Comments: Looking at the 1999 Hugo award winners alongside the other nominees they were competing against, I can only incredulously think "The Truman Show? How in the world did that overly long, pretentious, bore fest that consisted of almost nothing but Jim Carey mugging for the camera win a Hugo?" And then one looks at the competition and the mystery becomes even deeper. It should come as no surprise that in my opinion the Babylon 5 episode Sleeping in the Light should have won, but how did The Truman Show beat out Pleasantville and Dark City as well? It is just inexplicable unless one assumes that Peter Weir had pictures of the entire Hugo voting pool in compromising positions with farm animals.
And the reason for this conclusion is that with respect to the rest of the award categories, the voters seem to have done a creditable job of selecting worthwhile winners. If the other categories had had as inexplicably silly winners as the Best Dramatic Presentation category, then one could chalk The Truman Show's win up to the voters simply having lost their minds in a kind of mob mental lapse. But Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog is a fine novel, and a deserving Hugo winner, as are the winners in all the other categories, so the mystery remains.
Best Novel
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Other Finalists:
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
Distraction by Bruce Sterling
Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer
Best Novella
Oceanic by Greg Egan
Other Finalists:
Aurora in Four Voices by Catherine Asaro
Get Me to the Church on Time by Terry Bisson
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang
The Summer Isles by Ian R. MacLeod
Best Novelette
Taklamakan by Bruce Sterling
Other Finalists:
Divided by Infinity by Robert Charles Wilson
Echea by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Planck Dive by Greg Egan
Steamship Soldier on the Information Front by Nancy Kress
Time Gypsy by Ellen Klages
Zwarte Piet's Tale by Allen M. Steele
Best Short Story
The Very Pulse of the Machine by Michael Swanwick
Other Finalists:
Cosmic Corkscrew by Michael A. Burstein
Maneki Neko by Bruce Sterling
Radiant Doors by Michael Swanwick
Whiptail by Robert Reed
Wild Minds by Michael Swanwick
Best Nonfiction, Related, or Reference Work
The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World by Thomas M. Disch
Other Finalists:
The Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards by Howard DeVore
Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years by Everett F. Bleiler
Spectrum 5: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner
The Work of Jack Williamson: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide by Richard A. Hauptmann
Best Dramatic Presentation
The Truman Show
Other Finalists:
Babylon 5: Sleeping in Light
Dark City
Pleasantville
Star Trek: Insurrection
Best Professional Editor
Gardner Dozois
Other Finalists:
Scott Edelman
David G. Hartwell
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Stanley Schmidt
Gordon van Gelder
Best Professional Artist
Bob Eggleton
Other Finalists:
Jim Burns
Donato Giancola
Don Maitz
Nick Stathopoulos
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, Ariel Haméon, David G. Hartwell, and Kevin J. Maroney
Science Fiction Chronicle edited by Andrew I. PorterSpeculations edited by Denise Lee
Best Fanzine
Ansible edited by Dave Langford
Other Finalists:
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Mimosa edited by Richard Lynch and Nicki Lynch
Plokta edited by Alison Scott and Steve Davies
Tangent edited by David Truesdale
Thyme edited by Alan Stewart
Best Fan Writer
Dave Langford
Other Finalists:
Bob Devney
Mike Glyer
Evelyn C. Leeper
Maureen Kincaid Speller
Best Fan Artist
Ian Gunn
Other Finalists:
Freddie Baer
Brad W. Foster
Teddy Harvia
Joe Mayhew
D. West
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
Nalo Hopkinson
Other Finalists:
Kage Baker
Julie E. Czerneda
Susan R. Matthews
James Van Pelt
What Are the Hugo Awards?
Go to previous year's finalists: 1998
Go to subsequent year's finalists: 2000
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