FINALISTS: 2009 Hugo Awards
By John DeNardo |
Friday, March 20th, 2009 at
12:15 am
The 2009 Hugo Awards, honoring works first published in 2008 or works first published in 2008 in the US that were published in a previous year outside the US, have been announced:
(Story titles link to free, online versions.)
BEST NOVEL
- Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK) [See SF Signal review]
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury)
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor) [See SF Signal review]
- Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)
- Zoe’s Taleby John Scalzi (Tor) [See SF Signal review]
BEST NOVELLA
- “The Erdmann Nexus” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
- “The Political Prisoner” by Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF Aug 2008)
- “The Tear” by Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires) [See SF Signal review]
- “True Names” by Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2) [See SF Signal review]
- “Truth” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
BEST NOVELETTE
- “Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Jan 2008)
- “The Gambler” by Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2) [See SF Signal review]
- “Pride and Prometheus” by John Kessel (F&SF Jan 2008)
- “The Ray-Gun: A Love Story” by James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s Feb 2008, also an audio version)
- “Shoggoths in Bloom” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s Mar 2008)
BEST SHORT STORY
- “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Jul 2008)
- “Article of Faith” by Mike Resnick (Baen’s Universe Oct 2008)
- “Evil Robot Monkey” by Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two) [See SF Signal review]
- “Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two, also: audio version) [See SF Signal review]
- “From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s Feb 2008)
BEST RELATED BOOK
- Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)
- Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art by Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
- The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold by Lillian Stewart Carl & John Helfers, eds. (Baen)
- What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Beccon Publications)
- Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)
BEST GRAPHIC STORY
- The Dresden Files: “Welcome to the Jungle” Written by Jim Butcher, art by Ardian Syaf (Del Rey/Dabel Brothers Publishing)
- Girl Genius, Volume 8: “Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones” Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
- Fables: “War and Pieces” Written by Bill Willingham, pencilled by Mark Buckingham, art by Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, color by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo Comics)
- Schlock Mercenary: “The Body Politic” Written, art by Howard Tayler (The Tayler Corporation)
- Serenity: “Better Days” Written by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews, art by Will Conrad, color by Michelle Madsen, cover by Jo Chen (Dark Horse Comics)
- Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: “Whys and Wherefores” Written/created by Brian K. Vaughan, pencilled/created by Pia Guerra, inked by Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC/Vertigo Comics)
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM
- The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer, story; Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, screenplay; based on characters created by Bob Kane; Christopher Nolan, director (Warner Brothers)
- Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro & Mike Mignola, story; Guillermo del Toro, screenplay; based on the comic by Mike Mignola; Guillermo del Toro, director (Dark Horse, Universal)
- Iron Man Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, screenplay; based on characters created by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby; Jon Favreau, director (Paramount, Marvel Studios)
- METAtropolis edited by John Scalzi; Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, John Scalzi, and Karl Schroeder, writers (Audible Inc.)
- WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM
- Lost: “The Constant”, Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)
- Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
- Battlestar Galactica: “Revelations”, Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)
- Doctor Who: “Silence in the Library”/ “Forest of the Dead”, Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBC Wales)
- Doctor Who: “Turn Left”, Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)
BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM
- Ellen Datlow
- Stanley Schmidt
- Jonathan Strahan
- Gordon Van Gelder
- Sheila Williams
BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM
- Lou Anders
- Ginjer Buchanan
- David G. Hartwell
- Beth Meacham
- Patrick Nielsen Hayden
BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST
- Daniel Dos Santos
- Bob Eggleton
- Donato Giancola
- John Picacio
- Shaun Tan
BEST SEMIPROZINE
- Clarkesworld Magazine edited by Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas, & Sean Wallace
- Interzone edited by Andy Cox
- Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
- The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kris Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney
- Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal
BEST FAN WRITER
- Chris Garcia
- John Hertz
- Dave Langford
- Cheryl Morgan
- Steven H Silver
BEST FANZINE
- Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
- Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
- Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
- The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
- Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
- File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
BEST FAN ARTIST
- Alan F. Beck
- Brad W. Foster
- Sue Mason
- Taral Wayne
- Frank Wu
The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
- Aliette de Bodard
- David Anthony Durham
- Felix Gilman
- Tony Pi
- Gord Sellar
Congratulations to all the nominees!
See also: Past winners.
Filed under: Awards
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Have read all the nominated novels last year. A form of award nomination prediction…
3 YA titles? Is this what SF has come to?
It would be nice (and helpful) to know what books the long form editor nominees were responsible for publishing during the nomination period.
3 YA titles? What’s wrong with that?
I meant to ask why is it a problem that 3 YA titles are on the novel list.
Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic is available online as well, at http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20070520.html (pdf link at the top of the page).
A Scalzi and a Gaiman?!? Ah, where do my loyalties lie? Perhaps neither will win and I can be righteously indignant for the both of them.
I’d be happy for either, that is for sure!
The novel nominees this year seem really weak. Not because they are YA, far from it. It is just that I have read several and those I did not read i had a good reason not to want to read. Surely modern SF has better to offer? Surely there are more deservent candidates? This is a huge dissapointment.
Which 2008 novels would you pick?
Having just finished Stross’ novel, Saturn’s Children, I can assure anyone interested that this is an amazing book, very worthy of the nomination. Few authors can put together so many SF ideas with imaginative (and smart) plot and characters. The book is fun and allows the reader to speculate and think — perhaps, the best attribute a Hugo nominee could aspire to.
The nature of the novel is no more sexual than many other novels — it’s a hard personality trait of the main character, but one that is the basis for a lot of intelligent character speculation – so it would be a shame if the vague thought of the novel kept people away from it. Even more reason to elevate this book on the shelf.
Now, on to Stephenson. If anyone can top Stross, it’s the man responsible for Snow Crash and The Diamond Age. Fun.
This is my first year as a Hugo voter. I had a lot of fun with it. I enjoyed reading through all the short stories, novlettes, and novellas that I normally wouldn’t have read otherwise. Overall my favorite is the Novella “Truth” by Robert Reed. I’ve never read Reed before, but I definitely plan to track down his work and see what else he has out there.
In the novel category I voted for Corey Doctorow’s Little Brother. As a software engineer I was relieved to finally see a group of hackers portrayed somewhat realistically. And it’s a good fast paced read. I don’t think it’ll win, perhaps it’s a bit too political. It may anger the political right. He uses straw man tactics to make his point. But if you can get past that it’s a good read.
Anathem was a close second for me. It’s a good book. If you like Stephenson’s other stuff, you’d like this too. If I were a gambling man I’d put my money on this novel to win this year. I think it’ll be well received by most SF readers.
I’m a big Scalzi fan and read all of the previous novels in the Old Man’s War series. It’s a great series, but Zoe’s Tale is by design unoriginal and predictable. 3 of the 4 books in the series were nominated for a hugo, so that’s a good indicator of it’s quality, but I expect Zoe’s Tale will fall short of the big award. I think Old Man’s War deserved a hugo, but didn’t read the book that actually beat that one out a few years ago.
The Graveyard Book is a charming kids story. I liked it as much as the other YA novels I’ve read, but I wouldn’t expect to be blown away if you’re going to read this one.
I rank Saturn’s Children last of the 5. Not that it’s a bad book, it’s worthy of a Nomination. It is based on a cool premise. I find Stross difficult read at times. Not really sure why.