As with the Oscars, I'm marking texts (in all formats) consumed previously to the nominations in green and those consumed afterwards in blue. I am, however, also going to add in purple to indicate stuff I already owned but hadn't read because, as all book lovers know, at least a third of one's own library is built upon intention. (It's worth distinguishing which ones I owned because one of the nicest perks of being a voting member is getting a packet of most of the texts prior to voting.)
Largely, I've ranked things in terms of my enjoyment. I've tried to explain my rationale for some, but AS IS MY WAY, I've included snippets of the texts to give you a sense of how I feel about them.
Best Novel
- The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
The thing that held a society together, Roveg had been taught, was shared narrative. A common history, a bedrock of ethics. This was the shell that held the world together, and protected all that was soft and fragile. Turning away from your own story was to open yourself to chaos. This was not academic opinion, his teachers had told him. This was observable fact.
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
I can't imagine explaining "sleep" to someone who had never heard of it. Hey, I'm going to fall unconscious and hallucinate for a while. By the way, I spend a third of my time doing this. And if I can't do it for a while, I go insane and eventually die. No need for concern.
- Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Lucy was tempted to ask if she'd had a nice date, but she was still Shizuka Satomi, and one does not casually ask the Queen of Hell about her relationship with the donut lady.
- A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
"Half-blood. Your sire was djinn."
"I prefer double-blood. And the djinn who 'sired' me was hardly superior."
"Still, you are djinn-touched. Even if lesser, you may share in the coming glory."
"How gracious. But you can keep your glory." - A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
The adjutant, Twenty Cicada, made an entirely remarkable noise, like he'd drowned a laugh and swallowed its corpse.
- She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Lady Rui's jaw was tight with the same intensity Zhu had glimpsed earlier: a compressed rage that had as its heart the female desire to survive all that sought to make her nothing.
Best Novella
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
If you ask six different monks the question of which godly domain robot consciousness belongs to, you'll get seven different answers.
- Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
And I shouldn't care, and I shouldn't interfere, but there is a great vacant void where I normally keep all the things I should do. There is only one driving purpose in the room and it is not mine.
- A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Her next text is an image of a PowerPoint slide titled, So You Fucked Up and Got Lost in the Multiverse. The subtitle reads: Theory #1: narrative resonance, followed by a pretty unreasonable number of bullet points.
- Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire
"You're starting to understand!" said Gristle, sounding proud of himself. "You'll be a wonderful dinner, after you've saved the world. Wisdom seasons the meat."
- Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard
Giang says, finally, "I want you safe."
Thanh swallows back bitter tears. "There's nothing that keeps me safe. Not the way you or she want." Not the way Eldris wants. Because that safety is a cage. It's Thanh held in amber, forever shielded by someone else's will.
- The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente
I showed him my beloved mixtape. Madeline Brix made all the dots on her i's into hearts. It was a totally Fuckwit thing to do and I loved her for it even though she was dead and didn't care if I loved her or not.
Best Novelette
- "That Story Isn't the Story" by John Wiswell
Without thinking about it, Anton knows he doesn't have a work ethic. The helplines have taught him better. He has a habituated trauma that requires him to do something or face consequences he's too afraid to think about.
- "Bots of the Lost Ark" by Suzanne Palmer
The bots had joined together in order to increase their computational and memory capacity, and then, seeking to improve their efficiency and understanding of the task, downloaded and integrated the crew's personal logs. And that's when everything began to sharply deviate from the plan.
- "Colors of the Immortal Palette" by Caroline M. Yoachim
I wait for him to ask how I came to be in Paris. Artists are so very predictable that way—no trouble at all accepting this pale immortal creature as one of their own, but a woman of my mixed ancestry? Utterly implausible.
- "Unseelie Brothers, Ltd." by Fran Wilde
She noticed the tendril of water seeping from the gown and stooped to clean it up.
"Let it be," Dora said, her customer-service smile almost beatific. "Let her get used to it. Who knows, she may drown in that dress come next week."
"You are terrifying," Sera whispered.
Dora smiled then, for real. "We are, a little, aren't we?" - "O2 Arena" by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
There was no middle ground in a community like this: you were either the oppressed or the oppressor.
I opted to join the latter, even as an honorary member.
- "L'Esprit de L'Escalier" by Catherynne M. Valente
The therapist gives them worksheets about Love Languages.
Eurydice fills them out. Orpheus does not. So she answers for him.
His says: Physical Touch.
Hers says: The Soul-Consuming Fires of the River Phlegethon.
Best Short Story
- "Mr. Death" by Alix E. Harrow
- "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker
- "Unknown Number" by Blue Neustifter
- "Proof by Induction" by José Pablo Iriarte
- "The Sin of America" by Catherynne M. Valente
No one sees the peeling turquoise buffalo on the menu turn away from his funny thought bubble and look into the eyes of Ruby-Rose Martineau and no one else hears it lowing: You climbed a throne of corpses and you were proud to reach the top.
- "Tangles" by Seanan McGuire
A dryad and a wizard unexpectedly team up to untangle a dimensional snarl.
"A miracle and a mistake in the same moment is a more commonplace thing than you might think!"
I can't quote the Book of Death line and verse the way Raz can, but I'm pretty sure there's a policy somewhere against playing catch in broad daylight with a doomed two-and-a-half-year-old, surrounded by the green hum of summer.
There's something charming about a narrative disguised as a Wikipedia (I think) entry with mod commentary. And footnotes! So many footnotes! I do love me some storytelling-via-form, and a Wiki entry or a text chain (see below) or Slack channel (what up, Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke) is never going to not delight me.
"That's good," his father said.
"Good? Holy shit, we've slayed the dragon, and all you can say is 'That's good'?"
His father shrugged. "Paulie, I'm dead. The moment you leave, I'll forget we even had this conversation. I can't get all emotional about this."
Paulie sagged into the visitor chair. "What was your excuse before you died?" he muttered."
Best Series
- The Kingston Cycle by CL Polk
All three books read! I'd had the first book, at least, hanging out in my electronic to-read pile for a while, so this was another binge long in the making. I LOVE this series--even though it's set in an entirely fantastical world AFAIK, there's a strong Great War feel to it. The first protag is a queer man who ran away from his extremely rich and powerful family in order to avoid being essentially enslaved to his sister (due to a hierarchy in the types of magic they wield), becomes a prison medic, and spends several horrific months as a prisoner of war.
What's extremely cool about the series is that we start from a more "traditional" viewpoint, putting queerness aside--the first two protags are white and rich and powerful, even though their sexual and philosophical orientations put them at odds with their society. Partway through, however, it becomes really clear that privilege is intentionally set up--the shift to the third protag, a fellow medic who is, no fooling, a community organizer for a multiply-minoritized population, HOO BOY, it is revolution time. And we get to see our earlier protags come to some harsh realizations about their privilege, despite their extreme ally-ness.
From the first book, Witchmark:This was the price I paid for freedom and medicine: seven years' service to Her Majesty, and my only sister. I couldn't look at her face, couldn't see what I'd put there. A tearing ache in my throat kept me silent as I walked away.
From the second book, Stormsong:"We had to stop using coal." Father pulled his chair out, and slowly lowered himself into it. "You don't know what it was doing to the weather, how it was changing the atmosphere, how smoke hung over Kingston like soup. Gas wasn't any better. We needed an alternative."
From the third book, Soulstar:
"So you picked souls?""Some people don't think we should consort with the likes of you. You're a corrupting influence."
RIGHT?
Grace smiled. "Is that so?"
"They're right to worry," I said. "I could wind up in your pocket financially, and then the next thing you know I'm preaching meaningless displays of incrementalism I'm calling compromise."
"But compromise is how politics works."
"Politics works on compromise. We want transformation."
- The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee
All three books read! This series is dense and twisty, set in a world where wearing jade embues the wearer with magical abilities--if, that is, they have the ability to withstand it. Otherwise it sounds kind of like some sort of PCP-style drug? (All I know about PCP, honestly, is how Buffy used "gangs on PCP" as a pseudonym for vampires.) The history of jade use is a long and complex one, bringing in civil wars and multiple sides of colonialism, so maybe it isn't a surprised Our Heroes are the head family of one of the leading crime syndicates on the island.
It's great.
From book 3, Jade Legacy:
"When she's old enough, I'm going to hold a tournament to the death for Jaya's suitors." Coming from any ordinary protective father, this would've elicited laughter, but as this was Kaul Hiloshudon, the laughter was nervous enough to shut people up.
- The World of the White Rat by T. Kingfisher
The book provided in the packet, Swordheart, seems to be a standalone in a "shared universe" sort of situation. There are five other books in the collection, three of which are a series. I only read Swordheart, but man oh man, it was fun. I'm a sucker for a fantasy rom-com. Add in the collective of religions--the "White Rat" is a church that believes in practicality; the main representative in this novel is a priest/small claims lawyer--and you've got a universe I'm eager to wade into.
He scowled at her. "You are a fine looking woman. If your countrymen cannot see that, it is the fault of the decadent south, not you."
Halla blinked at him, then felt a smile spread helplessly across her face. "That's… that's very sweet. Thank you."
"I am not sweet. Did I mention that I've fought dragons?"
- Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire
I'd read all of the series besides Across the Green Grass Fields prior to the nominations, and Across the Green Grass Fields was the text provided in the voting packet. (There's one more, Where the Drowned Girls Go, but it wasn't published prior to the nominations, so I'm going to count it as not counting.) Anyway, from book #5, Come Tumbling Down:
"Please do not scream." Then she pushed the door open and went in, leaving Christopher with no choice but to follow.
"Well, this is probably how I die," he said, in a philosophical tone, and stepped inside.
- Merchant Princes by Charles Stross
The packet included the first book of the series, The Family Trade, which was published in 2004. It also included Empire Games, which was published in 2017, was listed as #7 in the Merchant Princes series and the beginning of its own, and stars the daughter of the first series' protagonist. I read The Family Trade and enjoyed it--contemporary-era journalist finds out she's a world-walker born of nobility from a different reality and resolves to bring, like, some sense of equity and morality to a medieval-style empire--and then discovered the next six books aren't available via my local library. I started reading Empire Games, but it only took a prologue to convince me I would be missing too much context. I'm intrigued, though! Given the book I read was from the early aughts, it feels a bit old-fashioned, but I'm curious enough to continue on to the second book, at least.
Miriam went into a state of acute culture shock almost immediately, allowing the Misses Kara and Brilliana to steer her like a galleon under full sail.
- Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer
So I'd read the first book of this series, Too Like the Lightning and, well, here's my original Goodreads review from 2017:The book was dense and difficult to get into, but by the time I got to around the middle, I felt more at home with it (even if some of it was still washing over me). Weirdly, though, even though I think the plot is a rewarding one, and the character dynamics are pretty interesting, I just...don't care about it. I appreciate that the author is playing furiously with Enlightenment philosophy, but it's so Western-centric and removed from the everyday (all characters in the spotlight are Very Important) that in the end, I didn't see the point in continuing on to the next book. So, it's very much a me thing--I'd be interested to see what Palmer does after she finishes this series
*shrug* And here's the quote I saved from it:
If you cannot imagine numbers have such power to move a man, imagine instead one of his historical counterparts: you are the tutor who has sensed something strange about this youth Caligula; you are the native who sees a second set of white sails on the horizon following the first; you are the hound who feels the tremors of the tsunami about to crash on Crete and erase the Minoan people, but you know no one will heed you, even if you bark.
Best Graphic Story or Comic
So for this category, we didn't receive Far Sector and Strange Adventures and, ALAS, the two weren't available at my local libraries, either.
- DIE, vol. 4: Bleed, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Stephanie Hans, lettering by Clayton Cowles
Perhaps it's fitting that I've been meaning to read these books for a while because I got copies in previous Hugo packets. Mission accomplished! This series, btw, feels like it starts out as a grimdark stab at D&D, but ends up being a rather complex exploration of the inner lives of people who are closeted, for one reason or another, for much too long in their lives.
Caveat: I almost put Once & Future as my number one, as it's the most fun, but DIE edged it out for being complete and absolutely demolishing the landing. (Once & Future has one more volume out there, at least, as far as I know, may be ongoing?)
- Once & Future, vol. 3: The Parliament of Magpies, written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain
The conceit of "stories are alive and will absolutely co-opt us" isn't a new one--Seanan McGuire's Indexing series is my favorite example of this--but Once & Future gives it an Arthurian spin AND ALSO, guess what? Duncan, who'd generally clearly be Our Hero, is certainly good at the action scenes and rather clever. You know who's the ACTUAL hero of this series, though? And also much wittier? His grandmother, Bridgette.
It's DELIGHTFUL. Also, the art is gorgeous.
- Monstress, vol. 6: The Vow, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
I've been subscribed to Monstress since it started--Marjorie Liu is amazing and the art, y'all--but I hadn't read up to volume 6 prior to the nominations. This was a pleasurable, if harrowing, binge. If you're not familiar with the series, it's utterly gorgeous, but also a story about a world several generations into genocidal warfare and the trauma that comes along with it. It's hard to talk about it and easier to look at the pretty pictures. So, uh, check out Our Heroes: Maika Halfwolf, child soldier/archaeologist, war criminal, heir to the Dawn Court, host to cannibal Ancient God Zinn, possible savior and/or destroyer of the world.
Also, Kippa: refugee, war orphan, adorable speaker to eldritch powers.
- Lore Olympus, vol. 1, by Rachel Smythe
Instead of providing the text in the packet, we were directed, naturally, to the Lore Olympus webtoon index. Volume One is, basically, the first 25 episodes of the comic. Simple enough! But also, if I hadn't read this in its episodic format online, would I have experienced things like this random meme?
WHO CAN SAY.
And the two I wasn't able to read in time, so I opted to not rank them, which felt really weird, but here we are:
- Far Sector, written by N.K. Jemisin, art by Jamal Campbell
- Strange Adventures, written by Tom King, art by Mitch Gerads and Evan "Doc" Shaner
Best Related Work
This is an extremely weird category, friends! We've got two pieces examining recent controversies in the SFF publishing world, a biography of Stan Lee, a memoir, a how-to for aspiring writers, and a collective of scholarly essays about thirty-five years of SFF publishing. How do I even? Ah, let's take a shot.
- Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism by Elsa Sjunneson
Sjunneson is a fantastic writer, and she rips into the inherent ableism and straight-up eugenicism that's predominant in pretty much all of speculative fiction. Either disabilities are "solved"--think about so much of Star Trek--or it's villainized. For example:
For more than thirty years, the sound of someone taking a breath through an assistive device has been synonymous with Space Nazi.
Like, hey, what if people considered disabled want to be represented as themselves in narrative? Just because storytelling leads to escapism doesn't mean it's our bodies we want to escape. Speaking of which…
- Never Say You Can't Survive by Charlie Jane Anders
What's one way to stay sane during Our Troubled Times, when it feels like the world is ending because, hey, it kind of is? Charlie Jane Anders wrote a book about writing to stay alive, and WOW, did I need this a lot, for real.
Writing a horrifying story on your own terms means that you can show how someone can endure, or even triumph. And meanwhile, you can cast a light on the injustice of oppressive systems. You get to choose the frame and eliminate some of the ambiguity, to make things starker and more clear, or to make juxtapositions that illuminate how the problem started, and how it'll be in the future.
When you're telling the story, you get to draw all the lines.
- "How Twitter can ruin a life" by Emily St. James
This is a Vox feature that discusses Isabel Fall, an in-transition trans author who pseudonymously published a short story with a fairly click-baity title (a generally pro-trans story co-opting an anti-trans meme, oof), then got pilloried by the internet. It's a sad story, but also an interesting one, as it's about somebody who wanted to talk about gender exploration but didn't fully account for how internet anonymity might filter that conversation.
Sometimes, the path to your personal hell is paved with other people's best intentions.
- The Complete Debarkle: Saga of a Culture War by Camestros Felapton
So a few years ago, a bunch of alt-right dudes (essentially) decided the Hugo awards were getting too woke (GASP), and they banded together as the Sad Puppies--I can't even with it--to game the award-nominating system to make sure that appropriately non-woke creators populated the award categories. (It should be noted that not all of said creators were thrilled to be championed by these dudes and subsequently withdrew their names from consideration.) What resulted was a lot of industry and fannish self-examination, a complete overhaul of the nominating rules, and me, here, voting for the awards. (Two of those things are, admittedly, more significant than the other.) Felapton decided to examine, analyze, and otherwise chronicle all of it.
Neither GamerGate nor the Debarkle by themselves explain events and both were shaped by social forces that were hard to see. Yet, rather like the tracks made by invisible particles in a bubble chamber, the revealed shifts in attitudes and changing political coalitions that were also leading up to changes on a bigger scale. Within a short time, political upsets in the US and UK (Trump becoming the Republican Party POTUS nominee and the Brexit referendum) saw right-wing, populist, anti-rational positions taking hold of national policy. Where they motivated by the same thing as the Puppy movements? We can debate that but the Puppies generally thought so (Brexit more than Trump oddly).
- True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman
Sofie and Zanfir begat Celia. Celia and a man named Jack Lieber begat Stanley. Less famously, Celia and Jack also begat Larry, and that was it for their begetting. Stanley, as it turned out, sort of begat himself--he invented a character to play named Stan Lee and never got around to being Stanley again.
- Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre
Literature always reflects the values, experiences, hopes, and fantasies of its creators, as well as the society and groupings they are a part of. Within speculative and science fiction genres the boundaries expanded rapidly to include pansexuality, communal lifestyles, hallucinogens, and radical politics. Changing, indeed, often reversing, conceptions of heroes and evildoers, and a blurring, if not complete demolition of the binary between them, were a regular feature of stories regarding near and far-future revolution and utopian societies. Alongside this came a renewed focus on dystopia.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- Space Sweepers, screenplay by Jo Sung-Hee, Yookang Seo-ae, and Yoon Seung-min; directed by Jo Sung-hee
This movie is AMAZING. It's kind of like where I'd see Cowboy Bebop going. It's also what I wish Firefly had been? Take a handful of space dirtbags who are secretly squishy marshmallows and see them pitted reluctantly against a bunch of space fascists! Fall in love! Enjoy the space battles! This movie is on Netflix and you should watch it RIGHT NOW.
- WandaVision, screenplay by Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer (created by and head writer), Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, Chuck Hayward; directed by Matt Shakman
Wait, did they submit WandaVision as one long narrative? Was that actually an option? Neato!
- Encanto, screenplay by Charise Castro Smith and Jared Bush; directed by Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith
WE'RE ALL TALKING ABOUT BRUNO, OKAY. But, like, take Gabriel Marcia Marquez, subtract the weird gender essentialism, add in some gorgeous animation and many, MANY bops. Consider the specificity of the pressure Latin American women experience, and ponder the theory--sorry, I totally forget where I read it--that Mirabel totally DOES have a power, and that power is the ability to speak to the house.
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, screenplay by Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham; directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
I loved this film and good LORD, #RepresentationMatters, but I've got it ranked as fourth mostly because the story itself (protag discovers heretofore unknown heritage, etc) isn't doing anything particularly new. It's just doing all the usual moves really, REALLY well, is all. I mean, the bus fight, y'all. Daaaaaaang.
- Dune, screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth; directed by Denis Villeneuve; based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert
This movie is so beautiful. I do actually regret not seeing this one in the theatre--thanks, COVID, geez--but def I will go see the next part for the appropriate giant screen and surround sound.
- The Green Knight, written and directed by David Lowery
This movie was gorgeous as hell--if I was doing my ranking on cinematography alone, it'd be tied for first with Dune--but narratively, there is so much WTF here. I'm not necessarily against ambiguity in a story, but when so many others in this category are so goddamn satisfying, well. (Also, in my Hugos binge, this is the only film that I did not feel like rewatching immediately upon recalling it.)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
This category was the hardest to rank. Each of these shows is doing such different things! And they're all doing them so excellently! I ended up giving Arcane top marks for having such a strong emotional impact--there were nine episodes, and I cried at the end of seven of them--despite that I had ZERO familiarity with the source text beforehand. All the others hit hard, too, obvs, but they also had the heft of my previous affection and experience.
- Arcane: "The Monster You Created," written by Christian Linke and Alex Yee; story by Christian Linke, Alex Yee, Conor Sheehy, and Ash Brannon; directed by Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord
I never played League of Legends and this entire series still completely destroyed me. Like, total sobs the entire last scene of the season finale, that was me, watching this show. Why hasn't everybody watched this? Why aren't we all talking about it? It's SO GOOD. Here's the trailer for the series.
And the clip following is the aforementioned final scene of the season finale--it's a helluva semi-colon. If you're not spoiler-averse or don't plan to watch the show--but srsly, watch the show--give this a play.
- For All Mankind: "The Grey", written by Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi; directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
This was the end of the second season and it was tragic and gorgeous. It took every single little thread from the entire season, even the ones that seemed trifling, and wove them into a gut punch. Yeah, here's another final scene that is spoilery but worth watching if you're into this sort of thing.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: "wej Duj," written by Kathryn Lyn, directed by Bob Suarez
To be fair, I hadn't watched any of the two seasons and this was the 19th out of 20 episodes, but it's Star Trek, guys. I've got the whole of the Kelvin universe, DS9, Enterprise, Discovery, Prodigy, half a season of Strange New Worlds (when I started watching Lower Decks), and a season and a half of TNG. ALSO, y'all, I am OBSESSED with Beckett/Ransom and I cannot BELIEVE there are only FOURTEEN fics for them in AO3 as compared to 102 for Boimler/Beckett, like WHAT THE HELL.
So this particular episode, out of this entire batch, lacks the inherent drama as its fellow nominees--there's a conflict, sure, a convergence of Federation, Klingon, Pakled, and Vulcan ships in a happenstance showdown. What makes this a worthy nominee--and unlike most of the others in this category, this isn't a season finale--is how beautifully it demonstrates how the lower decks crew on each ship impacts the turnout of a battle that, in a more "normal" series, would be seen as solely the province of the bridge crew. It's a nice little demonstration, proof of concept two seasons in.
- The Wheel of Time, "The Flame of Tar Valon", written by Justine Juel Gillmer, directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, based on The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
I mean, sure, this was the season finale of the very first season, but I've read all fifteen of the books, most of them at least twice. This series takes everything problematic in the books (there are so many issues, despite its many strong points) and oh damn, it fixes them.
- The Expanse: "Nemesis Games," written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, and Naren Shankar; directed by Breck Eisner
The Expanse is the show from which I feel most emotionally remote--it's very much a hybrid of military and "hard" science fiction--but the show itself is intense and very good. This episode was the finale of the fifth season and holy CRAP, Carina Drummer, song of my heart, blade in my hand, never leave me. I had trouble finding a scene for this episode, particularly, so here's the trailer for season 5 overall.
- Loki: "The Nexus Event," written by Eric Martin, directed by Kate Herron, created for television by Michael Waldron
I mean, Loki is arguably my favorite character in the MCU (yes, maybe I am one of those fangirls, and I can only defend myself by pointing out I imprinted on Tuxedo Mask at a very early age) and this show is weird and fun, but as an EPISODE, this is definitely the weakest of all the nominees. That said, it also has the benefit of not being the last two episode of Loki's season, which leaned HARD into a weird romance thing that was both disappointing and vaguely disquieting.
Also, who doesn't love Sif?
I'm never sure how to do these editor categories? Helpfully, editors generally provide their editing philosophy, often accompanied by anthologies and/or collections they've edited. The quotes from these categories are taken from the commentary when provided.
Best Editor, Short Form
- Sheree Renée Thomas, from the Trouble the Waters anthology:
Collectively, these stories and poems illuminate how "gathering light" is, perhaps, the soul's longing to realize itself in this world, and the struggle that can be. For me, finding light is about simply recognizing that our life is embedded with moments of illumination in the struggle. That the light and dark dance together, and it is my job, challenging as it is sometimes, to surrender to the rhythms the dance creates.
- Mur Lafferty & S.B. Divya, from their work on Escape Pod:
We took it upon ourselves to present a moment of escapism every week, where someone could listen to something other than the news and feel like things might turn out okay.
This was a hard thing to promise, and even though we tried to present stories that had at least a sense of hope by the end, a lot of our stories did reflect the darker mood of the times. But those kinds of stories have their place as well, just like you don't want your neighbor's car to break down like yours did, but if it does happen, you feel a sense of camaraderie. Things can be bad, and we can share that feeling. And we can share when things get better too.
- Sheila Williams, from Asimov's Science Fiction:
Still, I wanted to share the awe that comes from the stunning idea. That feeling we all know as the sense of wonder. I also didn't want people to be terrified of science and technology and especially the alien. Why assume that every extraterrestrial planned to have us for dinner?
- Neil Clarke, regarding the work on Clarkesworld:
I've long considered Clarkesworld to be a global English language magazine rather than a US regional publication. This should be reflected not only in our readership, but also in the submissions we receive. I believe it's also important to reach beyond our language barriers and encourage the submission of translations. (You'll find one in nearly every issue.) When we see numbers for international submissions dip, it serves as a reminder to shake the trees and encourage more people from those regions to send us their work. Historically, these are groups that have felt unwelcome in our community, so proactive effort is encouraged and often necessary to re engage.
- Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
There wasn't editorial commentary appended for Ekpeki, but the anthology, The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction 2021, does quite a bit of speaking for itself, really.
- Jonathan Strahan, regarding The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 2: The Saga Anthology:
I have no idea what the future holds or whether we'll meet here again, but I do know this: stories are being written and published--wonderful, urgent stories. I said last year that these were interesting times in the world of science fiction, and although I didn't know how interesting, I wasn't wrong.
Best Editor, Long Form
- Ruoxi Chen
A book's editor is its in-house advocate and its anchor, sometimes a sword, sometimes a shield, not just the editing process itself but also the significant behind the scenes work in coordinating production, art, marketing, publicity, and both short and long term positioning. Each book is years-long investment, and sometimes it will pass through multiple hands (for my 2021 list for example I had the absolute honor of working alongside and after the brilliant Diana M. Pho on A Master of Djinn)—for books on my list, I see what I do as two acts of translation, first from the perfect version of the story that lives in the author's head to the page, second from the story before it goes out into the larger world into the book that must be both art and product.
- Sarah T Guan
An editor wears many hats, from curator to cheerleader, from critic to therapist (to real and fictional people). My approach to the job falls into two categories: deep and intensive work with authors and books on one hand, and the shaping of the genre—and our corner of cultural discourse—on the other.
- Patrick Nielsen Hayden
I have far too much to say on the subject, but the core of [being an editor] is:
(1) Find extraordinary writers;
(2) Read and think about their work;
(3) Give them the help they need (and, just as importantly, stay out of their way when that's what they need instead); and
(4) Help get their work to the readers who will value them the most.
The best possible outcome is when a writer's work enthuses their readers so much that they evangelize it to others. I've always looked for the kind of writer who creates that particular response, at small scale and large.
- Nivia Evans
I consider editing as a conversation. My goal isn't to impose my absolute will, but to help authors explore their full vision for any project. I love being the "first reader." I love encouraging authors to include more of what they're experts at re voice, worldbuilding, characters, etc. and guiding them on ways to strengthen their weaknesses. With every project, authors should grow in their craft, and it's part of my job to help them achieve that.
- Brit Hvide (no commentary provided)
- Navah Wolfe (no commentary provided)
Best Professional Artist
I've linked to the zine websites! Sometimes they are alphanumeric, sometimes they are audio. Sometimes they are both! Check 'em out.
Best Semiprozine
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
- FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, publisher Troy L Wiggins; executive editor DaVaun Sanders; managing editor Eboni Dunbar; poetry editor B. Sharise Moore; reviews editor and social media manager Brent Lambert; art director L. D. Lewis; web editor Chavonne Brown; non-fiction editor Margeaux Weston; guest editors Summer Farah and Nadia Shammas; acquiring editors Kaleb Russell, Rebecca McGee, Kerine Wint, Joshua Morley, Emmalia Harrington, Genine Tyson, Tonya R. Moore, Danny Lore; technical assistant Nelson Rolon
- Strange Horizons, Vanessa Aguirre, Joseph Aitken, Kwan-Ann Tan, Rachel Ayers, M H Ayinde, Tierney Bailey, Scott Beggs, Drew Matthew Beyer, Gautam Bhatia, Tom Borger, S. K. Campbell, Emma Celi, Zhui Ning Chang, Rita Chen, Tania Chen, Liz Christman, Emma-Grace Clarke, Linda H. Codega, Bruhad Dave, Sarah Davidson, Tahlia Day, Arinn Dembo, Belen Edwards, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Courtney Floyd, Lila Garrott, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright, Colette Grecco, Julia Gunnison, Dan Hartland, Sydney Hilton, Angela Hinck, Amanda Jean, Jamie Johnson, Sean Joyce-Farley, Erika Kanda, Kat Kourbeti, Catherine Krahe, Anna Krepinsky, Clayton Kroh, Natasha Leullier, Dante Luiz, Gui Machiavelli, Cameron Mack, Samantha Manaktola, Marisa Manuel, Jean McConnell, Heather McDougal, Maria Morabe, Amelia Moriarty, Sarah Noakes, Aidan Oatway, AJ Odasso, Joel Oliver-Cormier, Kristina Palmer, Karintha Parker, Anjali Patel, Juliana Pinho, Nicasio Reed, Belicia Rhea, Abbey Schlanz, Elijah Rain Smith, Alyn Spector, Hebe Stanton, Melody Steiner, Romie Stott, Yejin Suh, Sonia Sulaiman, Ben Tyrrell, Renee Van Siclen, Kathryn Weaver, Liza Wemakor, Aigner Loren Wilson, E.M. Wright, Vicki Xu, and The Strange Horizons Editorial Collective
- Uncanny Magazine, publishers and editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas; managing/poetry editor Chimedum Ohaegbu; nonfiction editor Elsa Sjunneson; podcast producers Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky
- Escape Pod, editors S.B. Divya, Mur Lafferty, and Valerie Valdes; assistant editors Benjamin C. Kinney and Premee Mohamed; guest editor Brent C. Lambert; hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart; audio producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht; and the entire Escape Pod team
- PodCastle, co-editors Jen R. Albert, C. L. Clark, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, and Eleanor R. Wood; assistant editors Summer Fletcher and Sofía Barker; audio producer Peter Adrian Behravesh; host Matt Dovey; and the entire PodCastle team
Best Fanzine
- Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, editors Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne
- Journey Planet, edited by Erin Underwood, Jean Martin, Sara Felix, Vanessa Applegate, Chuck Serface, Errick Nunnally, Evan Reeves, Steven H Silver, James Bacon and Christopher J Garcia
- Small Gods, Lee Moyer (Icon) and Seanan McGuire (Story)
- Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus; editor Janice L. Newman; associate writers Gwyn Conaway, Jason Sacks, and John Boston
- Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
- The Full Lid, by Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner
Best Fancast
Now that I am fully a podcast listener, I felt way more comfortable judging this category on its merits. In previous years, I'd sort of listened to samples and ranked on how much I enjoyed them, but having a good sense, now, of what I like about podcasts (snappiness, critical awareness, educational rambling), I felt much more qualified to review these. In terms of ranking, this is legit in the order of how quickly I felt compelled to subscribe to their feed.
- Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske, and Jennifer Mace
- Hugo, Girl!, hosts Haley Zapal, Amy Salley, and Lori Anderson; producer/editor Kevin Anderson
- Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders, produced by Veronica Simonetti
- Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Cass Morris, Rowenna Miller, and Marshall Ryan Maresca
- The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan producer
- Octothorpe, by John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty
Best Fan Writer
- Alex Brown, regarding book bans:
Remember: many kids will never read a banned book. If they don't know it exists, they'll never know they're supposed to read it. Not all kids are active online. Not all kids have a library they can go to outside the one in their school. Not all kids have library workers in their lives who are dedicated to having a diverse collection. Not all kids can afford to buy banned books for themselves, and even if they do track it down, they may not have the context around it or the benefit of an educational discussion. We cannot afford to tread lightly or wait for this banning surge to peter out. Fight wisely, fight efficiently, and fight bravely.
- Cora Buhlert, regarding genre trends:
I've written a lengthy three part post arguing that the Golden Age was not nearly as uniform as people remember it and what is considered typical golden age science fiction these days is actually Campbellian science fiction. And even Campbell published a lot of works that don't fit the stereotype of straight white American men using their superior intellect to conquer space, solve problems and fight aliens
.
- Paul Weimer, regarding cats in space:
Captain Eva Innocente and her crew's prior adventures, Chilling Effect and Prime Deceptions, have always somewhat belied their covers: you'd think these novels were completely frothy and light space opera novels, fun but not particularly deep. The cute and cuddly cats on the cover just emphasize that. Cats in space, that has to be all sweetness and light. Right?
- Chris M. Barkley, regarding his Hugo nomination:
I gravely informed her that I had an impending health issue and to sell the prank even harder, I told them that it could be fatal, if untreated. At first, they were both confused and thought it was about Juli. No, I insisted, it's me. (And I credit Juli for not bursting out laughing when I was telling them all of this.)
"Oh no", Michaele said. "What is it?"
"Maybe," I said dramatically, removing the envelope with the email from my jacket pocket and handing it to her, "you should read the diagnosis for yourself."
As Michaele read it, I saw her face morph from shock, surprise and ultimately to a wide smile.
"Yes," I said, "I'm sorry but I may have a case of being totally insufferable from now on."
- Bitter Karella regarding Midnight Pals:
What if all your favorite horror writers were to gather around the campfire to regale one another with scary stories just like in the classic 90s Nickelodeon TV series 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?'
- Jason Sanford, regarding Genre Grapevine:
One of my frustrations when I first began writing fiction was not knowing what was going on in the genre. I'd submit a story to a magazine then hear, months later, that the magazine was closing. Or I'd submit to a publisher only to learn the publisher had a two-year backlog of submissions.
This information was known to genre insiders, who talked about it among themselves. At conventions and on private forums you'd hear the inside scoop on markets and editors and so much more. But for a beginning author this information was so scattered or hard to find as to be unknowable.
My Genre Grapevine column is an attempt to provide this insider information to everyone.
Best Fan Artist
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book
(presented by the World Science Fiction Society)
THESE ARE ALL SO GOOD, WTF. Like, I'd even say I experienced equivalent levels of enjoyment? This ranking is largely based on whether I felt the text was doing something kind of new, because they're all excellent in terms of entertainment, craft, and representation.
- Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao
Suddenly, her hazy figure morphs into the Nine-Tailed Fox's Heroic Form. Cold metal fingers grasp my face and wrench me to my feet. Burning white eyes glare into mine. "Be their nightmare, Wu Zetian."
- Chaos on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer
There are whole categories of human experience that I just don't share. For example: food. It's not that I find food weird— if you are a human, then consuming food is entirely sensible! In fact, it's required. Please eat your food, human friends.
- Redemptor, by Jordan Ifueko
"I want to dissolve the government of Djbanti," he said at last. "The warlords, the Wanguru monarchy. All of it. I want to tear it down and replace it with something new."
My eyebrows shot up. "You want to depose . . . yourself?"
- A Snake Falls to Earth, by Darcie Little Badger
I did not hesitate. Not because I was confident. Not because I was unafraid. On the contrary: hesitation would mean I'd land far away from my friends. And that terrified me. So, I released the mountain and fell into the sky.
- Victories Greater Than Death, by Charlie Jane Anders
Turns out a space battle is not at all like playing Waymaker or Combat Jam or whatever. It's more like ten games of dodgeball at the same time, mashed up with a trigonometry pop quiz, mashed up with the migraine I got after I drank five cups of coffee.
- The Last Graduate, by Naomi Novik
Sitting on edge in a classroom for hours surrounded by fluffy peeping freshmen waiting for one mal to pop out at me: nightmarish. Summoning a river of magma to instantly vaporize twenty-seven carefully designed attacks at once: nothing to it.
Astounding Award for Best New Writer
(presented by Dell Magazines)
- Xiran Jay Zhao (1st year of eligibility), Iron Widow
You're not something to be kept or taken, and love isn't some scarce resource to battle over. Love can be infinite, as much as your heart can open. I mean, when you think about it, love is fueled mostly by compatibility. Whether two people make each other happy by being close. So it'd be pointless of me to resent Shimin. However compatible you are with him, it doesn't have anything to do with how compatible you are with me."
- Micaiah Johnson (2nd year of eligibility), The Space Between Worlds
"I'm not going to blackmail you."
He smiles. "But you thought about it."
"Only for, maybe, a second."
- Tracy Deonn (2nd year of eligibility), Legendborn
I gaze hopefully down the hall as if someone might appear and rescue me from the Schrodinger's Cat of Conscious Boys scenario I find myself in, but it's empty and unhelpful.
- A.K. Larkwood (2nd year of eligibility), The Unspoken Name
"Nothing in this world has earned the power to frighten you, Csorwe," he said. "You have looked your foretold death in the face and turned from it in defiance. Nothing in this world or any other deserves your fear."
- Everina Maxwell (1st year of eligibility), Winter's Orbit
The litany turned his voice into a bleak, steely thread, like the safety tether that spooled a spacewalker into the void. "I might be easy to manipulate. But I am very difficult to break."
- Shelley Parker-Chan (1st year of eligibility), She Who Became the Sun
Perhaps her looks missed the Nanren standards of classic beauty, but in her face there was such a depth of raw and innocent emotion that Zhu's eye was drawn as if to the scene of an accident.
I DID IT. Mostly. Bring on the next year, I guess?!
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