Hugo Voting Recommendations - Chicon 8

 

Once again, it's time to give my list of recommendations for the Hugo Awards. Finalists were announced back on April 7th. The Hugo Awards Packet was issued by Chicon 8 on 

This has been an odd year. The previous awards ceremony was only last December, so it doesn't feel like we've had all that much time to read anything. But here we are, and we have until the 11th to vote. So here are my picks:

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)

A fascinating array of great sci fi novels makes up this year's finalists. I've spoken very strongly in favor of Project Hail Mary in the past. It deserved to be a finalist, and it has achieved that. But should it be the winner? One of the more enjoyable novels in this bunch is The Galaxy and the Ground Within, although if enjoyability is my measure, I'd have to say that PHM outranks it easily. Becky Chambers' series should win for Best Series Hugo, but it's already done that. That leaves A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. It is clearly better than the first book in the series, A Memory Called Empire. So by that measure alone, it should win. But Martine has exhibited the most spectacular example of worldbuilding I've ever seen in a recent science fiction novel. It's close, but I say that A Desolation Called Peace should win out. Unless you'd rather see a fantasy novel win, in which case P. Djeli Clark's masterpiece A Master of Djinn should be your pick.

Best Novella

Across the Green Grass Fields, by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)

Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom)

Fireheart Tiger, by Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom) (Kindle)

*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)

Cathrynne Valente's book The Past Is Red stood out for me right away, both because it was serialized as an audio drama and because it was just plain good. Although Becky Chambers' book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built has also made its mark. I so wanted Adrian Tchaikovsky to gain more traction with his book, but it just wasn't marketed as well.

Best Novelette

“Bots of the Lost Ark”, by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, Jun 2021)

“Colors 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)

I am fascinated by everything Caroline Yoachim writes and does. But in this group of finalists, Bots of the Lost Ark by Suzanne Palmer was just a tad bit more fun. I look forward to seeing Yoachim getting nominated again, and I dare say she'll win, but this time, it's Susan Palmer.

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)

One story overcame my natural prejudice against horror fantasy easily, and that was Cathrynne Valente's "The Sin of America." It literally blew me away, and will, in my opinion, be regarded as a classic to be studied by graduate students of English for years to come.

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)

This is an interesting category because most of the obvious nominees for this category have already won in the past, ruling them out for this year. This slate has mostly newer series, and that's a good thing.

Fonda Lee's series and T. Kingfisher's series are pretty closely tied for first place. But while Fonda Lee has four books in the set, all outstanding, T. Kingfisher, a.k.a. Ursula Vernon, has six, also all excellent. So Vernon/Kingfisher gets the tiebreaker.

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, colored by Tamra Bonvillain (BOOM!)

Strange Adventures, written by Tom King, art by Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner (DC)

It's tempting to go with the great writing of N.K. Jemisin with Far Sector. But that's a Green Lantern story, and even the most talented writers can't work much with that (sorry, DC fans). Thus, Lore Olympus gets my vote this year.

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)

I love Charlie Jane Anders' works, and Never Say You Can't Survive helped get me through the pandemic, and Emily St. James' all-important article about Elizabeth Fall's story "I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter," is a landmark achievement, but in the end I have to go with The Complete Debarkle by Camestros Felapton. His documentation of the incredible history of the Sad/Rabid Puppies affair is one that will serve future generations very, very well.

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, screenplay by Jo Sung-Hee, Yookang Seo-ae, and Yoon Seung-min; 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+)

Dune! Hands-down. Enough said.

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)

On this one, I have to go with The Wheel of Time, for special effects if nothing else. But I loved all of them. Seriously, ALL of them.

Best Editor, Short Form

Neil Clarke

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

Mur Lafferty & S.B. Divya

Jonathan Strahan

*Sheree Renée Thomas

Sheila Williams

There has been a marked improvement in the story quality of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and F&SF's newfound success can only be due to the efforts of Sheree Renee Thomas. She gets my vote.

Best Editor, Long Form

Ruoxi Chen

Nivia Evans

Sarah T. Guan

Brit Hvide

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

*Navah Wolfe

This one is always the most difficult category to nominate in, much less select. I always look over the qualifying works to see if there are any beloved volumes I recognize. Two editors stood out. One was Ruoxi Chen for editing A Master of Djinn. The other is Navah Wolfe who has edited several sci-fi novels which caught my attention recently, including Machinehood by S.B. Divya. So Navah Wolfe wins out.

Best Professional Artist

Tommy Arnold

Rovina Cai

Ashley Mackenzie

*Maurizio Manzieri

Will Staehle

Alyssa Winans

One artist truly stands out this year and that's Maurizio Manzieri! I was also very impressed with Tommy Arnold's work, and he's one to watch for future awards, but this is Maurizio's hour!

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

FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, publisher Troy L Wiggins; executive editor DaVaun Sanders; managing editor Eboni Dunbar; poetry editor B. Sharise Moore; reviews editor and social media manager Brent Lambert; art director L. D. Lewis; web editor Chavonne Brown; non-fiction editor Margeaux Weston; guest editors Summer Farah and Nadia Shammas; acquiring editors Kaleb Russell, Rebecca McGee, Kerine Wint, Joshua Morley, Emmalia Harrington, Genine Tyson, Tonya R. Moore, Danny Lore; technical assistant Nelson Rolon

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, 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

Over and over again, Uncanny Magazine continues to have more recommendations on the Locus Awards list than any other publication. FIYAH won out over Uncanny last year by being the favorite Cinderella story, and they may still win that way, but this year FIYAH is more of a professional publication, and it is probably another year away from racking up more wins with the older legacy publications. FIYAH is here to stay, thank heaven, but Uncanny has my vote this year.

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

The Full Lid comes right to my in-box on a biweekly basis and gives me sci fi news and information that I sometimes can't find anywhere else. It has my vote this year.

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

I was all set to hand it to Hugo Girl! outright, but then the finalists included this thing called Octothorpe. Octothorpe? Where the heck did THAT one come from? And it's GREAT! But you know, those giggling girls on Hugo Girl! are impossible not to love. They win out - but it was a lot closer than I expected. Watch for Octothorpe in future years!

Best Fan Writer

*Chris M. Barkley

Bitter Karella

Alex Brown

Cora Buhlert

Jason Sanford

Paul Weimer

Of all the fan writers this year, Chris M. Barkley's contributions have helped me the most. If you're looking to learn how to run a convention (and I am), then his article on running the publicity office is indespensable. He keeps popping up on my social media with one brilliant thought after another. I think his would be a well-deserved win!

Best Fan Artist

*Iain J. Clark

Lorelei Esther

Sara Felix

Ariela Housman

Nilah Magruder

Lee Moyer

Iain J. Clark still has my vote for his work on the Glasgow in '2024 campaign. But a VERY close second goes to Nilah Magruder! 

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)

I don't think there's any doubt about this one. Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders.

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)

Micaiah Johnson's book The Space Between Worlds might not have garnered him a Hugo nomination, but it did well enough to win my vote for Best New Writer. Well done.