The Hugo Award Nomination Period ended last night, and miracle of miracles, I managed to get my ballot in on time. I suppose the value of posting this list after the deadline is questionable, but we’re that kind of timely here at Kaedrin (meaning, not timely at all). But I suppose if you’re looking to see what I enjoyed from last year’s spate of Science Fiction, this is a pretty good place to start. For the most part, this is just an expanded version of the list I posted in January, and that commentary is generally just as relevant here (most of the comments here will be about the additions and possibly some general expectations). Additions are noted with an asterisk (*)
Best Novel:
- A Darkling Sea by James Cambias
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- A Sword Into Darkness by Thomas A. Mays
- Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer*
- The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin*
My initial three picks were all longshots. A Darkling Sea has a very outside chance (but I’m guessing it unlikely, and its buzz factor seems to be waning), The Martian suffers from an eligibility question (more on why I’m still including it here, though at this point, I think everyone’s fears mean that even if is eligible, it won’t get nominated because everyone is leaving it off their list), and A Sword Into Darkness is self-published mil-SF that the literati probably would hate. The two additions are considerably more likely to be nominated. Annihilation is a near certain shoe-in for a nomination (it’s already got a Nebula nom) and pretty good odds on taking the prize. I just finished The Three-Body Problem myself and will probably write a full post about it at some point, but it’s been steadily picking up steam since it’s release in November. Unfortunately, a lot of mainstream buzz (like this New Yorker article) appear to be hitting a little too late to really influence the nomination process. On the other hand, it did garner a Nebula nomination and it ticks a bunch of typical Hugo checkboxes, so it’s got a good chance. While I wasn’t a huge fan, I would also predict Leckie’s Ancillary Sword will grab a nomination because of the runaway success of Ancillary Justice (last year’s winner) and generally positive reviews. Scalzi’s Lock In has a decent chance, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets left out either. I’m betting Correia will be one of the few beneficiaries of the Sad Puppy campaign, and possibly Butcher’s Skin Game while we’re at it. There’s usually some sort of fantasy novel in contention as well, but I’m not too familiar with those…
Best Novelette
- Atmosphæra Incognita by Neal Stephenson (from Hieroglyph)
- A Hotel in Antarctica by Geoffrey Landis (from Hieroglyph)
- The Bonedrake’s Penance by Yoon Ha Lee*
Still not sure if the first two are actually Novelettes, but hey, I’m putting them there. Wanna fight about it? The addition is The Bonedrake’s Penance, which I guess has some mild buzz, and Yoon Ha Lee seems like a rising star type (I’m certainly a new fan). No idea what else would tickle fandom for these short fiction categories.
Best Short Story:
- Periapsis by James L. Cambias (from Hieroglyph)
- Covenant by Elizabeth Bear (from Hieroglyph)
- The Day It All Ended by Charlie Jane Anders (from Hieroglyph)
- Passage of Earth by Michael Swanwick (from Clarkesworld)*
- The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars by Yoon Ha Lee (from Space Opera)*
Note that Tuesdays With Molakesh the Destroyer by Megan Grey is not eligible for this year’s awards (something about the magazine being a January 2015 edition that just happened to be available in December). It will, however, be eligible next year (at which point, I genuinely expect it to be nominated). Covenant seems to have buzz and Hieroglyph was a popular anthology, so it has that going for it. Passage of Earth also feels like it has some buzz. However, the short story category is infamously fickle, with votes spread out amongst the widest range of stories (many stories which could potentially be nominated aren’t because they fall short of getting 5% of the overall vote). It’s always something of a crapshoot. All I know is that I liked just about all of the short stories I read this year much better than any of the nominees from last year.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:
Coherence and The One I Love are far and above my favorites of the year and I’m pretty sure they won’t even come close to being nominated (both recommended though!). I swapped out The Lego Movie for Interstellar (though I think both of those will end up making the cut) I also wouldn’t be surprised if movies I didn’t care for do well, notably Snowpiercer.
Best Related Work:
- The Hot Equations: Thermodynamics and Military SF by Ken Burnside (from Riding the Red Horse)*
- Jodorowsky’s Dune*
This is a weird, catch-all category, but I actually think these two things have a good chance of winning (gasp, I aligned with the Sad Puppies on one of these). One thing I feel bad about is not nominating A Report on Damage Done by One Individual Under Several Names by Laura Mixon. It’s placement in terms of categories is unclear though. George R.R. Martin apparently recommended her for Best Fan Writer, which didn’t seem quite right, and I just plain forgot to add it to my ballot last night. Which is a shame, because that is some tour-de-force shit that Mixon put together there.
Best Professional Artist:
- Stephan Martiniere for covers like The Immortality Game and Shield and Crocus*
Yeah, I guess I fell for Ted Cross’s push for Stephan (who provided the art for Cross’s book), but this artist is genuinely talented and I kinda love his covers.
Best Fan Writer:
I don’t have a lot here, but Nussbaum is a regular read and I think she should have won last year, so here we are again.
And that just about covers it. Official nominations will be announced, as usual, during the inexplicable Easter day timeframe, so look for some comments on the subject then.