Today the Hugos released its list of nominations for a variety of awards in science fiction and fantasy excellence, and each year, the Hugos get closer and closer to achieving real diversity and inclusion within the nominees. Standout categories that include some incredibly deserved nods are Short-Form Editor, Fan Editor, and Best Series.
I’m especially excited to see some of my favourite books of the past few years up here. The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee whips all kinds of arse; She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan gave me gender feelings and also made me want to riot because it was so good; and Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard is an incredibly fierce Viet-inspired novella with enough worldbuilding for an entire series. This year I was also deeply impressed by the short stories that the new publication Deadlands put out, and I was exceptionally pleased to see Alix Harrow’s Mr. Death get a nomination. (Eagle-eyed readers will note that I was part of the team nominated for Best Semiprozine for Strange Horizons, as well).
Film isn’t excluded either, Dune and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings both get nominations for Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form, as does one of my favourite (underrated!) films of last year, Space Sweepers. The Disney+ Marvel shows were represented with nominations for both WandaVision as a whole and Loki for the episode “The Nexus Event.” Star Trek: Lower Decks’ “wej Duj,” Arcane’s “The Monster You Created,” and The Wheel of Time’s “The Flame of Tar Valon” were also nominated.
As the Hugos continue to be rocky (2020 had some issues with the main presenter, George R.R. Martin, and the DisCon ceremony in 2021 was literally sponsored by noted weapons manufacturer Raytheon), every science fiction and fantasy reader watches with baited breath, hoping that this year will be the year that changes things.
io9 co-founders Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders will present at the ceremony and act as Toastmasters during Chicon, the 80th World Science Fiction and Fantasy convention. Anders is also up for three Hugos, including Best Related Work (Never Say You Can’t Survive), Best Fancast (Our Opinions are Correct, alongside Newitz and producer Veronica Simonetti), and the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, for Victories Greater Than Death.
The full list of finalists is below. The awards ceremony will be held in Chicago, during Chicon 8, from September 1-5.
Best Novel
- A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine (Tor)
- The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager / Hodder & Stoughton)
- Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki (Tor / St Martin’s Press)
- A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom / Orbit UK)
- Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir (Ballantine / Del Rey)
- She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor / Mantle)
Best Novella
- Across the Green Grass Fields, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
- Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom)
- Fireheart Tiger, by Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
- The Past Is Red, by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
- A Spindle Splintered, by Alix E. Harrow (Tordotcom)
Best Novelette
- “Bots of the Lost Ark”, by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, Jun 2021)
- “Colours of the Immortal Palette”, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
- L’Esprit de L’Escalier, by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
- “O2 Arena”, by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge, Nov 2021)
- “That Story Isn’t the Story”, by John Wiswell (Uncanny Magazine, Nov/Dec 2021)
- “Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.”, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)
Best Short Story
- “Mr. Death”, by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, Feb 2021)
- “Proof by Induction”, by José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)
- “The Sin of America”, by Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
- “Tangles”, by Seanan McGuire (Magicthegathering.com: Magic Story, Sep 2021)
- “Unknown Number”, by Blue Neustifter (Twitter, Jul 2021)
- “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, Mar/Apr 2021)
Best Series
- The Green Bone Saga, by Fonda Lee (Orbit)
- The Kingston Cycle, by C. L. Polk (Tordotcom)
- Merchant Princes, by Charles Stross (Macmillan)
- Terra Ignota, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)
- Wayward Children, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
- The World of the White Rat, by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) (Argyll Productions)
Best Graphic Story or Comic
- DIE, vol. 4: Bleed, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Stephanie Hans, lettering by Clayton Cowles (Image)
- Far Sector, written by N.K. Jemisin, art by Jamal Campbell (DC)
- Lore Olympus, vol. 1, by Rachel Smythe (Del Rey)
- Monstress, vol. 6: The Vow, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image)
- Once & Future, vol. 3: The Parliament of Magpies, written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Dan Mora, coloured by Tamra Bonvillain (BOOM!)
- Strange Adventures, written by Tom King, art by Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner (DC)
Best Related Work
- Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism, by Elsa Sjunneson (Tiller Press)
- The Complete Debarkle: Saga of a Culture War, by Camestros Felapton (Camestros Felapton)
- Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre (PM Press)
- “How Twitter can ruin a life”, by Emily St. James (Vox, Jun 2021)
- Never Say You Can’t Survive, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tordotcom)
- True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, by Abraham Riesman (Crown)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- Dune, screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth; directed by Denis Villeneuve; based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert (Warner Bros / Legendary Entertainment)
- Encanto, screenplay by Charise Castro Smith and Jared Bush; directed by Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
- The Green Knight, written and directed by David Lowery (BRON Studios/A24)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, screenplay by Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham; directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
- Space Sweepers, written and directed by Jo Sung-hee (Bidangil Pictures)
- WandaVision, screenplay by Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer (created by and head writer), Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, Chuck Hayward; directed by Matt Shakman (Disney+)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
- The Wheel of Time: The Flame of Tar Valon, written by Justine Juel Gillmer, directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, based on The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (Amazon Studios)
- For All Mankind: The Grey, written by Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi; directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Tall Ship Productions/Sony Pictures Television)
- Arcane: The Monster You Created, written by Christian Linke and Alex Yee; story by Christian Linke, Alex Yee, Conor Sheehy, and Ash Brannon; directed by Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord (Netflix)
- The Expanse: Nemesis Games, written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, and Naren Shankar; directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Studios)
- Loki: The Nexus Event, written by Eric Martin, directed by Kate Herron, created for television by Michael Waldron (Disney+)
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: wej Duj, written by Kathryn Lyn, directed by Bob Suarez (CBS Eye Animation Productions)
Best Editor, Short Form
- Neil Clarke
- Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
- Mur Lafferty & S.B. Divya
- Jonathan Strahan
- Sheree Renée Thomas
- Sheila Williams
Best Editor, Long Form
- Ruoxi Chen
- Nivia Evans
- Sarah T. Guan
- Brit Hvide
- Patrick Nielsen Hayden
- Navah Wolfe
Best Professional Artist
- Tommy Arnold
- Rovina Cai
- Ashley Mackenzie
- Maurizio Manzieri
- Will Staehle
- Alyssa Winans
Best Semiprozine
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
- Escape Pod, editors S.B. Divya, Mur Lafferty, and Valerie Valdes; assistant editors Benjamin C. Kinney and Premee Mohamed; guest editor Brent C. Lambert; hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart; audio producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht; and the entire Escape Pod team
- PodCastle, co-editors Jen R. Albert, C. L. Clark, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, and Eleanor R. Wood; assistant editors Summer Fletcher and Sofía Barker; audio producer Peter Adrian Behravesh; host Matt Dovey; and the entire PodCastle team
- Strange Horizons, Vanessa Aguirre, Joseph Aitken, Kwan-Ann Tan, Rachel Ayers, M H Ayinde, Tierney Bailey, Scott Beggs, Drew Matthew Beyer, Gautam Bhatia, Tom Borger, S. K. Campbell, Emma Celi, Zhui Ning Chang, Rita Chen, Tania Chen, Liz Christman, Emma-Grace Clarke, Linda H. Codega, Kristian Wilson Colyard, Bruhad Dave, Sarah Davidson, Tahlia Day, Arinn Dembo, Belen Edwards, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Courtney Floyd, Lila Garrott, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright, Colette Grecco, Julia Gunnison, Dan Hartland, Sydney Hilton, Angela Hinck, Amanda Jean, Jamie Johnson, Sean Joyce-Farley, Erika Kanda, Kat Kourbeti, Catherine Krahe, Anna Krepinsky, Clayton Kroh, Natasha Leullier, Dante Luiz, Gui Machiavelli, Cameron Mack, Samantha Manaktola, Marisa Manuel, Jean McConnell, Heather McDougal, Maria Morabe, Amelia Moriarty, Sarah Noakes, Aidan Oatway, AJ Odasso, Joel Oliver-Cormier, Kristina Palmer, Karintha Parker, Anjali Patel, Juliana Pinho, Nicasio Reed, Belicia Rhea, Abbey Schlanz, Elijah Rain Smith, Alyn Spector, Hebe Stanton, Melody Steiner, Romie Stott, Yejin Suh, Sonia Sulaiman, Ben Tyrrell, Renee Van Siclen, Kathryn Weaver, Liza Wemakor, Aigner Loren Wilson, E.M. Wright, Vicki Xu, and The Strange Horizons Editorial Collective
- Uncanny Magazine, publishers and editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas; managing/poetry editor Chimedum Ohaegbu; nonfiction editor Elsa Sjunneson; podcast producers Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Best Fanzine
- The Full Lid, by Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner
- Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus; editor Janice L. Newman; associate writers Gwyn Conaway, Jason Sacks, and John Boston
- Journey Planet, edited by Erin Underwood, Jean Martin, Sara Felix, Vanessa Applegate, Chuck Serface, Errick Nunnally, Evan Reeves, Steven H Silver, James Bacon and Christopher J Garcia
- Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
- Small Gods, Lee Moyer (Icon) and Seanan McGuire (Story)
- Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, editors Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne
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, Jonathan Strahan producer
- Hugo, Girl!, hosts Haley Zapal, Amy Salley, and Lori Anderson; producer/editor Kevin Anderson
- Octothorpe, by John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty
- Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders, produced by Veronica Simonetti
- Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Cass Morris, Rowenna Miller, and Marshall Ryan Maresca
Best Fan Writer
- Chris M. Barkley
- Bitter Karella
- Alex Brown
- Cora Buhlert
- Jason Sanford
- Paul Weimer
Best Fan Artist
- Iain J. Clark
- Lorelei Esther
- Sara Felix
- Ariela Housman
- Nilah Magruder
- Lee Moyer
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (presented by the World Science Fiction Society)
- Chaos on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
- Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen / Rock the Boat)
- The Last Graduate, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey Books)
- Redemptor, by Jordan Ifueko (Amulet Books / Hot Key Books)
- A Snake Falls to Earth, by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
- Victories Greater Than Death, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen / Titan)
Astounding Award for Best New Writer (presented by Dell Magazines)
- Tracy Deonn (2nd year of eligibility)
- Micaiah Johnson (2nd year of eligibility)
- A.K. Larkwood (2nd year of eligibility)
- Everina Maxwell (1st year of eligibility)
- Shelley Parker-Chan (1st year of eligibility)
- Xiran Jay Zhao (1st year of eligibility)
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