Hugo Winners!

 

Time to go over this year's Hugo winners, and see how well I did on my recommends list. I did okay for the major winners, but ended up well off the mark otherwise.

A particularly stunning bit of information came from Kat Jones who, during the awards ceremony, informed the audience that during the nomination stage, the final slot was decided by only 1 or 2 votes in 11 out of 17 categories! People's votes really do count for the Hugo awards. And I get the impression that the final votes were just as narrow, based on how (to my eye) unpredictable they were.

I should have been there in person this year. I had my membership purchased, plans made, itinerary set... and then tested positive for Covid the Wednesday evening before con. Damn! You can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to be pining over this loss for many years to come.

Best Novel:

My pick: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

Winner: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

This one I got exactly right. If an award were to go to a science fiction novel at all, the amazingly constructed world of Arkady Martine was an obvious pick. Although I would not have been surprised if the best fantasy novel, A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark, would have won instead.

Best Novella:

My pick: The Past is Red by Cathrynne M. Valente

Winner: A Psalm For The Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Becky Chambers has become a force within sci fi and fantasy.

Best Novelette:

My pick: Bots of the Lost Ark by Suzanne Palmer

Winner: Bots of the Lost Ark by Suzanne Palmer

Not surprising, at least, not to me. Bots of the Lost Ark was just a tad bit more fun than the other finalists.

Best Short Story:

My pick: The Sin of America by Cathrynne M. Valente

Winner: Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather by Sarah Pinsker

I am flabbergasted that The Sin of America didn't win. It absolutely blew me away. Yet it was a story that ended with a great deal of blood and gore. In the end, that might have been what cost Valente the trophy.

Best Series:

My Pick: The World of the White Rat by T. Kingfisher

Winner: Wayward Children by Susan McGuire

This category was particularly difficult for me, so I went with the series with the highest rating over the largest number of books. That was T. Kinfisher's work, by a long shot. Susan McGuire wasn't even the next runner-up, by that criteria. Fonda Lee was. But Susan McGuire has a great deal of clout, as evidenced by the fact that she kept having to come up to the stage over and over again as she and her absent husband kept winning award after award. I have no doubt that there was some synergy at work with this particular victory.

Best Graphic Story or Comic:

My pick: Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe, et. al.

Winner: Far Sector, written by N.K. Jemisin, art by Jamal Campbell.

I shouldn't be surprised at all. I was tempted to go with N.K. Jemisin, too. She's a proven commodity with a brilliant talent for writing. But when I evaluate comics, I seldom read them all. I look for brilliance in artwork as well as writing. After all, comic books are 75% artwork, and the writing is literally just the subtext. And for all Jemisin's brilliance, I couldn't overlook the fact that Far Sector was a Green Lantern story, and no amount of talent (to my mind) could overcome that. Clearly, the collective members of Worldcon felt differently.

Best Related Work:

My pick: The Complete Debarkle: Saga of a Culture War, by Camestros Felapton.

Winner: Never Say You Can't Survive by Charlie Jane Anders

Well, I gave it my best shot. I plugged Camestros Felapton's work as best I could, but in the end it did not gain the recognition I felt it should. It will still be invaluable to historians for decades to come.

Not to discredit Charlie Jane's work! Her book gave immense comfort to many through the pandemic, including me! If Felapton's work was to lose to anyone, I'm glad it lost to her.

Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form:

My pick: Dune

Winner: Dune

Well, duh!

Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form:

My pick: The Wheel of Time: The Flame of Tar Valon

Winner: The Expanse: Nemesis Games

I felt this would be the outcome as soon as I saw the Worldcon program. I found at least three panels dealing with The Expanse (some with friends of mine on the panel), and none with the usual suspects like Star Trek or Star Wars (with the exception of one panel in tribute to the late Nichelle Nichols). With so much fan support for The Expanse, I instantly knew this prediction of mine would be proven wrong.

Best Editor Short Form:

My pick: Sheree Renee Thomas

Winner: Neil Clarke

I oughtn't be surprised. Neil Clarke has been delighting readers of Clarkesworld for many years.

Best Editor Long Form:

My pick: Navah Wolfe

Winner: Ruoxi Chen

Every year, this is the most difficult category to evaluate. It is so very difficult for anyone outside of the inner circle of publishing to know who the great novel editors are. I will be learning more about Ruoxi Chen in the near future.

Best Professional Artist:

My pick: Maurizio Manziari

Winner: Rovina Cai

I am truly surprised by this one. While I found Rovina's dark wings and pretty figures enticing, they did not have the stunning realism or detail of Manziari's work. I can only assume that the fan base knows something I don't.

Best Semiprozine:

My pick: Uncanny Magazine

Winner: Uncanny Magazine

No surprise here at all. Uncanny has had more short story finalists make it to the final Hugo ballot than any other publication for the last few years running. Such a record deserves recognition.

Best Fanzine:

My pick: The Full Lid by Alistair Stuart

Winner: Small Gods by Lee Moyer and Seanan McGuire

I'm totally unfamiliar with Small Gods, so this one really surprised me. But I intend to check out this little publication right away!

Best Fancast:

My pick: Hugo, Girl! with Haley Zapal, Amy Salley, and Lori Anderson.

Winner: Our Opinions Are Correct with Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz.

To say I was surprised by this one is putting it mildly. Not that Charlie Jane and Analee's show isn't deserving - it is! I just assumed that, since they were M.C.'s of the ceremony, that they wouldn't be actively campaigning for any of their nominations. For all I know, they weren't. But honestly, I'd ruled them out - perhaps wrongly. I still think that Hugo Girl! is one of the best fancasts out there right now, and we will see them nominated again, surely, but congratulations to Charlie Jane and Analee.

Oh, and keep an eye on Octothorpe, too. That's a current favorite of mine.

Best Fan Writer:

My pick: Chris M. Barkley

Winner: Cora Buhlert

I suppose one's opinion on this depends on what one looks for in their fan writing. For me, I look for things that help me in my quest to be a better writer or conrunner. To that end, Chris Barkley is the clear and obvious choice. But this year's fans went with Cora Buhlert, a charming German woman who blends together pop culture commentary with science fiction news and the occasional freebie story. It's a combination that worked well for her, and her acceptance speech - which was an absolutely shameless and nervousness-free presentation of "Take Man-E-Faces-to-Work-Day" (yes, that's actually a thing in Germany) complete with a Man-E-Faces action figure, and He-Man action figure - shows a level of whimsey which explains why she won. (I'm friends with her on Twitter, and actually marveled at her Masters of the Universe collection. She's quite serious about it!)

Best Fan Artist:

My pick: Iain J. Clark

Winner: Lee Moyer

The fan artist behind Small Gods fanzine completely flew under my radar because in the Hugo packet, he presented only his Small Gods artwork - which constituted his qualifying work - and arguably not his best examples of that. But if one went to his website, one could see that he has a body of work which rivals that of Michael Whelan! Clearly, other Hugo voters visited that website and I did not. (Shame on me.) Congratulations to Lee Moyer on a well-deserved win. But put together a better Hugo packet next time, will ya?

Lodestar Award for Best YA Fiction:

My pick: Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders

Winner: The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

Admittedly, I struggle with this category. I went with Charlie Jane, in spite of her role as M.C., because I felt hers was the best. Oddly, voters went the other way, but voted for Charlie Jane in other categories I hadn't anticipated.

Astounding Award for Best New Writer: 

My pick: Micaiah Johnson

Winner: Shelly Parker-Chan

This is always a tricky category. I went with Micaiah Johnson based on the strength of his book, The Space Between Worlds. But the vote went differently. I'll be checking out Shelly Parker-Chan very soon.

Eric

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