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SYFY WIRE Hugo Awards

Hugo Award finalists include Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Who

By Jacob Oller
SpiderverseDance

Awards season for film may have ended with only a few wins for fans’ genre favorites, but that’s partially why the Hugo Awards are so great. The awards, which announced their 2019 finalists today, saw some major crossover with the year’s Nebula Awards finalists — honoring the best in sci-fi and fantasy entertainment. And that categorization is as varied as it sounds.

Finalists for accolades as wide-ranging as Best Novel, Best Semiprozine, and Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form include movies, TV, and written content of all kinds. Some standouts were Alec Nevala-Lee’s Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, alongside films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Black Panther, The Good Place episode “Janet(s)”, and Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer. Sci-fi had a good year, just judging by how eccentric its offerings were. Now all these have been honored as finalists.

Take a look at the announcement here:

Fans can find all the finalists listed below, where they can browse through the gigantic list of great genre content at their leisure or just search for that one particular story they loved (yes, Annihilation was nominated).

The awards will be handed out by the World Science Fiction Society at this year’s Worldcon on Aug. 18. And here are the finalists:

Best Novel

The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers

Revenant Gun, by Yoon Ha Lee

Space Opera, by Catherynne M. Valente

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse

Best Novella

Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells

Beneath the Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire

Binti: The Night Masquerade, by Nnedi Okorafor

The Black God’s Drums, by P. Djèlí Clark

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, by Kelly Robson

The Tea Master and the Detective, by Aliette de Bodard

Best Novelette

“If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho

“The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections,” by Tina Connolly

“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth,” by Daryl Gregory

"The Only Harmless Great Thing," by Brooke Bolander

“The Thing About Ghost Stories,” by Naomi Kritzer

“When We Were Starless,” by Simone Heller

Best Short Story

“The Court Magician,” by Sarah Pinsker

“The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society,” by T. Kingfisher

“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” by P. Djèlí Clark

“STET,” by Sarah Gailey

“The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” by Brooke Bolander

“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow

Best Series

The Centenal Cycle, by Malka Older

The Laundry Files, by Charles Stross

Machineries of Empire, by Yoon Ha Lee

The October Daye Series, by Seanan McGuire

The Universe of Xuya, by Aliette de Bodard

Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers

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

The Hobbit Duology (documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan

An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000, by Jo Walton

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

Best Graphic Story

Abbott, written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä, colors by Jason Wordie, letters by Jim Campbell

Black Panther: Long Live the King, written by Nnedi Okorafor and Aaron Covington, art by André Lima Araújo, Mario Del Pennino and Tana Ford

Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda

On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden

Paper Girls, Volume 4, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff Chiang, colors by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher

Saga, Volume 9, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Annihilation, directed and written for the screen by Alex Garland, based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer

Avengers: Infinity War, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Black Panther, written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, directed by Ryan Coogler

A Quiet Place, screenplay by Scott Beck, John Krasinski and Bryan Woods, directed by John Krasinski

Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

The Expanse: “Abaddon’s Gate,” written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Simon Cellan Jones

Doctor Who: “Demons of the Punjab,” written by Vinay Patel, directed by Jamie Childs

Dirty Computer, written by Janelle Monáe, directed by Andrew Donoho and Chuck Lightning

The Good Place: “Janet(s),” written by Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan, directed by Morgan Sackett

The Good Place: “Jeremy Bearimy,” written by Megan Amram, directed by Trent O’Donnell

Doctor Who: “Rosa,” written by Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall, directed by Mark Tonderai

Best Professional Editor, Short Form

Neil Clarke

Gardner Dozois

Lee Harris

Julia Rios

Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

E. Catherine Tobler

Best Professional Editor, Long Form

Sheila E. Gilbert

Anne Lesley Groell

Beth Meacham

Diana Pho

Gillian Redfearn

Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist

Galen Dara

Jaime Jones

Victo Ngai

John Picacio

Yuko Shimizu

Charles Vess

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

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

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

Best Fan Writer

Foz Meadows

James Davis Nicoll

Charles Payseur

Elsa Sjunneson-Henry

Alasdair Stuart

Bogi Takács

Best Fan Artist

Sara Felix

Grace P. Fong

Meg Frank

Ariela Housman

Likhain (Mia Sereno)

Spring Schoenhuth

Best Art Book

The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin

Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon, by Julie Dillon

Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History, by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer

Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, ed. John Fleskes

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie, by Ramin Zahed

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, ed. Catherine McIlwaine

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Katherine Arden

S.A. Chakraborty

R.F. Kuang

Jeannette Ng

Vina Jie-Min Prasad

Rivers Solomon

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

The Belles, by Dhonielle Clayton

Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi

The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black

Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland

The Invasion, by Peadar O’Guilin

Tess of the Road, by Rachel Hartman