The winners of the 2018 Hugo Awards have been announced! You can read the full list below.
The 2018 Hugo Awards were presented on the evening of Sunday August 19th, 2018 at a ceremony at the 76th World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, California. 1813 valid nominating ballots (1795 electronic and 18 paper) were received and counted from the members of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 World Science Fiction Conventions. For the 1943 Retrospective Hugo Awards, 204 valid nominating ballots (192 electronic and 12 paper) were received.
Congrats to the finalists and winners!
2018 Hugo Awards Finalists
Best Novel
- The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
- The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi (Tor)
- New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
- Provenance, by Ann Leckie (Orbit)
- Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
- Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty (Orbit)
Best Novella
- All Systems Red, by Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)
- “And Then There Were (N-One),” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny, March/April 2017)
- Binti: Home, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com Publishing)
- The Black Tides of Heaven, by JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)
- Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
- River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)
Best Novelette
- “The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld, September 2017)
- “Children of Thorns, Children of Water,” by Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny, July-August 2017)
- “Extracurricular Activities,” by Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com, February 15, 2017)
- “A Series of Steaks,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, January 2017)
- “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” by K.M. Szpara (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
- “Wind Will Rove,” by Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s, September/October 2017)
Best Short Story
- “Welcome to your Authentic Indian Experience™,” by Rebecca Roanhorse (Apex, August 2017)
- “Carnival Nine,” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2017)
- “Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand,” by Fran Wilde (Uncanny, September 2017)
- “Fandom for Robots,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Uncanny, September/October 2017)
- “The Martian Obelisk,” by Linda Nagata (Tor.com, July 19, 2017)
- “Sun, Moon, Dust” by Ursula Vernon, (Uncanny, May/June 2017)
Best Related Work
- No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate, by Zoe Quinn (PublicAffairs)
- Iain M. Banks (Modern Masters of Science Fiction), by Paul Kincaid (University of Illinois Press)
- A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison, by Nat Segaloff (NESFA Press)
- Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler, edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal (Twelfth Planet Press)
- Sleeping with Monsters: Readings and Reactions in Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Liz Bourke (Aqueduct Press)
Best Graphic Story
- Monstress, Volume 2: The Blood, written by Marjorie M. Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
- Black Bolt, Volume 1: Hard Time, written by Saladin Ahmed, illustrated by Christian Ward, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Marvel)
- Bitch Planet, Volume 2: President Bitch, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Valentine De Landro and Taki Soma, colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick, lettered by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)
- My Favorite Thing is Monsters, written and illustrated by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
- Paper Girls, Volume 3, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher (Image Comics)
- Saga, Volume 7, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form
- Wonder Woman, screenplay by Allan Heinberg, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg and Jason Fuchs, directed by Patty Jenkins (DC Films / Warner Brothers)
- Blade Runner 2049, written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Alcon Entertainment / Bud Yorkin Productions / Torridon Films / Columbia Pictures)
- Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Blumhouse Productions / Monkeypaw Productions / QC Entertainment)
- The Shape of Water, written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, directed by Guillermo del Toro (TSG Entertainment / Double Dare You / Fox Searchlight Pictures)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi, written and directed by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
- Thor: Ragnarok, written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost; directed by Taika Waititi (Marvel Studios)
Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form
- The Good Place: “The Trolley Problem,” written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan, directed by Dean Holland (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
- Black Mirror: “USS Callister,” written by William Bridges and Charlie Brooker, directed by Toby Haynes (House of Tomorrow)
- “The Deep” [song], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)
- Doctor Who: “Twice Upon a Time,” written by Steven Moffat, directed by Rachel Talalay (BBC Cymru Wales)
- The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit,” written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television)
- Star Trek: Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander, directed by David M. Barrett (CBS Television Studios)
Best Editor – Short Form
- Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
- John Joseph Adams
- Neil Clarke
- Lee Harris
- Jonathan Strahan
- Sheila Williams
Best Editor – Long Form
- Sheila E. Gilbert
- Joe Monti
- Diana M. Pho
- Devi Pillai
- Miriam Weinberg
- Navah Wolfe
Best Professional Artist
- Sana Takeda
- Galen Dara
- Kathleen Jennings
- Bastien Lecouffe Deharme
- Victo Ngai
- John Picacio
Best Semiprozine
- Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Julia Rios; podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews
- The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James
- Escape Pod, edited by Mur Lafferty, S.B. Divya, and Norm Sherman, with assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney
- Fireside Magazine, edited by Brian White and Julia Rios; managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry; special feature editor Mikki Kendall; publisher & art director Pablo Defendini
- Strange Horizons, edited by Kate Dollarhyde, Gautam Bhatia, A.J. Odasso, Lila Garrott, Heather McDougal, Ciro Faienza, Tahlia Day, Vanessa Rose Phin, and the Strange Horizons staff
Best Fanzine
- File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
- Galactic Journey, edited by Gideon Marcus
- Journey Planet, edited by Team Journey Planet
- nerds of a feather, flock together, edited by The G, Vance Kotrla, and Joe Sherry
- Rocket Stack Rank, edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong
- SF Bluestocking, edited by Bridget McKinney
Best Fancast
- Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace
- The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
- Fangirl Happy Hour, presented by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams
- Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts; produced by Andrew Finch
- Sword and Laser, presented by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt
- Verity!, presented by Deborah Stanish, Erika Ensign, Katrina Griffiths, L.M. Myles, Lynne M. Thomas, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
Best Fan Writer
- Sarah Gailey
- Camestros Felapton
- Mike Glyer
- Foz Meadows
- Charles Payseur
- Bogi Takács
Best Fan Artist
- Geneva Benton
- Grace P. Fong
- Maya Hahto
- Likhain (M. Sereno)
- Spring Schoenhuth
- Steve Stiles
Best Series
- World of the Five Gods, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Harper Voyager / Spectrum Literary Agency)
- The Books of the Raksura, by Martha Wells (Night Shade)
- The Divine Cities, by Robert Jackson Bennett (Broadway)
- InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
- The Memoirs of Lady Trent, by Marie Brennan (Tor US / Titan UK)
- The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson (Tor US / Gollancz UK)
2018 Associated Awards (not Hugos)
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
- Rebecca Roanhorse
- Katherine Arden
- Sarah Kuhn
- Jeannette Ng
- Vina Jie-Min Prasad
- Rivers Solomon
The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) Award for Best Young Adult Book
- Akata Warrior, by Nnedi Okorafor (Viking)
- The Art of Starving, by Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen)
- The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman (Knopf)
- In Other Lands, by Sarah Rees Brennan (Big Mouth House)
- A Skinful of Shadows, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan UK / Harry N. Abrams US)
- Summer in Orcus, written by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), illustrated by Lauren Henderson (Sofawolf Press)
1943 Retrospective Hugo Awards Finalists
Best Novel
- Beyond This Horizon, by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, April & May 1942)
- Darkness and the Light, by Olaf Stapledon (Methuen / S.J.R. Saunders)
- Donovan’s Brain, by Curt Siodmak (Black Mask, September-November 1942)
- Islandia, by Austin Tappan Wright (Farrar & Rinehart)
- Second Stage Lensmen, by E. E. “Doc” Smith (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1941 to February
1942) - The Uninvited, by Dorothy Macardle (Doubleday, Doran / S.J.R. Saunders)
Best Novella
- “Waldo,” by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1942)
- “Asylum,” by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1942)
- “The Compleat Werewolf,” by Anthony Boucher (Unknown Worlds, April 1942)
- “Hell is Forever,” by Alfred Bester (Unknown Worlds, August 1942)
- “Nerves,” by Lester del Rey (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942)
- “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag,” by John Riverside (Robert A. Heinlein) (Unknown
Worlds, October 1942)
Best Novelette
- “Foundation,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1942)
- “Bridle and Saddle,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942)
- “Goldfish Bowl,” by Anson MacDonald (Robert A. Heinlein) (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1942)
- “The Star Mouse,” by Fredric Brown (Planet Stories, Spring 1942)
- “There Shall Be Darkness,” by C.L. Moore (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1942)
- “The Weapon Shop,” by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1942)
Best Short Story
- “The Twonky,” by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942)
- “Etaoin Shrdlu,” by Fredric Brown (Unknown Worlds, February 1942)
- “Mimic,” by Martin Pearson (Donald A. Wollheim) (Astonishing Stories, December 1942)
- “Proof,” by Hal Clement (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942)
- “Runaround,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1942)
- “The Sunken Land,” by Fritz Leiber (Unknown Worlds, February 1942)
Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form
- Bambi, written by Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, et al., directed by David D. Hand et al. (Walt Disney Productions)
- Cat People, written by DeWitt Bodeen, directed by Jacques Tourneur (RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.)
- The Ghost of Frankenstein, written by W. Scott Darling, directed by Erle C. Kenton (Universal Pictures)
- I Married a Witch, written by Robert Pirosh and Marc Connelly, directed by René Clair (Cinema Guild Productions / Paramount Pictures)
- Invisible Agent, written by Curtis Siodmak, directed by Edwin L. Marin (Frank Lloyd Productions / Universal Pictures)
- Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, written by Laurence Stallings, directed by Zoltan Korda (Alexander Korda Films, Inc. / United Artists)
Best Editor – Short Form
- John W. Campbell
- Oscar J. Friend
- Dorothy McIlwraith
- Raymond A. Palmer
- Malcolm Reiss
- Donald A. Wollheim
Best Professional Artist
- Virgil Finlay
- Hannes Bok
- Margaret Brundage
- Edd Cartier
- Harold W. McCauley
- Hubert Rogers
Best Fanzine
- Le Zombie, edited by Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker
- Futurian War Digest, edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
- Inspiration, edited by Lynn Bridges
- The Phantagraph, edited by Donald A. Wollheim
- Spaceways, edited by Harry Warner, Jr.
- Voice of the Imagi-Nation, edited by Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo
Best Fan Writer
- Forrest J Ackerman
- Jack Speer
- Arthur Wilson “Bob” Tucker
- Harry Warner, Jr.
- Art Widner
- Donald A. Wollheim
Congratulations to the winners! But I did notice onr thing: Lois Bujold is 2/2 on the Best Series. But I think she’s out of series. So I wonder who will win next year.
I have crunched the numbers here.
Closest result of the night was Best Editor Short Form – Lynne M. Thomas and Michael D. Thomas finished just 6 votes ahead of Sheila Williams.
Most crushing victory was File 770 for Best Fanzine, 20 votes short of a first-count win, easily getting there on the second count.
Missed being on the final ballot by a single nominating vote:
Archive of Our Own (Best Related), would have replaced Sleeping with Monsters;
C.C. Finlay (Best Editor, Short Form), would have replaced Sheila Williams;
Yuko Shimizu (Best Professional Artist), would have replaced Kathleen Jennings;
Black Gate (Best Fanzine), would have replaced Rocket Stack Rank.
Declined nomination:
Best Series – The Broken Earth (N.K. Jemisin);
Best Editor Long Form – Liz Gorinsky;
Best Professional Artist – Julie Dillon;
Best Fancast – Tea and Jeopardy
For Best Series, N.K. Jemisin declined for The Broken Earth;
the following were ruled ineligible, due to not having added enough to the series since last year:
The Expanse,
The Craft Sequence,
the October Daye books
@1 – Don’t forget Sharing Knife, which is pretty nifty too.
Congrats to all of the authors and to Tor, who had another strong year.
Aha. Jemisin declined. That explains a lot, as I couldn’t figure out how the heck Broken Earth didn’t even get nominated. And it makes sense, the idea of the series award was, at least in part, to call attention to series that didn’t have individual books strong enough to win the Hugo. Obviously, that was not the case with Broken Earth.
Oh the hold list already for best novella and just started [book one of the series for] the best novel at my local library…and it turns out I have best Graphic Story sitting in my pile of library books at home.
Seems I’ve got some reading to do.
Well done Hugo winners!
The Broken Earth books were the only ones that ever made 2nd person Point of View work for me as a reader.
@3, RobM, but the rules of the Series award is a new work must have been added to the series in the year of eligibly. Since the Sharing Knife is finished, it can’t get a nod. While I love Bujold, the Sharing Knife is not for me. It has a cool magic system, but the rest of the story bugs me.
So, it’s open season on who will win the next Series Award. :-D
All around, a pretty good year. (1943 wasn’t bad, either) Only a couple of my actual first choices won, but there was nothing to argue with.
@6 I wonder if next year might be October Daye’s year for Best Series. InCryptid came in second according to the stats published by @2 (thanks for your hard work!), and I think October Daye is by far the stronger of the two. With two volumes published since its last nomination it would be very strange if it didn’t make the cut on rules grounds again. With Bujold out of the picture for the foreseeable future, it may open up the category.
I do hope that Jemisin’s declining the nomination doesn’t set a precedent for turning Best Series into a lesser category than Best Novel. I do think that the genre needs an award for a work in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as opposed to a backup award for “good, but not good enough for Best Novel”. I’d hate to end up with a situation like the Oscars, where the existence of Best Animated Film seems to be making it artificially difficult to nominate an animated film for Best Picture.
@8 I found it interesting that InCryptid placed second this year while October Daye placed sixth last year. (I agree with you that the latter is the stronger series.) I suspect this may reflect the difference in electorates between a California WorldCon and a Finnish one, and to the extent that it does (the strength of the rest of the field being the most obvious other factor) I also suspect next year’s Irish WorldCon’s membership will be closer to the latter than the former. But who knows really.
@6 – Well, Ms. B could fix that defect by writing another work in the SK world. Dr. Dag, Medicine Man anyone?
@6 I loved the execution of the second person narrator in Broken Earth!
This is a pretty big deal, right? Three consecutive years, all three books in the trilogy. Has anyone even come close to such an achievement? Card and KSR are the two that closest that come to mind
@tourna The Murderbot series is wonderful! I have read the first two books and am eagerly awaiting book #3 from the hold list at my library.
I love the way Well’s story propels me to think deeply about what it means to be human. The plot itself is interesting too, but it is really the character development of the Cyborg, the Murderbot, that is a joy to read about.
I hope you love it. I can’t wait to read all the nominated short stories, since most or all are freely, and legally, available online.
Congratulations to Tor.com for their wins and to all the other winners!
Wasn’t Bujold’s series finishes like a decade ago? Why is it eligible for the Hugo now?
@14 The novels were finished decades ago, but the recent novellas in the same world make it eligible.
@14 The World of the Five Gods has been on-going with the Penric novellas. While there hasn’t been a full novel since The Hallowed Hunt, the novellas make it eligible.
Ms. Jemisin declining may have had to do with the new rules established after the slate voting a couple years ago. The same work cannot be nominated in more than one category.
I love this part of her speech:
“This is the year in which I get to smile at all of those naysayers. Every single mediocre insecure wannabe who fixes their mouth to suggest that I do not belong on this stage, that people like me cannot possibly have earned such an honor. And that when they win it’s meritocracy, but when we win it’s identity politics. I get to smile at those people, and lift a massive shining rocket shaped finger in their direction.”
acceptance speech
Better link to full speech:
full speech
Sunspear @17:
Ms. Jemisin declining may have had to do with the new rules established after the slate voting a couple years ago. The same work cannot be nominated in more than one category.
No; the full trilogy was eligible despite the appearance of The Stone Sky in the Novel category. Both series and novel would have appeared on the ballot had Ms. Jemisin not declined the Series nomination.
@19. Susan: then the new rule seems ambiguous.
@15&16: I didn’t know there were novellas in this world! :-)
Anyone know whether these are going to be published together at some stage?
@21: I don’t know about a Five Gods omnibus, but if you like e-books, they’re currently very affordable. You can put together your own Kindle omnibus for about $30. That’s what I did for voting since they weren’t in packet and I hadn’t read the novels, only the recent Penric stories.
@20: I agree that the rule is ambiguous. And I think that its ambiguity could have unfortunate unintended consequences. I respect Ms. Jemisin’s decision to avoid being nominated in two categories (one of which she would have absolutely slaughtered everyone else in). But I think that it could set an implicit precedent that Best Series is a lesser award than Best Novel. This would be an unfortunate consequence for authors of series. Also, might it have a dampening effect on nominating series novels that aren’t the first novel for Best Novel if the previous installments were not nominated? Sometimes series aren’t good enough for Best Novel with the first volume but make a huge leap forward in a later novel. Or what about a final novel that might deserve to be on the ballot when previous installments were passed over? (I’m imagining the scenario where Day 3 of The Kingkiller Chronicle finally comes out and fulfills its potential, for example.)
@22. mutant: yeah, it could become needlessly convoluted.
And I felt a stab when you mentioned Kingkiller. Not your fault, of course.
InCryptid vs. Stormlight Archive…tough choice.
But I would definitely have voted for Down Among the Sticks and Bones; that story is exquisite. River of Teeth sounds like a very strong contender in the same category, but I haven’t read it yet, so I wouldn’t be sure.
I was heartbroken that Divine Cities didn’t win for best series. I think not enough people read it. They really weren’t my kind of books, grimmer than most of the stuff I read, but the world-building was intricate and amazing and the characters broke my heart in so many ways. One of the best series EVER.
I guess I’m the only one who bounced off Jemisen’s trilogy. It did not speak to me and I really struggled to finish it.
@25 I agree that Divine Cities finished far lower in the ranking than it should have. Intense character work and strong prose styling. I think that one thing that might have held it back is that it takes a while to get going–City of Blades is, IMHO, orders of magnitude better than City of Stairs, with a more genuine sense of the numinous. (InCryptid has the same problem–doesn’t really take off until at least Book 3, but it’s an easy read where Divine Cities is a demanding read.)
@24 I did vote for “Down Among the Sticks and Bones”. I’m an unusual case where Murderbot really isn’t grabbing me. I found “All Systems Red” rather a slog, possibly because none of the characters except Murderbot seemed to be well-rounded. (Wells may have written herself into a corner there–a first-person story with a narrator who isn’t really very interested in other people is a hard setup for writing more than one compelling character.) I was also very impressed by “And Then There Were (N-One)”. Disappointed that Beagle’s “In Calabria” didn’t make the shortlist.
I’m curious about the voter statistics for the “Best Series” category. With its addition, the electronic voters packet became much larger; personally, I had not read any of the volumes of any of the series; and during the two-month review period, I didn’t nibble far enough into the pile to feel comfortable entering any votes. I wonder how many other Hugo voters were in the same boat?
An exit survey (“how many of the finalists did you consume prior to the voting period? how many titles were you aware of? how many authors?”) would be interesting, vis-à-vis calibrating the finalists. “We’re voting on these, so they’re relatively more popular than anything else that was nominated, but their absolute popularity is unknown.”
@27: Total anecdotal evidence: I managed, somehow, to read a substantive amount of all the nominated series that I had not previously read (I had already read The Stormlight Archive in its entirety, so that cut down on the number of pages immensely). But the only one I actually finished by the deadline from scratch was InCryptid.
I agree that you raise a challenging issue with the award. Its intent is valuable, but it does make the packet so large that it’s more or less impossible to read everything, even if you start as soon as nominees are announced rather than waiting for the actual packet, unless you have an extremely flexible work-from-home job or are a SAHM, a “funemployed” person using a public library, or similar. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to read Best Related Work or about half the graphic stories.
So that’s one anecdote. From a very dedicated voter who is hyperlexic, but also has a full-time job and a long commute. During which I listened to audiobooks of nominees.
@28: In my case I had a vacation trip to Asia during the voting period, so I loaded the eMobi-formatted works onto my Nook reader and made diligent use of dead time on trans-Pacific flights, layovers, public transit, and nights in the hotel regretting not being out but really an introvert can take only so much of Hong Kong per diem (*). Simply as a matter of time management, I skipped the PDFs — being formatted-for-print, they’re illegible on the Nook — and unlike in previous years I didn’t track down hardcopies at my library.
As it happens, my leisure-reading habits align poorly with recent Hugo trends (my movie habits hew closer to the norm), and there are authors I’m aware of only because they’re repeat-finalists.
(*) There should be a German word for that feeling.
@29: I’m with you on leisure reading habits not tending to align with Hugo trends recently, particularly because I almost never read military SF for leisure. Always a good season to get out of my comfort zone.
I read a good amount of this year’s nominees that I was able to make a reaction video about it. However, now I’m reading what I haven’t read from the lists! Not that I’m complaining about that.
@13. librarianna – I read about them here and they immediately went into my need to read list. Sadly my system doesn’t pick up a lot of copies of genre fiction in spite of it’s size, so there can be a wait. Especially for the eBooks that I can read at work. Everything I’ve heard about it thus far points that I will like them.
~~~
I started on The Fifth Season as I’m done with starting trilogies part way though, and its not a happy read, but compelling all the same. It reminds me of A Song of Ice and Fire in that Jemisin knows just how much they can turn the screws before having to let up so as to not make the reader give up for its dourness. Not what I was looking for in my next book, but reading 10% a day seems to show I’m on the right path all the same.
@32. tourna: Where are these jobs where you can read at work? Kidding.
Sometimes when I’m playing online (Guild Wars 2) other players say they’re at work. I wonder the same thing: where can I find a job that lets me play GW2 while at work…
@20, 22:
I believe the relevant distinction is that The Stone Sky (novel) and The Broken Earth (series) are different works, even though one incorporates the other. So any rule about “same work” simply doesn’t apply here.
@34.Susan: I could see that distinction if it was a novella expanded into a full length novel. But the series incorporates the exact same text as that nominated in the novel category. If the semantics of the rule are unclear, perhaps the rule needs to be more specific.
@35 Sunspear – Which rule exactly is causing confusion? Can you give me the text or the section number? 3.2.4 seems to make it very clear: “Works appearing in a series are eligible as individual works”.
Novella to novel is an established precedent (Eifelheim 1987/2007).
Here’s a bit of timey-wimey eligibility confusion: in 1966 the Foundation trilogy won “Best All-Time Series” Hugo, which I believe was a one-shot award, and this year “Foundation” won the 1943 Retro-Hugo for Novelette.
@36. Susan: which seems to contradict the exclusion of the same work in multiple categories. It seems like a game of semantics to me.
Was listening to the Coode podcast and Jo Walton was saying how unhappy she is with the series implementation. Perhaps it should be completed series, not with a current work that year. This would include series that are arguably worthy. And while I wouldn’t disparage any current nominees, it could give an award to a lesser series in future, simply because it’s more current.
@37 The WSFS constitution could certainly do with some cleaning up. I think they have some committees for that. I am thankful that I am not on them.
I am delighted by Lois’ two well-deserved wins for Best Series, but I am not convinced the category is long-term viable. I don’t know that there are enough nominees qualified every year that are what I consider Hugo-worthy. This year the admin had to go to #10 on the list to get six viable nominees. (Broken Earth withdrawal plus three ineligibles because of not having new work.) Every year we will effectively disqualify five series unless/until they produce a certain amount of new work. I don’t see any way to avoid compromising quality in the not-very-far future.
“Completed” series is tricky, because, short of author death, how do you definitively rule a series complete? Chelsea Quinn Yarbro assured everyone that her Saint-Germain vampire series was completed in 1983 after five novels and a short story collection. I asked her specifically in 1984, and she said the character had stopped speaking to her and there would be no more books. But after a ten-year hiatus, she suddenly started writing them again, and now there are thirty books.
@38: Yeah. I’m just No Awarding (and not nominating) clearly incomplete series, but this is clearly a minority position. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect the Hugo Administrator to make a determination on whether or not a series is “complete” for the reason you state.
Best Series will be up for a re-ratification vote at the 2021 Worldcon. If we’re getting the same nominees over and over in the next three years, that would seem to me to be a strong argument to vote against.
@39: Yeah, and the two Bujold series don’t help matters. I would call the Vorkosigan saga complete, since the last few books clearly tied all the loose ends into a neat final bow. But then this year she suddenly released a random Vorkosigan novella. So I guess it wasn’t complete. Or now it’s more complete. Or something. And the Five Gods series is definitely incomplete – there are novels for three gods, with two more to go. It may never be complete if she doesn’t feel like writing any more novels, but since the novels don’t represent a single continuing storyline, it’s not like the readers have been left in torment or anything. The only “incompletion” is of her original stated intention, and if she hadn’t stated it, we’d never have known it was other than a trilogy. The Penric novellas are in the same universe, but are an open-ended sub-series of their own which don’t make the Five part any more complete.
Notwithstanding all this, I find both series Hugo-worthy, but it sure illustrates the problems with any judgment of “completion”.
Given how many people nominated ineligible series this year, it’ll be interesting to see what happens next year.