The Hugo Awards: The 2019 shortlist!

From the Hugo Website

So, here are this year’s Hugo Award nominees! I found this list on www.theverge.com. 

For once, there are a very few on the list that I have actually read or seen. The first is Mary Robinette Kowal’s alternative universe novel The Calculating Stars, in a world where a meteor hits the earth in the 1950s and the space program has to be speeded up to be able to evacuate as many of the population as possible from Earth. And because you can’t start a colony with only men, women have a greater chance of training as astronauts...

In Best Series, I’ve read several of the Laundry Files novels, and one of the October Daye series. Laundry Files is great fun. Think of a world in which Lovecraftian horrors are lurking in the next universe. The hero is part of a British secret service known as the Laundry, working to keep the scary things out. And it’s funny! 

October Daye is the heroine of a series with fairies in it. I’ve only read one, but they are hugely popular. 

In the long form drama, I’ve seen Infinity War and The Black Panther, both very good indeed. In short form, I’ve seen the Dr Who episode “Demons Of The Punjab”, which was a wonderful story, and the exquisite “Rosa”. Nice to see two of the historical episodes on the list! The third one, “The Witchhunters” was great fun, but those two were just that much bit better. 

Nice to see some Aussies on the podcast list and Foz Meadows, another Aussie(though expatriate) on the fan writer list. 

I see they found a name for the YA section, after a lot of discussion last year, but I confess I haven’t read any of them, though I’ve heard of all but one on various blogs. 

You should be able to click through to several stories among the nominees. Many of the semi-prozines are on line, free to read, as I’ve found when checking out my markets. 

Are any of my readers going to Dublin? I was rather hoping to go myself, but family commitments have prevented this, so if you’re going, have a great time! 

BEST NOVEL

• The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
• Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
• Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
• Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

BEST NOVELLA

• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
• Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
• Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
• Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
• The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

BEST NOVELETTE

• If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho, Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog
• The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly, Tor.com
• Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory, Tor.com
• The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander, Tor.com
• The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer, Uncanny Magazine
• When We Were Starless by Simone Heller, Clarkesworld Magazine

BEST SHORT STORY

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

BEST SERIES

• The Centenal Cycle by Malka Older
• The Laundry Files by Charles Stross
• Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee
• The October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire
• The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard
• Wayfarers by Becky Chambers

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
• The Hobbit Duology (a documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan
• An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards 1953-2000, by Jo Walton
• The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 by Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, and John Picacio
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

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

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – LONG FORM

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

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – SHORT FORM

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

BEST EDITOR – SHORT FORM

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

BEST EDITOR – LONG FORM

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

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

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

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

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

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

BEST FAN WRITER

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

BEST FAN ARTIST

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

Best Art Book

• The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon by Julie Dillon
• Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer
• Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, editor John Fleskes
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed
• Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, editor Catherine McIlwaine

2018 ASSOCIATED AWARDS (NOT HUGOS)

JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER

• Katherine Arden (second year of eligibility)
• S.A. Chakraborty (second year of eligibility)
• R.F. Kuang (first year of eligibility)
• Jeannette Ng (second year of eligibility)
• Vina Jie-Min Prasad (second year of eligibility)
• Rivers Solomon (second year of eligibility)

THE LODESTAR AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
• The Invasion by Peadar O’Guilin
• Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman