2011 Hugo Longlist

As the Hugo statistics become less uniform, one has to answer the question of exactly what the term "Hugo Longlist" actually means. Though the format for releasing the statistics has taken a relatively regular form in more recent years, in 2011, they were still organized in a more haphazard fashion. The Hugo statistics for each year are released under the auspices of Section 3.11.4 of the World Science Fiction Constitution, which says in relevant part:

During the same period the nomination voting totals shall also be published, including in each category the vote counts for at least the fifteen highest vote-getters and any other candidate receiving a number of votes equal to at least five percent (5%) of the nomination ballots cast in that category, but not including any candidate receiving fewer than five votes.

This means that the Hugo administrators are supposed to list the top fifteen works that received nominations each year, as well as any other works that had at least 5% of the nominations (in practice this second requirement will probably only matter once in a while in the most popular categories - in 2011, it only mattered in the Best Novel category). The only exception is if a nominee placed in the top fifteen nomination-getters but had fewer than five nominations - those nominees are to be excluded from the released statistics. The only limit on the number of items that may be on the lists released by the Hugo administrators is that it cannot include nominees who received fewer than five nominations. As a result, these lists could be quite voluminous and consequently, unwieldy.

Having a list with several dozen entries per category (as would be the case if one simply copied some of the released lists) would, in my opinion, defeat the purpose of having a Hugo Longlist. At the point that one has three or four dozen entries per category, the list is no longer providing a representative cross-section of what works and people were popular, but rather a cross-section of everything without any real regard for quality. Using the released lists as is would also result in wildly variable longlists from year to year, with some having the minimum number of entries per category, and others having literally dozens. With that in mind, and taking the rules concerning what statistics the Hugo administrators are directed to release, I'm going to use the following rules of thumb when constructing the longlists:

• Any nominee who finished in the top fifteen places in their category will be listed on the Longlist.
• If there is a tie for fifteenth place, all nominees who tie for fifteenth place will be listed on the Longlist.
• Any nominee who received more than 5% of the nominations in their category but didn't place in the top fifteen for their category will also be listed on the Longlist.
• Any nominee who meets the above criteria but didn't appear on more than five nominating ballots will be excluded from the Longlist. These nominees are not supposed to be included on the Hugo statistics report, so this exclusion should have to be invoked rarely, if ever.

This means that in some years, a number of works and people who appeared on the released list of Hugo statistics will be left off of the Hugo Longlist. For 2011, this means that the following nominees are left off of the Longlist:

Best Novel: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld, Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis, For the Win by Cory Doctorow, Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente, I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, Zendegi by Greg Egan, and Zoo City by Lauren Beukes.

Best Novella: Earth III by Stephen Baxter, Iron Shoes by J. Kathleen Cheney, Jackie's Boy by Steven Popkes, Seven Cities of Gold by David Moles, and The Taborin Scale by Lucius Shepard.

Best Novelette: Amor Vincit Omnia by K.J. Parker, The Cage by A.M. Dellamonica, Flying in the Face of God by Nina Allen, Helping Them Take the Old Man Down by William Preston, In the Stacks (Swords and Dark Magic) by Scott Lynch, The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Theodora Goss, The Precedent by Sean McMullen, and Torhec the Sculptor by Tanith Lee.

Best Short Story: The President's Brain Is Missing by John Scalzi and When the Yogurt Took Over by John Scalzi.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Lost: The End, Metropolis (2010 restoration), and Never Let Me Go.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Being Human: Mama Said There'd Be Decades Like These and Vertically Mobile Comedy: Eric in the Elevator.

Best Editor, Long Form: Jim Frenkel, Anne Groell, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Devi Pillai, and Eric Reynolds.

Best Professional Artist: John Jude Palencar and Sam Weber.

Best Semi-Prozine: Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine and Apex.

Best Fan Writer: Brit Mandelo, Abigail Nussbaum, Espana Sherriff, and Adam Whitehead.

Best Fan Artist: Alan White.

I can't identify any pattern that would explain why these categories were seemingly over reported in this particular way. I've excised them from the Hugo Longlist as reported here. In the future, I may put together a list of nominees that appear on the official reported Hugo statistics but which I have excluded from the Longlists in accordance with the criteria listed above, but that is a project that I am not going to take on today.

Best Novel

Finalists:
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis [winner]
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
Feed by Mira Grant
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Longlisted Nominees:
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
Kraken by China Mieville
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
WWW: Watch by Robert Sawyer

Best Novella

Finalists:
The Lady Who Plucked Flowers Beneath the Queen's Window by Rachel Swirsky
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang [winner]

The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon by Elizabeth Hand (reviewed in Errantry: Strange Stories)

The Sultan of the Clouds by Geoffrey A. Landis (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 9 (September 2010))

Troika by Alastair Reynolds

Longlisted Nominees:
The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi
Bone and Jewel Creatures by Elizabeth Bear
Chicken Little by Cory Doctorow

Dead Man's Run by Robert Reed (reviewed in Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume 119, No. 5 & 6 (November/December 2010))

Ghosts Doing the Orange Dance by Paul Park
A Glimpse of the Marvelous Structure (and the Threat It Entails) by Sean Williams

A History of Terraforming by Robert Reed (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 7 (July 2010))

The Mystery Knight by George R.R. Martin
Orfy by Richard Chwedyk

The Rift by John G. Hemry (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXX, No. 10 (October 2010))

Several Items of Interest by Rick Wilber (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, Nos. 10 & 11 (October/November 2010))

Six Blind Men and an Alien by Mike Resnick

Best Novelette

Finalists:

Eight Miles by Sean McMullen (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXX, No. 9 (September 2010))

The Emperor of Mars by Allen M. Steele (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 6 (June 2010)) [winner]

The Jaguar House, in Shadow by Aliette de Bodard (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 7 (July 2010))

Plus or Minus by James Patrick Kelly (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol 34, No. 12 (December 2010))

That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made by Eric James Stone (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXX, No. 9 (September 2010))

Longlisted Nominees
Anne-droid of Green Gables by Lezli Robyn
The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund
The Fool Jobs by Joe Abercrombie

A Jar of Goodwill by Tobias S. Buckell

Map of Seventeen by Christopher Barzak
The Naturalist by Maureen McHugh

Pupa by David D. Levine (reviewed in Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXXX, No. 9 (September 2010))

Seven Years from Home by Naomi Novik
Sleepover by Alastair Reynolds

Stone Wall Truth by Caroline M. Yoachim (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 2 (February 2010))

The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman

Best Short Story

Finalists:
Amaryllis by Carrie Vaughn

For Want of a Nail by Mary Robinette Kowal (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 9 (September 2010)) [winner]

Ponies by Kij Johnson

The Things by Peter Watts

Longlisted Nominees
13 Ways of Looking at Space/Time by Catherynne M. Valente

Conditional Love by Felicity Shoulders (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, No. 1 (January 2010))

Elegy for a Young Elk by Hannu Rajaniemi
Futures in the Memories Market by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
The Green Book by Amal El-Mohtar
I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno by Vylar Kaftan

The Incarceration of Captain Nebula by Mike Resnick (reviewed in Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 34, Nos. 10 & 11 (October/November 2010))

Seven Sexy Cowboy Reboots by Sandra McDonald
Sleeping Dogs by Joe Haldeman
Standard Loneliness Package by Charles Yu
Under the Moons of Venus by Damien Broderick

Best Related Work

Finalists:
Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001 by Gary K. Wolfe

The Business of the Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg

Chicks Dig Time Lords edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea [winner]

Robert A. Heinlein, Volume One: Learning Curve, 1907-1948 by William H. Patterson, Jr.

Writing Excuses, Season Four by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells

Longlisted Nominees:
80! Memories and Reflections on Ursula K. Le Guin by Karen Joy Fowler

British Science Fiction and Fantasy: Twenty Years and Two Surveys by Paul Kincaid and Niall Harrison

C.M. Kornbluth by Mark Rich
Conversations with Octavia Butler edited by Consuela Francis

Doctor Who, the Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy by John Joseph Adams and David Barr Kirtley
Into the Media Web: Selected Short Non-Fiction, 1956-2006 by Michael Moorcock

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future: The First 25 Years by Kevin J. Anderson

Outermost: The Art Life of Jack Gaughan by Luis Ortiz

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

The Specific Gravity of Grief by Jay Lake
Spectrum 17 by Arnie Fenner and Cathy Fenner
The Wonderful Future That Never Was by the editors of Popular Mechanics

Best Graphic Story

Finalists:
Fables: Witches by Bill Willingham, illustrated by Mark Buckingham

Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio [winner]

Grandville Mon Amour by Bryan Talbot

Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel by Howard Tayler

The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross

Longlisted Nominees:
Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka
Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire by Michael Terracciano
Duel in the Somme by Rob Balder and Ben Bova
Hereville by Barry Deutsch
Freakangels: Book 4 by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield

Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

iZombie: Dead to the World by Chris Roberson
Locke & Key, Volume 3: Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill
Masque of the Red Death by Wendy Pini
Ooku, Volume 5: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga
Schlock Mercenary: Resident Mad Scientist by Howard Tayler
Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Finalists:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception [winner]
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Toy Story 3

Longlisted Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Despicable Me
Doctor Who: End of Time
Iron Man 2
Kick-Ass
Megamind
Monsters
Tangled
Tron: Legacy

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Finalists:
Doctor Who; A Christmas Carol
Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang [winner]
Doctor Who: Vincent and the Doctor
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury
The Lost Thing

Longlisted Nominees:
Doctor Who: Amy's Choice
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour
Doctor Who: The Lodger
Doctor Who: The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone
Eureka: Founder's Day
FlashForward: Course Correction
Fringe: Over There
Fringe: Peter
Smallville: Absolute Justice
Stargate Universe: Incursion, Parts 1 and 2
The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
John Joseph Adams
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Gordon van Gelder
Sheila Williams [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Lou Anders
Neil Clarke
Andy Cox
Ellen Datlow
Gardner Dozois
Alisa Krasnostein
George R.R. Martin
Cheryl Morgan
William Schafer
Catherynne M. Valente
Anne VanderMeer

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Finalists:
Lou Anders [winner]
Ginjer Buchanan
Moshe Feder
Liz Gorinsky
David G. Hartwell [nomination declined]
Nick Mamatas
Beth Meacham
Patrick Nielsen Hayden [nomination declined]
Juliet Ulman

Longlisted Nominees:
Jo Fletcher
Shawna McCarthy
Harriet McDougal
Elizabeth Mitchell
William Schafer
Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Daniel Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Stephan Martiniére
John Picacio
Shaun Tan [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Vincent Chong
Kinuko T. Craft
Julie Dillon
Phil Foglio
Michael Komarck
Donato Giancola
Gregory Manchess
Lisa Snellings
Charles Vess
Michael Whelan

Best Semi-Prozine

Finalists:

Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, and Sean Wallace [winner]

Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams
Locus edited by Kirsten Gong-Wong and Liza Groen Trombi
Weird Tales edited by Anne VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal

Longlisted Nominees:
Ansible edited by David Langford
Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
Escape Pod edited by Mur Lafferty
Fantasy Magazine edited by Sean Wallace

New York Review of Science Fiction edited by David G. Hartwell and Kevin J. Maroney

On Spec edited by Diane Walton, Robin Carson, Barb Galler-Smith, Susan MacGregor, Ann Marston, and Barry Hammond

Realms of Fantasy edited by Shawna McCarthy
Salon Futura edited by Cheryl Morgan
Strange Horizons edited by Susan Marie Groppi

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian, III
The Drink Tank edited by James Bacon and Christopher J. Garcia [winner]
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
StarShipSofa edited by Tony C. Smith

Longlisted Nominees:
Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Askance edited by John Purcell
Chunga edited by Andy Byers, Randy Hooper, and Carl Juarez
Galactic Suburbia by Alexandra Pierce, Alisa Krasnostein, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
Journey Planet edited by James Bacon and Christopher J. Garcia

Notes from Coode Street/The Coode Street Podcast edited by Jonathan Strahan and Gary Wolfe

SF Signal edited by John DeNardo
Steam Engine Time edited by Bruce Gillespie and Janine Stinson
Trap Door edited by Robert Lichtman
Yipe! edited by Kevin Roche and Jason Schachat

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:
James Bacon
Claire Brialey [winner]
Christopher J. Garcia
James Nicoll
Steven H Silver

Longlisted Nominees:
Bruce Gillespie
Mike Glyer
Niall Harrison
John Hertz
David Langford
Guy H. Lillian, III
Cheryl Morgan
Lloyd Penney
Mark Plummer
Kevin Roche
Jo Walton

Best Fan Artist

Finalists:
Brad W. Foster [winner]
Randall Munroe
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

Longlisted Nominees:
Alan F. Beck
Sheryl Birkhead
Kurt Erichsen
Alexis Gilliland
Dick Jenssen
Sue Mason
Marc Schirmeister
Spring Schoenhuth
Dan Steffan
D. West
Brianna "Spacekat" Wu
Frank Wu

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Finalists:
Saladin Ahmed
Lauren Beukes
Larry Correia
Lev Grossman [winner]
Dan Wells

Longlisted Nominees:
Gail Carriger
Amal El-Mohtar
N.K. Jemisin
Keffy R.M. Kehrli
Dani Kollin
Eytan Kollin
Shweta Narayan
Hannu Rajaniemi
Steven H Silver
Ferrett Steinmetz
Brad R. Torgersen
Ian Tregillis
Charles Yu

Go to previous year's longlist: 2010
Go to subsequent year's longlist: 2012

Go to 2011 Hugo Finalists and Winners

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