Comments: I think 1997 wins the award for the winning entry with the longest title, as Connie Willis' The Soul Selects Her Own Society: Invasion and Repulsion: A Chronological Reinterpretation of Two of Emily Dickinson's Poems: A Wellsian Perspective took home the prize for Best Short Story.
1997 was also the year that the final book in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy won the award for Best Novel. An interesting note to this victory is that although the first book in the series, Red Mars, didn't win a Hugo award, the second and third books, Green Mars and Blue Mars, both did.
Also in 1997, Babylon 5 earned its second Hugo Award, this time for the stunningly brilliant episode Severed Dreams. Personally, I would have picked the two part story War Without End as the best of that season, but if they did that, the Hugo voters would have had to confront the fact that they ignored Babylon Squared and the rest of the first season of the series. And one could also make a case for the excellent episodes And the Rock Cried Out No Hiding Place and Zha'ha'dum. Given the overall strength of the third season of Babylon 5, one could list several more worthy episodes too and all would have been good choices, which makes it odd that only one was nominated. As a side note, Babylon 5's win this year meant that the show beat out not one, but two iterations of the Star Trek franchise, topping the Deep Space Nine episode Trials and Tribble-ations and the Next Generation movie First Contact, a fairly impressive feat.
Best Novel
Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Other Finalists:
Holy Fire by Bruce Sterling
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
Starplex by Robert J. Sawyer
Best Novella
Blood of the Dragon by George R.R. Martin
Other Finalists:
Abandon in Place by Jerry Oltion
The Cost to Be Wise by Maureen F. McHugh
Gas Fish by Mary Rosenblum
Immersion by Gregory Benford
Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt
Best Novelette
Bicycle Repairman by Bruce Sterling
Other Finalists:
Age of Aquarius by William Barton
Beauty and the Opéra or The Phantom Beast by Suzy McKee Charnas
The Land of Nod by Mike Resnick
Mountain Ways by Ursula K. Le Guin
Best Short Story
The Soul Selects Her Own Society: Invasion and Repulsion: A Chronological Reinterpretation of Two of Emily Dickinson's Poems: A Wellsian Perspective by Connie Willis
Other Finalists:
The Dead by Michael Swanwick
Decency by Robert Reed
Gone by John Crowley
Un-Birthday Boy by James White
Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work
Time & Chance: An Autobiography by L. Sprague de Camp
Other Finalists:
The Faces of Fantasy by Patti Perret
Look at the Evidence by John Clute
The Silence of the Langford by David Langford
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones
Best Dramatic Presentation
Babylon 5: Severed Dreams
Other Finalists:
Independence Day
Mars Attacks!
Star Trek - Deep Space Nine: Trials and Tribble-ations
Star Trek: First Contact
Best Professional Editor
Gardner Dozois
Other Finalists:
Scott Edelman
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Stanley Schmidt
Best Professional Artist
Bob Eggleton
Other Finalists:
Thomas Canty
David A. Cherry
Don Maitz
Michael Whelan
Best Semi-Prozine
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown
Other Finalists:
Interzone edited by David Pringle
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Tad Dembinski, Ariel Haméon, David G. Hartwell, and Kevin Maroney
Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew I. PorterSpeculations edited by Kent Brewster
Best Fanzine
Mimosa edited by Dick Lynch and Nicki Lynch
Other Finalists:
Ansible edited by Dave Langford
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Nova Express edited by Lawrence Person
Tangent edited by Dave Truesdale
Best Fan Writer
Dave Langford
Other Finalists:
Sharon Farber
Mike Glyer
Andy Hooper
Evelyn C. Leeper
Best Fan Artist
William Rotsler
Other Finalists:
Ian Gunn
Joe Mayhew
Peggy Ranson
Sherlock
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Michael A. Burstein
Other Finalists:
Raphael Carter
Richard Garfinkle
Katya Reimann
Sharon Shinn
What Are the Hugo Awards?
Go to previous year's finalists: 1996
Go to subsequent year's finalists: 1998
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