We are coming down the homestretch; the voting deadline is July 31st, and I’m pretty much finished going through the categories I’m going to get to, so here’s where things are shaking out:
Best Novel:
- Neptune’s Brood by Charles Stross [My Review]
- Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie [My Review]
- Warbound by Larry Correia [My Review]
- Parasite by Mira Grant [My Review]
- No Award
Not listed is The Wheel of Time, mostly because it’s simply absurd that so many books could be nominated as one entity. I read The Eye of the World and I’m almost finished with The Great Hunt, but nothing I’ve read indicates that I’d place it higher than any of the above. Incidentally, if only A Memory of Light was nominated, I probably wouldn’t have gone this route (even though the end result would still be needing to read 4 million+ words in order to finish off the story, which is absurd).
Predicted Winner: Ancillary Justice
Best Novella:
- “The Chaplain’s Legacy” by Brad Torgerson
- “Equoid” by Charles Stross
- Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
- The Butcher of Khardov by Dan Wells
- No Award
See My Reviews for more details. Not listed is “Wakulla Springs” by Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages, primarily because it is not Science Fiction or Fantasy (if this were a historical fiction award, then that story would certainly be near the top).
Predicted Winner: Six-Gun Snow White
Best Novelette:
- “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”, by Ted Chiang
- “The Lady Astronaut of Mars”, by Mary Robinette Kowal
- “The Exchange Officers”, by Brad Torgersen
- “The Waiting Stars”, Aliette de Bodard
- “Opera Vita Aeterna”, Vox Day
See My Reviews for more details. All nominees listed, no need to deploy No Award. I did drop “The Exchange Officers” down a peg since my original reading, mostly because the story here did not really stick with me at all (though it’s still a fine story).
Predicted Winner: “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”
Best Short Story:
- The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere, by John Chu
- Selkie Stories Are for Losers, by Sofia Samatar
- The Ink Readers of Doi Saket, by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
- If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love, by Rachel Swirsky
See My Reviews for more details. All nominees listed, no need to deploy No Award.
Predicted Winner: The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:
See my comments for more details. All nominees listed, no need to deploy No Award.
Predicted Winner: Gravity
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form:
- “Game of Thrones” The Rains of Castamere
- “Doctor Who” The Day of the Doctor
- “Orphan Black” Variations Under Domestication
- “Doctor Who” The Name of the Doctor
- An Adventure in Space and Time
- The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
See my comments for more details. All nominees listed, no need to deploy No Award.
Predicted Winner: “Doctor Who” The Day of the Doctor
Best Professional Artist:
See my comments for more details. All nominees listed, no need to deploy No Award.
Predicted Winner: No idea!
Best Fan Artist:
See my comments for more details. All nominees listed, no need to deploy No Award.
Predicted Winner: Sarah Webb
Best Fan Writer:
See my comments for more details. All nominees listed, no need to deploy No Award.
Predicted Winner: Abigail Nussbaum
And that covers all the categories I’ll be voting for (there are several others that I just won’t get to). All in all, it’s been a fun year. I can’t say as though I discovered anything that really blew me away, but I’m really happy with this whole experience (the annoyance caused by various controversies notwithstanding). Since my supporting membership qualifies me to vote on next year’s awards as well, you can probably expect to see this whole rigmarole again next year. I know, I know, you’re already looking forward to it. In the meantime, we’ll probably have a couple more posts on general stuff about the Hugos, and I am really curious to see how the voting turns out (sometime in mid-August).