The 2016 Hugo Award Finalists

For the past few years, we’ve talked about the Hugo Awards on the podcast, but admittedly not covered them on the site. It’s an oversight I’m correcting this year, because though admittedly we’re far more devoted to comics, movies, and television (meaning that the Hugo Awards lean more heavily — and rightfully so — toward prose), there’s overlap and… well, every year the nominations come out and I think I should be reading more novels. Plus occasional contributor Christopher J. Garcia has won it a couple of times.

The Hugo Awards are nominated and voted on by Science Fiction fans, those who belong to regional fan associations and attend major science fiction conventions. This year’s nominations sprung from attendees of conventions Sasquan (held in the state of Washington), MidAmericon II (to be held in Kansas City, KS this summer), and Worldcon 75 (to be held in Helsinki, Finland, in 2017). If you follow us on our Facebook page, you may note occasional posts for San Jose to host Worldcon 76 in 2018. We like having it near our home base.

(And on a smaller note — Memorial Day Weekend will find Ric Bretschneider and Derek McCaw wandering around BayCon.)

The winners will be announced at MidAmericon II, which is also technically Worldcon 74. It does seem to get a little arcane, but if you’re a part of science fiction fandom, it does all make sense. At any rate, maybe I’ve intrigued you — maybe you want to check out some of the work below — especially the graphic fiction or catch up on television. My Little Pony got a nomination and — you know what? It’s a danged good show that has risen above its 1980s origins as a so-called “girls’ toy” and ensuing lengthy commercials.

BEST NOVEL

[amazon text=Ancillary Mercy&asin=0316246689] by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
[amazon text=The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass&asin=0451466802] by Jim Butcher (Roc)
[amazon text=The Fifth Season&asin=0316229296] by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
[amazon text=Seveneves: A Novel&asin=0062190377] by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow)
[amazon text=Uprooted&asin=0804179050] by Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

BEST NOVELLA (2416 ballots)

[amazon text=Binti&asin=0765385252] by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)
[amazon text=The Builders&asin=0765385309] by Daniel Polansky (Tor.com)
[amazon text=Penric’s Demon&asin=1596067691] by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum)
[amazon text=Perfect State&asin=1511357800] by Brandon Sanderson (Dragonsteel Entertainment)
[amazon text=Slow Bullets&asin=1616961937] by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon)

BEST NOVELETTE (1975 ballots)

“And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead” by Brooke Bolander (Lightspeed, Feb2015)
“[amazon text=Flashpoint: Titan&asin=B019KYLOKQ]” by CHEAH Kai Wai (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
“Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)
“[amazon text=Obits&asin=1501111671]” by Stephen King (The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner)
“What Price Humanity?” by David VanDyke (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)

BEST SHORT STORY (2451 ballots)

“Asymmetrical Warfare” by S. R. Algernon (Nature, Mar 2015)
The Commuter by Thomas A. Mays (Stealth)
“If You Were an Award, My Love” by Juan Tabo and S. Harris (voxday.blogspot.com, Jun 2015)
“Seven Kill Tiger” by Charles Shao (There Will Be War Volume X, Castalia House)
Space Raptor Butt Invasion by Chuck Tingle (Amazon Digital Services)

BEST RELATED WORK (2080 ballots)

[amazon text=Between Light and Shadow: An Exploration of the Fiction of Gene Wolfe&asin=B011YTDGY2], 1951 to 1986 by Marc Aramini (Castalia House)
“The First Draft of My Appendix N Book” by Jeffro Johnson (jeffro.wordpress.com)
“Safe Space as Rape Room” by Daniel Eness (castaliahouse.com)
SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House)
“The Story of Moira Greyland” by Moira Greyland (askthebigot.com)

BEST GRAPHIC STORY (1838 ballots)

[amazon text=The Divine&asin=1596436743] written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
Erin Dies Alone written by Grey Carter, art by Cory Rydell (dyingalone.net)
[amazon text=Full Frontal Nerdity&asin=193328837X] by Aaron Williams (ffn.nodwick.com)
[amazon text=Invisible Republic Vol 1&asin=B015XAYP0M] written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)
[amazon text=The Sandman: Overture&asin=1401248969] written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (LONG FORM) (2904 ballots)

Avengers: Age of Ultron written and directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Ex Machina written and directed by Alex Garland (Film4; DNA Films; Universal Pictures)
Mad Max: Fury Road written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris, directed by George Miller (Village Roadshow Pictures; Kennedy Miller Mitchell; RatPac-Dune Entertainment; Warner Bros. Pictures)
The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lucasfilm Ltd.; Bad Robot Productions; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (SHORT FORM) (2219 ballots)

Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Television)
Grimm: “Headache” written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, directed by Jim Kouf(Universal Television; GK Productions; Hazy Mills Productions; Open 4 Business Productions; NBCUniversal Television Distribution)
Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions;Netflix)
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “The Cutie Map” Parts 1 and 2 written by Scott Sonneborn, M.A. Larson, and Meghan McCarthy, directed by Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller (DHX Media/Vancouver; Hasbro Studios)
Supernatural: “Just My Imagination” written by Jenny Klein, directed by Richard Speight Jr. (Kripke Enterprises; Wonderland Sound and Vision; Warner Bros. Television)

BEST EDITOR – SHORT FORM (1891 ballots)

John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Ellen Datlow
Jerry Pournelle
Sheila Williams

BEST EDITOR – LONG FORM (1764 ballots)

Liz Gorinsky
Vox Day
Sheila E. Gilbert
Jim Minz
Toni Weisskopf

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST (1481 ballots)

Lars Braad Andersen
Larry Elmore
Abigail Larson
Michal Karcz
Larry Rostant

BEST SEMIPROZINE (1457 ballots)

Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews, Nicole Lavigne, and Kate Marshall
Daily Science Fiction edited by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden
Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie
Strange Horizons edited by Catherine Krahe, Julia Rios, A. J. Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin,Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons staff
Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

BEST FANZINE (1455 ballots)

Black Gate edited by John O’Neill
Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Superversive SF edited by Jason Rennie
Tangent Online edited by Dave Truesdale

BEST FANCAST (1267 ballots)

8-4 Play, Mark MacDonald, John Ricciardi, Hiroko Minamoto, and Justin Epperson
Cane and Rinse, Cane and Rinse
HelloGreedo, HelloGreedo
The Rageaholic, RazörFist
Tales to Terrify, Stephen Kilpatrick