The finalists for the 2012 Hugo Awards have been announced. Congratulations to all.
The Hugo Awards have been given since 1953, and every year since 1955, by the annual World Science Fiction Convention (the “Worldcon”). The first Worldcon occurred in New York City in 1939, and Worldcons have been held annually since then except during World War II. This year’s Worldcon is LoneStarCon 3 and will be held in San Antonio, Texas from August 29 through September 2.
This year’s Guests of Honor are Ellen Datlow, James Gunn, Willie Siros, Norman Spinrad, Darell K. Sweet, with special guests Leslie Fish and Joe R. Lansdale, and toastmaster Paul Cornell.
Hugo Award finalists are selected by members of the previous Worldcon and of the upcoming one; winners are selected by members of the upcoming one. All Attending and Supporting members of LoneStarCon 3 can vote on the final ballot. For more information about voting in the Hugo Awards, or becoming a member of LoneStarCon 3, please click here.
Best Novel
- 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
- Blackout by Mira Grant (Orbit)
- Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
- Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi (Tor)
- Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)
Best Novella
- After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications)
- The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)
- On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
- San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant (Orbit)
- “The Stars Do Not Lie” by Jay Lake (Asimov’s, Oct-Nov 2012)
Best Novelette
- “The Boy Who Cast No Shadow” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Postscripts: Unfit For Eden, PS Publications)
- “Fade To White” by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
- “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi” by Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity, Solaris)
- “In Sea-Salt Tears” by Seanan McGuire (Self-published)
- “Rat-Catcher” by Seanan McGuire (A Fantasy Medley 2, Subterranean)
Best Short Story
- “Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld, June 2012)
- “Mantis Wives” by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
- “Mono no Aware” by Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)
Note: category has 3 nominees due to a 5% requirement under Section 3.8.5 of the WSFS constitution.
Best Related Work
- The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge UP)
- Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them Edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Sigrid Ellis (Mad Norwegian Press)
- Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who Edited by Deborah Stanish & L.M. Myles (Mad Norwegian Press)
- I Have an Idea for a Book… The Bibliography of Martin H. Greenberg Compiled by Martin H. Greenberg, edited by John Helfers (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box)
- Writing Excuses Season Seven by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson
Best Graphic Story
- Grandville Bête Noire written and illustrated by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse Comics, Jonathan Cape)
- Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
- Saga, Volume One written by Brian K. Vaughn, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
- Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (Hypernode Media)
- Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run written by Paul Cornell, illustrated by Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Broxton and Goran Suduka (Vertigo)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- The Avengers Screenplay & Directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)
- The Cabin in the Woods Screenplay by Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon; Directed by Drew Goddard (Mutant Enemy, Lionsgate)
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, Directed by Peter Jackson (WingNut Films, New Line Cinema, MGM, Warner Bros)
- The Hunger Games Screenplay by Gary Ross & Suzanne Collins, Directed by Gary Ross (Lionsgate, Color Force)
- Looper Screenplay and Directed by Rian Johnson (FilmDistrict, EndGame Entertainment)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
- Doctor Who: “The Angels Take Manhattan” Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
- Doctor Who: “Asylum of the Daleks” Written by Steven Moffat; Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
- Doctor Who: “The Snowmen” Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Wales)
- Fringe: “Letters of Transit” Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Akiva Goldsman, J.H.Wyman, Jeff Pinkner. Directed by Joe Chappelle (Fox)
- Game of Thrones: “Blackwater” Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)
Best Editor, Short Form
- John Joseph Adams
- Neil Clarke
- Stanley Schmidt
- Jonathan Strahan
- Sheila Williams
Best Editor, Long Form
- Lou Anders
- Sheila Gilbert
- Liz Gorinsky
- Patrick Nielsen Hayden
- Toni Weisskopf
Best Professional Artist
- Vincent Chong
- Julie Dillon
- Dan Dos Santos
- Chris McGrath
- John Picacio
Best Semiprozine
- Apex Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Jason Sizemore and Michael Damian Thomas
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
- Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Jason Heller, Sean Wallace and Kate Baker
- Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams and Stefan Rudnicki
- Strange Horizons edited by Niall Harrison, Jed Hartman, Lee Mandelo, An Owomoyela, Julia Rios, Abigail Nussbaum, Sonya Taaffe, Dave Nagdeman and Rebecca Cross
Best Fanzine
- Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
- The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia and James Bacon
- Elitist Book Reviews edited by Steven Diamond
- Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Emma J. King, Helen J. Montgomery and Pete Young
- SF Signal edited by John DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester
Best Fan Writer
- James Bacon
- Christopher J Garcia
- Mark Oshiro
- Tansy Rayner Roberts
- Steven H Silver
Best Fan Artist
- Galen Dara
- Brad W. Foster
- Spring Schoenhuth
- Maurine Starkey
- Steve Stiles
Best Fancast
- The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
- Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)
- SF Signal Podcast, Patrick Hester, John DeNardo, and JP Frantz
- SF Squeecast, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente (Presenters) and David McHone-Chase (Technical Producer)
- StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
- Zen Cho
- Max Gladstone
- Mur Lafferty
- Stina Leicht
- Chuck Wendig
Congratulations to the nominees!
Wow, only three short stories this year: the voters must have been really divided.
Interesting, I’m not sure that I could call any of this year’s fiction categories at this stage.
Wow! Finally, a Dutch story made it to the Hugo nominees! Congrats to all the nominees, but especially to Thomas Olde Heuvelt.
I haven’t voted in years, but I tend to use the Hugo nominations as a guide to how out-of-touch I am with the SF field as a whole.
Pretty out of touch, it looks like. Jau Lake’s novella from ASIMOV’S is the only short fiction piece from the traditional newstand magazines. That’s a big change in not too many years.
In “Related Works”, the two “Chicks” books are the only titles I recognize. (I should probably try to find a copy of the Greenberg bibliography, if only because my name should be mentioned in passing somewhere in it; I edited the OLYMPUS anthology with Greenberg in the 1990’s.)
In all, very little I’ve read or watched, and quite a bit I hadn’t even heard of until now. That’s a BIG change from when I first got active in fandom forty-five years ago, when it was still possible to read all the SF published, in books and in magazine form. (I’m not saying the changes in the field are bad, but they sure are intimidating.)
Congratulations to the nominees. Nice to see that PNH made the editor’s list.
So in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, Joss Whedon is garanteed to lose, but still has a 50% chance of winning. Good to know. =)
Quite possibly one of the weakest showings for Best Novel in Hugo history. The Scalzi, though I love the man dearly, is probably his worst novel. 2312 is an imaginative, though unreadable, mess. Don’t get me started on Mira Grant’s limp, neverending series.
The only two that were actually enjoyable is the Bujold (no surprise there) and Ahmed’s. The Bujold was fun and utterly enjoyable, but I don’t think it was deep enough to warrant placement on this list. That only leaves Throne. I loved it, recommend it frequently and would have no problem seeing it when though I wish it had some stiffer competition.
However, the short story, novellette and novella categories are stupendous! What a year for short fiction. My money is on the Kress for Best Novella. The ending of After the Fall brought tears to my eyes and is still vivid in my mind almost a full year after reading it.
Were people just closing their eyes and writing down old familiar names? I really don’t think any of the novels are great, though I enjoyed reading four of them. Of the novellas I only read the Kress and did not care for it.
On another note, I’m really happy that enough people bought The Future is Japanese from Haikasoru to have nominated the Ken Liu story, which rather brilliantly tied its theme to the title of the book.
I really wish the first book in Jemisin’s new series made it in. Bummer.
Redshirts was amusing but I didn’t expect it to be Hugo worthy.
I also wished that Jo’s re-read of Rothfuss made it in as a related work. (*gripes*)
RobMRobM@9:I voted for the Rothfuss reread. I must have been a hex this year since nothing I nominated made it onto the short list.
It will be interesting to see the various numbers in September.
Am… I missing something? One of the listed Guests of Honor is, um, deceased. Mr. Darrell K. Sweet does have a son named Darrell R. Sweet, and he is an artist, but in a pretty different milieu than his father. Maybe April Fool’s has got my brain twisted around, although this was of course posted on Saturday.
@11 Majicou,
I believe Darrell was asked before he passed away. His son, also Darrell, will be attending in his place.
Apparently, 2012 was not a good year for novels, all the novels nominated last year were better than these five..
I must admit, I am disappointed by the novels shortlisted here, although I have not read one of them. 2312 left me scratching my head – plot threads that went nowhere, characters that seemed flat and uninspiring, and developments that seemed to just serve the travelogue storyline. I did expect more of KSR.
Since the season of complaining about Hugo nominated works seems to be at hand out on the internet, I thought I would talk a bit about the various phases of the Hugo. The key to understanding the Hugo system is that it comes in two parts.
In the nomination part you get to nominate whatever you want that fits the categories using whatever criteria you desire; everyone else participating also gets to nominate what they want. The results are added up and revealed. Those results may or may not match how you nominated but that really doesn’t matter.
The second part of the Hugo’s now begins. You now have a specific set of choices that you get to pick from and rank. These choices are the choices you get. If you really don’t like any of the choices you can even vote that way with a “no award” vote. The results are then tallied.
One thing that people seem to get hung up about is the belief that the Hugo process is supposed to pick the “best” work from the previous year. What it really does is create a ranking of results based upon the votes of those participating for the works selected by the above process.
“It’s not magic?” you say. Well, no, but it is rather fun.
Re the novels – does anyone have serious suggestions for what should have been nominated in place of what is here? I have at least one – the first Jemisin Dreamblood book. Are there others?
RobMRobM@16:For novels, what I nominated was:
The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis
The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi
Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey
So, when I nominated I obviously thought those belonged. However, as I said @15, that vote is done for the Hugos.
That being said, we are, of course, free to come up with our own list of “best” books for 2012.
And, the Locus Poll provides everyone who wants to a free place to nominate what they thought were the best works in 2012:
http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/2013/PollAndSurvey.html
Deadline for ballots is April 15, 2013.
Agree on Caliban. I enjoyed that even more than LW. Haven’t read the other two.
Re the nominated works, I liked the Bujold and agree with the nomination. Redshirts – fun but not Hugo worthy (note that I said same thing about Shadow War last year too). Didn’t read the rest.
For the nominated novels, I have read:
Blackout by Mira Grant (Orbit)
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)
Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi (Tor)
and need to read the other two:
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
when the packet comes out. I enjoyed both Blackout and Throne of the Crescent Moon quite a bit and will have to think on the ordering between those two. Redshirts was fun but didn’t enthuse me quite as much as the other two.
I like CVA, and it probably could stand on its own, but it’s easier to appreciate if you have read other Vorkosigan books. Ivan is a great minor character who has evolved over the course of a dozen-plus books and fans began cheering wildly when he got his own book.
RobMRobM@21:I’m sure that I will enjoy CVA as I’ve enjoyed the rest of the Vor books.
I think that you would probably like the Ian Tregillis books. The third volume of the trilogy comes out on April 30th, so it is a good time to pick them up. Cory Doctrow summarised them best I think:
OK, it’s sunk in now. My thoughts on the fiction:
Best Novel
Not doing much for me this year. I consider myself a Kim Stanley Robinson fan but have disliked everything of his since Antarctica and I am now too scared to re-read the old ones. 2312, on so many levels, was no exception. I haven’t read Blackout or Throne of the Crescent Moon since neither of them are the sort of thing that appeals to me. Redshirts was alright but fails the Miller-Le Guin test: can I really imagine myself saying “past Hugo winners have included such timeless classics as A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Left Hand of Darkness and Redshirts.” Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance sounds like decent fluff but again, while I could sneak Mirror Dance past Miller-Le Guin, I couldn’t with any of Bujold’s novels since Komarr.
Best Novella
Wow, I haven’t read any of these.
Best Novelette
I’m sure I’ve read the Valente but I can’t remember any part of it. The Cadigan was fun.
Best Short Story
I liked both “Immersion” and “Mantis Wives” but I didn’t read the Liu.
I’ve submitted my Hugo ballot. My 40th consecutive year of voting. Here is how I voted:
Best Novel
1. Throne of the Crescent Moon Saladin Ahmed
2. 2312 Kim Stanley Robinson
3. Blackout Mira Grant
4. Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance Lois McMaster Bujold
5. Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas John Scalzi
Best Novella
1. The Emperor’s Soul Brandon Sanderson
2. San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats Mira Grant
3. After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall Nancy Kress
4. On a Red Station, Drifting Aliette de Bodard
5. “The Stars Do Not Lie” Jay Lake
Best Novelette
1. “Fade to White” Catherynne M. Valente
2. “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi” Pat Cadigan
3. “Rat-Catcher” Seanan McGuire
4. “In Sea-Salt Tears” Seanan McGuire
5. “The Boy Who Cast No Shadow” Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Best Short Story
1. “Mono no Aware” Ken Liu
2. “Immersion” Aliette de Bodard
3. “Mantis Wives” Kij Johnson
Any other Hugo voters out there?
@24: (Preface: I don’t have a Worldcon membership but if I did…) I haven’t got much to add to my previous post but I changed my mind on Best Short Story after reading “Mono no Aware” on Lightspeed. I now want that one to win but I still can’t pick between de Bodard and Johnson for second place.
Here are my picks for the 2013 Hugo awards.
Best Novel
“Blackout”, Mira Grant (Orbit)
“Throne of the Crescent Moon”, Saladin Ahmed (DAW)
“2312”, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
“Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance”, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
“Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas” by John Scalzi (Tor)
Best Novella
“San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats” by Mira Grant
“The Emperor’s Soul” by Brandon Sanderson
“On a Red Station, Drifting” by Aliette de Bodard
“The Stars Do Not Lie” by Jay Lake
“After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall” by Nancy Kress
Best Novelette
“In Sea-Salt Tears”, Seanan McGuire
“Rat-Catcher”, Seanan McGuire
“The Boy Who Cast No Shadow”, Thomas Olde Heuvelt
“The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi”, Pat Cadigan
“Fade To White”, Catherynne M. Valente
Best Short Story
“Mono no Aware”, Ken Liu
“Mantis Wives”, Kij Johnson
“Immersion”, Aliette de Bodard
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
The Avengers
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Looper
The Cabin in the Woods
The Hunger Games
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form(I haven’t seen the “Game of Thrones” entry–that is why it does not appear here.)
Fringe, “Letters of Transit”
Doctor Who, “The Snowmen”
Doctor Who, “The Angels Take Manhattan”
Doctor Who, “Asylum of the Daleks”
Best Editor, Long Form
Lou Anders
Sheila Gilbert
Liz Gorinsky
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Toni Weisskopf
Best Fan Writer
Mark Oshiro
The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (I wish they could all get it.)
Chuck Wendig
Stina Leicht
Mur Lafferty
Zen Cho
Max Gladstone
It’s unanimous then. “Mono no Aware” for the Hugo!
“Mono no Aware” was my easiest first place choice.
“Redshirts[/i] was alright but fails the Miller-Le Guin test: can I really imagine myself saying ‘past Hugo winners have included such timeless classics as A Canticle for Leibowitz[/i], The Left Hand of Darkness[/i] and Redshirts[/i].'”
That’s a tough test to pass. Redshirts isn’t exactly comic – more wry, I’d put it – but someone up above described it as slight, and it is on the slight side. I think it gained some Serious Work points by virtue of it’s meta-ness
But to be really fair, it isn’t (wasn’t) nominated aginst LeGuin and Miller, is it? People don’t/didn’t seem overwhelmed by the other nominees. Even of it did whup a gang of midgets it won fair and square
@29: My reference to the Miller-Le Guin test merely refers to where Redshirts will be ranked out of the Hugo winners and is not intended to reflect on the current shortlist. I personally think that it is most similar to To Say Nothing of the Dog (Connie Willis), another comparatively slight comic novel.
I don’t doubt that it won fairly and clearly I must bow to the democracy. Even so, there are several candidates which didn’t make it on to the shortlist I would rank above Redshirts:
There’s Tobias S. Buckell’s Arctic Rising, a fun post climate change technothriller, Chris Beckett’s haunting Dark Eden and Blue Remembered Earth, another meandering-travelogue-around-a-future-solar-system, only this one is by Alastair Reynolds and is actually enjoyable. (Then, of course, there are rewarding books like Empty Space which are never going to make it on to a purely popular shortlist.)
Obviously, I’ve probably missed quite a lot but put a few of these on the shortlist and Redshirts starts looking overwhelmed. (Though I suspect that due to Scalzi’s black-magic powers of being entertaining and affable online, it would still be a close thing.)
SH picks from above:
“Blackout”, Mira Grant (Orbit) “Throne of the Crescent Moon”, Saladin Ahmed (DAW) “2312”, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) “Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance”, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen) “Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas” by John Scalzi (Tor)
My comment: Did you end up getting the books in exact reverse order of what was picked? Without checking, it seems close. Inquiring minds are amazed.
RobMRobM@31:The order from the Hugo stat page is:
Redshirts
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance
2312
Throne of the Crescent Moon
Blackout
So, yes I did manage a complete opposite ballet. I’m a rebel I am, :-). (Of course I nailed 2312 as the middle book).
I also didn’t have any of the novels I nominated make the short list.
Last year I matched better as I had:
Among Others
Deadline
Leviathan Wakes
Embassytown
That matches 1st and third. I left “A Dance With Dragons” off my ballot as I haven’t read it yet.
It is interesting seeing where peoples tastes fall.