Books etc - The Hugo Awards

The 2017 Hugo Awards were presented yesterday evening at a ceremony at Worldcon 75, the 75th World Science Fiction Convention...

For the second year in a row, N K Jemisin was announced as the winner of the best novel Hugo, which is voted for by fans. This year's winning novel, The Obelisk Gate, is the follow-up to her Hugo award-winning novel The Fifth Season. However she missed out on the Short StoryHugo award that she was also nominated for, which went to “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, by Amal El-Mohtar.

Other categories of interest to us include the battle for Best Related Work, where Ursula Le Guin beat Carrie Fisher, Robert Silverberg AND Neil Gaiman with her book Words Are My Matter. In the Graphic Stories category, Marvel struggled with none of their nominations picking up the prize, which went to Monstress Vol 1. Away from the written word, Arrival picked up the Long Form Dramatic Presentation award, beating Rogue One, Deadpool, Ghostbusters, Hidden Figures and Stranger Things (they counted the whole of season 1 as a single story). In the Short Form Drama section, episodes from Doctor Who, Game of Thrones and Black Mirror all missed out with the award going to The Expanse Season 1 finale from Syfy.

In a new category for this year, which may become a permanent addition, Best Series (more than 3 books) went to The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold, beating Ben Aaranovitch's Rivers of London series.

The full list of winners is below, including the winner of the "not Hugo" John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer which, this year, went to Ada Palmer.

And the Hugo Awards themselves got an award as Guinness World Records committee confirmed them as the longest-running scifi and fantasy awards show.

2464 valid nominating ballots (2458 electronic and 6 paper) were received and counted from the members of the 2016, 2017 and 2018 World Science Fiction Conventions.

The full results of the 2017 Hugo Awards are (winners in bold italics):

Best Novel
2078 ballots cast for 652 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 156 to 480.

The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit Books)
All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Books / Titan Books)
A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager US)
Death’s End, by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu (Tor Books / Head of Zeus)
Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris Books)
Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)

Best Novella
1410 ballots cast for 187 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 167 to 511.

Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing)
The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle (Tor.com publishing)
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson (Tor.com publishing)
Penric and the Shaman, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum Literary Agency)
A Taste of Honey, by Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com publishing)
This Census-Taker, by China Miéville (Del Rey / Picador)

Best Novelette
1097 ballots cast for 295 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 74 to 268.

“The Tomato Thief”, by Ursula Vernon (Apex Magazine, January 2016)
Alien Stripper Boned From Behind By The T-Rex, by Stix Hiscock (self-published)
“The Art of Space Travel”, by Nina Allan (Tor.com , July 2016)
“The Jewel and Her Lapidary”, by Fran Wilde (Tor.com publishing, May 2016)
“Touring with the Alien”, by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2016)
“You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay”, by Alyssa Wong (Uncanny Magazine, May 2016)


Best Short Story
1275 ballots cast for 830 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 87 to 182.

“Seasons of Glass and Iron”, by Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, Saga Press)
“The City Born Great”, by N. K. Jemisin (Tor.com, September 2016)
“A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers”, by Alyssa Wong (Tor.com, March 2016)
“Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies”, by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine, November 2016)
“That Game We Played During the War”, by Carrie Vaughn (Tor.com, March 2016)
“An Unimaginable Light”, by John C. Wright (God, Robot, Castalia House)

Best Related Work
1122 ballots cast for 344 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 88 to 424.

Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
The Geek Feminist Revolution, by Kameron Hurley (Tor Books)
The Princess Diarist, by Carrie Fisher (Blue Rider Press)
Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg, by Robert Silverberg and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro (Fairwood)
The View From the Cheap Seats, by Neil Gaiman (William Morrow / Harper Collins)
The Women of Harry Potter posts, by Sarah Gailey (Tor.com)


Best Graphic Story
842 ballots cast for 441 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 71 to 221.

Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening, written by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda (Image)
Black Panther, Volume 1: A Nation Under Our Feet, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze (Marvel)
Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Super Famous, written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa (Marvel)
Paper Girls, Volume 1, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matthew Wilson, lettered by Jared Fletcher (Image)
Saga, Volume 6, illustrated by Fiona Staples, written by Brian K. Vaughan, lettered by Fonografiks (Image)
The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man, written by Tom King, illustrated by Gabriel Hernandez Walta (Marvel)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
1733 ballots cast for 206 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 240 to 1030.

Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer based on a short story by Ted Chiang, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Deadpool, screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, directed by Tim Miller 

Ghostbusters, screenplay by Katie Dippold & Paul Feig, directed by Paul Feig
Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, directed by Theodore Melfi Rogue One, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, directed by Gareth Edwards
Stranger Things, Season One, created by the Duffer Brothers 

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
1159 ballots cast for 569 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 91 to 193.

The Expanse: “Leviathan Wakes”, written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, directed by Terry McDonough (SyFy)
Black Mirror: “San Junipero”, written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Owen Harris (House of Tomorrow)
Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Ed Bazalgette (BBC Cymru Wales)
Game of Thrones: “Battle of the Bastards”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (HBO)
Game of Thrones: “The Door”, written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender (HBO)
Splendor & Misery [album], by Clipping (Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes)

Best Editor, Short Form
951 ballots cast for 191 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 149 to 229.

Ellen Datlow
John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Jonathan Strahan
Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form
752 ballots cast for 148 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 83 to 201.

Liz Gorinsky
Vox Day
Sheila E. Gilbert
Devi Pillai
Miriam Weinberg
Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist
817 ballots cast for 387 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 53 to 143.

Julie Dillon
Galen Dara
Chris McGrath
Victo Ngai
John Picacio
Sana Takeda

Best Semiprozine
857 ballots cast for 103 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 80 to 434.

Uncanny Magazine, edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, and podcast produced by Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews
Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, edited by P. Alexander
GigaNotoSaurus, edited by Rashida J. Smith
Strange Horizons, edited by Niall Harrison, Catherine Krahe, Vajra Chandrasekera, Vanessa Rose Phin, Li Chua, Aishwarya Subramanian, Tim Moore, Anaea Lay, and the Strange Horizons staff
The Book Smugglers, edited by Ana Grilo and Thea James

Best Fanzine
610 ballots cast for 152 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 53 to 159.

Lady Business, edited by Clare, Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan
Castalia House Blog, edited by Jeffro Johnson
Journey Planet, edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Helena Nash, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, and Erin Underwood
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
690 ballots cast for 253 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 76 to 109.

Tea and Jeopardy, presented by Emma Newman with Peter Newman
The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan
Ditch Diggers, presented by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace
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
The Rageaholic, presented by RazörFist

Best Fan Writer
802 ballots cast for 275 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 80 to 152.

Abigail Nussbaum
Mike Glyer
Jeffro Johnson
Natalie Luhrs
Foz Meadows
Chuck Tingle

Best Fan Artist
528 ballots cast for 242 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 39 to 121.

Elizabeth Leggett
Ninni Aalto
Vesa Lehtimäki
Likhain (M. Sereno)
Spring Schoenhuth
Steve Stiles

Worldcon 75 elected to exercise its authority under the WSFS Constitution to add an additional category for 2017 only:

Best Series

A multi-volume science fiction or fantasy story, unified by elements such as plot, characters, setting, and presentation, appearing in at least three (3) volumes consisting in total of at least 240,000 words by the close of the previous calendar year, at least one volume of which was published in the previous calendar year. If any series and a subset series thereof both receive sufficient nominations to appear on the final ballot, only the version which received more nominations shall appear.

Note that there is a pending amendment to the WSFS Constitution that, if ratified by the 2017 WSFS Business Meeting, will add Best Series as a new permanent category. The definition above is based on the wording of the proposed new category.

1393 votes for 290 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 129 to 325.

The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
The Craft Sequence, by Max Gladstone (Tor Books)
The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey (Orbit US / Orbit UK)
The October Daye Books, by Seanan McGuire (DAW / Corsair)
The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series, by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz / Del Rey / DAW / Subterranean)
The Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Harper Voyager UK)

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2014 or 2015, sponsored by Dell Magazines. (Not a Hugo Award, but administered along with the Hugo Awards.)
933 votes for 260 nominees.
Votes for finalists ranged from 88 to 255.

Ada Palmer (1st year of eligibility)
Sarah Gailey (1st year of eligibility)
J. Mulrooney (1st year of eligibility)
Malka Older (2nd year of eligibility)
Laurie Penny (2nd year of eligibility)
Kelly Robson (2nd year of eligibility)

Images - Hugo Awards/Amazon