2019 Hugo Award Longlist

Every now and then, the redhead asks me why I put together these Hugo longlist posts. They are a lot of work. The published Hugo stats that I draw them from are annoyingly incomplete in a lot of ways, requiring me to do more research than I normally would for an awards post. There is almost certainly a very tiny audience for this sort of thing. On the surface, it just seems like it is a lot of work for very little payoff. All of which is completely correct, and at the same time completely wrong.

To a certain extent, the relative obscurity of and comparative lack of interest in the works on the longlist is the point of putting together a Hugo longlist post. The works on the longlist aren't lesser works - in most cases they are just as good if not better than the works that make the finalist list - they are just not as well-known. The works on the longlist are also frequently more interesting than the works that make the finalist list.

The reason for this is a function of the somewhat fractured nature of the science fiction community. To make it to the finalist list, a work has to have broad support across a range of these subgroups. To make the longlist, a work can be of particular interest to a handful of subgroups, or in extreme cases, just one. This results in works making the longlist that deal with topics of intense interest to those groups, and those works are often more interesting than those that are supported by a broad spectrum of voices.

For example, look at the Related Work category for this year. The finalists are all fine entries, but for the most part they cover fairly well-worn territory. The longlisted entries, on the other hand include (among other things) The 2017 #BlackSpecFic Report by Cecily Kane, Hard Enough by Marissa Lingen, I Belong Where the People Are: Disability and The Shape of Water by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, and On Motherhood and Erasure: people Shaped Holes, Hollow Characters and the Illusion of Impossible Adventures by Aliette de Bodard, each of which takes a specific and interesting topic and breaks it down in a compelling manner. These works explore corners of the speculative fiction world that one might miss if one were to only pay attention to what has percolated to the top of the list, and in my opinion, that would be a mistake.

Best Novel

Finalists:
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal [winner]
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

Longlisted Nominees:
Before Mars by Emma Newman
Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson
Semiosis by Sue Burke
Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Best Novella

Finalists:

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells [winner]

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells [declined nomination]
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells [declined nomination]
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

Longlisted Nominees:
Alice Payne Arrives by Kate Heartfield
Descent of Monsters by JY Yang
The Expert System's Brother by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Flowers of Vashnoi by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts
Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant
Time Was by Ian McDonald
Umbernight by Carolyn Ives Gilman

Best Novelette

Finalists:

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

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

Longlisted Nominees
An Agent of Utopia by Andy Duncan
Evernight Victor Milán
How to Swallow the Moon by Isabel Yap
The Nearest by Greg Egan
No Flight Without the Shatter by Brooke Bolander
The Privilege of the Happy Ending by Kij Johnson
A Study In Oils by Kelly Robson
The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births by Jose Pablo Iriarte
Thirty-Three Percent Joe by Suzanne Palmer
A World to Die For by Tobias S. Buckell

Best Short Story

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

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

Longlisted Nominees
And Yet by A.T. Greenblatt
Asphalt, River, Mother, Child by Isabel Yap
Field Biology of the Wee Fairies by Naomi Kritzer
Meat And Salt And Sparks by Rich Larson
Mother Tongues by S. Qiouyi Lu
She Still Loves the Dragon by Elizabeth Bear
Sour Milk Girls by Erin Roberts
The Starship and the Temple Cat by Yoon Ha Lee
Waterbirds by G.V. Anderson
You Can Make a Dinosaur But You Can't Help Me by K.M. Szpara

Best Related Work

Finalists:

Archive of Our Own a project of the Organization for Transformative Works [winner]

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

Longlisted Nominees:
The 2017 #BlackSpecFic Report by Cecily Kane
Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin

Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke and the Making of a Masterpiece by Michael Benson

Hard Enough by Marissa Lingen

How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveller by Ryan North

I Belong Where the People Are: Disability and The Shape of Water by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry

On Motherhood and Erasure: people Shaped Holes, Hollow Characters and the Illusion of Impossible Adventures by Aliette de Bodard

One Atom of Justice, One Molecule of Mercy, and the Empire of Unsheathed Knives by Alexandra Rowland

Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded by Jason Heller

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin by Arwen Curry

Best Graphic Story

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

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

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

Longlisted Nominees:

The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, and Travis McElroy, illustrated by Carey Pietsch

The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag
The Forever War: Forever Free by Joe Haldeman, illustrated by Marvano
Mister Miracle by Tom King, illustrated by Mitch Gerads
Ms. Marvel Vol. 9: Teenage Wasteland by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Nico Leon
Runaways, Vol. 1: Find Your Way Home by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Kris Anka
Spider-Gwen by Seanan McGuire, illustrated by Rosi Kampe

Shuri: The Search for Black Panther by Nnedi Okorafor, illustrated by Leonardo Romero

X-Men Gold Annual #2 by Seanan McGuire, illustrated by Marco Failla

The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 7: Mothering Invention by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Jamie McKelvie

Best Dramatic Presentation: Long Form

Finalists:
Annihilation
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
A Quiet Place
Sorry to Bother You
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
Deadpool 2
The Expanse (Season 3)
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Ready Player One
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Season 1)
Solo: A Star Wars Story
A Wrinkle in Time

Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form

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

The Good Place: Janet(s) [winner]

The Good Place: Jeremy Bearimy

Longlisted Nominees:
DC's Legends of Tomorrow: The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly
Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell To Earth
The Expanse: Fallen World
The Expanse: Immolation
The Magicians: A Life in the Day
She-Ra: Princess Prom
She-Ra: Promise
Star Trek: Discovery: What's Past is Prologue
Steven Universe: Reunited
Westworld: Kiksuya

Best Professional Editor: Short Form

Finalists:
Neil Clarke
Gardner Dozois [winner]
Lee Harris
Julia Rios
Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
E. Catherine Tobler

Longlisted Nominees:
John Joseph Adams
Scott H. Andrews
Ellen Datlow
S.B. Divya and Mur Lafferty
C.C. Finlay
Dominik Parisien
Trevor Quachri
Jonathan Strahan
Ann VanderMeer
Sheila Williams

Best Professional Editor: Long Form

Finalists:
Sheila E. Gilbert
Anne Lesley Groell
Beth Meacham
Diana Pho
Gillian Redfearn
Navah Wolfe [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Liz Gorinsky
Sarah Guan
Lee Harris
Jenni Hill
Brit Hvide
Joe Monti
Devi Pillai
Anne Sowards
Miriam Weinberg
Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist

Finalists:
Galen Dara
Jaime Jones
Victo Ngai
John Picacio
Yuko Shimizu
Charles Vess [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
Tommy Arnold
Rovina Cai
Julie Dillon
Michael Komarck
Maurizio Manzieri
Reiko Murakami
Greg Ruth
Will Staehle
Simon Stålenhag
Sana Takeda

Best Semi-Prozine

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

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 [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:

Apex Magazine edited by Jason Sizemore, Lesley Conner, Maurice Broaddus, Jane Clark, Hannah Krieger, Cristina Jurado, and KT Bryski

Book Smugglers edited by Thea James and Ana Grilo
Cast of Wonders edited by Katherine Inskip, Andrew K. Hoe, and Karissa Sluss
Escape Pod edited by Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya
GigaNotoSaurus edited by LaShawn Wanak
Glittership edited by Keffy R.M. Kehrli and Nibedita Sen
Interzone edited by Andy Cox

Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams, Wendy N. Wagner, Rich Horton, Arley Sorg, and Laurel Amberdine

PodCastle edited by Jen R. Albert, C.L. Clark, and Setsu Uzumé
Shoreline of Infinity edited by Noel Chidwick

Best Fanzine

Finalists:
File 770 by Mike Glyer [declined nomination]
Galactic Journey founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus
Journey Planet edited by Team Journey Planet

Lady Business edited by Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan [winner]

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

Longlisted Nominees:
Ansible edited by David Langford
Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Black Gate edited by John O’Neill, Howard Andrew Jones, C.S.E. Cooney, Rich Horton, Andrew Zimmerman Jones, and Bill Ward
The Drink Tank edited by Christopher J. Garcia and Alissa McKersie
The Rec Center edited by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw and Elizabeth Minkel
SF Bluestocking by Bridget Mckinney
SF in Translation by Rachel Cordasco
The Wertzone by Adam Whitehead
Women Write About Comics edited by Megan Purdy

Best Fan Writer

Finalists:

Foz Meadows [winner]

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

Longlisted Nominees:
Liz Bourke
Cora Buhlert
Sarah Gailey
Mike Glyer
Erin Horáková
Abigail Nussbaum
Jason Sanford
Paul Weimer
Orjan Westin
Adam Whitehead

Best Fan Artist

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

Likhain (Mia Sereno) [winner]

Spring Schoenhuth

Longlisted Nominees:
Geneva Benton
Michael Carroll
Vandy Hall
Iguanamouth
Elizabeth Leggett
Jemina Malkki
Richard Man
Caio Santos
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles

Best Fancast

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

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

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

Longlisted Nominees:

Books and Pieces by Elizabeth

Breaking the Glass Slipper hosted by Megan Leigh, Charlotte Bond, and Lucy Hounsom

Ditch Diggers hosted by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace
Fansplaining hosted by Flourish Klink and Elizabeth Minkel
Hammer House of Podcast hosted by Paul Cornell and L.M. Myles
Jay and Miles Xplain the X-Men hosted by Jay Edidin and Miles Stokes
Kalanadi hosted by Rachael Kalanadi
Lindsay Ellis by Lindsay Ellis
Sword and Laser hosted by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt

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

Best Series

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
Wayfarers by Becky Chambers [winner]

Longlisted Nominees:
The Arcadia Project by Mishell Baker
Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh
Fractured Europe by Dave Hutchinson
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
The Murderbot Diaries Martha Wells
Planetfall by Emma Newman
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Sin du Jour by Matt Wallace
Wild Cards edited by George R.R. Martin

Best Art Book

Finalists:

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

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
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Imaginarium by Paul Kidby [ineligible]
Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth edited by Catherine McIlwaine

Longlisted Nominees:
The Art of Black Panther by Eleni Roussos

Beyond Science Fiction: The Alternative Realism of Michael Whelan by Michael Whelan

The Chronicles of Exandria, Vol II: The Legend of Vox Machina by Matthew Mercer, Taliesin Jaffe, James Haeck, and Liam O'Brien

Cicada by Shaun Tan
The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag
Marvelocity: The Marvel Comics Art of Alex Ross by Alex Ross and Chip Kidd
A Middle-Earth Traveler: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor by John Howe
Monster Portraits by Sofia Samatar, illustrated by Del Samatar

Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography – Beyond the Fantasy by Florent Gorges and Luc Petronille, illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Finalists:
Katherine Arden
S.A. Chakraborty
R.F. Kuang
Jeannette Ng [winner]
Vina Jie-Min Prasad
Rivers Solomon

Longlisted Nominees:
Tomi Adeyemi
Sam Hawke
Simone Heller
Karen Osborne
C.L. Polk
K. Arsenault Rivera
Alexandra Rowland
Nibedita Sen
Anna Smith Spark
Tasha Suri

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

Finalists:
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi [winner]
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
The Invasion by Peadar O’Guilin
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

Longlisted Nominees:
Arabella: Traitor of Mars by David D. Levine
Cross Fire by Fonda Lee
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
The Hidden City by David Bowles
Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristof
Peasprout Chen: Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Tempests & Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

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

Go to 2019 Hugo Finalists and Winners

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