The OF Blog: 2010 Hugo Nominees

Sunday, April 04, 2010

2010 Hugo Nominees

Saw this posted on John Scalzi's blog, so here's the full list (I'll highlight the ones I've read and italicize the ones I own but haven't read and provide short commentaries):

BEST NOVEL (699 nominating ballots)

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Tor)
The City & The City by China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor)
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente (Bantam Spectra)
Wake by Robert J. Sawyer (Ace; Penguin; Gollancz; Analog)
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)

Better lineup than I had expected, although I had no interest in reading the Sawyer novel, to be honest.  I thought the Miéville and Valente novels were strong, but too flawed to have made my Best of 2009 lists, but they are worthy of inclusion.  The Bacigalupi is a step below them in quality in my opinion.  Priest's novel is the best of this bunch that I've read, but I'll get to Wilson's before the awards are announced.

BEST NOVELLA (375 nominating ballots)

“Act One” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 3/09)
The God Engines by John Scalzi (Subterranean)
“Palimpsest” by Charles Stross (Wireless)
Shambling Towards Hiroshima by James Morrow (Tachyon)
“Vishnu at the Cat Circus” by Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days)
The Women of Nell Gwynne’s by Kage Baker (Subterranean)

Morrow's novella was a fun read when I read it back in February 2009.  Haven't yet read the others.
 
BEST NOVELETTE (402 nominating ballots)


“Eros, Philia, Agape” by Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 3/09)
“The Island” by Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2)
“It Takes Two” by Nicola Griffith (Eclipse Three)
“One of Our Bastards is Missing” by Paul Cornell (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three)
“Overtime” by Charles Stross (Tor.com 12/09)
“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” by Eugie Foster (Interzone 2/09)

I'm hesitant to comment on anything read here and below, since I'm in the process of creating a longlist for Best American Fantasy 4, but I will note that Swirsky's story is available for free and that it is a must-read.  The other two are very strong as well.
 
BEST SHORT STORY (432 nominating ballots)

“The Bride of Frankenstein” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s 12/09)
“Bridesicle” by Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 1/09)
“The Moment” by Lawrence M. Schoen (Footprints)
“Non-Zero Probabilities” by N.K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld 9/09)
“Spar” by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld 10/09)

As with Swirsky, Jemisin's story is also up for a Nebula Award and I guess I should mention that I've recently interviewed both for the Nebula Awards blog, which should be posting their interviews in the next couple of months.  Do read the stories I highlighted; they're available for free.
 
BEST RELATED WORK (259 nominating ballots)

Canary Fever: Reviews by John Clute (Beccon)
Hope-In-The-Mist: The Extraordinary Career and Mysterious Life of Hope Mirrlees by Michael Swanwick (Temporary Culture)
The Inter-Galactic Playground: A Critical Study of Children’s and Teens’ Science Fiction by Farah Mendlesohn (McFarland)
On Joanna Russ edited by Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan)
The Secret Feminist Cabal: A Cultural History of SF Feminisms by Helen Merrick (Aqueduct)
This is Me, Jack Vance! (Or, More Properly, This is “I”) by Jack Vance (Subterranean)

Hrmm....First time in a couple of years that I've yet to read any of the related work nominees.
 
BEST GRAPHIC STORY (221 nominating ballots)

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Written by Neil Gaiman; Pencilled by Andy Kubert; Inked by Scott Williams (DC Comics)
Captain Britain And MI13. Volume 3: Vampire State Written by Paul Cornell; Pencilled by Leonard Kirk with Mike Collins, Adrian Alphona and Ardian Syaf (Marvel Comics)
Fables Vol 12: The Dark Ages Written by Bill Willingham; Pencilled by Mark Buckingham; Art by Peter Gross & Andrew Pepoy, Michael Allred, David Hahn; Colour by Lee Loughridge & Laura Allred; Letters by Todd Klein (Vertigo Comics)
Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm Written by Kaja and Phil Foglio; Art by Phil Foglio; Colours by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
Schlock Mercenary: The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse Written and Illustrated by Howard Tayler

If I had nominated works, it would have included other fictions, but I will try to explore these later.
 
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – LONG FORM (541 nominating ballots)

Avatar Screenplay and Directed by James Cameron (Twentieth Century Fox)
District 9 Screenplay by Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell; Directed by Neill Blomkamp (TriStar Pictures)
Moon Screenplay by Nathan Parker; Story by Duncan Jones; Directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films)
Star Trek Screenplay by Robert Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Directed by J.J. Abrams (Paramount)
Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter; Story by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, & Thomas McCarthy; Directed by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar)

I rarely watch movies.
 
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – SHORT FORM (282 nominating ballots)

Doctor Who: “The Next Doctor” Written by Russell T Davies; Directed by Andy Goddard (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: “Planet of the Dead” Written by Russell T Davies & Gareth Roberts; Directed by James Strong (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: “The Waters of Mars” Written by Russell T Davies & Phil Ford; Directed by Graeme Harper (BBC Wales)
Dollhouse: “Epitaph 1″ Story by Joss Whedon; Written by Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon; Directed by David Solomon (Mutant Enemy)
FlashForward: “No More Good Days” Written by Brannon Braga & David S. Goyer; Directed by David S. Goyer; based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer (ABC)

Same goes for non-sports/news TV.
 
BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM (289 nominating ballots)

Lou Anders
Ginjer Buchanan
Liz Gorinsky
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Juliet Ulman

Nice finalist list.  No personal favorites, though.
 
BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM (419 nominating ballots)

Ellen Datlow
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Gordon Van Gelder
Sheila Williams

Still waiting for those who edit the major online and semiprozine magazines to crack this ballot.   Maybe in the near future?  Although I guess I should note that Datlow did edit an acclaimed online e-zine for several years before it closed a few years ago.
 
BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST (327 nominating ballots)

Bob Eggleton
Stephan Martiniere
John Picacio
Daniel Dos Santos
Shaun Tan

Very strong list, with the usual suspects.  Have always enjoyed Tan's illustrations just a tad bit more.
 
BEST SEMIPROZINE (377 nominating ballots)

Ansible edited by David Langford
Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, & Cheryl Morgan
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal

For online fiction, Clarkesworld is the one I read the most, followed by Strange Horizons (not listed here).  For print fiction, Weird Tales is the only one on this list to which I have a subscription and I've been very pleased with the quality of the stories there.
 
BEST FAN WRITER (319 nominating ballots)

Claire Brialey
Christopher J Garcia
James Nicoll
Lloyd Penney
Frederik Pohl

I should start a faux campaign next year to get my name (or the name of any online-only commentator) to be on this list.  So sad I barely know any of these besides reading Nicoll's comments on occasion.  Pohl has a blog, I know, but I'm not very familiar with it.  Sadly, I don't even know if the others have an online presence at all.  Generational/technological gap, perhaps?
 
BEST FANZINE (298 nominating ballots)

Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
CHALLENGER edited by Guy H. Lillian III
Drink Tank edited by Christopher J Garcia, with guest editor James Bacon
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
StarShipSofa edited by Tony C. Smith

See my comments above.
 
BEST FAN ARTIST (199 nominating ballots)

Brad W. Foster
Dave Howell
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

No freakin' clue.  Again.
 
THE JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER (NOT A HUGO AWARD) (356 nominating ballots)

Saladin Ahmed
Gail Carriger
Felix Gilman *
Seanan McGuire
Lezli Robyn *
* Second year of eligibility

Tough choice for me between Carriger and Gilman among the novelists I've read.  Maybe Gilman just because it's his final year of eligibility?  Have heard of Ahmed, but sadly not the others.  Need to rectify that soon.

6 comments:

Niall said...

Re: fan categories, well, obviously check efanzines.com; Banana Wings isn't there, but that's a philosophical position more than a generational one (and I gather there will be an issue in the Hugo voter packet); File770 has an associated blog, and StarShipSofa is a podcast. :-p

Larry Nolen said...

Thanks. I'll look into these shortly :D

Aidan Moher said...

I was feeling guilty for not being familiar with many of the nominees in the 'Best Fan Writer' category. Glad to see I wasn't the only one.

Lloyd Penney said...

Hi, folks...Lloyd Penney here. Nope, no technological gap, but what I do, I do for most of the SF fanzines out there, and that is correspondence. I write up to 300 letters to the editor a year, plus articles, fanzine reviews, etc. You can find most of my stuff through www.efanzines.com, but I do archive my letters at lloydpenney.livejournal.com.

Larry Nolen said...

Lloyd,

Didn't see this until now. Thanks for clarifying, and of course congratulations on the nomination! I guess this just means I should be paying more attention, no? :D

Lloyd Penney said...

No, problem, Larry, and many thanks! I'm old school in that I like paper fanzines, but realistic enough to know that e-zines are the way of the future. As long as we want to write more than 140 characters when we communicate, we're good. I am told I may be the first nominee to get the Best Fan Writer nod for correspondence.

L

 
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