Comments: 1989 was a year of some controversy for the Hugo Awards. Two nominations - one for Best Novel for The Guardsman by P.J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton, and one for Best Professional Artist for Todd Cameron Hamilton - were removed from the ballot due to apparent irregularities in the nominating process. The "irregularity" was bloc voting on the part of some enthusiastic New York area fans. Although I am generally in favor of maintaining the integrity of the Hugo Awards, they are a fan voted award. Given that reality, it seems somewhat hypocritical to me for the Hugo committee to remove a particular nomination because they don't like the way a group of fans decided to exercise their vote. Either the Hugo Awards are fan voted, or they aren't. In 1989, it seems, at least to a certain extent they were not.
The Guardsman had no realistic chance of winning the Best Novel award anyway, so removing it seems pointless and meddlesome. And if it had been left on the ballot and had won, then those who nominated it would have been vindicated, which means the only reason it was removed was because the Hugo committee had a fit of pique and decided to eliminate a novel just on the off-chance that they would look bad because some fans got their way. In the end, the Hugo Award went to C.J. Cherry's Cyteen, which was a fine winner, although I have always been partial to Lois McMaster Bujold's Falling Free. But the whole Guardsman fracas, and the pettiness of removing it from the ballot just made this year's Hugo committee look bad.
Best Novel
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh
Other Nominees:
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling
Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card
Best Novella
The Last of the Winnebagos by Connie Willis
Other Nominees:
The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians by Bradley Denton
Journals of the Plague Years by Norman Spinrad
The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter by Lucius Shepard
Surfacing by Walter Jon Williams
Best Novelette
Schrödinger's Kitten by George Alec Effinger
Other Nominees:
Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance? by Howard Waldrop
The Function of Dream Sleep by Harlan Ellison
Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr.
Peaches for Mad Molly by Steven Gould
Best Short Story
Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick
Other Nominees:
The Fort Moxie Branch by Jack McDevitt
The Giving Plague by David Brin
Our Neural Chernobyl by Bruce Sterling
Ripples in the Dirac Sea by Geoffrey A. Landis
Stable Strategies for Middle Management by Eileen Gunn
Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work
The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village 1957-1965 by Samuel R. Delany
Other Nominees:
A Biographical Dictionary of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists by Robert Weinberg
The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by James E. Gunn
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror: 1987 by Charles N. Brown and William G. Contento
Best Dramatic Presentation
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Other Nominees:
Alien Nation
Beetlejuice
Big
Willow
Best Professional Editor
Gardner Dozois
Other Nominees:
Edward L. Ferman
David G. Hartwell
Charles C. Ryan
Stanley Schmidt
Best Professional Artist
Michael Whelan
Other Nominees:
Thomas Canty
David A. Cherry
Bob Eggleton
Don Maitz
Best Semi-Prozine
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown
Other Nominees:
Interzone edited by David Pringle and Simon Ounsley
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by David G. Hartwell, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Susan Palwick, and Kathryn Cramer
Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew I. PorterThrust edited by D. Douglas Fratz
Best Fanzine
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Other Nominees:
FOSFAX edited by Timothy Lane
Lan's Lantern edited by George "Lan" Laskowski
Niekas edited by Edmund R. Meskys, Mike Bastraw, and Anne Braude
OtherRealms edited by Chuq Von Rospach
Best Fan Writer
Dave Langford
Other Nominees:
Avedon Carol
Mike Glyer
Arthur D. Hlavaty
Guy H. Lillian, III
Chuq Von Rospach
Best Fan Artist
(tie) Brad W. Foster
(tie) Diana Gallagher Wu
Other Nominees:
Teddy Harvia
Merle Insinga
Stu Shiffman
Taral Wayne
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Michaela Roessner
Other Nominees:
P.J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton
Christopher Hinz
Melanie Rawn
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
William Sanders
Delia Sherman
What Are the Hugo Awards?
Go to previous year's nominees: 1988
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1990
1989 Hugo Longlist Book Award Reviews Home
