2019 Hugo Award Finalists

Location: Dublin 2019 - An Irish Worldcon in Dublin, Ireland.

Comments: The first thing to know about this year's Hugo finalists is that for the first time in four years, N.K. Jemisin will not win a Hugo, but only because as far as I can tell, she did not write anything in 2018 eligible to get nominated onto this list. Even without Jemisin, this year's list of finalists is fantastic, with excellent nominees up and down the list in every category.

This year's finalists are notable for two reasons. The first is the introduction of the Best Art Book category, more or less splitting that category off from the Best Related Work category where such works had previously been relegated. The other is the nomination in the Best Related Work category of An Archive of Our Own and The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76, neither of which are traditional finalists in this category. One might suspect that the first of these two events is at least partially responsible for opening up the field so that the second could occur. This sort of development is among the primary reasons why this is truly a great time to be a science fiction fan.

Best Novel

Winner:
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Finalists:
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Best Novella

Winner:

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Finalists:
Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

Best Novelette

Winner:

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho

Finalists:
The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer
When We Were Starless by Simone Heller

Best Short Story

Winner:

A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow

Finalists:
The Court Magician by Sarah Pinsker
The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher
The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark
STET by Sarah Gailey

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander

Best Related Work

Winner:

Archive of Our Own a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Finalists:

Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee

The Hobbit Duology, a documentary in three parts, written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan

An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000 by Jo Walton

www.mexicanxinitiative.com: The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 by Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, and John Picacio

Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon

Best Graphic Story

Winner:

Monstress, Volume 3: Haven written by Marjorie Liu; art by Sana Takeda

Finalists:

Abbott written by Saladin Ahmed; art by Sami Kivelä

Black Panther: Long Live the King written by Nnedi Okorafor and Aaron Covington; art by André Lima Araújo, Mario Del Pennino, and Tana Ford

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
Paper Girls, Volume 4 written by Brian K. Vaughan; art by Cliff Chiang

Saga, Volume 9 written by Brian K. Vaughan; art by Fiona Staples

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Winner:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Finalists:
Annihilation
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
A Quiet Place
Sorry to Bother You

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

Winner:

The Good Place: Janet(s)

Finalists:
Doctor Who: Demons of the Punjab
Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe and Chuck Lightning
The Expanse: Abaddon’s Gate
The Good Place: Jeremy Bearimy
Doctor Who: Rosa

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Winner:
Gardner Dozois

Finalists:
Neil Clarke
Lee Harris
Julia Rios
Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
E. Catherine Tobler

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Winner:
Navah Wolfe

Finalists:
Sheila E. Gilbert
Anne Lesley Groell
Beth Meacham
Diana Pho
Gillian Redfearn

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Charles Vess

Finalists:
Galen Dara
Jaime Jones
Victo Ngai
John Picacio
Yuko Shimizu

Best Semi-Prozine

Winner:

Uncanny Magazine publishers/editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor Michi Trota, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky, Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Special Issue editors-in-chief Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and Dominik Parisien

Finalists:

Beneath Ceaseless Skies editor-in-chief and publisher Scott H. Andrews

Fireside Magazine edited by Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, social coordinator Meg Frank, special features editor Tanya DePass, founding editor Brian White, publisher and art director Pablo Defendini

FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction executive editors Troy L. Wiggins and DaVaun Sanders, editors L.D. Lewis, Brandon O’Brien, Kaleb Russell, Danny Lore, and Brent Lambert

Shimmer publisher Beth Wodzinski, senior editor E. Catherine Tobler

Strange Horizons edited by Jane Crowley, Kate Dollarhyde, Vanessa Rose Phin, Vajra Chandrasekera, Romie Stott, Maureen Kincaid Speller, and the Strange Horizons Staff

Best Fanzine

Winner:

Lady Business edited by Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan

Finalists:
Galactic Journey founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus
Journey Planet edited by Team Journey Planet
nerds of a feather, flock together edited by Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla, and The G
Quick Sip Reviews edited by Charles Payseur
Rocket Stack Rank edited by Greg Hullender and Eric Wong

Best Fan Writer

Winner:

Foz Meadows

Finalists:
James Davis Nicoll
Charles Payseur
Elsa Sjunneson-Henry
Alasdair Stuart
Bogi Takács

Best Fan Artist

Winner:

Likhain (Mia Sereno)

Finalists:
Sara Felix
Grace P. Fong
Meg Frank
Ariela Housman
Spring Schoenhuth

Best Fancast

Winner:

Our Opinions Are Correct hosted by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders

Finalists:

Be the Serpent presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace

The Coode Street Podcast presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
Fangirl Happy Hour hosted by Ana Grilo and Renay Williams

Galactic Suburbia hosted by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, produced by Andrew Finch

The Skiffy and Fanty Show produced by Jen Zink and Shaun Duke, hosted by the Skiffy and Fanty Crew

Best Series

Winner:

Wayfarers by Becky Chambers

Finalists:

The Centenal Cycle by Malka Older

The Laundry Files by Charles Stross
Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee
The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire
The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard

Best Art Book

Winner:

The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin

Finalists:
Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon by Julie Dillon

Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer

Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by John Fleskes
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed
Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth edited by Catherine McIlwaine

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Winner:
Jeannette Ng

Finalists:
Katherine Arden
S.A. Chakraborty
R.F. Kuang
Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Rivers Solomon

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

Winner:
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Finalists:
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
The Invasion by Peadar O’Guilin
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 2018
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2020

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