brien, Kaleb Russell, Danny Lore, and Brent Lambert
• Shimmer, publisher Beth Wodzinski, senior editor E. Catherine Tobler
• Strange Horizons, edited by Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Vanessa Rose Phin, Vajra Chandrasekera, Romie Stott, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons Staff
• Uncanny Magazine, publishers/editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor Michi Trota, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky, Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Special Issue editors-in-chief Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and Dominik Parisien

(Also had two of these on my ballot, and plain forgot one until it was too late. Fortunately, it ended up on the ballot anyway.)

Best Fanzine

• Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus
• Journey Planet, edited by Team Journey Planet
• Lady Business, editors Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay & Susan
• nerds of a feather, flock together, editors Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla and The G
• Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
• Rocket Stack Rank, editors Greg Hullender and Eric Wong

(Had two of these also, and two others were on my longlist.)

Best Fancast

• Be the Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
• The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
• Fangirl Happy Hour, hosted by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams
• Galactic Suburbia, hosted by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch
• Our Opinions Are Correct, hosted by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders
• The Skiffy and Fanty Show, produced by Jen Zink and Shaun Duke, hosted by the Skiffy and Fanty Crew

(Unfortunately, I'm not and never have been into podcasts.)

Best Fan Writer

• Foz Meadows
• James Davis Nicoll
• Charles Payseur
• Elsa Sjunneson-Henry
• Alasdair Stuart
• Bogi Takács

(Two out of six here, and have read two others.)

Best Fan Artist

• Sara Felix
• Grace P. Fong
• Meg Frank
• Ariela Housman
• Likhain (Mia Sereno)
• Spring Schoenhuth

Best Art Book
Under the WSFS Constitution every Worldcon has the right to add one category to the Hugo Awards for that year only. Dublin 2019 has chosen to use this right to create an award for an art book.

• The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga Press /Gollancz)
• Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon, by Julie Dillon (self-published)
• Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History, by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer (Ten Speed Press)
• Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, ed. John Fleskes (Flesk Publications)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie, by Ramin Zahed (Titan Books)
• Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, ed. Catherine McIlwaine (Bodleian Library)

(I drew a complete blank on these two categories.)

There are two other Awards administered by Worldcon 76 that are not Hugo Awards:
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

• The Belles, by Dhonielle Clayton (Freeform / Gollancz)
• Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt / Macmillan Children’s Books)
• The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black (Little, Brown / Hot Key Books)
• Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)
• The Invasion, by Peadar O’Guilin (David Fickling Books / Scholastic)
• Tess of the Road, by Rachel Hartman (Random House / Penguin Teen)

(Only one of my nominations made this list--I have read another one, but I had four others I simply liked better. But I've heard mostly good things about the other books on this list.)

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

• Katherine Arden*
• S.A. Chakraborty*
• R.F. Kuang
• Jeannette Ng*
• Vina Jie-Min Prasad*
• Rivers Solomon* 

 (Some of these are repeats from last year, so I'm already familiar with four of them and two were on my ballot. I've got to say though, I think R.F. Kuang is the one to beat.)

The fanzine File 770 has a post where voters can find a lot of the nominated works online, either excerpts or in their entirely, compiled by the amazing and indefatigable JJ. I've started by reserving seven books at my library (and I suppose I got there first, as no one else has them on hold ahead of me). Since this year's ceremony is on August 15, I'm assuming the voting period will extend into July, hopefully till July 31 like last year. I've got my work cut out for me, needless to say, but this is fun.