2015 Hugo Award Longlist

As a practical matter, starting the Hugo Longlist Project with the most recent set of longlisted nominees and working backwards in time makes sense. Records get more difficult to obtain as one goes back further in time, and I am not even entirely sure how far back I'll be able to find records, so starting at the "beginning" is something of a moving target right now. On the other hand, due to the presence of the Sad and Rabid Puppy campaigns, starting with the 2015 Hugo Longlist results is probably one of the worst possible places to start. Enough pixels have been spilt about the overlapping bloc voting campaigns that dominated the Hugo nominations in 2015 that I am not going to go into details here, but the fact is that the two slates affected the nominations so much that there is no way to treat the year's results as anything but an outlier from the norm. Time will tell if the outlier becomes the new normal, but as of yet, the jury is still out. Paradoxically, the existence of the Puppy slates makes 2015 the perfect year to used as the start of the longlist project, as the unusual nature of the list of finalists is what prompted many people to begin looking at the longlist to begin with.

Because of the existence of the Puppy campaigns, the 2015 longlist is unusual in that most of the finalists are widely regarded as being of lower quality than the works that appeared on the remaining "longlist" section. This inversion led directly to the creation of David Steffen's Long List Anthology, a collection that assembled many of the stories that didn't make the list of finalists, but did receive sufficient nominations to appear in the top fifteen nominees in their category. To a certain extent, this inversion inspired this project, which exists in part so as to be able to give some honorary recognition to works that didn't quite make it to the list of finalists. 2015 was also unusual for the Hugo Awards due to the large number of finalists who declined or withdrew their nominations, or who were declared ineligible (usually due to not being published in 2014 as required by the rules of the award). The increased frequency of withdrawals and disqualifications is also a result of the Puppy campaigns.

The project primarily exists to provide historical context for the lists of finalists, and to evaluate the changing landscape of genre fiction over the years. In that last endeavor, looking to the list of winners for an award is insufficient, as that only gives a single point of data to work with. A fleshed out shortlist of finalists serves the purpose better, and a longlist of reasonable length works even better. On the other hand, a longlist that is too long is probably not going to provide worthwhile information, as it eventually becomes so inclusive as to be unable to inform one of the aggregate tastes of genre fiction fans in any meaningful manner. To get a good understanding of the landscape of genre fiction, one should probably include information from multiple awards, but that is a conversation for another time.

Starting this project with the most recent long lists and working backwards poses some interesting challenges for evaluating trends in genre fiction, and one of them involves determining whether seeing people and works reach the longlist is an indicator of their prospects for future nominations. Because I am working backwards, it is difficult at this point to evaluate whether this is, in fact, true. This is further complicated by the fact that the nominations for 2015 (and now 2016) have been anything but typical in nature. If there is predictive power in being "longlisted", then we could expect to see Elizabeth Bear and Ursula Vernon receive Hugo nominations in the future, as both had two stories reach the longlist. We can also expect to see most Chinese based science fiction authors reach the Hugo ballot in the future, as Xia Jia had a story reach the longlist to go along with Cixin Liu's Hugo victory for The Three-Body Problem.

Operating under the assumption that trends on the longlist nominees are reflective of the sentiment of fandom in general, the victory for Orphan Black in the Short Form Best Dramatic Presentation category is even more impressive an upset than previously believed. Given the presence of four episodes of Game of Thrones, three episodes of Doctor Who, and two episodes of Agents of Shield, one can get something of a feel for the general television viewing habits of fandom as a whole. Legend of Korra also made a strong showing: Even though it only had one episode nominated in the Short Form category, the entirely of season four of the show was nominated in the Long Form Best Dramatic Presentation Category.

Best Novel

Finalists:
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Lines of Departure by Marko Kloos [nomination withdrawn]
Monster Hunter Nemesis by Larry Correia [nomination declined]
Skin Game by Jim Butcher
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu) [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Annihilation by Jeff Vandemeer
The Chaplain’s War by Brad Torgersen
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
Lock In by John Scalzi
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley
My Real Children by Jo Walton
Trial By Fire by Charles E. Gannon
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Best Novella

Finalists:
Big Boys Don’t Cry by Tom Kratman

Flow by Arlan Andrews, Sr. (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXXIV, No. 11 (November 2014))

One Bright Star to Guide Them by John C. Wright
Pale Realms of Shade by John C. Wright
The Plural of Helen of Troy by John C. Wright

Longlisted Nominees:
Dream Houses by Genevieve Valentine
Grand Jeté(The Great Leap) by Rachel Swirsky
Legion: Skin Deep by Brandon Sanderson
The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert
The Regular by Ken Liu
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome by John Scalzi
We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory
Where the Trains Turn by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
Yesterday’s Kin by Nancy Kress

Best Novelette

Finalists:

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Earth to Alluvium by Gray Rinehart (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Novelette)

Championship B’tok by Edward M. Lerner (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXXIV, No. 9 (September 2014))

The Day the World Turned Upside Down by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Novelette) [winner]

The Journeyman: In the Stone House by Michael F. Flynn (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXXIV, No. 6 (June 2014))

The Triple Sun: A Golden Age Tale by Rajnar Vajra (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXXIV, Nos. 7 & 8 (July/August 2014))

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by John C. Wright [ineligible]

Longlisted Nominees
The Bonedrake’s Penance by Yoon Ha Lee
The Devil In America by Kai Ashante Wilson
Each to Each by Seanan McGuire
A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i by Alaya Dawn Johnson
The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
The Litany of Earth by Ruthana Emrys

The Magician and Laplace’s Demon by Tom Crosshill (reviewed in 2015 WSFA Small Press Award Voting)

Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy by Xia Jia
We are the Cloud by Sam J. Miller
A Year and a Day in Old Therandane by Scott Lynch

Best Short Story

Finalists:

Goodnight Stars by Annie Bellet [nomination withdrawn] (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Short Story)

On A Spiritual Plain by Lou Antonelli (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Short Story)

The Parliament of Beasts and Birds by John C. Wright (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Short Story)

A Single Samurai by Steve Diamond (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Short Story)

Totaled by Kary English (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Short Story)

Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer by Megan Grey [ineligible]

Turncoat by Steve Rzasa (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Short Story)

Longlisted Nominees
The Breath of War by Aliette de Bodard
Covenant by Elizabeth Bear

Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon (reviewed in 2015 WSFA Small Press Award Voting)

A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone
Makeisha in Time by Rachael K. Jones
This Chance Planet by Elizabeth Bear
Toad Words by Ursula Vernon
The Truth About Owls by Amal El-Mohtar
The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family by Usman T. Malik
When it Ends, He Catches Her by Eugie Foster

Best Related Work

Finalists:
The Hot Equations: Thermodynamics and Military SF by Ken Burnside
Letters from Gardner by Lou Antonelli

Transhuman and Subhuman: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth by John C. Wright

Why Science Is Never Settled by Tedd Roberts
Wisdom from My Internet by Michael Z. Williamson

Longlisted Nominees:
Chicks Dig Gaming by Jennifer Brozek, Robert Smith, and Lars Pearson
Greg Egan (Modern Masters of Science Fiction) by Karen Burnham
Invisible: Personal Essays on Representation in SF by Jim C. Hines
Jodorovsky’s Dune (Documentary) directed by Frank Pavich

Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 2: The Man Who Learned Better: 1948-1988 by William H. Patterson, Jr.

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore

Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Taylor

Speculative Fiction 2013: The Year’s Best Online Reviews, Essays, and Commentary by Ana Grilo and Thea James

Tropes vs Women: Women as Background Decoration by Anita Sarkeesian
What Makes This Book so Great by Jo Walton

Best Graphic Story

Finalists:

Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, and Jake Wyatt [winner]

Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch
Saga, Volume Three by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Sex Criminals, Volume One: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky

The Zombie Nation Book #2: Reduce Reuse Reanimate by Carter Reid (reviewed in 2015 Hugo Voting - Best Graphic Story)

Longlisted Nominees:

Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez

Girl Genius, Volume 14: Agatha Hererodyne and the Beast of the Rails by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Order of the Stick: Blood Runs in the Family by Rich Burlew
Saga by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Saga, Volume Four by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Schlock Mercenary: Broken Wind by Howard Taylor
Sing No Evil by J.P. Ahonen and K.P. Alare
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

The Wicked & The Divine, Volume 1: The Faust Act by Keiron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Finalists:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy [winner]
Interstellar
The Lego Movie

Longlisted Nominees:
Big Hero 6
Coherence
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
The Legend of Korra, Season 4
Maleficent
The Maze Runner
Snowpiercer
Worldcon Philharmonic Orchestra (Concert)
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:
The Flash: Pilot
Doctor Who: Listen
Game of Thrones: The Mountain and the Viper
Grimm: Once We Were Gods
Orphan Black: By Means Which Have Never Been Tried Yet [winner]
Supernatural: Dog Dean Afternoon [ineligible]

Longlisted Nominees:
Welcome to Night Vale: Old Oak Doors, Part A and B
Adventure Time: The Prince Who Wanted Everything
Doctor Who: Flatline
Doctor Who: Mummy on the Orient Express
Agents of Shield: Turn, Turn, Turn
Agents of Shield: What They Become
Game of Thrones: The Children
Game of Thrones: The Lion and the Rose
Game of Thrones: The Watchers on The Wall
The Legend of Korra: The Last Stand

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
Theodore Beale
Jennifer Brozek
Mike Resnick
Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Edmund R. Schubert [nomination withdrawn]

Longlisted Nominees:
John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Ellen Datlow
Gardner Dozois
William Schafer
Jonathan Strahan
Lynne M. Thomas
Ann VanderMeer
Sheila Williams
Christie Yant

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Finalists:
Theodore Beale
Sheila Gilbert
Jim Minz
Anne Sowards
Toni Weisskopf

Longlisted Nominees:
Liz Gorinsky
David G. Hartwell
Lee Harris
Jenni Hill
Beth Meacham
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Marco Palmieri
Anne Perry
Devi Pillai
Gillian Redfeam

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Julie Dillon [winner]
Kirk DouPounce
Jon Eno [ineligible]
Nick Greenwood
Alan Pollack
Carter Reid

Longlisted Nominees:
Richard Anderson
Galen Dara
Dan Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Donata Giancola
John Harris
Stephan Martiniere
Chris McGrath
Victo Ngai
John Picacio
Fiona Staples

Best Semi-Prozine

Finalists:
Abyss & Apex edited by Wendy Delmater

Andromeda Spaceways InFlight Magazine edited by David Kernot and Sue Bursztynski

Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews

Lightspeed Magazine edited by John Joseph Adams, Stefan Rudnicki, Rich Horton, Wendy N. Wagner, and Christie Yant [winner]

Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show edited by Edmund R. Schubert [nomination withdrawn]

Strange Horizons edited by Niall Harrison

Longlisted Nominees:
Apex edited by John Joseph Adams
Apex Magazine edited by Jason Sizemore
The Book Smugglers edited by Ana Grilo, Thea James
Clarkesworld Magazine edited by Neil Clarke
Crossed Genres edited by Bart R. Leib, Kay T. Holt, and Kelly Jennings
Escape Pod edited by Norm Sherman
Goblin Fruit edited by Amal El-Mohtar and Caitlyn Paxson
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Pornokitsch edited by Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin
Sci Phi Journal edited by Jason Rennie

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
Black Gate edited by John O’Neill [nomination withdrawn]
Elitist Book Reviews edited by Steven Diamond

Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Christopher J. Garcia, Colin Harris, Alissa McKersie, and Helen J. Montgomery [winner]

The Revenge of Hump Day edited by Tim Bolgeo
Tangent SF Online edited by Dave Truesdale

Longlisted Nominees:
Argentus edited by Steven H. Silver
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
A Dribble of Ink edited by Aiden Moher
The Drink Tank edited by Vanessa Applegate, James Bacon, and Christopher J Garcia
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
Lady Business edited by Renay and Jodie
Nerds of a Feather edited by The G and Vance Kotrla
SF Mistressworks edited by Ian Sales
SF Signal edited by Jon Denardo
Shiny Book Review edited by Jason Cordova and Barb Caffrey

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
Dave Freer
Amanda S. Green
Jeffro Johnson
Laura J. Mixon [winner]
Cedar Sanderson
Matthew David Surridge [nomination declined]

Longlisted Nominees:
Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
Liz Bourke
Daniel Enness
Christopher J Garcia
Natalie Luhrs
Foz Meadows
Dierdre Saoirse Moen
James Nicoll
Abigail Nussbaum
Mark Oshiro

Best Fan Artist

Finalists:
Ninni Aalto
Brad W. Foster
Elizabeth Leggett [winner]
Spring Schoenhuth
Steve Stiles

Longlisted Nominees:
Euclase
Kuldar Leement
Vesa Lehtimäki
Richard Mann
Mandie Manzano
Autun Parser
Maurine Starkey
Taral Wayne
Sarah Webb
Alice X. Zhang

Best Fancast

Finalists:

Adventures in SF Publishing by Brent Bower, Kristi Charish, Timothy C. Ward, and Moses Siregar III

Dungeon Crawlers Radio by Daniel Swenson, Travis Alexander, Scott Tomlin, Dale Newton, and Damien Swenson

Galactic Suburbia by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Andrew Finch [winner]

The Sci Phi Show by Jason Rennie
Tea and Jeopardy by Emma Newman and Peter Newman

Longlisted Nominees:
The Coode Street Podcast by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
Nerdvana Podcast by J.C. Arkham and Chuck Serface
PodCastle by Dave Thompson and Anna Schwind
Rocket Talk by Justin Landon

The Skiffy and Fanty Show by Shaun Duke, Julia Rios, Paul Weimer, Mike Underwood, David Annadale, Rachael Acks, and Jen Zink

Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans by Gregory Wilson and Brad Beaulieu

Sword and Laser by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt

Verity! by Deborah Stanish, Erika Ensign, Katrina Griffiths, L.M. Myles, Lynne M. Thomas, and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Welcome to Nightvale by Joseph Fink and Cecil Baldwin
The Writer and the Critic by Kristyn McDermott and Ian Mond

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Finalists:
Wesley Chu [winner]
Jason Cordova
Kary English
Rolf Nelson
Eric S. Raymond

Longlisted Nominees:
Rachael K. Jones
Usman T. Malik
Carmen Maria Marchado
Brian McClellan
Sam J. Miller
Helene Wecker
Andy Weir
Django Wexler
Alyssa Wong
J.Y. Yang
Isabel Yap

Go to previous year's longlist: 2014
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 2016

Go to 2015 Hugo Finalists and Winners

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