My Hugo Awards Nomination Ballot
Ever have a thing on the to-do list that's far enough away that you don't have to worry about it and then, suddenly, looms over you with deadline urgency? This was me with the Hugo Awards nominations ballot this year. The deadline was last night, and I finally did my ballot yesterday, after numerous tweets told me the time has come and almost past. Yikes.
Fortunately, in addition to my own faulty memory, I have made some relevant posts, and also have my wiki and the Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom to help jog my memory. Is my ballot perfect? Probably not! Did I forget great stuff? Probably! I was in a rush! But it's a good ballot. I like the stuff I nominated. Note that in most categories the links are to actually read or listen to the nominee. Free stuff awaits you!
Best Novel:
Provenance by Ann Leckie
An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
This is the same as my books of 2017 list.
Best Novella:
The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor
I like this list. Very solid.
Best Novelette:
Children of Thorns, Children of Water by Aliette de Bodard
Come See the Living Dryad by Theodora Goss
A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Later, Let's Tear Up The Inner Sanctum by A. Merc Rustad
The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer
I definitely don't feel confident that I didn't miss some great stuff here. But these are all worthy.
Best Short Story:
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™ by Rebecca Roanhorse
Fandom for Robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
The Faerie Tree by Kathleen Kayembe
Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand by Fran Wilde
Probably Still the Chosen One by Kelly Barnhill
These are all super good.
Best Series:
The Divine Cities by Robert Jackson Bennett
Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells
The Split Worlds by Emma Newman
The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan
inCryptid by Seanan McGuire
I didn't nominate the Broken Earth trilogy for best series, despite it being the actual best series, because Jemisin said she didn't want people to do that, feeling that the first two books have already been awarded (both won Best Novel). While I disagree with the decision, and think Best Series should go to the Best Series regardless of the individual books' success in the award, I respect her wishes. The Divine Cities is probably my favorite of the remaining eligible series.
Best Related Work:
Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal
Crash Override by Zoe Quinn
A Work of Art is a Refuge and Resistance by Dawn Xiana Moon
The Shape of the Darkness as It Overtakes Us by Dimas Ilaw
Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom
I like the variety here. I specifically nominated the Spreadsheet of doom because it both predates my wiki and consistently has more stuff in it.
Best Graphic Story:
Bitch Planet, Vol. 2: President Bitch
Black Bolt (2017-), Vol. 1
Monstress Vol. 2
Ms. Marvel Vol. 7
Saga Vol. 7
Didn't go super in depth here, as my comics reading in 2017 has not been great. These are all good, though.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form):
Wonder Woman
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Steal The Stars
Thor: Ragnarok
Get Out
I definitely missed some stuff here. But I got Steal The Stars in, and really hope it makes it on the final ballot.
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form):
Legion: Episode 6
The Deep: clpping
American Gods: Git Gone
Doctor Who: World Enough and Time& The Doctor Falls
Star Wars Rebels: Trials of the Darksaber
Definitely leaned a lot on the wiki and spreadsheet to remind me of stuff here. Which you can tell because I have a Doctor Who episode despite thinking Who and GoT have been rewarded enough in the Hugos.
Best Professional Editor (Long Form):
Navah Wolfe
Joe Monti
Sheila Gilbert
Will Hinton
Diana Pho
These people are all doing great work.
Best Professional Editor (Short Form):
Michael Damian Thomas & Lynne M Thomas
John Joseph Adams
Julia Rios
Ellen Datlow
Lee Harris
These is definitely my Usual Suspects list, but I'm good with it.
Best Professional Artist:
Victo Ngai
Galen Dara
Tran Nguyen
Sana Takeda
Kathleen Jennings
They make pretty art!
Best Semiprozine:
Uncanny Magazine
Shimmer
Fireside Magazine
Mothership Zeta
The Book Smugglers
These are all awesome magazines y'all should be reading.
Best Fanzine:
nerds of a feather, flock together
SF Bluestocking
The Rec Center
I totally got stumped here. And both my Wiki and the Spreadsheet didn't have many options I know and love.
Best Fancast:
Galactic Suburbia
Overinvested
Verity
The Skiffy and Fanty Show
Desi Geek Girls
Let's get Galactic Suburbia that Hugo!
Best Fan Writer
Foz Meadows
Natalie Luhrs
Annalee Flower Horne
Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Sarah Gailey
I like these people as people and as writers.
Your nominations for Best Fan Artist:
Likhain/M. Sereno
Grace Fong
Kathleen Jennings
Kirbi Fagan
Operation Get Likhain a Hugo For Her Amazing Art continues.
Best Young Adult Book (not a Hugo):
Shadowhouse Fall by Daniel Jose Older
Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor
Want by Cindy Pon
The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss
I didn't read enough YA this year. These are good, though. Strongly rooting for Older here.
John W. Campbell Award (not a Hugo):
April Daniels
Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Rivers Solomon
Kathleen Kayembe
Sarah Kuhn
I broke my rule of not nominating authors in their first year of eligibility, and I'm not happy about it. Really just ran out of time. Not that my nominees aren't good, mind! They're great!
In general, I feel more time would have produced a ballot I'd be able to fully stand behind, knowing I nominated the very best. But life is life, and we moved and there were deadlines. And I nominated good stuff and people who do good work. Better to send out an imperfect ballot than no ballot at all.
