Monday, September 3, 1984

1984 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: LAcon II in Anaheim, California.

Comments: In 1984 Return of the Jedi won the third Hugo Award in the Best Dramatic Presentation category for the Star Wars saga. Each of the first three Star Wars movies coasted to Hugo award victories in this category. But with this victory, the Star Wars saga's time in the spotlight was ended. Not only did none of the later-produced prequel movies not win any Hugo Awards, they weren't even nominated for any. This was partially the result of the increased quality of the competition faced by the movies, but it was also traceable to the fact that Lucas burned a lot of bridges with his many revisions of the original trilogy, as well as the generally poor level of storytelling represented by the prequel trilogy. There are few things sadder than seeing a strong story disintegrate into a mess, but that is what happened with Star Wars, and their history at the Hugo Awards reflects this dismal truth.

On a happier note, this is also the year that the best Semi-Prozine category was introduced, separating those magazines that turned a profit and paid their writers from the Fanzines that mostly do not do either of those things. Locus, the most prominent of the magazines that fit into the new category, promptly won the award, and it has dominated the category ever since.

Best Novel

Winner:
Startide Rising by David Brin

Other Finalists:
Millennium by John Varley
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy

Best Novella

Winner:
Cascade Point by Timothy Zahn

Other Finalists:
Hardfought by Greg Bear
Hurricane Claude by Hilbert Schenck
In the Face of My Enemy by Joseph H. Delaney
Seeking by David R. Palmer

Best Novelette

Winner:
Blood Music by Greg Bear

Other Finalists:
Black Air by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Monkey Treatment by George R.R. Martin
The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis
Slow Birds by Ian Watson

Best Short Story

Winner:
Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler

Other Finalists:
The Geometry of Narrative by Hilbert Schenck
The Peacemaker by Gardner Dozois
Servant of the People by Frederik Pohl
Wong's Lost and Found Emporium by William F. Wu

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 3 by Donald H. Tuck

Other Finalists:
Dream Makers, Volume II by Charles Platt
The Fantastic Art of Rowena by Rowena Morrill
The High Kings by Joy Chant
Staying Alive: A Writer's Guide by Norman Spinrad

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
Return of the Jedi

Other Finalists:
Brainstorm
The Right Stuff
Something Wicked This Way Comes
WarGames

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Shawna McCarthy

Other Finalists:
Terry Carr
Edward L. Ferman
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Finalists:
Val Lakey Lindahn
Don Maitz
Rowena Morrill
Barclay Shawt

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown

Other Finalists:
Fantasy Newsletter/Fantasy Review edited by Robert A. Collins
Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew Porter
Science Fiction Review edited by Richard E. Geis
Whispers edited by Stuart David Schiff

Best Fanzine

Winner:
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Other Finalists:
Ansible edited by Dave Langford
Holier Than Thou edited by Marty Cantor and Robbie Cantor
Izzard edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Teresa Nielsen Hayden
The Philk Fee-Nom-Ee-Non edited by Paul J. Willett

Best Fan Writer

Winner:
Mike Glyer

Other Finalists:
Richard E. Geis
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Arthur Hlavaty
Dave Langford

Best Fan Artist

Winner:
Alexis Gilliland

Other Finalists:
Brad W. Foster
Joan Hanke-Woods
William Rotsler
Stu Shiffman

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
R.A. MacAvoy

Other Finalists:
Joseph H. Delaney
Lisa Goldstein
Warren Norwood
Joel Rosenberg
Sheri S. Tepper

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1983
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1985

1984 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home