Hugo Reading 2019: Best Fan Writer

Best Fan Writer is fun, because it's a little closer to the kind of scribbling I do. (Not that I'm comparing myself to anyone here--far from it!) But it's supposed to be stuff put out for fun and not for money, which means it could be anything and everything, from reviews to analysis to deconstruction to calling out to humor to snark. In practice, I suppose there are more reviews and reviewers than anything else--we do love to talk about good books, after all. I like reviews well enough (obviously, given most of the content of this blog), but I prefer essays that go deeper, that examine themes and worldbuilding and the choices of creators. The latter kind of writing is well represented in this year's shortlist.

My ballot:

6) James Davis Nicoll

James Davis Nicoll made me exhausted just looking at his packet submission. It's his entire year of reviews for 2018--722 pages. I wanted to go lie down as soon as I opened the file. His work ethic and speed of reading impresses me, but unfortunately the sheer number of entries by necessity makes them a little on the superficial side. I'd prefer fewer reviews and deeper delving into each individual book.

5) Charles Payseur

Charles Payseur better fits the formula I just outlined--fewer reviews, deeper delving. His specialty is short fiction, although there was a novel review, the transcript of a podcast, and a couple of personal essays included in his packet. They were...okay, but nothing that struck me as really outstanding.

4) Alasdair Stuart

Now we start with the essayists and analysts. Alasdair Stuart's offerings include essays on Dr. Who (13), Clipping, the Kitschie Awards, problematic faves, and most absurd of all, Burt Reynolds' appearance in Season 9 of The X-Files. (Which I personally liked, apparently a lot more than most people. I'd take Scully, Doggett and Reyes any day over the unholy mess that was the show's final season.) These articles are fairly short, but they're more personable. Also, anybody contrasting Johnny Rotten with the 13th Doctor earns a kudos in my book, even if it doesn't quite rise to the level of the other nominees.

(This is another case where the top three placements, for me, pretty much came down to a coin toss.)

3) Bogi Takacs

Bogi Takacs concentrates on what e calls "QUILTBAG+" issues, and all of the entries in eir packet are viewed through that lens. E is a little more measured and deliberate in eir writing, a style that demands thought and contemplation afterwards.

2) Elsa Sjunneson-Henry

According to her packet, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry writes about "disability in genre fiction," and she does it with a razor-sharp, biting wit. She takes apart the Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water in four pages, and has a fascinating essay about performing burlesque with a disability. Writing such as this, pointing out the ways the book/movie industry and individual creators have fallen short in their representation and challenging them  to do better, is invaluable.

1) Foz Meadows

Foz Meadows isn't as prolific as some of the other nominees in this category, but she makes up for it with the depth she gives to her essays. Her movie and game reviews are detailed and fascinating; she thoroughly deconstructs Star Wars: The Last Jedi, nailing how Rian Johnson failed in both his themes and his characters. She doesn't usually approach her subjects through the lens of a particular issue, but she takes each one on its own merits and dives deep, which I appreciate.

Next up: Best Graphic Story

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Professional Editor, Short Form

This category is for editors of magazines and anthologies. I personally wish the editors of more Kickstarted anthologies would make it into this category, as it seems to me some of the most interesting anthologies/collections of recent years have sprung into being through a Kickstarter campaign. (I know I've supported possibly more than my fair share of them.) But the requirement that there be "at least four anthologies, collections or magazine issues devoted to science fiction and/or fantasy, at least one of which must have been published in the year of eligibility," probably cuts that off.

Oh well. There's still plenty of worthy names to be found here. 

My ballot:

6) E. Catherine Tobler, for Shimmer Magazine

Shimmer just shut down last year, after 13 years. I never paid much attention to this magazine before now, which is likely my loss. Still, after reading the last issue (provided in the voter packet) I really couldn't find anything I thought to be outstanding. 

5) Gardner Dozois

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the late Gardner Dozois took the rocket, as he died last year and this is the last chance to honor him. To my mind, that would be more of a "lifetime achievement award," which is fine. 

4) Lynne M. Thomas/Michael Damian Thomas, for Uncanny Magazine

The last four nominees are very close in my mind, and it took some juggling to figure out my final placings. But you have to rank them somehow, right? Uncanny Magazine is one of the top SFF magazines in the field, but it's also won what feels like its fair share of awards the past few years. Let's spread the love around a little bit. 

3) Lee Harris, for Tor's novella line

Lee Harris has overseen some of the best novellas of the past few years (especially Murderbot), as part of Tor's excellent novella line. Again, this was tough, but the remaining two nominees, in my mind, just squeaked past. 

2) Neil Clarke, for Clarkesworld Magazine and various anthologies 

Neil Clarke has a famously good eye for translated fiction, but my placement here is mainly due to the Clarkesworld stories, particularly my vote for Best Novelette, Simone Heller's "When We Were Starless." I loved that story. 

1) Julia Rios, for Fireside Fiction

I've said before how much Fireside Fiction impresses me, and obviously Julia Rios and her team is the reason for that. The magazine has a fine, well-rounded balance of good fiction, nonfiction and editorials, and as a Patreon supporter I've also gotten emails advocating for various causes. It's just an outstanding magazine, and Julia deserves acknowledgement for guiding it. 

Next up: Best Fan Writer

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Professional Editor, Long Form

This category is really hard to judge, and I'm wondering if it should be altered in some way or perhaps eliminated. I couldn't judge anybody's editing unless I actually saw the progress of, and various versions of, the manuscript, and of course I'm not going to see that (and even if I did, I wouldn't have the time or expertise to evaluate it). So I'm pretty much reduced to judging this by the editor's lists of books she's worked on, and whether I've read them. Which is not a very good way to approach a category, when it comes right down to it. Nevertheless, we shall forge ahead. 

Note: I'm not going to include editors whose work I haven't read, if they haven't included excerpts in their packets. I don't think it would be fair to rank someone just by the names of their authors, and I don't have time to hunt down sample chapters and such. This may mean that one or two names are left out. 

4) Navah Wolfe

When I found out Navah Wolfe edited Catherynne M. Valente's Space Opera, I almost left her off my ballot--as I stated earlier, I didn't like that book. (Although I imagine the skill required to navigate Valente's rambling, over the top prose has to be pretty high.) But I read the sample chapters of some of the other books in her packet, particularly Mutiny at Vesta, which gave me a better view of her accomplishments.

3) Sheila E. Gilbert

Among other people, Sheila Gilbert edits and publishes the incredibly prolific Seanan McGuire, which must amount to two full-time jobs all by itself. I've probably read the most books edited by her, and I think DAW is a good publisher. Unfortunately, in this three-way tie, two others squeaked out ahead of her.

2) Diana Pho

I've already read her novella, The Black God's Drums, and I read sample chapters of novels she provided, By Fire Above and Guardian. The former is a steampunk with a (at least in the sample) broken-down airship, and the latter is a politically charged fantasy. There's some good stuff here. 

1) Beth Meacham

When I saw that Beth Meacham had edited my #1 pick for Best Novel, Mary Robinette Kowal's The Calculating Stars (as well as its companion, the just as good The Fated Sky) as well as Elizabeth Bear's Stone Mad, I pretty much had to put her on top.

Next up: Best Professional Editor, Short Form

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Fan Artist

There's some interesting nominees in the Fan Artist category this year, with some people who make SFF jewelry and whose work constitutes some or all of their entries. There's a calligrapher and a sculptor (albeit the sculptor was nominated in part for last year's Hugo base, which is an odd bit of meta). That made this category a little hard to rank, at least for me. 

Well, here goes. 

My ballot:

6) Meg Frank

Meg Frank offered artwork and jewelry in her packet, and the only thing I really liked was this gorgeous necklace. Her art, not so much.

5) Spring Schoenhuth

Spring Schoenhuth is another artist who apparently just works in jewelry, and though a couple of her pieces were gorgeous, overall I didn't like her work as well as the other jewelry designers. 

4) Likhain (AKA Mia Sereno)

When I saw this in Likhain's voter packet, I said, "Hey! That looks familiar!" In fact, it's the cover of a Kickstarted book I own, Mother of Invention from Twelfth Planet Press. Mia Sereno uses a lot of bright colors in her artwork, and her art tends to be very busy. That works for book covers, such as the one shown above, but I think it would get on my nerves after a while. 

3) Ariela Housman

This is the calligrapher. Her website is here, and I would really urge you to go look at the work she has on offer. It is far more varied and colorful than anything she included in her Hugo packet. 

2) Grace P. Fong

Some of Grace Fong's art (this picture in particular) was quite fun. She seems to have a sense of humor in her work that is missing in some of the other finalists. 

1) Sara Felix

There was some gorgeous jewelry in Sara Felix's packet, along with the amusing and quirky 2018 Hugo base, and the new 2018 YA award. Yeah, it's meta, but what the hell. I just liked it more than anything else. 

Next up: Best Professional Editor, Long Form

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Professional Artist

I'm not an art connoisseur. I know what I like when I see it, but I couldn't explain "the details, technique, or principles of an art," the definition per Merriam-Webster. Still, that's the nice thing about the Hugos: you don't have to be an expert to judge and vote. 

My ballot:

6) Yuko Shimizu

This artist definitely has a Japanese style (I guess I can call it that), with fine lines and lots of somewhat strange colors. Unfortunately,  it didn't do much for me.

5) Charles Vess

This book is three inches thick and will break your arm. It's beautiful, and Saga Press did a bang-up job with it, but for the most part I didn't think the illustrations were particularly outstanding.

4) John Picacio

This Uncanny Magazine cover had a rather interesting perspective, of this woman's opponent down on the ground, looking up at her as she prepares to end her/him. I liked the questions this cover inspired better than the cover itself. 

3) Galen Dara

Galen Dara does some interesting things with color palettes, the color blue especially. She also has a very distinctive style. 

2) Victo Ngai

I really liked this. It's distinctive and whimsical. Ngai's work has a lot of personality.

1) Jaime Jones

But in the end, I had to go with Jaime Jones, because he so perfectly brings one of my favorite fictional characters, Murderbot, to life. 

Next up: Best Fan Artist

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Fanzine

The definition of "fanzine" is fairly loosey-goosey in these days of self-publishing and websites, but the general consensus seems to be that it's something the participants don't expect to make money from. Something that's done, either with pixels or on paper, for the love of it.

My ballot:

6) Galactic Journey

This fanzine is an exercise in nostagia, as it covers SFF books/movies/stories/music/politics/the world 55 years ago. This results in quite a few "OMG" moments: pictures of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones from 1963; an amazingly young Sean Connery in Dr. No; reviewing the brand-new British TV series Doctor Who; snapshots of Dr. Martin Luther King; and so on and so forth. Despite this, I have never particularly warmed to this magazine. I guess I'd rather look forward than back.

5) Journey Planet

This zine seems to go in for themed issues: the ones included in the packet explored Star Wars, Silicon Valley, and Flann O'Brien, among others. There were moments of interest, but there was too much meh here for me to place it any higher.

4) Rocket Stack Rank

This zine is statistics and rankings oriented, a number-cruncher's dream. The extensive database on display here is nearly more impressive than the content; I can't imagine the amount of work needed to keep this up and keep it as organized as it obviously is. Unfortunately, as I paged through the packet, it began to overwhelm me. I realized I much preferred more detailed reviews of a few stories than a one-sentence summation and numbered rankings of every single thing.

3) Quick Sip Reviews

Reviewing short fiction is really hard to do well. The sheer compression of space means that a short story has to hit its marks right out of the gate (to mangle a few metaphors) with not much room or time for subtlety. Charles Payseur does an admirable job in the few paragraphs allotted to each of these reviews, zeroing in on the characterizations and themes, and summing up the strengths and weakness of each story he tackles. This impressed me.

2) Lady Business

Lady Business won the rocket in 2017, and sat out last year. Now it's back on the ballot, and while it's still one of my favorite sites, it just didn't seem to be as strong this year.

1) Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together

Sometimes you only see the overall excellence when disparate articles are grouped together. That was definitely the case with this fanzine. Their packet was grouped by subject--Fiction Reviews, Feminist Futures, Spotlight on Horror, Conversations, Visual Media Reviews, and Features--tackling subjects as widespread and quirky as Marvel comics, Frankenstein, video games, feminist separatism, and synthesizers. I thoroughly enjoyed their packet offerings, and put them on top.

Next up: Best Professional Artist

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Semiprozine

"Semiprozine" is a bit of a hard category to nail down, and is defined on the Hugo website thusly.

Semiprozine is the most complicated category because of the need to define semi-professional. A lot of science fiction and fantasy magazines are run on a semi-professional basis: that is they pay a little, but generally not enough to make a living for anyone. The object of this category is to separate such things from fanzines, which are generally loss-making hobbyist pursuits. To qualify a publication must not be professional and must meet at least one of the following criteria:

The publication pays its contributors and/or staff in other than copies of the publication.

The publication was generally available only for paid purchase.

This probably needs to be updated, but I'm not tackling that at the moment. My own definition of what makes a good magazine encompasses stories, of course, first and foremost--that's what I'm there for. However, if I just wanted good stories to the exclusion of anything else, I'd stick to anthologies (which I buy a lot of anyway). To me, a memorable magazine must engage its audience in a broader, more timely manner, incorporating essays, reviews, and editorials. A good magazine must have its finger on the pulse of not only what is happening in the fiction world, but what is happening in the world around us. It must be engaged, committed, and angry when appropriate.

With those points in mind, here's my ballot.

(Disclaimer: I also support some of these magazines on Patreon: Fireside and Strange Horizons; and have contributed to Uncanny Magazine's Kickstarters.)

6) Beneath Ceaseless Skies

I used to subscribe to this magazine, but stopped when I realized the stories they were publishing had gradually turned to stories I didn't care for all that much. The two sample issues they included in their packet showed that this was still the case.

5) FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction

As I read through this magazine's packet, it seemed to me that the flashes of brilliance were matched equally by flashes of meh. This was true both of the stories and the poetry submitted. This wildly disparate quality meant that I couldn't place it any higher.

4) Shimmer

This magazine has apparently shut down, which is too bad. Its last issue was included in the packet. Some of its stories were notable--Sarah Gailey's "From the Void" in particular--but again, the quality was too uneven.

3) Uncanny Magazine

In recent years, Uncanny has been a bit of a juggernaut; it's won the past three Hugos. Perusing this year's packet, I can certainly see why: many of the stories included were on my personal longlist, and three of them made the final ballot. So, in the end, the thing that made the difference for me (since my top three was so razor-tight) came down to the nonfiction articles. Both Strange Horizon's and Fireside's nonfiction was a whisker better.

2) Strange Horizons

I get the feeling this magazine has been a bit overlooked in recent years, and that shouldn't be the case. Their Hugo packet entry showed a fine, well-balanced collection of stories, essays and reviews, including an outstanding story "Strange Waters," by Samantha Mills, which I wouldn't be surprised to find on the Hugo longlist; a nice roundtable discussion with five trans authors; a really interesting roundtable discussion with five authors, including some of my favorites, about domesticity in space opera; and good, lengthy, in-depth movie and book reviews. This one just barely squeaked out of the top spot.

1) Fireside

The first thing that strikes me about this magazine: Julia Rios is a really good editor. The stories included in their packet were on the shorter side, but nearly all of them packed quite a punch. Two of them, "STET" and "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington," made the final Hugo ballot, which is a fine testimonial to her ability. These stories (especially "STET") were also more experimental than we usually see, which reflects well on the editor's instincts. The subjects of the nonfiction essays included gender relations, disabilities, energy as the future of humankind, and the 2017 #BlackSpecFic Report. This is an exciting, well-rounded magazine, one I'm happy to put on top.

Next up: Best Fanzine

Hugo Reading (Viewing) 2019: Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

I lucked out with this year's Long Form noms, as I had already watched all of them, and most of them were on my own ballot. I think this is only going to get more difficult in the coming years, with the ever-increasing numbers of SFF movies and (especially) television and streaming adaptations. (Which is why I maintain that the rules for BDP-Short Form should be changed to say that only one episode per series is allowed.)

By the way, if you haven't seen any of these films, there will be spoilers in this post. Just sayin'.

My ballot:

6) Avengers: Infinity War

This was the Big Superhero Showdown Marvel's been aiming towards for ten years, but when I saw it, it felt a bit....underwhelming. With so many characters tossed into the mix and so much to do, there wasn't time for any of them to make much of an impression, with the possible exception of Thor and Rocket. Also, if I'd been Chris Pratt, I would have been ticked off by the way my character was forced to wield the Starlord Stupid Stick, not once but twice. If Peter Quill had only killed Gamora in the beginning, like she asked him to do and he agreed, Thanos would never have found the Soul Stone. Of course, then we wouldn't have had a $2 billion-plus grossing movie.....

5) A Quiet Place

I liked this better, but it still had plot holes. It was better in the sense that I didn't start thinking about said plot holes while I was still watching it, so in that way it was a success. John Krasinski spins a credible, creepily atmospheric tale of a family living in silence, trying to survive an onslaught of alien invaders that hunt by sound. I enjoyed the performances of Emily Blunt and Millicent Simmonds, a Deaf actress cast in the role of Regan, whose cochlear implant proves crucial in figuring out a way to take the aliens down. Left as an exercise for the viewer is why a teenage girl could come up with this solution and not the world's militaries and think tanks (especially after seeing the huge ears on the aliens). 

4) Sorry To Bother You

This trailer doesn't reveal the third-act twist, but let me say that the film takes a seriously surreal SF turn. It's also a biting satire of capitalism and corporate rapacity, with the protagonist Cassius Green using his "white voice" to succeed as a telemarketer. I'm happy that a weird little movie like this was able to make the Hugo ballot, even if I ended up liking others better. 

3) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

This just took the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation at the Nebulas (and the Oscar for Best Animated Feature), so I think its chances are pretty good here. I liked it well enough, but I wasn't gosh-wow over it. 

2) Black Panther

I was gosh-wow over this, however. This juggernaut rolled into the Academy Awards and came away with three, Marvel's first. Eric Killmonger is (so far) Marvel's best villain, because he was very much the hero of his own story; even though I didn't like what he was doing, I could see that he had a point. And Shuri and the Dora Milaje are just...everything. 

1) Annihilation

I know this probably won't win, but I loved this movie. (Disclaimer: I haven't read the book.) This slowly unfolding, steadily escalating terror ride was beautiful and creepy and unsettling, and the ending reportedly gave the studio fits. Kudos to Alex Garland for keeping it, even though his film ended up under-promoted as a result. PZ Myers, an actual evolutionary biologist, also liked it, so it's not as wrong-headed in its science as some of the reviews on IMDB are claiming. Finally, there's a podcast discussing the film--Part 1 here. 

Next up: Best Semiprozine

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Novel

Now we come to what George R.R. Martin calls "the big one." For the past three years, of course, this has been won by N.K. Jemisin, for each volume of her remarkable Broken Earth trilogy. I'm sure the finalists in this category were a little relieved that she didn't have a book out last year.

My ballot:

7) Space Opera, Catherynne M. Valente

I almost feel as if I need to apologize for saying this, as I know this book is popular--but I did not like it at all. I couldn't even finish it. The over-the-top tone, stream-of-consciousness narrative, and hundred-word sentences just left me exhausted (I certainly didn't want it to be all terse one-syllable words a la Ernest Hemingway, but a little variation would have been nice), and I either didn't appreciate or couldn't get into the humor. It's not the author, either, as I enjoyed her novella The Refrigerator Monologues. This book is the quintessential definition of "marmite."

6) No Award

5) Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers

For me, this book was just so-so, and I summed it up on Goodreads as "warm, fuzzy and plotless." It's a fairly deep character study, but it's also one where not much actually happens, and the quality of the writing unfortunately was not enough to make up for that. The best thing I can say about it is that it was nice, but to me, "nice" isn't "award-worthy."

4) Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse

Urban fantasy has never gotten much Hugo love, and I don't think this book will change that, despite the fact that it's a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy with a unique setting and characters. This is a first novel with some of the typical attendant first-novel problems, so I couldn't bring myself to put it on top. However, I am happy to report that I just finished the second book, Storm of Locusts, and the author has notably improved in her craft. I think she's going to have a very good career.

3) Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik

Naomi Novik is the author of the nine-volume Temeraire series, but with this book and her previous Nebula-winning novel Uprooted, I think she has really leveled up. This is a very loose reimagining of the Rumplestiltskin story. What immediately struck me upon reading it was her skill in characterization; there are several different first-person viewpoints used here, and unlike some books that switch characters by chapter headings, these characters switch POV within chapters with no differentiation except line breaks. Yet within a paragraph or two I always knew who was speaking and where we were. This book also has lovely, evocative prose and an intriguing setting.

2) Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee

I've really gone back and forth with my placement of the remaining two nominees. I finally went back and read my Goodreads reviews, and realized when I reviewed this book after I first read it, I was more praising this book as the concluding volume in the Machineries of Empire series than an individual entry. Which is not to say this book isn't good; it is. I gave it five stars in my review. But this book, more than any other in the category, builds on what came before, and you need to have read the previous two volumes (Ninefox Gambit and Raven Stratagem) to fully appreciate it. (Which you should absolutely do.)

1) The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal

I loved this book to pieces when I first read it, and I still do. This alternate history of the space race, set in motion by an asteroid slamming into the East Coast and precipitating a probable extinction event, brings all the sensawunda you could ever want from SF. This book is laden with the hard science of space travel, worked seamlessly into the narrative, and also deals with 50's sexism and racism. The last chapter, the launch of the Artemis 9 to the moon with the protagonist aboard, is a beautifully written triumph. This book just won the Nebula Award for Best Novel, and I suspect that Mary is about to make it a two-fer.

Next up: Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Novella

The novella (17,500-40,000 words) has had something of a resurgence in recent years, mainly due to Tor's excellent novella line. (I know the ones I've bought are taking up nearly a full shelf in one of my bookcases.) This time around, five of the six nominees are from Tor; the only exception (Aliette de Bodard's The Tea Master and the Detective) was published by Subterranean, a niche publisher that puts out lovely limited collectible editions. (Which also take up a not-inconsiderable amount of my own shelf space.) For a lot of stories, the novella is the perfect length, and I'm glad to see its growing popularity.

My ballot:

6) "Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach," Kelly Robson

Bah. This started out well, with an interesting main character and an intriguing world, and the ending totally blew it. That ending either should have been chopped out and rethought, or this entire story expanded into something larger (and the conclusion still chopped out and rewritten). This was just a complete pacing and ending fail. So disappointing.

5) "Binti: The Night Masquerade," Nnedi Okorafor

The first book in this trilogy took both the Hugo and Nebula in 2016. I liked the first Binti well enough, but since then the series has undergone a considerable dip in quality, IMHO. This volume was okay up to a point, but then it became pretty much a muddled mess (one plot point in particular stretched my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point). I'm not a fan of infodumps, but in this case a little more explanation of what was happening would have gone a long way.

4) "The Tea Master and the Detective," Aliette de Bodard

This is basically a far-future Holmes/Watson mystery. Watson is a sentient spaceship, a retired troop transport with PTSD, and Holmes is an abrasive, obsessed human woman (with this universe's version of opium issues) out to solve a very personal mystery. The mystery is okay, but the main characters are the primary draw. I would read further stories about them.

3) "Beneath the Sugar Sky," Seanan McGuire

This is the third book in the Wayward Children series, and while my favorite so far has been the second volume, "Down Among the Sticks and Bones," this one wasn't bad. This was more of a straightforward quest story, with the welcome return of a character from the first book (and we also get to see more of her world, the Halls of the Dead) and an interesting new character who is apparently going to be the protagonist of the fourth book.

2) "The Black God's Drums," P. Djeli Clark

Now we get to the top tier of this category, with this steampunk alternate history of New Orleans. In this world, a truce was declared between the Union and Confederate armies after eight years of war, and New Orleans was made a free port. There are airships in this story, and the titular supernatural weapon from Haiti, and an African orisha named Oya that manifests herself through the protagonist, thirteen-year-old Creeper. It's a rich, heady stew, with just enough details in the worldbuilding to draw the reader in without overwhelming.

1) "Artificial Condition," Martha Wells

Murderbot! For fans of All Systems Red, last year's novella winner, that's all you need to say. Our favorite anxiety-ridden, serial-watching, rogue SecUnit is back, trying to solve some of the mysteries of its past. Murderbot's character and voice is the main attraction of these stories, but this book has a close competitor in ART (aka Asshole Research Transport). I personally liked the final volume of the four-novella series, "Exit Strategy," a little better than this one, but for me, this is definitely the class of this category.

Next up: Best Novel

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Novelette

Now moving up in length. "Novelette" is kind of an odd duck, as it's jammed between short story (7500 words) and Novella (17,500-40,000 words). It's honestly just a reaaaallllly long short story (with oxymorons intact). 😉 As with the Short Story category, however, there is some very good work here.

My ballot:

6) "Nine Last Days on Planet Earth," Daryl Gregory

This is a sort of slow apocalypse: the story begins in 1975, when Earth is bombarded by an extended meteorite shower that turns out to be millions of seeds of an invasive alien species, distributing themselves across the planet.  The characters never discover where these seeds come from, and the ending is somewhat ambiguous as to whether the invasion will be defeated at all (although the story hints that it will be). This is because the plants are not the story's focus. This is an entire human life, namely the protagonist LT, against the backdrop of this alien invasion. It's a slow, restrained, quiet story, a deep character study that certainly had its moments, but didn't seem very memorable to me in the end.

5) "If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again," Zen Cho

I'm a bit surprised that this story found its way to the ballot, as it was originally published at the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy blog. This is the tale of Byam, a Chinese snake and its quest to transform into a dragon. It tries many times over the milennia, until it's sidetracked when it falls in love with a human woman. This is another quiet story, brimming with emotion, that nevertheless doesn't quite rise to the quality of the others on the ballot.

(And now we get to the point where there isn't a finger's worth of difference between the nominees. I've put together various combinations of the remaining stories in my head for quite a while now, and even after I write this down I can't guarantee you that I won't change it.)

4) "The Thing About Ghost Stories," Naomi Kritzer

This is a lovely story about just what it says--ghost stories, not ghosts. Although ghosts definitely make an appearance, in the form of the narrator's mother, who recently succumbed to Alzheimer's. (The details of this ring scarily true, by the way.) This is another quiet story, but in this case, the still waters run deep, and the mother-daughter relationship depicted here is sad and beautiful.

3) "The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections," Tina Connolly

This is a story of injustice and revenge, spun by a chef who can bake memories into his pastries and uses them to bring down a tyrant. I don't know if there are real recipes for the various tarts and chocolates described here, but you can taste every bite. Taste is one of the hardest senses to describe well, and the author just nails it.

2) "The Only Harmless Great Thing," Brooke Bolander

When I first read this, I thought for sure it would be my top choice. This riveting tale of a past and future alternate timeline with sentient elephants, mythic tales of mammoths, the real-life Topsy, the renegade circus elephant who killed a man and who was electrocuted in 1903, and the real-life "Radium Girls," who suffered radiation poisoning by painting watch faces with glowing radium paint, comes together in another searing story of injustice and revenge. This is Brooke Bolander at her best, full of righteous fury.

1) "When We Were Starless," Simone Heller

This story is just beautiful. When I reread it, I couldn't deny that it belonged at the top. Taking place on what might be a far-future Earth after humans have seemingly poisoned it and abandoned it for the stars, this focuses on a tribe of lizard-people crossing the wastes, wringing a meager, miserable existence from the ruins. They stumble across a dome, an automated NASA (or future equivalent) visitor center, and learn from the holographic guide left there to dream of other worlds, and a better future. These characters may not be human, but the universal values of love, sacrifice and hope are illustrated by this wonderful story.

Next up: Novella.

Hugo Reading 2019: Best Short Story

This year's Short Story nominees are a fine group of stories, and even if one or two of them don't quite work for me, I can see how they got on the ballot. I would be happy if any of them won, really, but the top three, for me, were decided by coin flips and blind finger-pointing. It's a nice problem to have.

My ballot:

6) "STET," Sarah Gailey

This is the most experimental story on the ballot, which means it is probably the most marmite story of the six. In this case the format proved to a bit of a deal-breaker: the Epub version of the story didn't really work, as the placement of the footnotes, the editor's marks, and the protagonist's increasingly angry and impassioned "stets" (which are the story) weren't very readable in this format, at least on my e-reader. The PDF version made the story into handwritten notes in the margins, but my e-reader program turned these notes into such small print I couldn't really follow the narrative, and fiddling with the zoom didn't seem to help much. Fortunately, the author included a link to the original online version published in Fireside magazine, where the editor's marks and the "stet" replies are arranged in text boxes to either side of the main column of footnotes. This version was the most readable, but by then it seemed to me that the story had to make such an effort to get out of its own way that I couldn't place it any higher.

5) "The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat," Brooke Bolander

This is definitely a meta fable-fairy-tale sort of story, only in this case, I can easily imagine the wise, scarred raptor grandma telling it to a hissing, downy clutch of newly hatched babies. Brooke Bolander's signature rage runs through this tale, as it does in nearly all her stories, but this time it's more restrained and the story is the better for it. This would have been placed higher, except for the other four stories....did I already mention what an excellent ballot this is?

4) "The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society," T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher, AKA Ursula Vernon, is a treasure. This story definitely falls on the funny, whimsical side of the spectrum, with its group of fae sitting around and moping over the human woman they loved and lost. It's supposed to be the other way around, but Rose MacGregor is the kind of woman you can't forget. Kingfisher spins up these characters and world in six delightful pages.

3) "The Court Magician," Sarah Pinsker

This, by contrast, falls more towards the horror end of the spectrum, with this story of a young boy recruited to be a court magician, and the slippery slope he willingly slides down as he uses a spell of one word to get rid of "problems" (read: people) for his Regent, despite the price he pays: said spell eliminates body parts and other things he loves. It's a terrifying look at power and what we will do, or ignore, to keep it. (The most horrifying thing about the story is the implication provided by the narrator, another court magician who apparently uttered the word until nothing remained of him but a disembodied voice.)

2) "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington," Phenderson Djeli Clark

This is another experimental story, in that it doesn't have a plot as such: it's a look at the lives of slaves who donated teeth to George Washington's dentures. But in those few paragraphs devoted to each person and tooth, there's an entire alternate world built, of myths and magic and mages and legends, crossing swords with (and sometimes joining) either the Continental Army or the British troops. I would love to see this expanded into a book...but at the same time, since slavery still exists in this world, I would quite understand if the author didn't feel inclined to write it.

1) "A Witch's Guide To Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies," Alix E. Harrow

This does have a plot, one that's heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time: a librarian/witch who gives a broken foster kid the Book he needs most, and with it the means to escape his life into another world. The fact that the author uses examples of real books (Harry Potter, et al) to illustrate her story's points give it real power, and is one of the reasons I couldn't forget it. When you can't get a story out of your head, no matter how much reading you've done since, that makes a story award-worthy. As I said, I would be happy if just about any of these stories won...but I'm pulling for this one.

(Yeah, I'm buckling down to my reading and ranking now. Only three and a half weeks left.)

Hugos 2019: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form is "a dramatized production in any medium, including film, television, radio, live theater, computer games or music. The work must last less than 90 minutes (excluding commercials)." In practice, that's mostly meant episodes from TV series, with Doctor Who dominating. This year, there's a very intriguing entry that's a combination music video/short SF film...but we'll get to that.

My ballot:

7) The Good Place, "Jeremy Bearimy"

I simply cannot comprehend many Hugo nominators' and voters' continued affection for this mess. This show grates on me like coarse sandpaper. In the interest of fairness, even though I hated the two episodes that were nominated last year, I tried to watch this and had to turn it off fifteen minutes in. The only good thing about this episode was the title, which provides a fairly witty, rhyming new name for "looping time-travel shenanigans."

6) No Award

5) The Good Place, "Janet(s)"

The only reason this episode is (barely) above No Award is the actor playing the various Janets (Chidi, Eleanor, Jason and Tahani in Janet's guise), D'Arcy Carden. She alone made the thoroughly unpleasant--and in the case of Jason, cringingly dumb--four main characters slightly less unpleasant. (Also, the Void special effects were cool.) Carden gave a tour de force performance in this episode, and she should be nominated for an Emmy.

4) Doctor Who, "Rosa"

This retelling of Rosa Parks' showdown on the Montgomery bus line the night of December 1, 1955 suffers, I think, because of viewing it through a British lens. Jodie Whittaker, as 13, continues to be excellent, and there is a very good scene between Yasmin and Ryan where they talk about the difficulties they have as people of color in the present day. But the sight of the Doctor and her companions running around behind the scenes striving to make sure that history unwinds as it should
struck me as frantic and rushed, and in a way, cheapened Rosa's decision. This story deserved a more restrained, subtler episode, and this isn't it.

3) Dirty Computer, Janelle Monae

This is the unexpected, pleasant surprise of the category. I'm not now and have never really been into hip-hop and R & B, but this is a collection of music videos with a framing science-fiction story about a "Dirty Computer," or rather android, Jane 57821 (Monae) having her memories (the individual songs/videos) wiped one by one. Tessa Thompson, of Thor: Ragnarok and Sorry To Bother You, plays Zen, her love interest. Janelle Monae was also in Hidden Figures, one of my favorite films of the past few years, so I knew she can act. The Dirty Computer Emotion Picture can be found on YouTube, and it's well worth your time.

2) Doctor Who, "Demons of the Punjab"

This retelling of history comes off far better, because it's British history: the Partition, the dividing of India and Pakistan on August 17, 1947, seen through Yasmin's grandmother's eyes. There's a fascinating alien race introduced: the Thijarians, once master assassins and now witnesses to the dying, which includes Prem, Yasmin's grandmother's unknown Hindu first husband. There's some unpleasant, and deliberate, parallels drawn to today, where an artificial declaration of a border can turn neighbors and friends into enemies. This episode works from beginning to end, as "Rosa" doesn't.

1) The Expanse, "Abaddon's Gate"

I nominated the entire Season 3 of The Expanse for BDP-Long Form, so it's no surprise that this episode, for me, comes out on top. When I rewatched it on Amazon (where you can stream the first 3 seasons, and where Season 4 will air later this year), I was struck by the tightness of the writing and the suspense the story builds, along with the excellent performances (particularly from David Strathairn and Cara Gee--Drummer is just a boss). There were also some good character moments, especially the scene between Amos and Reverend Anna. The effects were top-notch, considering the first three seasons came out on Sy Fy. The final voiceover, from Holden, not only sets up next season, it centers the series on its human drama. I can't wait for Season 4, where, among other things, we will get to hear Chrisjen Avasarala in all her F-bombing glory.

(Next year, of course, Game of Thrones will be back--well, maybe, considering all the uproar over the final season--and I wish the Hugo powers-that-be would restrict this category to one episode per show. I mean, really: no Handmaid's Tale? No Westworld, or Man in the High Castle, or Haunting of Hill House? Come on, voters. There's life after Doctor Who and that other show I will not name, you know.)

Hugos 2019: The Lodestar

(Note: The Lodestar, for young-adult science fiction and fantasy, is technically Not-A-Hugo along with the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, although it is presented during the Hugo ceremony.)

I read quite a bit of young-adult SFF, so these books were part of the first load of Hugo nominees I checked out of the library. Only one of my nominees made the ballot (although I was a bit surprised that Tomi Adeyemi wasn't nominated for Best New Writer). I'm going to be wielding the scalpel of No Award a bit more this year, starting with this category, as I did not like two of these books at all.

7) The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton

I couldn't even finish this. The worldbuilding was thin and made little sense, and the characters were shallow and petty. To the extent I could understand the book's premise, the characters--or at least the protagonist--were meant to come across this way, and maybe she had a nice redemptive arc by the book's end, but the protagonist turned me off enough that I really didn't care. If I can't get interested in a story by the first 100 pages, I'm moving on.

6) The Invasion, Peadar O'Guilin

I finished this one, but I didn't like it any better. The characterization and pacing--particularly the latter--were the two big problems with this, and the book never overcame them. There's also a lot of gore and body horror in this story, far more than I would have expected for a young-adult novel.

5) No Award

4) Tess of the Road, Rachel Hartman

This was....okay. It's more of a deep character study than anything else, an inner journey echoing the outer one, hesitant and meandering and one step forward and two steps back, until the end. The world opened up a bit, but I preferred the two books about Seraphina, Tess's older half-sister.

3) Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi

This book just won the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult SFF at the Nebulas, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it come out on top here. I thought this fast-paced fantasy based on Nigerian culture, gods and mythology was very good, but it's still the author's first published novel, and it shows in the uneven characterizations (and especially the ill-advised romance between two of the main characters). I can't place this one on top, but I expect the next book to be better.

2) The Cruel Prince, Holly Black

This book draws you in slowly, and you wonder why on earth the protagonist is doing what she is doing...but as more layers to her character are revealed, you understand perfectly.

None of the characters are likable, but they are fascinating. This is not a cute and treacly Faerie, not at all: for the most part, the Gentry are beautiful, charming, ruthless sociopaths, and our main character is perilously close to becoming one as well. This world is harsh and the story is cruel, and the book is the epitome of the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it." But damned if I'm not going to snap up the next books in the series.

1) Dread Nation, Justina Ireland

This is the only one of my nominees to make the ballot, and it's definitely going on top. This Civil War-era alternate history zombie story, which starts with the dead rising after Gettysburg, is so much more than a zombie apocalypse: it's a searing commentary on racism, colonialism, and white supremacy, and the white supremacist culture that the protagonist and her friends are navigating turns out to be more dangerous than the zombies. The author is using SFF tropes to explore today's society, and it's damn near perfect.

Thoughts on the 2019 Hugo Nominations

The 2019 Hugo Award nominations were announced today, so I thought I'd throw out a few initial thoughts.


Best Novel

• The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
• Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)
• Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
• Space Opera, by Catherynne M. Valente (Saga)
• Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Macmillan)
• Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

(I've read all but one of these already, and own three of them. I bounced hard off Space Opera and couldn't finish it, but I can see how it ended up on the list.)


Best Novella

• Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com publishing)
• Beneath the Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing)
• Binti: The Night Masquerade, by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com publishing)
• The Black God’s Drums, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com publishing)
• Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, by Kelly Robson (Tor.com publishing)
• The Tea Master and the Detective, by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press / JABberwocky Literary Agency)

(This ratio's even better: I own four of these, although only one was on my own ballot. Actually I suppose that's one and a half, since I nominated a different Murderbot novella.)

Best Novelette

• “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018)
• “The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections,” by Tina Connolly (Tor.com, 11 July 2018)
• “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth,” by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com, 19 September 2018)
• The Only Harmless Great Thing, by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com publishing)
• “The Thing About Ghost Stories,” by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
• “When We Were Starless,” by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld 145, October 2018)

(I know I've already read at least four of these, and three were on my ballot. I may have read a fourth, but if so it didn't make enough of an impression on me for me even to remember it.)

Best Short Story

• “The Court Magician,” by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed, January 2018)
• “The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society,” by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018)
• “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” by P. Djèlí Clark (Fireside Magazine, February 2018)
• “STET,” by Sarah Gailey (Fireside Magazine, October 2018)
• “The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine 23, July-August 2018)
• “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, February 2018)

(I've read five of these and nominated two. Two more were on my longlist.)

Best Series

• The Centenal Cycle, by Malka Older (Tor.com publishing)
• The Laundry Files, by Charles Stross (most recently Tor.com publishing/Orbit)
• Machineries of Empire, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris)
• The October Daye Series, by Seanan McGuire (most recently DAW)
• The Universe of Xuya, by Aliette de Bodard (most recently Subterranean Press)
• Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)

(This is where the bulk of my reading will have to be done. I did read most of the October Daye series the last time it was on the ballot, and I already own Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire books.)

Best Related Work

• Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
• Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, by Alec Nevala-Lee (Dey Street Books)
• The Hobbit Duology (documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan (YouTube)
• An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000, by Jo Walton (Tor)
• www.mexicanxinitiative.com: The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 (Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, John Picacio)
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon (Tin House Books)

(I'm not even sure how you'd judge Archive of Our Own, but I guess I'll have to take a crack at it. This is really a mishmash of nominees, and I'm wondering if the Hugo committee shouldn't take a look at tightening up the definition for this category.)

Best Graphic Story

• Abbott, written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä, colours by Jason Wordie, letters by Jim Campbell (BOOM! Studios)
• Black Panther: Long Live the King, written by Nnedi Okorafor and Aaron Covington, art by André Lima Araújo, Mario Del Pennino and Tana Ford (Marvel)
• Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
• On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden (First Second)
• Paper Girls, Volume 4, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher (Image Comics)
• Saga, Volume 9, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

(I've got two of these and nominated one, although I'm disappointed that Simon Stalenhag's The Electric State didn't make the ballot.)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Annihilation, directed and written for the screen by Alex Garland, based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer (Paramount Pictures / Skydance)
• Avengers: Infinity War, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Studios)
• Black Panther, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, directed by Ryan Coogler (Marvel Studios)
• A Quiet Place, screenplay by Scott Beck, John Krasinski and Bryan Woods, directed by John Krasinski (Platinum Dunes / Sunday Night)
• Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley (Annapurna Pictures)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman (Sony)

(Lots of time saved here--I've already seen all of these, and four of them were on my ballot.)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• The Expanse: “Abaddon’s Gate,” written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Simon Cellan Jones (Penguin in a Parka / Alcon Entertainment)
• Doctor Who: “Demons of the Punjab,” written by Vinay Patel, directed by Jamie Childs (BBC)
• Dirty Computer, written by Janelle Monáe, directed by Andrew Donoho and Chuck Lightning (Wondaland Arts Society / Bad Boy Records / Atlantic Records)
• The Good Place: “Janet(s),” written by Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan, directed by Morgan Sackett (NBC)
• The Good Place: “Jeremy Bearimy,” written by Megan Amram, directed by Trent O’Donnell (NBC)
• Doctor Who: “Rosa,” written by Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall, directed by Mark Tonderai (BBC)

(*winces and wishes The Good Place would fall into a black hole*)
(Seriously? No The Handmaid's Tale, The Man in the High Castle, The Haunting of Hill House, or Star Trek: Discovery? I'm glad one episode of The Expanse could make it if the entire Season 3 couldn't make the Long Form ballot, which was always a long shot. I guess two episodes of Doctor Who is okay, especially since from everything I read these two were generally acknowledged to be the best. And Janelle Monae is a delightful surprise. But The Good Place? I hated it the last time I had to watch it, and I'll watch these to be fair, but I'll be gritting my teeth the entire time.)


Best Editor, Short Form

• Neil Clarke
• Gardner Dozois
• Lee Harris
• Julia Rios
• Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
• E. Catherine Tobler

(Three of these were on my ballot, but since Gardner Dozois [RIP] is there, I think everybody else is gunning for second place.)

Best Editor, Long Form

• Sheila E. Gilbert
• Anne Lesley Groell
• Beth Meacham
• Diana Pho
• Gillian Redfearn
• Navah Wolfe

(Two of these were on my ballot.)

Best Professional Artist

• Galen Dara
• Jaime Jones
• Victo Ngai
• John Picacio
• Yuko Shimizu
• Charles Vess

(I only had one of these. There are three new names this time around.)

Best Semiprozine

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews
• Fireside Magazine, edited by Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, social coordinator Meg Frank, special features editor Tanya DePass, founding editor Brian White, publisher and art director Pablo Defendini
• FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, executive editors Troy L. Wiggins and DaVaun Sanders, editors L.D. Lewis, Brandon O’Brien, Kaleb Russell, Danny Lore, and Brent Lambert
• Shimmer, publisher Beth Wodzinski, senior editor E. Catherine Tobler
• Strange Horizons, edited by Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Vanessa Rose Phin, Vajra Chandrasekera, Romie Stott, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons Staff
• Uncanny Magazine, publishers/editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor Michi Trota, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky, Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Special Issue editors-in-chief Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and Dominik Parisien

(Also had two of these on my ballot, and plain forgot one until it was too late. Fortunately, it ended up on the ballot anyway.)

Best Fanzine

• Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus
• Journey Planet, edited by Team Journey Planet
• Lady Business, editors Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay & Susan
• nerds of a feather, flock together, editors Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla and The G
• Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
• Rocket Stack Rank, editors Greg Hullender and Eric Wong

(Had two of these also, and two others were on my longlist.)

Best Fancast

• Be the Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
• The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
• Fangirl Happy Hour, hosted by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams
• Galactic Suburbia, hosted by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch
• Our Opinions Are Correct, hosted by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders
• The Skiffy and Fanty Show, produced by Jen Zink and Shaun Duke, hosted by the Skiffy and Fanty Crew

(Unfortunately, I'm not and never have been into podcasts.)

Best Fan Writer

• Foz Meadows
• James Davis Nicoll
• Charles Payseur
• Elsa Sjunneson-Henry
• Alasdair Stuart
• Bogi Takács

(Two out of six here, and have read two others.)

Best Fan Artist

• Sara Felix
• Grace P. Fong
• Meg Frank
• Ariela Housman
• Likhain (Mia Sereno)
• Spring Schoenhuth

Best Art Book
Under the WSFS Constitution every Worldcon has the right to add one category to the Hugo Awards for that year only. Dublin 2019 has chosen to use this right to create an award for an art book.

• The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga Press /Gollancz)
• Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon, by Julie Dillon (self-published)
• Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History, by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer (Ten Speed Press)
• Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, ed. John Fleskes (Flesk Publications)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie, by Ramin Zahed (Titan Books)
• Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, ed. Catherine McIlwaine (Bodleian Library)

(I drew a complete blank on these two categories.)

There are two other Awards administered by Worldcon 76 that are not Hugo Awards:
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

• The Belles, by Dhonielle Clayton (Freeform / Gollancz)
• Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt / Macmillan Children’s Books)
• The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black (Little, Brown / Hot Key Books)
• Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)
• The Invasion, by Peadar O’Guilin (David Fickling Books / Scholastic)
• Tess of the Road, by Rachel Hartman (Random House / Penguin Teen)

(Only one of my nominations made this list--I have read another one, but I had four others I simply liked better. But I've heard mostly good things about the other books on this list.)

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

• Katherine Arden*
• S.A. Chakraborty*
• R.F. Kuang
• Jeannette Ng*
• Vina Jie-Min Prasad*
• Rivers Solomon* 

 (Some of these are repeats from last year, so I'm already familiar with four of them and two were on my ballot. I've got to say though, I think R.F. Kuang is the one to beat.)

The fanzine File 770 has a post where voters can find a lot of the nominated works online, either excerpts or in their entirely, compiled by the amazing and indefatigable JJ. I've started by reserving seven books at my library (and I suppose I got there first, as no one else has them on hold ahead of me). Since this year's ceremony is on August 15, I'm assuming the voting period will extend into July, hopefully till July 31 like last year. I've got my work cut out for me, needless to say, but this is fun.