Sunday, August 7, 2005

2005 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: InterAction in Glasgow, Scotland.

Comments: In 2005, the Hugo Awards handed out a one time award for "Best Website". It is perhaps one of the clearest indications of how far off course the SciFi channel (excuse me, "SyFy" channel) has gone that the winner of this award is a webpage they hosted that doesn't even exist any more. The other four nominees, one the other hand, are alive and well, and still churning out great science fiction related content.

After Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings relinquished its three year hold on the Dramatic Presentation Hugo, the award was snapped up by The Incredibles, one of the best super hero movies ever made. The Short Form Dramatic Presentation award went to the Battlestar Galactica episode 33, which was probably the best episode of that series. However, I still would have given the nod to the Stargate SG-1 two part story Heroes, mostly because Stargate SG-1 was a better science fiction series in its worst episode than Battlestar Galactica was at its best. And Heroes was far from the worst Stargate SG-1 episode.

Best Novel

Winner:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Other Finalists:
The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks
Iron Council by China MiƩville
Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross
River of Gods by Ian McDonald

Best Novella

Winner:
The Concrete Jungle by Charles Stross

Other Finalists:
Elector by Charles Stross
Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton
Time Ablaze by Michael A. Burstein
Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best Novelette

Winner:
The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link

Other Finalists:
Biographical Notes to ‘A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-Planes' by Benjamin Rosenbaum by Benjamin Rosenbaum
The Clapping Hands of God by Michael F. Flynn
The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Voluntary State by Christopher Rowe

Best Short Story

Winner:
Travels with My Cats by Mike Resnick

Other Finalists:
The Best Christmas Ever by James Patrick Kelly
Decisions by Michael A. Burstein
A Princess of Earth by Mike Resnick
Shed Skin by Robert J. Sawyer

Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work

Winner:
The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn

Other Finalists:
The Best of Xero by Pat Lupoff and Dick Lupoff
Dancing Naked: The Unexpurgated William Tenn by William Tenn
Futures: 50 Years in Space: The Challenge of the Stars by David A. Hardy and Patrick Moore
With Stars in My Eyes: My Adventures in British Fandom by Peter Weston

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Winner:
The Incredibles

Other Finalists:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
Spider-Man 2

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Winner:
Battlestar Galactica: 33

Other Finalists:
Angel: Smile Time
Angel: Not Fade Away
Lost: Pilot Episode
Stargate SG-1: Heroes, Parts 1 and 2

Best Professional Editor

Winner:
Ellen Datlow

Other Finalists:
Gardner Dozois
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt
Gordon van Gelder

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Jim Burns

Other Finalists:
Bob Eggleton
Frank Kelly Freas
Donato Giancola
John Picacio

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:
Ansible edited by David Langford

Other Finalists:
Interzone edited by David Pringle and Andy Cox
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown
The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, David G. Hartwell, and Kevin J. Maroney
The Third Alternative edited by Andy Cox

Best Fanzine

Winner:
Plokta edited by Steve Davies, Alison Scott, and Mike Scott

Other Finalists:
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
Chunga edited by Randy Byers, Andy Hooper, and Carl Juarez
Emerald City edited by Cheryl Morgan

Best Fan Writer

Winner:
Dave Langford

Other Finalists:
Claire Brialey
Bob Devney
Cheryl Morgan
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

Winner:
Sue Mason

Other Finalists:
Brad Foster
Teddy Harvia
Steve Stiles
Frank Wu

Best Web Site

Winner:
Sci Fiction edited by Ellen Datlow, managed by Craig Engler

Other Finalists:
eFanzines.com edited by Bill Burns
Emerald City edited by Cheryl Morgan
Locus Online edited by Mark R. Kelly
Strange Horizons edited by Susan Marie Groppi

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Elizabeth Bear

Other Finalists:
K.J. Bishop
David Moles
Chris Roberson
Steph Swainston

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 2004
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2006

2005 Hugo Longlist     Book Award Reviews     Home